Complete Homelab Setup Guide with Proxmox VE

# Homelab architecture
proxmox_cluster:
  nodes:
    - pve01: main compute node
    - pve02: backup/redundancy node

  storage:
    - local-lvm: fast SSD storage
    - nfs-share: network storage for backups
    - ceph: distributed storage (optional)

  networking:
    - vmbr0: management network (192.168.1.0/24)
    - vmbr1: isolated lab network (10.0.0.0/24)
    - vmbr2: DMZ network (172.16.0.0/24)

  services:
    - monitoring: prometheus, grafana
    - automation: ansible, terraform
    - development: gitlab, jenkins
    - storage: nextcloud, samba
    - security: pfsense, openvpn

# Download from official site
wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/iso/proxmox-ve_9.0-1.iso

# Using dd command (replace /dev/sdX with your USB device)
sudo dd if=proxmox-ve_9.0-1.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

# Update system packages
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# Backup & Configure network interfaces
[ -f /etc/network/interfaces.default ]||cp -pv /etc/network/interfaces{,.default}
cat <<EOF > /etc/network/interfaces
# Example network configuration
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.100/24
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    bridge-ports eno1
    bridge-stp off
    bridge-fd 0
EOF

# Restart networking
systemctl restart networking

# /etc/network/interfaces
# Management Network (VLAN 1)
auto vmbr0.1
iface vmbr0.1 inet static
    address 192.168.1.100/24
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    vlan-raw-device vmbr0

# Lab Network (VLAN 10)
auto vmbr0.10
iface vmbr0.10 inet static
    address 10.0.0.1/24
    vlan-raw-device vmbr0

# DMZ Network (VLAN 20)
auto vmbr0.20
iface vmbr0.20 inet static
    address 172.16.0.1/24
    vlan-raw-device vmbr0

# Configure iptables for network isolation
# Allow management access
iptables -A INPUT -i vmbr0.1 -j ACCEPT

# Allow lab network to access internet
iptables -A FORWARD -i vmbr0.10 -o vmbr0.1 -j ACCEPT

# Restrict DMZ access
iptables -A FORWARD -i vmbr0.20 -o vmbr0.1 -j DROP

# Create LVM thin pool for VMs
pvcreate /dev/sdb
vgcreate pve /dev/sdb
lvcreate -l 100%FREE -T pve/vmdata

# Create ZFS pool for data storage
zpool create tank mirror /dev/sdc /dev/sdd
zfs create tank/vmdata
zfs create tank/backups

# Install NFS server
apt install nfs-kernel-server

# Configure exports
echo "/mnt/backups 192.168.1.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)" >> /etc/exports
exportfs -a

# Mount in Proxmox
pvesm add nfs backup-nfs --server 192.168.1.100 --export /mnt/backups

# Download Ubuntu cloud image 22.04
wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/jammy/current/jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img

# Create VM template
qm create 9000 --name ubuntu-template --memory 2048 --cores 2 --sockets 1
qm importdisk 9000 jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img local-lvm
qm set 9000 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-9000-disk-0
qm set 9000 --boot c --bootdisk scsi0
qm set 9000 --serial0 socket --vga serial0
qm set 9000 --ciuser ubuntu --cipassword ubuntu
qm set 9000 --sshkeys ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
qm set 9000 --ipconfig0 ip=dhcp
qm template 9000

# Create Windows VM template
qm create 9001 --name windows-template --memory 4096 --cores 2 --sockets 1
qm set 9001 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci
qm set 9001 --boot c --bootdisk scsi0
qm set 9001 --serial0 socket --vga serial0
qm template 9001

# Create development container
pct create 100 local:vztmpl/ubuntu-22.04-standard_22.04-1_amd64.tar.gz \
  --hostname dev-env \
  --memory 2048 \
  --cores 2 \
  --rootfs local-lvm:8 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0.10,ip=10.0.0.10/24,gw=10.0.0.1

# Start container
pct start 100

# Install development tools
pct exec 100 -- bash -c "
  apt update && apt install -y git docker.io python3-pip nodejs npm
  systemctl enable docker
  usermod -aG docker 1000
"

# Create monitoring container
pct create 101 local:vztmpl/ubuntu-22.04-standard_22.04-1_amd64.tar.gz \
  --hostname monitoring \
  --memory 4096 \
  --cores 2 \
  --rootfs local-lvm:16 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0.1,ip=192.168.1.101/24,gw=192.168.1.1

# Install monitoring stack
pct exec 101 -- bash -c "
  apt update && apt install -y docker.io docker-compose
  mkdir -p /opt/monitoring
  cd /opt/monitoring
"

# Create backup script
cat > /root/backup-script.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash

# Backup all VMs and containers
vzdump --all --compress gzip --storage backup-nfs --mode snapshot

# Clean old backups (keep 7 days)
find /mnt/backups -name "*.vma.gz" -mtime +7 -delete

# Sync to remote storage
rsync -avz --delete /mnt/backups/ user@remote-server:/backups/proxmox/

chmod +x /root/backup-script.sh

# Add to crontab
echo "0 2 * * * /root/backup-script.sh" | crontab -

# Test backup restoration
qmrestore /mnt/backups/vzdump-qemu-100-2025_01_26-02_00_00.vma.gz 999

# Verify VM functionality
qm start 999
qm stop 999
qm destroy 999

# docker-compose.yml for monitoring
version: "3.8"
services:
  prometheus:
    image: prom/prometheus:latest
    container_name: prometheus
    ports:
      - "9090:9090"
    volumes:
      - ./prometheus.yml:/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml
      - prometheus_data:/prometheus
    command:
      - "--config.file=/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml"
      - "--storage.tsdb.path=/prometheus"
      - "--web.console.libraries=/etc/prometheus/console_libraries"
      - "--web.console.templates=/etc/prometheus/consoles"
      - "--storage.tsdb.retention.time=200h"
      - "--web.enable-lifecycle"

  grafana:
    image: grafana/grafana:latest
    container_name: grafana
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - grafana_data:/var/lib/grafana
    environment:
      - GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin123

volumes:
  prometheus_data:
  grafana_data:

# prometheus.yml
global:
  scrape_interval: 15s

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: "proxmox"
    static_configs:
      - targets: ["192.168.1.100:9221"]
    metrics_path: /metrics
    scheme: https
    tls_config:
      insecure_skip_verify: true
    basic_auth:
      username: "prometheus@pve"
      password: "your-password"

# Create GitLab VM from template
qm clone 9000 1000 --name gitlab
qm set 1000 --memory 8192 --cores 4
qm set 1000 --ipconfig0 ip=192.168.1.10/24,gw=192.168.1.1
qm start 1000

# Install GitLab
curl -s https://packages.gitlab.com/install/repositories/gitlab/gitlab-ce/script.deb.sh | sudo bash
apt install gitlab-ce
gitlab-ctl reconfigure

# Create Nextcloud container
pct create 102 local:vztmpl/ubuntu-22.04-standard_22.04-1_amd64.tar.gz \
  --hostname nextcloud \
  --memory 2048 \
  --cores 2 \
  --rootfs local-lvm:32 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0.1,ip=192.168.1.11/24,gw=192.168.1.1

# Install Nextcloud
pct exec 102 -- bash -c "
  apt update && apt install -y apache2 mariadb-server php php-mysql
  wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip
  unzip latest.zip -d /var/www/
  chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud
"

# Configure firewall rules
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8006 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT
iptables -P INPUT DROP

# Save rules
iptables-save > /etc/iptables/rules.v4

# Install Certbot for Let's Encrypt
apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache

# Generate SSL certificate
certbot --apache -d homelab.yourdomain.com

# Configure Proxmox HTTPS
nano /etc/hosts
# Add: 192.168.1.100 homelab.yourdomain.com

# homelab-setup.yml
---
- name: Configure Proxmox Homelab
  hosts: proxmox
  become: yes

  tasks:
    - name: Update system packages
      apt:
        update_cache: yes
        upgrade: yes

    - name: Install monitoring tools
      apt:
        name:
          - htop
          - iotop
          - nethogs
          - iftop
        state: present

    - name: Configure backup storage
      file:
        path: /mnt/backups
        state: directory
        mode: "0755"
        owner: root
        group: root

    - name: Setup automated backups
      cron:
        name: "Proxmox backup"
        hour: "2"
        minute: "0"
        job: "/root/backup-script.sh"
        state: present

# main.tf
terraform {
  required_providers {
    proxmox = {
      source = "telmate/proxmox"
      version = "2.9.14"
    }
  }
}

provider "proxmox" {
  pm_api_url = "https://192.168.1.100:8006/api2/json"
  pm_api_token_id = var.pm_api_token_id
  pm_api_token_secret = var.pm_api_token_secret
  pm_tls_insecure = true
}

resource "proxmox_vm_qemu" "test_server" {
  name = "test-server"
  target_node = "pve01"
  clone = "ubuntu-template"

  cores = 2
  sockets = 1
  memory = 2048

  network {
    bridge = "vmbr0.10"
    model = "virtio"
  }

  disk {
    type = "scsi"
    storage = "local-lvm"
    size = "20G"
  }
}

# CPU pinning for performance-critical VMs
qm set 1000 --cpulimit 4 --cpuunits 1000

# Memory ballooning
qm set 1000 --balloon 1

# Storage optimization
qm set 1000 --scsi0 local-lvm:20,cache=writeback,ssd=1

# Enable jumbo frames for storage network
ip link set vmbr1 mtu 9000

# Configure network bonding
auto bond0
iface bond0 inet manual
    bond-slaves eno1 eno2
    bond-mode 802.3ad
    bond-miimon 100

# Check VM configuration
qm config 1000

# Verify storage availability
pvesm status

# Check system resources
htop
df -h

# Test network connectivity
ping -c 4 192.168.1.1

# Check bridge configuration
brctl show

# Verify firewall rules
iptables -L -n -v

# Check backup logs
tail -f /var/log/vzdump.log

# Verify storage space
df -h /mnt/backups

# Test backup manually
vzdump 100 --storage backup-nfs --mode snapshot

# Join node to cluster
pvecm add 192.168.1.101

# Verify cluster status
pvecm status

# Migrate VMs between nodes
qm migrate 1000 pve02 --online

# Add new disk to LVM
pvcreate /dev/sde
vgextend pve /dev/sde
lvextend -l +100%FREE pve/vmdata