How to Install Proxmox VE: Step-by-Step Guide

Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment) is a free, open-source hypervisor built on Debian Linux that lets you run virtual machines and containers on bare-metal hardware. It is a popular choice for home labs, small businesses, and IT professionals who want an enterprise-grade virtualisation platform without the licensing costs of VMware or Hyper-V. Many UK IT admins repurpose old Dell OptiPlex or HP EliteDesk business PCs for their first Proxmox builds, while others pick up second-hand rack servers from eBay UK at a fraction of their original cost. This guide walks you through the complete installation process from downloading the ISO to getting your node ready for its first virtual machine.

Hardware Requirements

Before you begin, make sure your hardware meets the minimum requirements. Proxmox VE will not run on 32-bit systems, and virtualisation extensions must be present and enabled in your processor.

• CPU: 64-bit processor with Intel VT-x or AMD-V virtualisation extensions
• RAM: 4GB minimum, though 8GB or more is strongly recommended — the host OS itself uses around 1–2GB, leaving limited headroom for VMs at the 4GB floor
• Storage: A dedicated disk for Proxmox itself (32GB minimum, 120GB+ recommended). Proxmox will consume the entire disk during installation, so do not use a drive you want to keep data on
• Network: A dedicated network interface card (NIC) with a wired Ethernet connection — Wi-Fi is not supported during installation and is unreliable for a production hypervisor

You will also need a USB drive of at least 1GB to create the bootable installer.

Check Virtualisation Is Enabled in BIOS/UEFI

Before booting the installer, verify that virtualisation extensions are enabled in your system’s BIOS or UEFI firmware. Reboot your machine and enter the firmware settings (typically by pressing Del, F2, or F10 at POST). Look for a setting labelled Intel Virtualisation Technology, VT-x, or AMD-V / SVM Mode and ensure it is set to Enabled. On some OEM machines — particularly older Dell business desktops — this is disabled by default. If you skip this step, Proxmox will install but you will be unable to run 64-bit VMs.

Step 1: Download the Proxmox VE ISO

1. Go to proxmox.com and navigate to the Downloads section.
2. Select Proxmox Virtual Environment and download the latest ISO installer (the file will be named something like proxmox-ve_8.x-x.iso).
3. No account is required — the download is free.

Step 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive

You need to write the ISO to a USB drive as a bootable image, not simply copy the file. Two tools are recommended depending on your operating system.

On Windows — Rufus

1. Download Rufus from rufus.ie and run it (no installation required).
2. Insert your USB drive and select it from the Device dropdown.
3. Click SELECT and browse to your Proxmox ISO file.
4. Leave the partition scheme as MBR and file system as FAT32 unless your target machine is UEFI-only, in which case use GPT.
5. Click START and confirm you are happy to destroy the contents of the USB drive.

On macOS or Linux — Balena Etcher

1. Download and install Balena Etcher from etcher.balena.io.
2. Click Flash from file, select the Proxmox ISO, choose your USB drive as the target, and click Flash.

Step 3: Boot from the USB Drive

1. Insert the USB drive into your Proxmox host machine.
2. Reboot and enter your boot menu (usually F11 or F12 at POST on Dell/HP hardware) or change the boot order in BIOS/UEFI to prioritise USB.
3. Select the USB drive from the boot menu. The Proxmox installer will load within a few seconds.

Step 4: Walk Through the Installer

1. At the Proxmox VE welcome screen, select Install Proxmox VE (Graphical) and press Enter.
2. Accept the End User Licence Agreement.
3. Target disk: Select the disk you want to install Proxmox on. Remember, the installer will wipe and repartition the entire drive. If you have multiple disks, take care to select the correct one. Click Options if you want to change the filesystem (ext4 is fine for most use cases; ZFS offers snapshots and redundancy but requires more RAM).
4. Location and time zone: Set Country to United Kingdom, Time zone to Europe/London, and Keyboard layout to en-gb.
5. Root password and email: Set a strong root password — you will use this to log in via the web interface and SSH. Enter an email address for system alerts (can be changed later).
6. Network configuration: This is an important step. Set the Management Interface to your wired NIC, enter a static IP address in CIDR notation (for example 192.168.1.50/24), your gateway (typically your router’s IP, e.g. 192.168.1.1), and your DNS server (you can use 8.8.8.8 or your router’s IP). A static IP is essential — if your Proxmox host’s IP changes, you will lose access to the web interface.
7. Review the summary screen and click Install. Installation takes approximately five to ten minutes depending on your hardware. The system will reboot automatically when complete.

Step 5: First Login via the Web Interface

1. Remove the USB drive once the machine reboots. Proxmox will boot to a terminal showing the management URL.
2. On another machine on the same network, open a browser and navigate to https://<your-proxmox-ip>:8006 — for example, https://192.168.1.50:8006.
3. You will see a certificate warning because Proxmox uses a self-signed certificate by default. Proceed past the warning (click Advanced > Continue in Chrome, or Accept the Risk in Firefox).
4. Log in with username root, the password you set during installation, and Realm set to Linux PAM standard authentication.

Step 6: Dismiss the No-Subscription Warning

After logging in you will be greeted with a dialogue that reads “You do not have a valid subscription for this server.” This is normal — Proxmox offers a paid enterprise subscription for commercial support, but the free community edition is fully functional. Click OK to dismiss the warning. It will appear each time you log in unless you add a subscription or apply a community repository patch.

Step 7: Run the Initial System Update

Before creating any virtual machines, update the system packages. Either open a browser-based shell in the Proxmox web interface (select your node, click Shell) or SSH into the host as root, then run the following commands:

1. Edit the APT sources to switch from the enterprise repository (which requires a subscription) to the free no-subscription repository. In the Proxmox web UI, go to Node > Repositories, disable the enterprise repo, and add the No-Subscription repository.
2. Run the update:
   • apt update
   • apt dist-upgrade -y
3. Reboot the host if a new kernel was installed: reboot

Your Proxmox VE node is now installed, updated, and ready to use. From the web interface you can create your first virtual machine or LXC container, configure storage pools, set up networking bridges, and — if you have additional machines — build out a cluster.