Proxmox Skill

Proxmox VE virtualization platform reference for VM management, containers, clustering, and homelab infrastructure.

Quick Reference

VM management (qm)

qm list # List all VMs qm status <vmid> # Check VM status qm start <vmid> # Start VM qm stop <vmid> # Stop VM (graceful) qm shutdown <vmid> # Shutdown VM (ACPI) qm unlock <vmid> # Remove lock qm config <vmid> # Show VM config

Container management (pct)

pct list # List all containers pct status <ctid> # Check container status pct start <ctid> # Start container pct stop <ctid> # Stop container pct enter <ctid> # Enter container shell

Cluster management (pvecm)

pvecm status # Cluster status and quorum pvecm nodes # List cluster nodes

API shell (pvesh)

pvesh get /nodes # List nodes via API pvesh get /nodes/<node>/status # Node resource status

Backup (vzdump)

vzdump <vmid> --mode snapshot --storage <storage> vzdump --all --compress zstd

Reference Files

Load on-demand based on task:

Topic File When to Load

VM vs LXC vm-lxc.md Choosing virtualization type

Docker Hosting docker-hosting.md Running Docker on Proxmox

Networking networking.md Bridges, VLANs, SDN, firewall

Storage storage.md Storage backends, content types

Cloud-init cloud-init-templates.md VM provisioning with cloud-init

Clustering clustering.md HA, quorum, fencing

Backup backup.md vzdump modes, restore

CLI Tools cli-tools.md qm, pct, pvecm, pvesh commands

Troubleshooting troubleshooting.md Common errors, diagnostics

Automation Tools automation-tools.md Terraform/Ansible integration

Validation Checklist

Before deploying VMs/containers:

• Cluster status healthy (pvecm status )

• Node resources available (CPU, RAM, disk)

• Storage accessible and mounted

• Network bridges configured correctly

• VLAN tags match network design

• Resource allocation within node limits

• HA configuration correct (if enabled)

• Backup schedule in place

• Naming convention followed

VM vs LXC Quick Decision

Factor Use VM Use LXC

OS Windows, BSD, any Linux only

Isolation Full kernel isolation Shared kernel

Performance Good Better (lighter)

Startup Slower Fast

Density Lower Higher

Complexity Any workload Simple services

Homelab Network VLANs

VLAN Purpose Proxmox Bridge

5 Management (Web UI, API, SSH) vmbr5

1 Trusted network vmbr0

11 Storage (NFS/Ceph, MTU 9000) vmbr11

12 High-speed transfers vmbr12