How to install Proxmox VE: a first homelab guide

Proxmox VE is the free, open-source platform that turns one small computer into a place to run many things at once — a media server, a website, a home dashboard, a private AI model — each in its own tidy, separate box. It’s the hypervisor most of my homelab runs on, and installing it is genuinely a twenty-minute job. This guide walks you through it from a blank mini-PC to your first login, and calls out the handful of places people get stuck.

The short version: download the Proxmox VE ISO, write it to a USB stick, enable virtualization in your PC’s BIOS, boot from the USB, answer a few questions (disk, password, a static IP), then open https://your-ip:8006 in a browser. Dismiss the “no subscription” notice — it’s not a paywall — and you’re running. Total time: about twenty minutes, most of it waiting.

What you’ll read here

• What Proxmox is, and why homelabbers default to it
• What you need before you start
• Step by step: from USB to first login
• The gotchas that trip people up
• The first five minutes after install
• FAQ
• Where to go next

What Proxmox is, and why homelabbers default to it

Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment) is a hypervisor — software you install instead of a normal operating system, whose whole job is to run other operating systems inside it. Each of those is either a virtual machine (a fully simulated computer — good for Windows or anything that needs its own kernel) or a container (a lighter, faster box that shares the host’s kernel — perfect for Linux services). One quiet mini-PC can comfortably run a dozen containers.

People reach for Proxmox first for three honest reasons. It’s free and open-source with no feature paywall — the paid tier only buys a support contract and an “enterprise” update channel, neither of which you need at home. It has a clean web interface, so once it’s installed you rarely touch a command line. And it’s the default in the community, which means when something goes sideways at 11pm, someone has already written up the fix. That last point matters more than any feature list.

I’ll be honest about my own setup, because a homelab is rarely a monoculture: most of my machines run Proxmox, but I keep one on Unraid for bulk storage and a couple of Raspberry Pis for small, always-on odd jobs. Proxmox just ends up being the thing I reach for most — the sensible default for a box that needs to run a bit of everything. You’ll likely end up with a mix too, and that’s completely fine.

Its main alternatives tell you what it’s not: VMware ESXi (powerful, but commercial and increasingly hostile to hobbyists), plain Docker on a Linux box (simpler, but no VMs and no built-in UI), and TrueNAS (brilliant for storage-first builds, less so as a general do-everything host). If your goal is “one machine that runs a bit of everything,” Proxmox is the path of least regret.

What you need before you start

Not much:

Item	What works	Notes
A computer to dedicate	A mini-PC (an N100 box is a superb, cheap start), an old desktop, a NUC	It becomes Proxmox-only — plan for that
RAM	8 GB is a fine start; 16 GB is comfortable	Containers are frugal; VMs less so
Storage	A single SSD is fine for a first build	Proxmox erases the target disk — back up anything on it first
A USB stick	2 GB or larger	It gets wiped too
A wired network connection	Ethernet to your router	Wi-Fi is possible but genuinely more trouble than it’s worth here
Ten quiet minutes	—	Plus download time

A word on the machine: this doesn’t need to be a rack server humming in a closet. A fanless N100 mini-PC — the kind that costs less than a nice dinner out — will run a first homelab’s worth of services without noticing. That’s exactly the class of hardware most of my own guides assume, precisely because it’s the sensible place to begin.

Step by step: from USB to first login

1. Download the ISO. Go to the official Proxmox site and grab the Proxmox VE installer ISO (not Backup Server, not Mail Gateway). It’s a single file, roughly 1.5 GB.

2. Write it to the USB stick. Use balenaEtcher (the friendliest option, Windows/Mac/Linux) or Rufus on Windows. Point it at the ISO, point it at your USB stick, and let it write. On Rufus, if it asks about ISO vs DD mode, choose DD mode — Proxmox’s installer wants a straight image copy. This step wipes the USB stick.

3. Enable virtualization in the BIOS. Plug the USB in, power on, and tap the BIOS key as it boots (usually Del, F2, or F12 — the screen often tells you). Find and enable virtualization — it’s called VT-x or Intel Virtualization Technology on Intel, AMD-V or SVM on AMD. This is the single most-skipped step, and skipping it means your VMs simply won’t start later. While you’re in there, set the machine to boot from USB. Save and exit.

4. Run the installer. Boot into the Proxmox installer and pick Install Proxmox VE (Graphical). Then it asks you four things:

• Target disk — the drive Proxmox installs onto. This disk gets erased. On a single-SSD build there’s only one choice.
• Country, timezone, keyboard — self-explanatory.
• Root password and an email — the password protects your whole server; make it a real one. The email can be anything for now.
• Network — the important one. Give the server a static IP that’s outside your router’s automatic (DHCP) range — something like 192.168.1.50 — plus your router’s address as the gateway. A homelab host that changes its own address every few days is a homelab host you can never find again.

Confirm, and it installs in a couple of minutes. When it’s done, remove the USB stick and let it reboot.

5. First login. The machine reboots to a black console showing a login line and, crucially, a web address like https://192.168.1.50:8006. Leave the server where it is — you drive it from another computer now. On your laptop, open that address in a browser.

You’ll hit a security warning (“your connection is not private”). That’s expected: Proxmox uses a self-signed certificate on your own network, so the browser doesn’t recognise it. Click through (Advanced → Proceed). Log in with username root, the password you set, and realm Linux PAM.

That’s it. You’re looking at your hypervisor’s dashboard.

The gotchas that trip people up

The “No valid subscription” popup is not a paywall. The moment you log in, Proxmox shows a notice about not having a subscription. Every first-timer worries they’ve hit a trial wall. You haven’t — it’s just nagging you to buy a support contract. Dismiss it and carry on; everything works, forever, for free.

VMs won’t start → virtualization is still off. If you later create a VM and it refuses to boot with a KVM error, go back into the BIOS and confirm VT-x / AMD-V is actually enabled. It’s the number-one cause, and some boards reset it after a firmware update.

No network after install → the static IP details. If the web UI won’t load, double-check the IP, gateway, and subnet you typed during setup, and that you’re on the same network. A transposed digit here is the usual culprit.

Consumer SSDs and Proxmox logging. Proxmox writes logs and cluster data fairly often. On a cheap consumer SSD in a single-node home setup this is fine — you’ll get years out of it — but it’s worth knowing if you ever move to a heavier, always-hammering workload.

The first five minutes after install

Three quick housekeeping jobs turn a fresh install into a comfortable one:

1. Switch to the no-subscription update channel so updates work without an enterprise licence. In the UI: Datacenter → your node → Updates → Repositories, disable the “enterprise” repo, and add the “no-subscription” one. Then hit Refresh and Upgrade.
2. Update everything once, so you’re starting from current packages.
3. Create your first container. Click Create CT, pick a template (Proxmox can download Debian or Ubuntu templates for you), give it a name and a little RAM, and start it. Watching your first container boot in a few seconds is the moment homelabbing clicks.

FAQ

Is Proxmox really free? Yes — fully, with every feature. The paid tiers sell a support contract and the enterprise update channel; you need neither at home. Use the no-subscription repo and dismiss the popup.

Do I need a powerful server? No. An 8 GB N100 mini-PC runs a first homelab happily. You can always move to something bigger later — Proxmox makes migrating your VMs and containers straightforward.

VM vs container — which should I use? Use a container for almost everything on Linux (a website, a database, a dashboard) — they’re lighter and start instantly. Use a VM when you need a different operating system (Windows) or full isolation.

Can I install it on a laptop or old PC? Yes. Any 64-bit machine with virtualization support works. Laptops make quiet, low-power hosts — just mind that the disk gets wiped.

Will it wipe my data? It erases the target disk you choose during install, and the USB stick. Back up anything on either first. It won’t touch other drives you don’t select.

Proxmox or TrueNAS? If your build is storage-first (a big NAS with some apps), TrueNAS. If it’s “one box that runs lots of things,” Proxmox — and you can always run a TrueNAS VM inside Proxmox later.

Where to go next

You now have a hypervisor. The fun part is filling it. Once you’re comfortable clicking through installs, you can automate the whole thing into a flash-and-walk-away setup so rebuilding is painless. When you’re ready to actually run something useful, a self-hosted status page with Uptime Kuma is a friendly first service, and self-hosting Supabase in a container is a satisfying step up. If you bought (or are about to buy) a mini-PC for this, a dedicated “what to buy for a first home server” guide is coming next.

Take it slowly, break things freely — it’s your lab, and rebuilding is a feature, not a failure.