Building a Proxmox Homelab: Virtualization for IT Pros

Introduction

Proxmox VE is an enterprise-grade open-source virtualization platform. It’s ideal for homelabs and labs where you want to practice real infrastructure skills.

Why Proxmox?

• KVM virtualization + LXC containers
• Web-based management
• Clustering support
• ZFS integration
• Backup and snapshot tooling

Hardware Guidelines

| Component | Minimum | Recommended |

|-----------|---------|-------------|

| CPU | 4 cores | 8+ cores |

| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB+ |

| Storage | 256 GB SSD | NVMe + HDD |

| Network | 1x 1 Gbps | 2x 1 Gbps |

Installation

Download the latest ISO and boot from USB:

$# Create bootable USB on Linux
$dd bs=1M conv=fdatasync if=proxmox-ve.iso of=/dev/sdX status=progress

Post-Install Essentials

Updates and Repositories

1nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list
2# Comment out the enterprise line
3 
4echo "deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve stable pve-no-subscription" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-no-subscription.list
5apt update && apt upgrade -y

Network Bridges

/etc/network/interfaces
├── vmbr0 (Bridge - LAN)
└── vmbr1 (Optional - DMZ)

1auto vmbr0
2iface vmbr0 inet static
3    address 192.168.1.10/24
4    gateway 192.168.1.1
5    bridge-ports enp1s0
6    bridge-stp off
7    bridge-fd 0

VM Templates with Cloud-Init

1wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/jammy/current/jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img
2qm create 9000 --name ubuntu-template --memory 2048 --cores 2 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0
3qm importdisk 9000 jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img local-lvm
4qm set 9000 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-9000-disk-0
5qm set 9000 --ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit
6qm set 9000 --boot c --bootdisk scsi0
7qm set 9000 --serial0 socket --vga serial0
8qm template 9000

Backups

Configure a nightly backup job with compression and retention to an external disk or NAS.

Conclusion

Proxmox delivers enterprise features without enterprise cost, making it perfect for labs, training, and production-grade homelabs.