Proxmox VE for Beginners: Create Your First VM and Container

Who This Is For

Beginner. Assumes you’ve already got a host machine, see the Mini PC homelab article if not.

Think of it like a landlord splitting one building into separate, locked apartments. Each apartment (a VM or container) lives its own life without bothering the neighbours, even though they all share the same walls and plumbing.

What You’ll Build

One Ubuntu VM and one LXC container, each network-accessible and backed up, plus a working understanding of when to reach for which.

Prerequisites

• A Proxmox VE host already installed
• An Ubuntu Server or Debian ISO uploaded to Proxmox storage
• Basic familiarity with a web browser admin console

Architecture

Proxmox VE organizes resources under a Node, with Storage, Network, and Datacenter-level settings shared across guests. Each guest is either a full VM (its own kernel, stronger isolation, ideal for Windows or experimentation) or an LXC container (shares the host kernel, lightweight, fast startup, ideal for most Linux services).

VM vs. LXC, Which to Use

• VM: stronger isolation, separate kernel, needed for Windows or anything that must not touch the host kernel
• LXC: lightweight, near-instant startup, lower overhead, ideal for the majority of Linux services you’ll self-host

Tour the Interface

Familiarize yourself with the Node view (CPU/RAM/disk of the host itself), Storage (where ISOs and disk images live), Network (bridges), Datacenter (cluster-wide settings), and the Backup menu.

Upload an ISO and Create a VM

1. Storage → local → ISO Images → Upload
2. Create VM → select the ISO, set 2 vCPU / 4GB RAM / 32GB disk as a reasonable starting allocation
3. Network: use the default bridge (vmbr0) for normal LAN access
4. Start the VM and complete the Ubuntu Server install as normal

Create an LXC Container

Use Create CT with a Debian or Ubuntu template (Storage → Templates if none are listed yet). Containers boot in seconds and are the better default for simple services like Pi-hole, Uptime Kuma, or a reverse proxy.

Snapshots vs. Backups

A snapshot is a fast, short-term rollback point stored alongside the guest’s disk, useful before a risky change, not a substitute for a real backup. A backup (Proxmox’s built-in vzdump) is a full, restorable copy, ideally stored on separate storage.

$ # Manual backup via CLI (or use the Backup tab in the UI)
$ vzdump 101 --storage backup-nas --mode snapshot

Clone a Template for Repeat Deployments

Convert a fully-configured VM or CT into a template, then clone it whenever you need another instance with the same base setup, much faster than reinstalling from ISO each time.

Security & Backup Notes

• Set a real backup schedule to storage separate from the Proxmox host itself, not just snapshots
• Use a bridged network with a static DHCP reservation for guests you’ll want to reach reliably
• Keep the Proxmox web UI itself off any public-facing port, VPN or LAN-only access

Troubleshooting

• VM has no network, check the guest’s NIC is attached to the correct bridge (vmbr0 in most single-NIC setups)
• Wrong bridge selected, a guest attached to an isolated internal bridge won’t reach your LAN at all
• Disk storage fills unexpectedly, thin-provisioned disks can overcommit; watch actual usage under Storage, not just the configured disk size
• Snapshot cannot be created, some storage backends (e.g. plain LVM without thin-provisioning) don’t support snapshots at all
• Container can’t run Docker, unprivileged LXC containers need nesting enabled (Options → Features → nesting) before Docker will work inside them

Lab Finish Line

One Ubuntu VM and one LXC container, each network-accessible and backed up.

What to Build Next

• Docker Compose for Home Labs
• Home Lab Backups That Actually Restore