Proxmox VE
Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is a complete, open-source server management platform for enterprise virtualisation. It tightly integrates two virtualisation technologies — KVM for full virtual machines and LXC for lightweight Linux containers — on a single platform, combined with software-defined storage and networking. You manage everything through an integrated web-based interface, a CLI, or a RESTful API — no separate management tool needed.
Developed by Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH in Vienna and first released in 2008, Proxmox VE is designed for hyper-converged infrastructure, allowing compute, storage, and networking to be managed from one interface. It’s in production use at organisations worldwide, including the International Space Station’s Columbus module. The platform is free and open-source under the AGPLv3 licence with optional paid support subscriptions starting at €4.99 per month.
Key Features
- Dual virtualisation — KVM full virtualisation for Windows and Linux VMs plus LXC containers for lightweight application isolation
- Web-based management — Central GUI accessible from any modern browser; no separate management console required
- RESTful API and CLI — Full JSON-schema-defined REST API plus command-line interface with tab completion for automation
- High availability clustering — Multi-node clustering via Corosync with automatic VM and container migration on node failure
- Software-defined storage — Built-in Ceph, ZFS, LVM (thin provisioning), NFS, iSCSI, and local directory storage
- Live migration — Move running VMs and containers between cluster nodes with zero downtime
- PCIe passthrough — Direct hardware access for GPUs, NVMe drives, NICs, and other PCIe devices (Intel VT-d / AMD-Vi)
- Backup and disaster recovery — Built-in vzdump tool with full and incremental backups; integrates with Proxmox Backup Server for deduplication and encryption
- Multi-factor authentication — TOTP, WebAuthn, YubiKey OTP support alongside LDAP, Active Directory, PAM, and OIDC
- Software-defined networking — Full SDN stack with VLAN, VXLAN, and QinQ support
Why Use It
Proxmox VE combines compute, storage, and networking in a single open-source platform — no need for separate management tools or expensive licensing. It’s enterprise-ready with HA clustering, live migration, backup, MFA, and role-based access control included out of the box. Despite being free, there are no hidden feature restrictions or upsells. If you’re running a homelab, a small business, or an enterprise data centre, Proxmox VE gives you VMware-like capabilities without the VMware-like price tag.
Use Cases
- Enterprise data centre virtualisation — Consolidate servers and run production workloads with high availability
- Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) — Deploy compute and storage together on the same hardware with Ceph
- Homelab and self-hosted environments — Run your own cloud at home with the same tools used by professionals
- Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) — Deliver virtual desktops using SPICE or RDP
- Cloud hosting provider infrastructure — Provision and manage customer VMs and containers at scale
- Disaster recovery and business continuity — Replicate VMs between sites with Proxmox Backup Server
Platform
x86_64 (Intel 64 / AMD64) with Intel VT-x or AMD-V · Debian GNU/Linux (custom ISO or install on existing Debian)
Licence
GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPLv3) — fully open source with optional paid enterprise support subscriptions