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Emre Mert
Emre Mert

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Meet with Proxmox

I have a used laptop with 64 GB RAM and 1 TB storage. So, what now? I need Virtual Machines to run Kubernetes nodes, CI/CD pipelines, and maybe a firewall and VPN … and goes on …

I needed Type 1 Bare-Metal virtualization solution. It should be free, there should be a lot of documentation. So I found Proxmox.

To be honest, I always used the cloud or VMware for VMs (virtual machines). I had no idea about Proxmox. Now I love it!

Enough with talking.

Installing Proxmox

  • Take note of the IP of default gateway and DNS server in your home network
  • Check the date and time. It is a simple step, but check it, check the timezone.
  • Turning off the screen on a laptop running Proxmox:

Configure lid power settings: Open the /etc/systemd/logind.conf file for editing.

Find and change these lines (remove the # to uncomment):
HandleLidSwitch=ignore
HandleLidSwitchExternalPower=ignore
HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore Save (Ctrl+O, Enter) and Exit (Ctrl+X), then restart the service: systemctl restart systemd-logind

  • Professionalize the Repositories: Proxmox defaults to an “Enterprise” repository that requires a paid subscription. Since you are likely using the free version, you’ll get errors during updates unless you switch to the No-Subscription track.

Remove Enterprise: Go to your Node -> Repositories and disable the pve-enterprise list.
Add No-Subscription: Click Add, select “No-Subscription” from the dropdown, and save.
Test your internet speed. You will download ISO files next. So be sure about your network speed. t=$(date +"%s"); wget http://speedtest.tele2.net/100MB.zip -O ->/dev/null ; echo -n "MBit/s: "; expr 8 \* 100 / $(($(date +"%s")-$t))

Update packages: apt update && upgrade

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