Proxmox VE Cheatsheet

Proxmox VE is an open-source server virtualization management platform based on Debian, supporting KVM for virtual machines and LXC for containers. It is installed via a bare-metal ISO.

Cluster Management (`pvecm`)

pvecm status               # Show cluster status and node quorum
pvecm nodes                # List nodes in the cluster
pvecm expected 1           # Force quorum (use carefully if nodes are down)

VM Management (`qm`)

QEMU/KVM Virtual Machines are managed using the qm command.

qm list                    # List all VMs on this node
qm status <vmid>           # Check status of a VM (e.g., qm status 100)
qm start <vmid>            # Start a VM
qm stop <vmid>             # Hard stop (unplug power)
qm shutdown <vmid>         # Graceful shutdown (sends ACPI signal)
qm destroy <vmid>          # Delete a VM (and its disks)
qm clone <vmid> <newid>    # Clone a VM (e.g., qm clone 100 101 --name new-vm)
qm config <vmid>           # View VM configuration

Container Management (`pct`)

LXC Containers are managed using the pct command.

pct list                   # List all containers on this node
pct status <vmid>          # Check status of a container
pct start <vmid>           # Start a container
pct stop <vmid>            # Stop a container
pct enter <vmid>           # Open a root shell inside a running container
pct exec <vmid> -- command # Execute a command inside a running container (e.g. pct exec 100 -- apt update)
pct destroy <vmid>         # Delete a container
pct config <vmid>          # View container configuration

Storage Management (`pvesm`)

pvesm status               # List all configured storage pools and their usage
pvesm alloc <storeid> <vmid> <filename> <size>  # Allocate a new disk volume
pvesm free <volume>        # Delete a volume

Updates and Upgrades

Since Proxmox is based on Debian, use apt, but prefer dist-upgrade over upgrade.

apt update
apt dist-upgrade           # Recommended method for upgrading Proxmox

(Note: Never use apt upgrade as it might hold back critical Proxmox packages.)

Networking

Proxmox manages networking in /etc/network/interfaces. If you make changes manually, you need to apply them.

ifreload -a                # Reload networking configuration without rebooting
ip addr show               # Show current IP configurations

Subscription Notice Removal

If using the free no-subscription repository, a popup appears on login. To remove it (temporarily, until the next pve-manager update):

sed -i.bak "s/data.status !== 'Active'/false/g" /usr/share/javascript/proxmox-widget-toolkit/proxmoxlib.js
systemctl restart pveproxy

Cheatsheets