Proxmox VE – server virtualization management platform

Proxmox Virtual Environment is a server virtualization platform that combines virtual machines, containers, software-defined storage and networking within a unified management environment. Based on Debian, it uses KVM for hardware-assisted virtualization and LXC for lightweight Linux containers.

The platform provides a web-based administration interface for managing individual servers or clusters. Administrators can create and configure virtual machines, allocate resources, organise storage and networking, and monitor workloads without relying entirely on command-line tools. A REST API provides additional integration and automation capabilities.

Proxmox VE is particularly suited to businesses, hosting providers and organisations consolidating physical servers. It supports high-availability configurations, allowing virtual machines and containers to restart automatically on other cluster nodes following a host failure. Live migration enables workloads to move between compatible hosts with minimal interruption.

Storage management is integrated into the platform, with support for local, shared and distributed storage. Proxmox Backup Server integration provides incremental backups and recovery facilities, while software-defined networking simplifies the configuration of more complex virtual infrastructures.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Manage KVM virtual machines and LXC containers through a unified web interface.
• Centralised management of clusters, compute resources, networking and storage.
• Create, clone, snapshot and restore virtual machines and containers.
• Live migration of running virtual machines between compatible cluster nodes.
• High-availability management with automatic recovery following node failures.
• Cluster-wide configuration synchronisation using Corosync and the Proxmox Cluster File System.
• Integrated software-defined networking with virtual networks, VLANs and advanced routing facilities.
• Support local storage, ZFS, LVM, NFS, iSCSI and distributed Ceph storage.
• Integrate Ceph storage for hyperconverged infrastructure.
• Schedule backups and restore individual virtual machines or containers.
• Proxmox Backup Server integration with incremental backups, encryption and file-level recovery.
• Live restoration of supported virtual machine backups.
• Configure firewall rules at data centre, host and guest levels.
• Role-based permissions, multiple authentication sources and two-factor authentication.
• Manage hardware passthrough, including PCI and USB devices.
• Support virtual TPM devices and UEFI Secure Boot for compatible guests.
• Import virtual machines from supported external virtualization platforms.
• REST API and command-line utilities for administration and automation.

Website: proxmox.com/en/proxmox-ve
Support:
Developer: Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH
License: GNU Affero General Public License v3.0

Proxmox is written in Perl. Learn Perl with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

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