Proxmox VE on KTDEVX

Pass Through a Physical Disk to a Virtual Machine on Proxmox VE

ktdevx@gmail.com (Kaito Takemura) — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 23:47:16 +0900

This article explains how to pass through a physical disk to a virtual machine on Proxmox VE.

# Introduction

Before passing through a physical disk to the virtual machine, check the disks currently connected to it with the lsblk command.

root@openmediavault:~# lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 32G 0 disk
|-sda1 8:1 0 31G 0 part /
|-sda2 8:2 0 1K 0 part
`-sda5 8:5 0 975M 0 part [SWAP]
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom

In this example, a 1 TB physical disk is connected through to the virtual machine.

# Check the Disk

Check the model number of the physical disk, then connect it to the server where Proxmox VE is installed.

After connecting it, run ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/ in the Proxmox VE shell to check the disk.

root@pve:~# ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Apr 6 23:28 ata-TOSHIBA_DT01ACA100_X7P8MYTFS -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Apr 6 23:28 ata-TOSHIBA_DT01ACA100_X7P8MYTFS-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Apr 5 22:12 dm-name-pve-root -> ../../dm-1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Apr 5 22:12 dm-name-pve-swap -> ../../dm-0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Apr 5 22:46 dm-name-pve-vm--100--disk--0 -> ../../dm-6
...

/dev/disk/by-id/ is a directory containing symbolic links to storage devices on Linux.

Names such as /dev/sdX can change depending on the boot or connection order. Links in /dev/disk/by-id/ use device-specific IDs, so they are very useful when you want to always access the same disk.

The path to the disk connected in this example was /dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_DT01ACA100_X7P8MYTFS. Make a note of it.

# Pass Through the Disk to the Virtual Machine

Use the qm set command to pass through a physical disk to the virtual machine.

qm set <VM ID> -scsi<SCSI interface number> <path to physical disk>

The following configuration was used in this example.

root@pve:~# qm set 100 -scsi1 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_DT01ACA100_X7P8MYTFS
update VM 100: -scsi1 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_DT01ACA100_X7P8MYTFS

The specified physical disk is connected to the virtual machine with VM ID 100 through SCSI1.

# Check the Passed-Through Disk

After passing through the physical disk, restart the virtual machine and log in to its shell.

Check the disk with the lsblk command.

root@openmediavault:~# lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 32G 0 disk
|-sda1 8:1 0 31G 0 part /
|-sda2 8:2 0 1K 0 part
`-sda5 8:5 0 975M 0 part [SWAP]
sdb 8:16 0 931.5G 0 disk
`-sdb1 8:17 0 931.5G 0 part
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom

You can confirm that the physical disk has been passed through successfully.

Create a Virtual Machine (VM) on Proxmox VE

ktdevx@gmail.com (Kaito Takemura) — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 14:38:12 +0900

Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment) is an open-source virtualization platform based on KVM and LXC. It allows you to easily create and manage virtual machines and containers from a web UI.

This article explains how to create a virtual machine on Proxmox VE.

# Download an ISO Image

Download the ISO image of the guest OS to install on the virtual machine.

In this example, OpenMediaVault, a NAS platform, is selected.

# Upload the ISO Image

You can upload an ISO image from the Proxmox VE management interface.

On the left side of the management interface, select local () under the target node, select ISO Images, and open the ISO image management screen.

Select Upload to open the ISO image upload screen.

Select and upload the downloaded ISO image. You can also enter the hash value published with the ISO image to verify it.

Wait for the upload to complete.

The ISO image has been uploaded.

In this example, the ISO image was uploaded from a PC. You can also select Download from URL and specify the URL of a download page to download the ISO image.

# Create a Virtual Machine

Select Create VM in the upper-right corner to open the virtual machine creation screen.

## General Settings

Specify the node on which to create the virtual machine and enter its name. A sequential VM ID is assigned. Leave it unchanged unless you have a specific requirement.

If you want the virtual machine to start automatically when Proxmox VE starts, select Start at boot.

After configuring the settings, select Next to open the OS settings screen.

## OS Settings

Configure the virtual machine’s OS.

To use the uploaded ISO image, select Use CD/DVD disc image file (iso) and select the uploaded ISO image.

Select the type of the virtual machine’s OS and select Next to open the system settings screen.

## System Settings

Configure the system settings.

There is no need to change these settings unless you have a specific requirement.

If you will install the QEMU guest agent in the virtual machine, select Qemu Agent.

The QEMU guest agent runs inside the virtual machine and provides a mechanism for executing commands on the virtual machine through libvirt from Proxmox VE.

After configuring the settings, select Next to open the disk settings screen.

## Disk Settings

Configure the disk settings.

For the bus/device setting, select SCSI unless you have a specific requirement. This connects the disk to the SCSI controller selected in the system settings. Selecting VirtIO SCSI or VirtIO SCSI Single enables faster disk access.

Select the storage and enter the disk size, then select Next to open the CPU settings screen.

## CPU Settings

Configure the CPU settings.

Here, you mainly specify the number of virtual cores assigned to the virtual machine. The total number of assignable cores is determined by the number of sockets multiplied by the number of cores.

Setting the number of sockets to 2 or more makes the virtual machine appear to have multiple CPUs. Normally, 1 is sufficient.

The type setting allows you to select the CPU type presented to the virtual machine. Leave it unchanged unless you have a specific requirement.

After configuring the settings, select Next to open the memory settings screen.

## Memory Settings

Configure the memory settings.

Enter the amount of memory to allocate to the virtual machine.

Ballooning is a feature that dynamically adjusts the memory allocated to the virtual machine. Although it can save resources, it can also make performance unstable, so disabling Ballooning Device is recommended.

After configuring the settings, select Next to open the network settings screen.

## Network Settings

Configure the network settings.

Select the bridge you want to use. Unless you have a specific requirement, leave the model set to VirtIO.

After configuring the settings, select Next to open the confirmation screen.

## Review the Settings

The configured settings are displayed. If everything is correct, select Finish to complete the virtual machine configuration.

# Install the Guest OS

The virtual machine has been created on the node specified in the general settings.

Select Start in the upper-right corner, then select Console to open the guest OS installation screen.

Install the guest OS as usual.

Install Proxmox VE

ktdevx@gmail.com (Kaito Takemura) — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 11:10:09 +0900

Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment) is an open-source virtualization platform based on KVM and LXC. It allows you to easily create and manage virtual machines and containers from a web UI.

This article explains how to install Proxmox VE.

# Introduction

In this example, Proxmox VE is installed on the NucBox M5 Plus, a mini PC sold by GMKtec.

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The specifications of the NucBox M5 Plus are as follows.

Manufacturer	GMKtec
Model	NucBox M5 Plus
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 5825U (8 cores, 16 threads, up to 4.50GHz)
Memory	16GB (8GB x 2)
Storage	512GB SSD
Graphics	AMD Radeon Graphics (integrated into the CPU)
Network	2 x 2.5Gb LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Interfaces	1 x USB Type-C (video output supported), 2 x USB3.2 Gen1, 2 x USB2.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort, audio jack (3.5mm 4-pole)
Expansion slots	3 x M.2 slots (2 for storage, 1 for Wi-Fi)

# Download Proxmox VE

Download the ISO image from the Proxmox VE download page. In this example, Proxmox VE 8.3 was downloaded.

# Create an Installation USB Drive

Write the downloaded ISO image to a USB drive. Use an image-writing tool such as Win32 Disk Imager to write it to the USB drive.

For details on using Win32 Disk Imager, see How to Install and Use Win32 Disk Imager.

# Install Proxmox VE

Connect the USB drive to the PC on which you want to install Proxmox VE, start the PC, and boot from the USB drive. The Proxmox VE installation screen is displayed.

## Select the Installation Type

The installation types are displayed. Select Install Proxmox VE (Graphical) to proceed with the GUI installation.

## Accept the License Agreement

The Proxmox VE license agreement is displayed. If there is no issue, select I agree to continue.

## Configure the Installation Target

Select the installation target for Proxmox VE. You can configure details such as the file system from Options.

After selecting the target, press Next to continue.

## Configure the Country, Time Zone, and Keyboard Layout

Configure the country, time zone, and keyboard layout. If the system is connected to the internet at this point, these fields are filled in automatically.

After configuring them, press Next to continue.

## Configure the Administrator Password and Email Address

Configure the password and email address for the administrator user (root). Enter the password twice for confirmation.

After configuring them, press Next to continue.

## Configure the Network

Configure the network interface, hostname, IP address, and other settings.

After configuring them, press Next to continue.

## Review the Settings

The settings configured so far are displayed. If everything is correct, select Install to start the installation.

## Installation

Wait for the installation to complete. When it is complete, remove the USB drive and restart the PC. If everything went well, the shell login screen is displayed.

## Access the Proxmox VE Management Interface

Finally, access the Proxmox VE management interface. From a web browser, go to https://<configured-IP-address>:8006.

The login screen is displayed. Log in with root as the username and the password configured during installation.

You can now log in to the Proxmox VE management interface. The Proxmox VE installation is complete.