How to install Proxmox on one old PC or mini PC

What Proxmox does, and why one PC is enough

Proxmox VE is a free operating system built for running other systems. You install it on the bare PC, then manage everything from a web page on another computer. It runs two kinds of guests:

• Virtual machines (VMs): a full pretend computer with its own operating system. Use these for Docker apps, Windows, or anything you want fully separated.
• Containers (LXC): lighter Linux systems that share the host's kernel. Good for a single small service, like ad blocking, on very little memory.

The big draws are snapshots and backups. Before a risky update, take a snapshot. If the update breaks something, roll back in a minute. One PC is plenty to learn on and to run a household's worth of services. When you want a machine to keep things running while another is down, that's what a Proxmox cluster is for, and everything here carries over.

If you only want a few apps with as little setup as possible, CasaOS or ZimaOS are gentler. Here's how the home server options compare.

What the PC needs

Almost any business desktop or mini PC from the last ten years qualifies. The Lenovo M720q is a popular pick for exactly this. A few things to know first:

• The install erases the whole drive you pick. Copy off anything you want from the PC before you start.
• Use wired Ethernet. Proxmox isn't designed to run its network over Wi-Fi.
• Consumer SSDs are fine at home. Proxmox's docs prefer enterprise SSDs with power-loss protection for business servers. For a home server, an ordinary SSD works; keep backups and check its health now and then.

BIOS settings

Restart the PC and open its BIOS setup. On most Lenovo and Dell business PCs that's F1 or F2 right after power-on, and on HP it's F10. Then:

• Turn on virtualization. Look for Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x) or SVM Mode on AMD, often under CPU, Security, or Advanced. Without it, VMs won't start.
• Turn on VT-d or IOMMU if you see it. It's only needed for passing a whole device, like a network card, to one VM, but it doesn't hurt.
• Set power loss to Power On. Often called After Power Loss or Restore on AC Power Loss. The server then comes back by itself after an outage.
• Leave Secure Boot alone. Proxmox has supported it since version 8.1. Turn it off only if the PC won't boot the USB stick.

Save and exit.

Download Proxmox and make the USB stick

Get the Proxmox VE ISO Installer from Proxmox's download page. As of October 2026 the current release is 9.2, about 1.7 GB, based on Debian 13. The file name looks like proxmox-ve_9.2-1.iso.

Before you write it, it's worth checking the download isn't damaged. In Windows, open Command Prompt in your Downloads folder and run:

certutil -hashfile proxmox-ve_9.2-1.iso SHA256

The long string it prints should match the SHA256 checksum listed next to the download. If it doesn't, download it again.

Then write it to a USB stick of 2 GB or more. Everything on the stick gets erased. Proxmox's installation media guide lists two tools for Windows:

• balenaEtcher works with no settings to change. Pick the ISO, pick the stick, click Flash.
• Rufus works too, with two catches: when it asks about downloading a different version of GRUB, click No, and when it asks how to write the image, choose DD mode.

Don't use UNetbootin. Proxmox says it doesn't work with their installer.

The installer, screen by screen

Plug the stick and an Ethernet cable into the PC, power it on, and open the boot menu: F12 on most Lenovo and Dell PCs, F9 on HP. Pick the USB stick.

1. Boot menu: choose Install Proxmox VE (Graphical). If the screen goes blank or garbled, restart and choose Install Proxmox VE (Terminal UI) instead. It asks the same questions in a text layout.
2. License: accept the license agreement.
3. Target Harddisk: pick the SSD. Check the size so you don't erase the wrong drive. The Options button sets the filesystem. The default, ext4, is the right choice for a single drive. Pick ZFS only if you have two matching drives to mirror and 16 GB or more of memory.
4. Location and Time Zone: usually filled in for you. Check the time zone and keyboard layout.
5. Administration Password and Email: this sets the password for the root account. Proxmox requires at least 8 characters and recommends 12 or more. Write it down somewhere safe. The email address gets update and error notices.
6. Management Network Configuration: this is the address you'll use to manage the server, so it shouldn't change.
   • Hostname (FQDN): a name plus a domain, like pve.home.arpa. The home.arpa ending is set aside for home networks.
   • IP Address (CIDR): the installer fills in what your router gave it. Either pick an address outside your router's DHCP range, or keep this one and reserve it in your router's settings so nothing else gets it.
   • Gateway and DNS Server: usually your router's address, like 192.168.1.1. The installer normally fills these in correctly.
7. Summary: check the disk and network settings, then click Install. It takes several minutes. When it finishes, it restarts on its own. Pull the USB stick out so it boots from the SSD.

When it's done, the PC's screen shows a login prompt and a line telling you which web address to open. You can unplug the monitor and keyboard after this. Everything else happens from another computer.

First login

On another computer on the same network, open a browser and go to https:// plus the server's IP and :8006, for example https://192.168.1.20:8006. Two things happen that look like problems but aren't:

• A certificate warning. Proxmox uses a self-signed certificate, so the browser complains. On your own network, click Advanced and continue to the site.
• A "No valid subscription" message after you log in. It shows up on every login without a paid subscription. Click OK. Nothing is locked or limited.

Log in with the user name root, the password you set, and the realm Linux PAM standard authentication.

Switch to the free update repository

Out of the box, Proxmox points at its enterprise update repository, which needs a paid subscription. Without one, updates fail with an error. Switch to the free no-subscription repository, which Proxmox describes as being for testing and non-production use. That's the normal choice for a home server.

1. In the left panel, click your server's name under Datacenter (for example pve).
2. Open Updates, then Repositories.
3. Click the line for the enterprise Proxmox repository and click Disable. Do the same for the Ceph enterprise line if there is one.
4. Click Add, choose No-Subscription, and click Add.
5. Go back to Updates, click Refresh, then click Upgrade. A console window opens. Type y and press Enter when it asks.
6. Restart the server if the update included a new kernel: click Reboot at the top right of the server's page.

If you'd rather use the command line, the setting lives in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/proxmox.sources. Proxmox's repository page gives the exact contents:

Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve
Suites: trixie
Components: pve-no-subscription
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg

To turn off the enterprise one, add the line Enabled: no to pve-enterprise.sources in the same folder. Then update from the server's Shell:

apt update && apt full-upgrade

Run updates this way every few weeks. Use apt full-upgrade, never plain apt upgrade, which can leave Proxmox half-updated.

Create your first virtual machine

A Linux VM with Docker is the most useful first guest: most self-hosted apps install that way. Ubuntu Server and Debian both work well.

First, get the installer ISO onto Proxmox. In the left panel, open your server, click local, then ISO Images. Click Download from URL, paste the link to the Ubuntu Server or Debian ISO from their official download pages, click Query URL, then Download. (Or download it on your computer and use Upload.)

Then click Create VM at the top right and go through the tabs:

1. General: give it a name, like docker.
2. OS: pick the ISO you just downloaded.
3. System: tick QEMU Agent. Leave the rest.
4. Disks: 32 GB is plenty for the system and Docker. Photos and files can go on a second disk later.
5. CPU: 2 to 4 cores. Leave Type at its default, x86-64-v2-AES. Don't pick kvm64: some apps, including Immich's face search, need the newer instruction set that the default provides.
6. Memory: 4096 MB for a general Docker VM, 8192 MB if it will run Immich.
7. Network: leave the bridge at vmbr0 and set the model to VirtIO (paravirtualized).
8. Confirm: tick Start after created and click Finish.

Click the new VM, open its Console, and install Ubuntu or Debian as you would on a real PC. When it's done, install the guest agent inside the VM so Proxmox can see its IP address and shut it down cleanly:

sudo apt install qemu-guest-agent

Then restart the VM from Proxmox. Before you change anything big inside it later, use the VM's Snapshots tab to take one.

Running Immich on Proxmox

Immich, the self-hosted Google Photos replacement, is a common reason to set up Proxmox. Its requirements page says that Docker in LXC containers "is not recommended," and that Immich runs well in a full virtual machine. So:

1. Create a VM as above with 8 GB of memory, 4 cores, and the default CPU type.
2. Add a second disk for the photos: select the VM, open Hardware, click Add, then Hard Disk. Size it for your library plus room to grow.
3. Inside the VM, format and mount that disk, and point Immich's UPLOAD_LOCATION at it.
4. Follow the Immich install steps from there. They're the same in a VM as on a real PC.

Immich's database stays on the VM's first disk, which lives on the Proxmox SSD. That keeps it on local storage, which Immich requires.

Back up your VMs

Proxmox can back up every VM and container on a schedule, but a backup on the same SSD dies with the SSD. Put backups on a second drive, a USB disk, or a NAS:

1. Add the storage under Datacenter, Storage, Add (a Directory on a second drive, or NFS or SMB/CIFS for a NAS), with Backup ticked under Content.
2. Go to Datacenter, Backup, Add. Pick that storage, a schedule like daily at 2:00, and the VMs to include.
3. Set how many backups to keep on the Retention tab, then click OK.

Do one test restore early, to a new VM ID, so you know it works before you need it. Photo libraries also need a copy off-site. The Immich guide's backup section covers that.

Once you've got the hang of one machine, the next steps are a network-wide ad blocker and, if you catch the bug, a second and third mini PC for a cluster.