Proxmox VE Installation Guide (with ZFS Root Filesystem)

This guide walks you through installing Proxmox VE using ZFS for maximum performance, snapshot support, and ARC-based caching.

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✅ Requirements

• Bootable USB with latest Proxmox VE ISO
• Mini PC or server with:
• 1× NVMe SSD (or SATA SSD)
• 32 GB RAM minimum (64 GB recommended)
• Display + keyboard (for initial installation only)

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1. Download & Prepare Installation Media

1. Download the latest Proxmox ISO:
   → https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads

2. Create a bootable USB:

3. On Windows: Use Rufus

4. On macOS/Linux: Use dd or balenaEtcher

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2. Boot and Begin Installation

1. Insert USB into target machine and boot from it
2. Choose “Install Proxmox VE” from the boot menu

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3. Choose ZFS Root Filesystem

When the installer asks for Target Hard Disk:

1. Click Options (bottom right)
2. Select:
3. Filesystem: ZFS (RAID0) (if single disk)
4. Optional:
5. Enable compression: lz4 (recommended default)
6. Set ashift: 12 for SSDs (default in most cases)
7. Swap size: 0 (optional if you prefer no swap)

Note: RAID1/RAID10 is available if you have 2+ drives

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4. Complete Installation

1. Set:
2. Country, Timezone, Keyboard
3. Admin password
4. Hostname (e.g. sage-proxmox.local)
5. Set static IP (recommended)
6. Confirm install and reboot when complete

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5. First Login & Post-Install Checklist

Access the Proxmox Web UI from another device:
```text

https://your-server-ip:8006

•   Login: root + your password
•   Accept SSL warning

Recommended Settings:

•   Update system (apt update && apt dist-upgrade)
•   Enable Proxmox no-subscription repo (optional)
•   Upload ISO images (e.g. Windows Server 2019)
•   Create ZFS-backed storage pools if needed

⸻

✅ Why ZFS?

Benefit	What You Gain
Snapshots	Fast backups and rollbacks for VMs
ARC caching	RAM-accelerated read performance
Data integrity	Checksummed files; automatic silent corruption repair
Compression	Reduced disk I/O and longer SSD lifespan

⸻

Optional: Tune ARC

To cap ZFS RAM usage:

echo “options zfs zfs_arc_max=34359738368” > /etc/modprobe.d/zfs.conf

update-initramfs -u && reboot

(Example sets max ARC to 32 GB)

⸻

Done!

You now have a Proxmox VE system using ZFS as its root filesystem — ideal for running your Windows Server 2019 + Sage 50 VM with fast snapshots and enhanced read speed.

Let me know if you’d like a companion guide for creating and backing up your Sage VM on this ZFS setup.

May 25, 2025

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