Proxmox

This official guide should cover the pertinent installation steps, step-by-step. Relatively straightforward:

1. Download Proxmox VE ISO and create a bootable USB stick with it.
2. Boot it and run the installer GUI.

The strange configuration needed is likely on the Network Management screen that asks for FQDN, IP Address, Gateway and DNS. The IP address is a static self-assigned address, which should fall within the current subnet. Make sure to reserve the same DHCP address on the router for consistency.

The management interface is exposed as a web service, by default on HTTPS port 8006. Default username is root.

A shell to the server can be opened by clicking on the Shell button near the top right corner of the interface. The usual server management stuff, like updating apt update and installing apt install vim.

Importantly, if not using the Enterprise versions of Proxmox VE, change the apt sources to the community one instead.

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list

#deb https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/pve bookworm pve-enterprise

# Proxmox VE pve-no-subscription repository provided by proxmox.com,
# NOT recommended for production use
deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve bookworm pve-no-subscription

May be worth running pveperf to benchmark.

• https://bayton.org/docs/linux/lxd/mount-cifssmb-shares-rw-in-lxd-containers/
• https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Unprivileged_LXC_containers#Using_local_directory_bind_mount_points
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/tutorial-unprivileged-lxcs-mount-cifs-shares.101795/
• https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Create_a_Debian_VM_in_Proxmox_VE

Problem is unprivileged LXCs cannot perform mounting of CIFS shares.

Pretty much the same technique when sharing an SMB, i.e. perform writes as a common group, even when different access credentials are used. According to the Proxmox wiki, UIDs and GIDs in the container are mapped to the value + 100_000 on the host machine (i.e. Proxmox). Follows this guide, and reproduced below:

#########################
#  MOUNT SHARE ON HOST  #
#########################
 
# Mount CIFS share on host, with some hints:
# - _netdev: Force mount point to be recognised as network mount
# - x-systemd.automount: Try to remount if share went offline
# - noatime: Do not update access timestamps
host:~$ mkdir -p /mnt/lxc_shares/<TARGET>
host:~$ vim /root/.smb_credentials
username=<USERNAME>
password=<PASSWORD>
host:~$ vim /etc/fstab
//<IP_ADDR>/<SHARE> /mnt/lxc_shares/<TARGET> cifs _netdev,x-systemd.automount,noatime,\
  uid=100000,gid=110000,dir_mode=0770,file_mode=0770,credentials=/root/.smb_credentials 0 0
host:~$ systemctl daemon-reload
host:~$ mount /mnt/lxc_shares/<TARGET>
 
###################################
#  MOUNT HOST SHARE ON CONTAINER  #
###################################
 
# Create and assign group, then stop the container
# Do it either within LXC console, or via CLI (per below) 
host:~$ pct exec <LXC_ID> -- groupadd -g 10000 lxc_shares
host:~$ pct exec <LXC_ID> -- usermod -aG lxc_shares <USER>
 
# Add bind mount to LXC, with optional read-only flag, then start LXC
host:~$ pct stop <LXC_ID>  # monitor with 'pct status <LXC_ID>'
host:~$ vim /etc/pve/lxc/<LXC_ID>.conf
mp0: /mnt/lxc_shares/<TARGET>/,mp=/mnt/<DEST>,ro=1,shared=1
host:~$ pct start <LXC_ID>

For Alpine Linux containers (where groupadd and usermod is unavailable),

addgroup.sh

USER=root
GID=10000
LXC_ID=100
TARGET=/mnt/lxc_shares
DEST=/mnt/nas
 
pct exec ${LXC_ID} -- addgroup -g ${GID} lxc_shares
pct exec ${LXC_ID} -- adduser root lxc_shares
pct stop ${LXC_ID}
echo "mp0: ${TARGET}/,mp=${DEST},ro=1,shared=1" >> /etc/pve/lxc/${LXC_ID}.conf
pct start ${LXC_ID}

If cannot startup containers, check out the syslog on host. Accessible from the Web GUI as well under "System > System Log".

The website is here: https://www.proxmox.com/

Idea is to have hypervisor running on computer, then install Windows OS on top for gaming + other simultaneous OS to boot on and off.

Installation is straightforward: Download and burn Proxmox ISO installer onto a USB flash drive, then boot from USB. Run the installer as usual.

Several things:

1. Used only if virtualization is a big factor, i.e. running multiple servers with independent services, or servicing multiple users (read: more than two). Access control is via SPICE (generally for proxmox) / VNC / RDP etc.
2. GPU needs to be passthrough, and it is a rather medium-sized hassle, see: https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/b5xpua/the_ultimate_beginners_guide_to_gpu_passthrough/ and perhaps also: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Pci_passthrough#Intel_CPU

If gaming / use of GPU is a primary factor, a good alternative is to run Windows, then host a Type-2 hypervisor (application level) instead. Good if the CPU has an integrated GPU, then can share graphics on separate monitors, see: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/Make-VMWare-Workstation-use-my-Nvidia-card/td-p/2751434

https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/#ad-blocker---dns

Quick rundown of services