I don’t like my prompt, i want to change it. it has my username and host, but the formatting is not what i want. This blog will get you started quickly on doing exactly that.

This is my current prompt below:

To change the prompt you will update .bashrc and set the PS1 environment variable to a new value.

Here is a cheatsheet of the prompt options:

You can use these placeholders for customization:

I want to change my prompt to say
Here is my new prompt I am going to use:

Can you guess what that does? Yes for my article writing this is exactly what i want. Here is the screenshot:

A lot of people will want the Username, Hostname, for my example i don’t! But you can use \u and \h for that. I used \w to show what directory i am in. You can also show date and time, etc.

You can also play with setting colors in the prompt with these variables:

Here is my colorful version. The backslashes are primarily needed to ensure proper formatting of the prompt and avoid breaking its functionality.

This uses Magenta, Blue and Red coloring for different parts of the prompt.

Conclusion

You can see how to customize your bash prompt with PS1 environment in Ubuntu. Hope this helps you be happy with your environment in linux.

In this post I will show you how to install the ZSH shell on Rocky Linux. ZSH is an alternate shell that some people prefer instead of BASH shell. Some people say ZSH has better auto-completion, theme support, and plugin system. If you want to give ZSH a try its quite easy to install and give it a try. This post is focused on the Rocky Linux user and how to install ZSH and get started with its usage.

Before installing anything new, it’s good practice to update your system packages:

It might be easier than you think to install and use a new shell. First install the package like this:

Now you can enter a session of zsh be invoking the shell’s name ‘zsh’.

You might not be sure if it succeeded, how you can verify which sell you are using now?

You should see some output like the following:

ok good, if it says bash or something other than zsh you have a problem with your setup. Now lets run a couple basic commands

Example 1: Print all numbers from 1 to 10. In Zsh, you can use a for loop to do this:

Example 2: Create a variable to store your username and then print it. You can use the $USER environment variable which automatically contains your username:

Example 3: Echo a string that says “I love $0”. The $0 variable in a shell script or interactive shell session refers to the name of the script or shell being run. Here’s how to use it:

When run in an interactive Zsh session, this will output something like “I love -zsh” if you’re in a login shell, or “I love zsh” if not.

Conclusion

Switching shells in a linux system is easy due to the modularity. Now that you see how to install ZSH you may like it and decide to use it as your preferred shell.

Anyone can easily run multiple operating systems on one host simultaneously, provided they have VirtualBox installed. Even for Ubuntu 24.04, you can install VirtualBox and utilize it to run any supported operating system.The best part about VirtualBox is that it is open-source virtualization software, and you can install and use it anytime. Whether you are stuck on how to install VirtualBox on Ubuntu 24.04 or looking to advance with other operating systems on top of your host, this post gives you two easy methods.

Two Methods of Installing VirtualBox on Ubuntu 24.04

There are different ways of installing VirtualBox on Ubuntu 24.04. For instance, you can retrieve a stable VirtualBox version from Ubuntu’s repository or add Oracle’s VirtualBox repository to install a specific version. Which method to use will depend on your requirements, and we’ve discussed the methods in the sections below.

Method 1: Install VirtualBox via APT
The easiest way of installing VirtualBox on Ubuntu 24.04 is by sourcing it from the official Ubuntu repository using APT.
Below are the steps you should follow.
Step 1: Update the Repository
In every installation, the first step involves refreshing the source list to update the package index by executing the following command.

Step 2: Install VirtualBox
Once you’ve updated your package index, the next task is to run the install command below to fetch and install the VirtualBox package.

Step 3: Verify the Installation
After the installation, use the following command to check the installed version. The output also confirms that you successfully installed VirtualBox on Ubuntu 24.04.

Method 2: Install VirtualBox from Oracle’s Repository
The previous method shows that we installed VirtualBox version 7.0.14. However, if you visit the VirtualBox website, depending on when you read this post, it’s likely that the version we’ve installed may not be the latest.

Although the older VirtualBox versions are okay, installing the latest version is always the better option as it contains all patches and fixes. However, to install the latest version, you must add Oracle’s repository to your Ubuntu before you can execute the install command.

Step 1: Install Prerequisites
All the dependencies you require before you can add the Oracle VirtualBox repository can be installed when you install the software-properties-common package.

Step 2: Add GPG Keys
GPG keys help verify the authenticity of repositories before we can add them to the system. The Oracle repository is a third-party repository, and by installing the GPG keys, it will be checked for integrity and authenticity.
Here’s how you add the GPG keys.

You will receive an output on your terminal showing that the key has been downloaded and installed.
Step 3: Add Oracle’s VirtualBox Repository
Oracle has a VirtualBox repository for all supported Operating Systems. To fetch this repository and add it to your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, execute the following command.

The output shows that a new repository entry has been created from which we will source VirtualBox when we execute the install command.

Step 4: Install VirtualBox
With the repository added, let’s first refresh the package index by updating it.

Next, specify which VirtualBox you want to install using the below syntax.

For instance, if the latest version when reading this post is version 7.1, you would replace version in the above command with 7.1.

However, ensure that the specified version is available on the VirtualBox website. Otherwise, you will get an error as you can’t install something that can’t be found.

Conclusion

VirtualBox is an effective way of running numerous Operating Systems on one host simultaneously. This post shares two methods of installing VirtualBox on Ubuntu 24.04. First, you can install it via APT by sourcing it from the Ubuntu repository. Alternatively, you can add the Oracle repository and specify a specific version number for the VirtualBox you want to install.

In recent years, support for PCI/PCIE (i.e. GPU passthrough) has improved a lot in newer hardware. So, the regular Proxmox VE PCI/PCIE and GPU passthrough guide should work in most new hardware. Still, you may face many problems passing through GPUs and other PCI/PCIE devices on a Proxmox VE virtual machine. There are many tweaks/fixes/workarounds for some of the common Proxmox VE GPU and PCI/PCIE passthrough problems.

In this article, I am going to discuss some of the most common Proxmox VE PCI/PCIE passthrough and GPU passthrough problems and the steps you can take to solve those problems.

 

Table of Contents

1. What to do if IOMMU Interrupt Remapping is not Supported?
2. What to do if My GPU (or PCI/PCIE Device) is not in its own IOMMU Group?
3. How do I Blacklist AMD GPU Drivers on Proxmox VE?
4. How do I Blacklist NVIDIA GPU Drivers on Proxmox VE?
5. How do I Blacklist Intel GPU Drivers on Proxmox VE?
6. How to Check if my GPU (or PCI/PCIE Device) is Using the VFIO Driver on Proxmox VE?
7. I Have Blacklisted the AMU GPU Drivers, Still, the GPU is not Using the VFIO Driver, What to Do?
8. I Have Blacklisted the NVIDIA GPU Drivers, Still, the GPU is not Using the VFIO Driver, What to Do?
9. I Have Blacklisted the Intel GPU Drivers, Still, the GPU is not Using the VFIO Driver, What to Do?
10. Single GPU Used VFIO Driver, But When Configured a Second GPU, it Didn’t Work, Why?
11. Why Disable VGA Arbitration for the GPUs and How to Do It?
12. What if my GPU is Still not Using the VFIO Driver Even After Configuring VFIO?
13. GPU Passthrough Showed No Errors, But I’m Getting a Black Screen on the Monitor Connected to the GPU Passed to the Proxmox VE VM, Why?
14. What is AMD Vendor Reset Bug and How to Solve it?
15. How to Provide a vBIOS for the Passed GPU on a Proxmox VE Virtual Machine?
16. What to do If Some Apps Crash the Proxmox VE Windows Virtual Machine?
17. How to Solve HDMI Audio Crackling/Broken Problems on Proxmox VE Linux Virtual Machines?.
18. How to Update Proxmox VE initramfs?
19. How to Update Proxmox VE GRUB Bootloader?
20. Conclusion
21. References

 

What to do If IOMMU Interrupt Remapping is not Supported?

For PCI/PCIE passthrough, IOMMU interrupt remapping is essential.

To check whether your processor supports IOMMU interrupt remapping, run the command below:

 

If your processor supports IOMMU interrupt remapping, you will see some sort of output confirming that interrupt remapping is enabled. Otherwise, you will see no outputs.

To configure unsafe interrupts on Proxmox VE, create a new file iommu_unsafe_interrupts.conf in the /etc/modprobe.d directory and open it with the nano text editor as follows:

Add the following line in the iommu_unsafe_interrupts.conf file and press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file.

 

Once you’re done, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server.

 

What to do if my GPU (or PCI/PCIE Device) is not in its own IOMMU Group?

If your server has multiple PCI/PCIE slots, you can move the GPU to a different PCI/PCIE slot and see if the GPU is in its own IOMMU group.

If that does not work, you can try enabling the ACS override kernel patch on Proxmox VE.

To try enabling the ACS override kernel patch on Proxmox VE, open the /etc/default/grub file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

Add the kernel boot option pcie_acs_override=downstream at the end of the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT.

Once you’re done, press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file and make sure to update the Proxmox VE GRUB bootloader for the changes to take effect.

You should have better IOMMU grouping once your Proxmox VE server boots.

If your GPU still does not have its own IOMMU group, you can go one step further by using the pcie_acs_override=downstream,multifunction instead. You should have an even better IOMMU grouping.

 

If pcie_acs_override=downstream,multifunction results in better IOMMU grouping that pcie_acs_override=downstream, then why use pcie_acs_override=downstream at all?

Well, the purpose of PCIE ACS override is to fool the kernel into thinking that the PCIE devices are isolated when they are not in reality. So, PCIE ACS override comes with security and stability issues. That’s why you should try using a less aggressive PCIE ACS override option pcie_acs_override=downstream first and see if your problem is solved. If pcie_acs_override=downstream does not work, only then you should use the more aggressive option pcie_acs_override=downstream,multifunction.

 

How do I Blacklist AMD GPU Drivers on Proxmox VE?

If you want to passthrough an AMD GPU on Proxmox VE virtual machines, you must blacklist the AMD GPU drivers and make sure that it uses the VFIO driver instead.

First, open the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

To blacklist the AMD GPU drivers, add the following lines to the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file and press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file.

 

Once you’re done, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

How do I Blacklist NVIDIA GPU Drivers on Proxmox VE?

If you want to passthrough an NVIDIA GPU on Proxmox VE virtual machines, you must blacklist the NVIDIA GPU drivers and make sure that it uses the VFIO driver instead.

First, open the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

To blacklist the NVIDIA GPU drivers, add the following lines to the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file and press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file.

 

Once you’re done, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

How do I Blacklist Intel GPU Drivers on Proxmox VE?

If you want to passthrough an Intel GPU on Proxmox VE virtual machines, you must blacklist the Intel GPU drivers and make sure that it uses the VFIO driver instead.

First, open the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

To blacklist the Intel GPU drivers, add the following lines to the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file and press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file.

 

Once you’re done, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

How to Check if my GPU (or PCI/PCIE Device) is Using the VFIO Driver on Proxmox VE?

To check if your GPU or desired PCI/PCIE devices are using the VFIO driver, run the following command:

 

If your GPU or PCI/PCIE device is using the VFIO driver, you should see the line Kernel driver in use: vfio-pci as marked in the screenshot below.

 

I Have Blacklisted the AMU GPU Drivers, Still, the GPU is not Using the VFIO Driver, What to Do?

At times, blacklisting the AMD GPU drivers is not enough, you also have to configure the AMD GPU drivers to load after the VFIO driver.

To do that, open the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

To configure the AMD GPU drivers to load after the VFIO driver, add the following lines to the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file and press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file.

 

Once you’re done, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

I Have Blacklisted the NVIDIA GPU Drivers, Still, the GPU is not Using the VFIO Driver, What to Do?

At times, blacklisting the NVIDIA GPU drivers is not enough, you also have to configure the NVIDIA GPU drivers to load after the VFIO driver.

To do that, open the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

To configure the NVIDIA GPU drivers to load after the VFIO driver, add the following lines to the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file and press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file.

 

Once you’re done, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

I Have Blacklisted the Intel GPU Drivers, Still, the GPU is not Using the VFIO Driver, What to Do?

At times, blacklisting the Intel GPU drivers is not enough, you also have to configure the Intel GPU drivers to load after the VFIO driver.

To do that, open the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

To configure the Intel GPU drivers to load after the VFIO driver, add the following lines to the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file and press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file.

 

Once you’re done, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

Single GPU Used VFIO Driver, But When Configured a Second GPU, it Didn’t Work, Why?

In the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file, you must add the IDs of all the PCI/PCIE devices that you want to use the VFIO driver in a single line. One device per line won’t work.

For example, if you have 2 GPUs that you want to configure to use the VFIO driver, you must add their IDs in a single line in the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file as follows:

 

If you want to add another GPU to the list, just append it at the end of the existing vfio-pci line in the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file as follows:

 

Never do this. Although it looks much cleaner, it won’t work. I do wish we could specify PCI/PCIE IDs this way.

 

Why Disable VGA Arbitration for the GPUs and How to Do It?

If you’re using UEFI/OVMF BIOS on the Proxmox VE virtual machine where you want to passthrough the GPU, you can disable VGA arbitration which will reduce the legacy codes required during boot.

To disable VGA arbitration for the GPUs, add disable_vga=1 at the end of the vfio-pci option in the /etc/modprobe.d/vfio.conf file as shown below:

 

What if my GPU is Still not Using the VFIO Driver Even After Configuring VFIO?

Even after doing everything correctly, if your GPU still does not use the VFIO driver, you will need to try booting Proxmox VE with kernel options that disable the video framebuffer.

On Proxmox VE 7.1 and older, the nofb nomodeset video=vesafb:off video=efifb:off video=simplefb:off kernel options disable the GPU framebuffer for your Proxmox VE server.

On Proxmox VE 7.2 and newer, the initcall_blacklist=sysfb_init kernel option does a better job at disabling the GPU framebuffer for your Proxmox VE server.

Open the GRUB bootloader configuration file /etc/default/grub file with the nano text editor with the following command:

 

Add the kernel option initcall_blacklist=sysfb_init at the end of the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT.

Once you’re done, press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the file and make sure to update the Proxmox VE GRUB bootloader for the changes to take effect.

 

GPU Passthrough Showed No Errors, But I’m Getting a Black Screen on the Monitor Connected to the GPU Passed to the Proxmox VE VM, Why?

Once you’ve passed a GPU to a Proxmox VE virtual machine, make sure to use the Default Graphics card before you start the virtual machine. This way, you will be able to access the display of the virtual machine from the Proxmox VE web management UI, download the GPU driver installer on the virtual machine, and install it on the virtual machine.

Once the GPU driver is installed on the virtual machine, the screen of the virtual machine will be displayed on the monitor connected to the GPU that you’ve passed to the virtual machine as well.

Once the GPU driver is installed on the virtual machine and the screen of the virtual machine is displayed on the monitor connected to the GPU (passed to the virtual machine), power off the virtual machine and set the Display Graphic card of the virtual machine to none.

Once you’re set, the next time you power on the virtual machine, the screen of the virtual machine will be displayed on the monitor connected to the GPU (passed to the virtual machine) only, nothing will be displayed on the Proxmox VE web management UI. This way, you will have the same experience as using a real computer even though you’re using a virtual machine.

Remember, never use SPICE, VirtIO GPU, and VirGL GPU Display Graphic card on the Proxmox VE virtual machine that you’re configuring for GPU passthrough as it has a high chance of failure.

 

What is AMD Vendor Reset Bug and How to Solve it?

AMD GPUs have a well-known bug called “vendor reset bug”. Once an AMD GPU is passed to a Proxmox VE virtual machine, and you power off this virtual machine, you won’t be able to use the AMD GPU in another Proxmox VE virtual machine. At times, your Proxmox VE server will become unresponsive as a result. This is called the “vendor reset bug” of AMD GPUs.

The reason this happens is that AMD GPUs can’t reset themselves correctly after being passed to a virtual machine. To fix this problem, you will have to reset your AMD GPU properly. For more information on installing the AMD vendor reset on Proxmox VE, read this article and read this thread on Proxmox VE forum. Also, check the vendor reset GitHub page.

 

How to Provide a vBIOS for the Passed GPU on a Proxmox VE Virtual Machine?

If you’ve installed the GPU on the first slot of your motherboard, you might not be able to passthrough the GPU in a Proxmox VE virtual machine by default. Some motherboards shadow the vBIOS of the GPU installed on the first slot by default which is the reason the GPU installed on the first slot of those motherboards can’t be passed to virtual machines.

The solution to this problem is to install the GPU on the second slot of the motherboard, extract the vBIOS of the GPU, install the GPU on the first slot of the motherboard, and passthrough the GPU to a Proxmox VE virtual machine along with the extracted vBIOS of the GPU.

NOTE: To learn how to extract the vBIOS of your GPU, read this article.

Once you’ve obtained the vBIOS for your GPU, you must store the vBIOS file in the /usr/share/kvm/ directory of your Proxmox VE server to access it.

Once the vBIOS file for your GPU is stored in the /usr/share/kvm/ directory, you need to configure your virtual machine to use it. Currently, there is no way to specify the vBIOS file for PCI/PCIE devices of Proxmox VE virtual machines from the Proxmox VE web management UI. So, you will have to do everything from the Proxmox VE shell/command-line.

You can find the Proxmox VE virtual machine configuration files in the /etc/pve/qemu-server/ directory of your Proxmox VE server. Each Proxmox VE virtual machine has one configuration file in this directory in the format <VM-ID>.conf.

For example, to open the Proxmox VE virtual machine configuration file (for editing) for the virtual machine ID 100, you will need to run the following command:

 

In the virtual machine configuration file, you will need to append romfile=<vBIOS-filename> in the hostpciX line which is responsible for passing the GPU on the virtual machine.

For example, if the vBIOS filename for my GPU is gigabyte-nvidia-1050ti.bin, and I have passed the GPU on the first slot (slot 0) of the virtual machine (hostpci0), then in the 100.conf file, the line should be as follows:

 

Once you’re done, save the virtual machine configuration file by pressing <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter>, start the virtual machine, and check if the GPU passthrough is working.

 

What to do if Some Apps Crash the Proxmox VE Windows Virtual Machine?

Some apps such as GeForce Experience, Passmark, etc. might crash Proxmox VE Windows virtual machines. You might also experience a sudden blue screen of death (BSOD) on your Proxmox VE Windows virtual machines. The reason it happens is that the Windows virtual machine might try to access the model-specific registers (MSRs) that are not actually available and depending on how your hardware handles MSRs requests, your system might crash.

The solution to this problem is ignoring MSRs messages on your Proxmox VE server.

To configure MSRs on your Proxmox VE server, open the /etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf file with the nano text editor as follows:

 

To ignore MSRs on your Proxmox VE server, add the following line to the /etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf file.

 

Once MSRs are ignored, you might see a lot of MSRs warning messages in your dmesg system log. To avoid that, you can ignore MSRs as well as disable logging MSRs warning messages by adding the following line instead:

 

Once you’re done, press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the /etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf file and update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

How to Solve HDMI Audio Crackling/Broken Problems on Proxmox VE Linux Virtual Machines?

If you’ve passed the GPU to a Linux Proxmox VE virtual machine and you’re getting bad audio quality on the virtual machine, you will need to enable MSI (Message Signal Interrupt) for the audio device on the Proxmox VE virtual machine.

To enable MSI on the Linux Proxmox VE virtual machine, open the /etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf file with the nano text editor on the virtual machine with the following command:

 

Add the following line and save the file by pressing <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter>.

 

For the changes to take effect, reboot the Linux virtual machine with the following command:

 

Once the virtual machine boots, check if MSI is enabled for the audio device with the following command:

 

If MSI is enabled for the audio device on the virtual machine, you should see the marked line in the audio device information.

 

How to Update Proxmox VE initramfs?

Every time you make any changes to files in the /etc/modules-load.d/ and /etc/modprobe.d/ directories, you must update the initramfs of your Proxmox VE 8 installation with the following command:

 

Once Proxmox VE initramfs is updated, reboot your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

How to Update Proxmox VE GRUB Bootloader?

Every time you update the Proxmox VE GRUB boot configuration file /etc/default/grub, you must update the GRUB bootloader for the changes to take effect.

To update the Proxmox VE GRUB bootloader with the new configurations, run the following command:

 

Once the GRUB bootloader is updated with the new configuration, reboot your Proxmox VE server for the changes to take effect.

 

Conclusion

In this article, have discussed some of the most common Proxmox VE PCI/PCIE passthrough and GPU passthrough problems and the steps you can take to solve those problems.

 

References

1. [TUTORIAL] – PCI/GPU Passthrough on Proxmox VE 8 : Installation and configuration | Proxmox Support Forum
2. Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Proxmox GPU Passthrough
3. Reading and Writing Model Specific Registers in Linux
4. The MSI Driver Guide HOWTO — The Linux Kernel documentation

 

 

Proxmox VE (Virtualization Environment) is an open-source enterprise virtualization and containerization platform. It has a built-in user-friendly web interface for managing virtual machines and LXC containers. It has other features such as Ceph software-defined storage (SDS), software-defined networking (SDN), high availability (HA) clustering, and many more.

After the recent Broadcom acquisition of VMware, the cost of VMware products has risen to the point that many small to medium-sized companies are/will be forced to switch to alternate products. Even the free VMware ESXi is discontinued which is bad news for homelab users. Proxmox VE is one of the best alternatives to VMware vSphere and it has the same set of features as VMware vSphere (with a few exceptions of course). Proxmox VE is open-source and free, which is great for home labs as well as businesses. Proxmox VE also has an optional enterprise subscription option that you can purchase if needed.

In this article, I will show you how to install Proxmox VE 8 on your server. I will cover Graphical UI-based installation methods of Proxmox VE and Terminal UI-based installation for systems having problems with the Graphical UI-based installer.

 

Table of Contents

1. Booting Proxmox VE 8 from a USB Thumb Drive
2. Installing Proxmox VE 8 using Graphical UI
3. Installing Proxmox VE 8 using Terminal UI
4. Accessing Proxmox VE 8 Management UI from a Web Browser
5. Enabling Proxmox VE Community Package Repositories
6. Keeping Proxmox VE Up-to-date
7. Conclusion
8. References

 

Booting Proxmox VE 8 from a USB Thumb Drive

First, you need to download the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image and create a bootable USB thumb drive of Proxmox VE 8. If you need any assistance on that, read this article.

Once you’ve created a bootable USB thumb drive of Proxmox VE 8, power off your server, insert the bootable USB thumb drive on your server, and boot the Proxmox VE 8 installer from it. Depending on the motherboard manufacturer, you need to press a certain key after pressing the power button to boot from the USB thumb drive. If you need any assistance on booting your server from a USB thumb drive, read this article.

Once you’ve successfully booted from the USB thumb drive, the Proxmox VE GRUB menu should be displayed.

 

Installing Proxmox VE 8 using Graphical UI

To install Proxmox VE 8 using a graphical user interface, select Install Proxmox VE (Graphical) from the Proxmox VE GRUB menu and press <Enter>.

 

The Proxmox VE installer should be displayed.

Click on I agree.

Now, you have to configure the disk for the Proxmox VE installation.

You can configure the disk for Proxmox VE installation in different ways:

1. If you have a single 500GB/1TB (or larger capacity) SSD/HDD on your server, you can use it for Proxmox VE installation as well as storing virtual machine images, container images, snapshots, backups, ISO images, and so on. That’s not very safe, but you can try out Proxmox this way without needing a lot of hardware resources.
2. You can use a small 64GB or 128GB SSD for Proxmox VE installation only. Once Proxmox VE is installed, you can create additional storage pools for storing virtual machine images, container images, snapshots, backups, ISO images, and so on.
3. You can create a big ZFS or BTRFS RAID for Proxmox VE installation which will also be used for storing virtual machine images, container images, snapshots, backups, ISO images, and so on.

 

a) To install Proxmox VE on a single SSD/HDD and also use the SSD/HDD for storing virtual machine and container images, ISO images, virtual machine and container snapshots, virtual machine and container backups, etc., select the SSD/HDD from the Target Harddisk dropdown menu^[1] and click on Next^[2].

Proxmox VE will use a small portion of the free disk space for the Proxmox VE root filesystem and the rest of the disk space will be used for storing virtual machine and container data.

If you want to change the filesystem of your Proxmox VE installation or configure the size of different Proxmox VE partitions/storages, select the HDD/SSD you want to use for your Proxmox VE installation from the Target Harddisk dropdown menu and click on Options.

 

An advanced disk configuration window should be displayed.

From the Filesystem dropdown menu, select your desired filesystem. ext4 and xfs filesystems are supported for single-disk Proxmox VE installation at the time of this writing^[1].

Other storage configuration parameters are:

hdsize^[2]: By default Proxmox VE will use all the disk space of the selected HDD/SSD. To keep some disk space free on the selected HDD/SSD, type in the amount of disk space (in GB) that you want Proxmox VE to use and the rest of the disk space should be free.

swapsize^[3]: By default, Proxmox VE will use 4GB to 8GB of disk space for swap depending on the amount of memory/RAM you have installed on the server. To set a custom swap size for Proxmox VE, type in your desired swap size (in GB unit) here.

maxroot^[4]: Defines the maximum disk space to use for the Proxmox VE LVM root volume/filesystem.

minfree^[5]: Defines the minimum disk space that must be free in the Proxmox VE LVM volume group (VG). This space will be used for LVM snapshots.

maxvz^[6]: Defines the maximum disk space to use for the Proxmox VE LVM data volume where virtual machine and container data/images will be stored.

Once you’re done with the disk configuration, click on OK^[7].

To install Proxmox VE on disk with your desired storage configuration, click on Next.

b) To install Proxmox VE on a small SSD and create the necessary storage for the virtual machine and container data later, select the SSD from the Target Harddisk dropdown menu^[1] and click on Options^[2].

Set maxvz to 0 to disable virtual machine and container storage on the SSD where Proxmox VE will be installed and click on OK.

Once you’re done, click on Next.

c) To create a ZFS or BTRFS RAID and install Proxmox VE on the RAID, click on Options.

You can pick different ZFS and BTRFS RAID types from the Filesystem dropdown menu. Each of these RAID types works differently and requires a different number of disks. For more information on how different RAID types work, their requirements, features, data safety, etc, read this article.

RAID0, RAID1, and RAID10 are discussed in this article thoroughly. RAIDZ-1 and RAIDZ-2 work in the same way as RAID5 and RAID6 respectively. RAID5 and RAID6 are also discussed in this article.

RAIDZ-1 requires at least 2 disks (3 disks recommended), uses a single parity, and can sustain only 1 disk failure.

RAIDZ-2 requires at least 3 disks (4 disks recommended), uses double parity, and can sustain 2 disks failure.

RAIDZ-3 requires at least 4 disks (5 disks recommended), uses triple parity, and can sustain 3 disks failure.

 

Although you can create BTRFS RAIDs on Proxmox VE, at the time of this writing, BTRFS on Proxmox VE is still in technology preview. So, I don’t recommend using it in production systems. I will demonstrate ZFS RAID configuration on Proxmox VE in this article.

To create a ZFS RAID for Proxmox VE installation, select your desired ZFS RAID type from the Filesystem dropdown menu^[1]. From the Disk Setup tab, select the disks that you want to use for the ZFS RAID using the Harddisk X dropdown menus^[2]. If you don’t want to use a disk for the ZFS RAID, select – do not use – from the respective Harddisk X dropdown menu^[3].

From the Advanced Options tab, you can configure different ZFS filesystem parameters.

ashift^[1]: You can set ZFS block size using this option. The block size is calculated using the formula 2^ashift. The default ashift value is 12, which is 2¹² = 4096 = 4 KB block size. 4KB block size is good for SSDs. If you’re using a mechanical hard drive (HDD), you need to set ashift to 9 (2⁹ = 512 bytes) as HDDs use 512 bytes block size.

compress^[2]: You can enable/disable ZFS compression from this dropdown menu. To enable compression, set compression to on. To disable compression, set compression to off. When compression is on, the default ZFS compression algorithm (lz4 at the time of this writing) is used. You can select other ZFS compression algorithms (i.e. lzjb, zle, gzip, zstd) as well if you have such preferences.

checksum^[3]: ZFS checksums are used to detect corrupted files so that they can be repaired. You can enable/disable ZFS checksum from this dropdown menu. To enable ZFS checksum, set checksum to on. To disable ZFS checksum, set checksum to off. When checksum is on, the fletcher4 algorithm is used for non-deduped (deduplication disabled) datasets and sha256 algorithm is used for deduped (deduplication enabled) datasets by default.

copies^[4]: You can set the number of redundant copies of the data you want to keep in your ZFS RAID. This is in addition to the RAID level redundancy and provides extra data protection. The default number of copy is 1 and you can store 3 copies of data at max in your ZFS RAID. This feature is also known as ditto blocks.

ARC max size^[5]: You can set the maximum amount of memory ZFS is allowed to use for the Adaptive Replacement Cache (ARC) from here.

hdsize^[6]: By default all the free disk space is used for the ZFS RAID. If you want to keep some portion of the disk space of each SSD free and use the rest for the ZFS RAID, type in the disk space you want to use (in GB) here. For example, if you have 40GB disks and you want to use 35GB of each disk for the ZFS RAID and keep 5GB of disk space free on each disks, you will need to type in 35GB in here.

Once you’re done with the ZFS RAID configuration, click on OK^[7].

Once you’re done with the ZFS storage configuration, click on Next to continue.

Type in the name of your country^[1], select your time zone^[2], select your keyboard layout^[3], and click on Next^[4].

Type in your Proxmox VE root password^[1] and your email^[2].

Once you’re done, click on Next^[3].

If you have multiple network interfaces available on your server, select the one you want to use for accessing the Proxmox VE web management UI from the Management Interface dropdown menu^[1]. If you have only a single network interface available on your server, it will be selected automatically.

Type in the domain name that you want to use for Proxmox VE in the Hostname (FQDN) section^[2].

Type in your desired IP information for the Proxmox VE server^[3] and click on Next^[4].

An overview of your Proxmox VE installation should be displayed. If everything looks good, click on Install to start the Proxmox VE installation.

NOTE: If anything seems wrong or you want to change certain information, you can always click on Previous to go back and fix it. So, make sure to check everything before clicking on Install.

The Proxmox VE installation should start. It will take a while to complete.

Once the Proxmox VE installation is complete, you will see the following window. Your server should restart within a few seconds.

On the next boot, you will see the Proxmox VE GRUB boot menu.

Once Proxmox VE is booted, you will see the Proxmox VE command-line login prompt.

You will also see the access URL of the Proxmox VE web-based management UI.

Installing Proxmox VE 8 using Terminal UI

In some hardware, the Proxmox VE graphical installer may not work. In that case, you can always use the Proxmox VE terminal installer. You will find the same options in the Proxmox VE terminal installer as in the graphical installer. So, you should not have any problems installing Proxmox VE on your server using the terminal installer.

To use the Proxmox VE terminal installer, select Install Proxmox VE (Terminal UI) from the Proxmox VE GRUB boot menu and press <Enter>.

 

Select <I agree> and press <Enter>.

To install Proxmox VE on a single disk, select an HDD/SSD from the Target harddisk section, select <Next>, and press <Enter>.

For advanced disk configuration or ZFS/BTRFS RAID setup, select <Advanced options> and press <Enter>.

You will find the same disk configuration options as in the Proxmox VE graphical installer. I have already discussed all of them in the Proxmox VE Graphical UI installation section. Make sure to check it out for detailed information on all of those disk configuration options.

Once you’ve configured the disk/disks for the Proxmox VE installation, select <Ok> and press <Enter>.

Once you’re done with advanced disk configuration for your Proxmox VE installation, select <Next> and press <Enter>.

Select your country, timezone, and keyboard layout.

Once you’re done, select <Next> and press <Enter>.

Type in your Proxmox VE root password and email address.

Once you’re done, select <Next> and press <Enter>.

Configure the management network interface for Proxmox VE, select <Next>, and press <Enter>.

An overview of your Proxmox VE installation should be displayed. If everything looks good, select <Install> and press <Enter> to start the Proxmox VE installation.

NOTE: If anything seems wrong or you want to change certain information, you can always select <Previous> and press <Enter> to go back and fix it. So, make sure to check everything before installing Proxmox VE.

The Proxmox VE installation should start. It will take a while to complete.

Once the Proxmox VE installation is complete, you will see the following window. Your server should restart within a few seconds.

Once Proxmox VE is booted, you will see the Proxmox VE command-line login prompt.

You will also see the access URL of the Proxmox VE web-based management UI.

Accessing Proxmox VE 8 Management UI from a Web Browser

To access the Proxmox VE web-based management UI from a web browser, you need a modern web browser (i.e. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Apple Safari).

Open a web browser of your choice and visit the Proxmox VE access URL (i.e. https://192.168.0.105:8006) from the web browser.

By default, Proxmox VE uses a self-signed SSL certificate which your web browser will not trust. So, you will see a similar warning.

To accept the Proxmox VE self-signed SSL certificate, click on Advanced.

Then, click on Accept the Risk and Continue.

You will see the Proxmox VE login prompt.

Type in your Proxmox VE login username (root) and password^[1] and click on Login^[2].

You should be logged in to your Proxmox VE web-management UI.

As you’re using the free version of Proxmox VE, you will see a No valid subscription warning message every time you log in to Proxmox VE. To ignore this warning and continue using Proxmox VE for free, just click on OK.

The No valid subscription warning should be gone. Proxmox VE is now ready to use.

Enabling Proxmox VE Community Package Repositories

If you want to use Proxmox VE for free, after installing Proxmox VE on your server, one of the first things you want to do is disable the Proxmox VE enterprise package repositories and enable the Proxmox VE community package repositories. This way, you can get access to the Proxmox VE package repositories for free and keep your Proxmox VE server up-to-date.

To learn how to enable the Proxmox VE community package repositories, read this article.

 

Keeping Proxmox VE Up-to-date

After installing Proxmox VE on your server, you should check if new updates are available for your Proxmox VE server. If new updates are available, you should install them as it will improve the performance, stability, and security of your Proxmox VE server.

For more information on keeping your Proxmox VE server up-to-date, read this article.

 

Conclusion

In this article, I have shown you how to install Proxmox VE on your server using the Graphical installer UI and the Terminal installer UI. The Proxmox VE Terminal installer UI installer is for systems that don’t support the Proxmox VE Graphical installer UI. So, if you’re having difficulty with the Proxmox VE Graphical installer UI, the Terminal installer UI will still work and save your day. I have also discussed and demonstrated different disk/storage configuration methods for Proxmox VE as well as configuring ZFS RAID for Proxmox VE and installing Proxmox VE on the ZFS RAID as well.

 

References

1. RAIDZ Types Reference
2. ZFS/Virtual disks – ArchWiki
3. ZFS Tuning Recommendations | High Availability
4. The copies Property
5. Checksums and Their Use in ZFS — OpenZFS documentation
6. ZFS ARC Parameters – Oracle Solaris Tunable Parameters Reference Manual

Most of the operating system distributes their installer program in ISO image format. So, the most common way of installing an operating system on a Proxmox VE virtual machine is using an ISO image of that operating system. You can obtain the ISO image file of your favorite operating systems from their official website.

To install your favorite operating system on a Proxmox VE virtual machine, the ISO image of that operating system must be available in a proper storage location on your Proxmox VE server.

The Proxmox VE storage that supports ISO image files has a section ISO Images and has options for uploading and downloading ISO images.

In this article, I will show you how to upload an ISO image to your Proxmox VE server from your computer. I will show you how to download an ISO image directly on your Proxmox VE server using the download links or URL of that ISO image.

 

Table of Contents

1. Uploading an ISO Image on Proxmox VE Server from Your Computer
2. Downloading an ISO Image on Proxmox VE Server using URL
3. Conclusion

 

Uploading an ISO Image on Proxmox VE Server from Your Computer

To upload an ISO image on your Proxmox VE server from your computer, navigate to the ISO Images section of an ISO image-supported storage from the Proxmox VE web management UI and click on Upload.

Click on Select File from the Upload window.

Select the ISO image file that you want to upload on your Proxmox VE server from the filesystem of your computer^[1] and click on Open^[2].

Once the ISO image file is selected, the ISO image file name will be displayed in the File name section. If you want, you can modify the ISO image file name which will be stored on your Proxmox VE server once it’s uploaded^[1].

The size of the ISO image file will be displayed in the File size section^[2].

Once you’re ready to upload the ISO image on your Proxmox VE server, click on Upload^[3].

The ISO image file is being uploaded to the Proxmox VE server. It will take a few seconds to complete.

If for some reason you want to stop the upload process, click on Abort.

Once the ISO image file is uploaded to your Proxmox VE server, you will see the following window. Just close it.

Shortly, the ISO image that you’ve uploaded to your Proxmox VE server should be listed in the ISO Images section of the selected Proxmox VE storage.

 

Downloading an ISO Image on Proxmox VE Server using URL

To upload an ISO image on your Proxmox VE server using a URL or download link, visit the official website of the operating system that you want to download and copy the download link or URL of the ISO image from the website.

For example, to download the ISO image of Debian 12, visit the official website of Debian from a web browser^[1], right-click on Download, and click on Copy Link^[2].

Then, navigate to the ISO Images section of an ISO image-supported storage from the Proxmox VE web management UI and click on Download from URL.

Paste the download link or URL of the ISO image in the URL section and click on Query URL.

Proxmox VE should check the ISO file URL and obtain the necessary information like the File name^[1] and File size^[2] of the ISO image file. If you want to save the ISO image file in a different name on your Proxmox VE server, just type it in the File name section^[1].

Once you’re ready, click on Download^[3].

Proxmox VE should start downloading the ISO image file from the URL. It will take a while to complete.

Once the ISO image file is downloaded on your Proxmox VE server, you will see the following window. Just close it.

The downloaded ISO image file should be listed in the ISO Images section of the selected Proxmox VE storage.

Conclusion

In this article, I have shown you how to upload an ISO image from your computer on the Proxmox VE server. I have also shown you how to download an ISO image using a URL directly on your Proxmox VE server.

Keeping your Proxmox VE server up-to-date is important as newer updates come with bug fixes and improved security.

If you’re using the Proxmox VE community version (the free version of Proxmox VE without an enterprise subscription), installing new updates will also add new features to your Proxmox VE server as they are released.

In this article, I am going to show you how to check if new updates are available on your Proxmox VE server. If updates are available, I will also show you how to install the available updates on your Proxmox VE server.

 

Table of Contents

1. Enabling the Proxmox VE Community Package Repositories
2. Checking for Available Updates on Proxmox VE
3. Installing Available Updates on Proxmox VE
4. Conclusion

 

Enabling the Proxmox VE Community Package Repositories

If you don’t have an enterprise subscription on your Proxmox VE server, you need to disable the Proxmox VE enterprise package repositories and enable the Proxmox VE community package repositories to receive software updates on your Proxmox VE server.

If you want to keep using Proxmox VE for free, make sure to enable the Proxmox VE community package repositories.

 

Checking for Available Updates on Proxmox VE

To check if new updates are available on your Proxmox VE server, log in to your Proxmox VE web-management UI, navigate to the Updates section of your Proxmox VE server, and click on Refresh.

 

If you’re using the Proxmox VE community version (free version), you will see a No valid subscription warning. Click on OK to ignore the warning.

 

The Proxmox VE package database should be updated.

Close the Task viewer window.

 

If newer updates are not available, then you will see the No updates available message after the Proxmox VE package database is updated.

 

If newer updates are available for your Proxmox VE server, you will see a list of packages that can be updated as shown in the screenshot below.

 

Installing Available Updates on Proxmox VE

To install all the available updates on your Proxmox VE server, click on Upgrade.

 

A new NoVNC window should be displayed.

Press Y and then press <Enter> to confirm the installation.

 

The Proxmox VE updates are being downloaded. It will take a while to complete.

 

The Proxmox VE updates are being installed. It will take a while to complete.

 

At this point, the Proxmox VE updates should be installed.

Close the NoVNC window.

 

If you check for Proxmox VE updates, you should see the No updates available message. Your Proxmox VE server should be up-to-date^[1].

After the updates are installed, it’s best to reboot your Proxmox VE server. To reboot your Proxmox VE server, click on Reboot^[2].

 

Conclusion

In this article, I have shown you how to check if new updates are available for your Proxmox VE server. If new updates are available, I have also shown you how to install the available updates on your Proxmox VE server. You should always keep your Proxmox VE server up-to-date so that you get the latest bug fixes and security updates.

The full form of SR-IOV is Single Root I/O Virtualization. Some PCI/PCIE devices have multiple virtual functions and each of these virtual functions can be passed to a different virtual machine. SR-IOV is the technology that allows this type of PCI/PCIE passthrough.

For example, an 8-port SR-IOV capable network card has 8 virtual functions, 1 for each port. 8 of these virtual functions or network ports can be passed to 8 different virtual machines (VMs).

In this article, we will show you how to enable the SR-IOV CPU feature from the BIOS/UEFI firmware of some of the most popular desktop motherboards (i.e. ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and Gigabyte).

 

Table of Contents

1. How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASUS Motherboards
2. How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASRock Motherboards
3. How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of MSI Motherboards
4. How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of Gigabyte Motherboards
5. Conclusion
6. References

 

How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASUS Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard, press <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

The BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASUS motherboards has two modes: “EZ Mode” and “Advanced Mode”.

Once you’ve entered the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard, you will be in “EZ Mode” by default. To enable IOMMU/VT-d on your ASUS motherboard, you have to enter the “Advanced Mode”.

To enter “Advanced Mode”, press <F7> while you’re in “EZ Mode”.

For both AMD and Intel systems, navigate to the “Advanced” tab (by pressing the arrow keys), navigate to “PCI Subsystem Settings”, and set “SR-IOV Support” to “Enabled”.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select OK, and press <Enter>.

The SR-IOV feature should be enabled. For more information on enabling the SR-IOV feature from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard, check the BIOS Manual of your ASUS motherboard.

 

How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASRock Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard, press <F2> or <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

If you’re using a high-end ASRock motherboard, you may find yourself in “Easy Mode” once you enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard. In that case, press <F6> to switch to “Advanced Mode”.

If you’re using a cheap/mid-range ASRock motherboard, you may not have an “Easy Mode”. You will be taken to “Advanced Mode” directly. In that case, you won’t have to press <F6> to switch to “Advanced Mode”.

You will be in the “Main” tab by default. Press the <Right> arrow key to navigate to the “Advanced” tab of the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard.

If you have an AMD processor, navigate to “PCI Configuration” and set “SR-IOV Support” to “Enabled”.

If you have an Intel processor, navigate to “Chipset Configuration” and set “SR-IOV Support” to “Enabled”.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select Yes, and press <Enter>.

The SR-IOV feature should be enabled. For more information on enabling the SR-IOV feature from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your AsRock motherboard, check the BIOS Manual of your ASUS motherboard.

 

How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of MSI Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your MSI motherboard, press <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

The BIOS/UEFI Firmware of MSI motherboards has two modes: “EZ Mode” and “Advanced Mode”.

Once you’ve entered the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your MSI motherboard, you will be in “EZ Mode” by default. To enable the SR-IOV on your MSI motherboard, you have to enter the “Advanced Mode”.

To enter the “Advanced Mode”, press <F7> while you’re in “EZ Mode”.

From the “Advanced Mode”, navigate to “Settings”.

If you’re using an AMD processor, navigate to “Advanced” > “PCI Subsystem Settings” and set “SR-IOV Support” to “Enabled”.

If you’re using an Intel processor, navigate to “Advanced” > “PCIe/PCI Sub-system Settings” and set “SR-IOV Support” to “Enabled”.

NOTE: You may not find the “SR-IOV Support” option in the BIOS/UEFI firmware of your MSI motherboard. In that case, you can try updating the BIOS/UEFI firmware version and see if the option is available.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select Yes, and press <Enter>.

The SR-IOV feature should be enabled. For more information on enabling the SR-IOV feature from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your MSI motherboard, check the BIOS Manual of your MSI motherboard.

 

How to Enable SR-IOV from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of Gigabyte Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your Gigabyte motherboard, press <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

The BIOS/UEFI Firmware of Gigabyte motherboards has two modes: “Easy Mode” and “Advanced Mode”.

To enable SR-IOV, you have to switch to “Advanced Mode”. If you’re in “Easy Mode”, press <F2> to switch to “Advanced Mode”.

If you have an AMD processor, navigate to the “Settings” tab, navigate to “IO Ports”,  and set “SR-IOV Support” to “Enabled”.

If you have an Intel processor, navigate to the “Advanced” tab, navigate to “PCI Subsystem Settings”, and set “SR-IOV Support” to “Enabled”.

NOTE: On newer Gigabyte motherboards (i.e. Z590, Z690, Z790), the SR-IOV option might be missing. In that case, try enabling Intel virtualization technology VT-x/VT-d and see if the SR-IOV option is displayed on the BIOS/UEFI firmware of your Gigabyte motherboard.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select Yes, and press <Enter>.

SR-IOV should be enabled for your processor. For more information on enabling SR-IOV on your Gigabyte motherboard, we recommend you to read the “User Manual” or “BIOS Setup Manual” of your Gigabyte motherboard.

 

Conclusion

We showed you how to enable the SR-IOV CPU feature from the BIOS/UEFI firmware of some of the most popular desktop motherboards (i.e. ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and Gigabyte).

 

References

1. ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero BIOS Overview
2. ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming WIFI II BIOS Walk Thru
3. ASRock Bios Optimization! [AMD 7800X3D | X670E Taichi Carrara | XMP PC 5600 CL28 G.Skill | 4090HOF]
4. ASRock Z690 Taichi BIOS Overview
5. SR-IOV on MSI X470 Gaming Pro | MSI Global English Forum
6. Bios Settings 7950x3D 7800x3D [Gigabyte Aorus Elite Ax x670]
7. ASUS PRIME Z490-A BIOS Overview

 

The full form of IOMMU is Input Output Memory Management Unit. IOMMU maps the virtual addresses of a device to physical addresses which allows the device to be passed to a virtual machine (VM).

VT-D does the same thing as IOMMU. The main difference is that IOMMU is developed by AMD while VT-D is developed by Intel.

In this article, we will show you how to enable the IOMMU/VT-d CPU feature from the BIOS/UEFI firmware of some of the most popular desktop motherboards (i.e. ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and Gigabyte).

 

Table of Contents

1. How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASUS Motherboards
2. How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASRock Motherboards
3. How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of MSI Motherboards
4. How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of Gigabyte Motherboards
5. Conclusion
6. References

 

How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASUS Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard, press <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

The BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASUS motherboards has two modes: “EZ Mode” and “Advanced Mode”.

Once you’ve entered the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard, you will be in “EZ Mode” by default. To enable IOMMU/VT-d on your ASUS motherboard, you have to enter the “Advanced Mode”.

To enter “Advanced Mode”, press <F7> while you’re in “EZ Mode”.

If you have an AMD processor, navigate to the “Advanced” tab (by pressing the arrow keys), navigate to “AMD CBS”, and set “IOMMU” to “Enabled” from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard.

If you have an Intel processor, navigate to the “Advanced” tab (by pressing the arrow keys), navigate to “System Agent (SA) Configuration”, set “VT-d” to “Enabled”, and set “Control Iommu Pre-boot Behavior” to “Enable IOMMU during boot” from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select OK, and press <Enter>.

The IOMMU/VT-d feature should be enabled. For more information on enabling the IOMMU/VT-d feature from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASUS motherboard, check the BIOS Manual of your ASUS motherboard.

 

How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of ASRock Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard, press <F2> or <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

If you’re using a high-end ASRock motherboard, you may find yourself in “Easy Mode” once you enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard. In that case, press <F6> to switch to “Advanced Mode”.

If you’re using a cheap/mid-range ASRock motherboard, you may not have an “Easy Mode”. You will be taken to “Advanced Mode” directly. In that case, you won’t have to press <F6> to switch to “Advanced Mode”.

You will be in the “Main” tab by default. Press the <Right> arrow key to navigate to the “Advanced” tab of the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard.

If you have an AMD processor, navigate to “AMD CBS” > “NBIO Common Options” and set “IOMMU” to “Enabled” from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard.

If you have an Intel processor, navigate to “Chipset Configuration” and set “VT-d” to “Enabled” from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your ASRock motherboard.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select Yes, and press <Enter>.

The IOMMU/VT-d feature should be enabled. For more information on enabling the IOMMU/VT-d feature from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your AsRock motherboard, check the BIOS Manual of your ASUS motherboard.

 

How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of MSI Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your MSI motherboard, press <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

The BIOS/UEFI Firmware of MSI motherboards has two modes: “EZ Mode” and “Advanced Mode”.

Once you’ve entered the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your MSI motherboard, you will be in “EZ Mode” by default. To enable the IOMMU/VT-d on your MSI motherboard, you have to enter the “Advanced Mode”.

To enter the “Advanced Mode”, press <F7> while you’re in “EZ Mode”.

Navigate to “OC settings”, scroll down to “CPU Features”, and press <Enter>.

If you have an AMD processor, set “IOMMU” to “Enabled”.

If you have an Intel processor, set “Intel VT-D Tech” to “Enabled”.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select Yes, and press <Enter>.

The IOMMU/VT-d feature should be enabled. For more information on enabling the IOMMU/VT-d feature from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your MSI motherboard, check the BIOS Manual of your MSI motherboard.

 

How to Enable IOMMU/VT-d from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of Gigabyte Motherboards

To enter the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your Gigabyte motherboard, press <Delete> right after pressing the power button of your computer.

The BIOS/UEFI Firmware of Gigabyte motherboards has two modes: “Easy Mode” and “Advanced Mode”.

To enable IOMMU/VT-d, you have to switch to the “Advanced Mode” of the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your Gigabyte motherboard. If you’re in “Easy Mode”, you can press <F2> to switch to “Advanced Mode” on the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your Gigabyte motherboard.

Use the arrow keys to navigate to the “Settings” tab.

If you have an AMD processor, navigate to “Miscellaneous” and set “IOMMU” to “Enabled” from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your Gigabyte motherboard.

If you have an Intel processor, navigate to “Miscellaneous” and set “VT-d” to “Enabled” from the BIOS/UEFI Firmware of your Gigabyte motherboard.

To save the changes, press <F10>, select Yes, and press <Enter>.

IOMMU/VT-d should be enabled for your processor. For more information on enabling IOMMU/VT-d on your Gigabyte motherboard, we recommend you to read the “User Manual” or “BIOS Setup Manual” of your Gigabyte motherboard.

 

Conclusion

We showed you how to enable the IOMMU/VT-d CPU feature from the BIOS/UEFI firmware of some of the most popular desktop motherboards (i.e. ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and Gigabyte).

 

References

1. ROG STRIX Z690 series BIOS Manual ( English Edition )
2. ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero BIOS Overview
3. ROG STRIX X670E Series BIOS Manual ( English Edition )
4. ASRock Bios Optimization! [AMD 7800X3D | X670E Taichi Carrara | XMP PC 5600 CL28 G.Skill | 4090HOF]
5. ASRock Z690 Taichi BIOS Overview
6. MSI MEG Z690 ACE BIOS Overview
7. Pomoc techniczna cz. 1 – Ustawianie optymalne biosu i OC w płycie głównej MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max
8. Bios Settings 7950x3D 7800x3D [Gigabyte Aorus Elite Ax x670]
9. GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Elite DDR4 Motherboard BIOS Overview

 

Proxmox VE 8 is the latest version of the Proxmox Virtual Environment. Proxmox VE is an open-source enterprise Type-I virtualization and containerization platform.

In this article, I am going to show you how to download the ISO image of Proxmox VE 8 and create a bootable USB thumb drive of Proxmox VE 8 on Windows 10/11 and Linux so that you can use it to install Proxmox VE 8 on your server and run virtual machines (VMs) and LXC containers.

 

Table of Contents

1. Downloading the Proxmox VE 8 ISO Image
2. Creating a Bootable USB Thumb Drive of Proxmox VE 8 on Windows 10/11
3. Creating a Bootable USB Thumb Drive of Proxmox VE 8 on Linux
4. Conclusion

 

Downloading the Proxmox VE 8 ISO Image

To download the ISO image of Proxmox VE 8, visit the official downloads page of Proxmox VE from your favorite web browser.

Once the page loads, click on Download from the Proxmox VE ISO Installer section.

 

Your browser should start downloading the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image. It will take a while to complete.

 

At this point, the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image should be downloaded.

 

Creating a Bootable USB Thumb Drive of Proxmox VE 8 on Windows 10/11

On Windows 10/11, you can use Rufus to create bootable USB thumb drives of different operating systems.

To download Rufus, visit the official website of Rufus from your favorite web browser.

Once the page loads, click on the Rufus download link as marked in the screenshot below.

 

Rufus should be downloaded.

 

Insert a USB thumb drive in your computer and double-click on the Rufus app file from the Downloads folder of your Windows 10/11 system to start Rufus.

 

Click on Yes.

 

Click on No.

 

Rufus should start.

First, select your USB thumb drive from the Device dropdown menu^[1].

Then, click on SELECT to select the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image^[2].

 

Select the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image from the Downloads folder of your Windows 10/11 system using the file picker^[1] and click on Open^[2].

 

Click on OK.

 

Click on START.

 

Click on OK.

 

Click on OK.

NOTE: The contents of the USB thumb drive will be removed. So, make sure to move important files before you click on OK.

 

The Proxmox VE 8 ISO image is being written to the USB thumb drive. It will take a while to complete.

 

Once the Proxmox VE ISO image is written to the USB thumb drive, click on CLOSE.

Your USB thumb drive should be ready for installing Proxmox VE 8 on your server.

 

Creating a Bootable USB Thumb Drive of Proxmox VE 8 on Linux

On Linux, you can use the dd tool to create a bootable USB thumb drive of different operating systems from ISO image.

First, insert a USB thumb drive in your computer and run the following command to find the device name of your USB thumb drive.

 

In my case, the device name of my 32GB USB thumb drive is sda as you can see in the screenshot below.

 

Navigate to the Downloads directory of your Linux system and you should find the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image there.

 

To write the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image proxmox-ve_8.1-2.iso to the USB thumb drive sda, run the following command:

NOTE: The contents of the USB thumb drive will be erased. So, make sure to move important files before you run the command above.

 

The Proxmox VE 8 ISO image is being written to the USB thumb drive sda. It will take a while to complete.

 

At this point, the Proxmox VE 8 ISO image should be written to the USB thumb drive.

 

To safely remove the USB thumb drive from your computer, run the following command:

 

Your USB thumb drive should be ready for installing Proxmox VE 8 on any server.

 

Conclusion

In this article, I have shown you how to download the ISO image of Proxmox VE 8. I have also shown you how download Rufus and use it to create a bootable USB thumb drive of Proxmox VE 8 on Windows 10/11. I have shown you how to create a bootable USB thumb drive of Proxmox VE 8 on Linux using the dd command as well.

In a lab environment, lots of new users will be using JupyterHub. The default Authenticator of JupyterHub allows only the Linux system users to log in to JupyterHub. So, if you want to create a new JupyterHub user, you will have to create a new Linux user. Creating new Linux users manually might be a lot of hassle for you. Instead, you can configure JupyterHub to use FirstUseAuthenticator. FirstUseAuthenticator as the name says, automatically creates a new user while logging in to JupyterHub for the first time. After the user is created, the same username and password can be used to log in to JupyterHub.

In this article, I am going to show you how to install the JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator on the JupyterHub Python virtual environment. I am also going to show you how to configure JupyterHub to use the FirstUseAuthenticator.

NOTE: If you don’t have JupyterHub installed on your computer, you can read one of the articles depending on the Linux distribution you’re using:

1. How to Install the Latest Version of JupyterHub on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS/ Debian 12/Linux Mint 21
2. How to Install the Latest Version of JupyterHub on Fedora 38+/RHEL 9/Rocky Linux 9

 

Table of Contents:

1. Creating a Group for JupyterHub Users
2. Installing JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator on the JupyterHub Virtual Environment
3. Configuring JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator
4. Restarting the JupyterHub Service
5. Verifying if JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator is Working
6. Creating New JupyterHub Users using JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator
7. Conclusion
8. References

 

Creating a Group for JupyterHub Users:

I want to keep all the new JupyterHub users in a Linux group jupyterhub-users for easier management.

You can create a new Linux group jupyterhub-users with the following command:

 

Installing JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator on the JupyterHub Virtual Environment:

If you’ve followed my JupyterHub Installation Guide to install JupyterHub on your favorite Linux distributions (Debian-based and RPM-based), you can install the JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator on the JupyterHub Python virtual environment with the following command:

 

The JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator should be installed on the JupyterHub virtual environment.

 

Configuring JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator:

To configure the JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator, open the JupyterHub configuration file jupyterhub_config.py with the nano text editor as follows:

 

Type in the following lines in the jupyterhub_config.py configuration file.

 

Once you’re done, press <Ctrl> + X followed by Y and <Enter> to save the jupyterhub_config.py file.

 

Restarting the JupyterHub Service:

For the changes to take effect, restart the JupyterHub systemd service with the following command:

 

If the JupyterHub configuration file has no errors, the JupyterHub systemd service should run just fine.

 

Verifying if JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator is Working:

To verify whether the JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator is working, visit JupyterHub from your favorite web browser and try to log in as a random user with a short and easy password like 123, abc, etc.

You should see the marked error message that the password is too short and the password should be at least 7 characters long. It means that the JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator is working just fine.

 

Creating New JupyterHub Users using JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator:

To create a new JupyterHub user using the FirstUseAuthenticator, visit the JupyterHub login page from a web browser, type in your desired login username and the password that you want to set for the new user, and click on Sign in.

 

A new JupyterHub user should be created and your desired password should be set for the new user.

Once the new user is created, the newly created user should be logged into his/her JupyterHub account.

 

The next time you try to log in as the same user with a different password, you will see the error Invalid username or password. So, once a user is created using the FirstUseAuthenticator, only that user can log in with the same username and password combination. No one else can replace this user account.

 

Conclusion:

In this article, I have shown you how to install the JupyterHub FirstUseAuthenticator on the JupyterHub Python virtual environment. I have also shown you how to configure JupyterHub to use the FirstUseAuthenticator.

 

References:

• firstuseauthenticator/firstuseauthenticator/firstuseauthenticator.py at main · jupyterhub/firstuseauthenticator · GitHub

 

MySQL is a reliable and widely used DBMS that utilizes SQL and a relational model to manage data. MySQL is installed as part of LAMP in Linux, but you can install it separately.Even in Ubuntu 24.04, installing MySQL is straightforward. This guide outlines the steps to follow. Read on!

Step-By-Step Guide to Install MySQL on Ubuntu 24.04

If you have a user account on your Ubuntu 24.04 and have sudo privileges, installing MySQL requires you to follow the procedure below.

Step 1: Update the System’s Repository
When installing packages on Ubuntu, you should update the system’s repository to refresh the sources list. Doing so ensures the MySQL package you install is the latest stable version.

Step 2: Install MySQL Server
Once the package index updates, the next step is to install the MySQL server package using the below command.

After the installation, start the MySQL service on your Ubuntu 24.04.

Step 3: Configure MySQL
Before we can start working with MySQL, we need to make a couple of configurations. First, access the MySQL shell using the command below.

Once the shell opens up, set a password for your ’root’ using the below syntax.

We’ve also specified to use the mysql_native_password authentication method.

Exit the MySQL shell.

Step 4: Run the MySQL Script
One interesting feature of MySQL is that it offers a script that you should run to quickly set it up. The script prompts you to specify different settings based on your preference. For example, you will be prompted to set a password for the root user. Go through each prompt and respond accordingly.

Step 5: Modify the Authentication Method
After successfully running the MySQL installation script, you should change the authentication method and set it to use the auth_socket plugin.

Start by accessing your MySQL shell using the root account.

Once logged in, run the below command to modify the authentication plugin.

Step 6: Create a MySQL User
So far, we have only access to MySQL using the root account. We should create a new user and specify what privileges they should have. When creating a new user, you must add their username and the login password using the syntax below.

Now that the user is created, we need to specify what privileges the user has when using MySQL. For instance, you can give them privileges, such as CREATE, ALTER, etc., on a specific or all the databases.

Here’s an example where we’ve specified a few privileges to the added user on all available databases. Feel free to specify whichever privileges are ideal for your user.

For the new user and the privileges to apply, flush the privileges and exit MySQL.

Step 7: Confirm the Created User
As the last step, we should verify that our user can access the database and has the specified privileges. Start by checking the MySQL service to ensure it is running.

Next, access MySQL using the credentials of the user you added in the previous step.

A successful login confirms that you’ve successfully installed MySQL, configured it, and added a new user.

Conclusion

MySQL is a relational DBMS widely used for various purposes. It supports SQL in managing data, and this post discusses all the steps you should follow to install it on Ubuntu 24.04. Hopefully, you’ve installed MySQL on your Ubuntu 24.04 with the help of the covered steps.

Task Manager is an app on the Windows 10/11 operating system that is used to monitor the running apps and services of your Windows 10/11 operating system. The Task Manager app is also used for monitoring the CPU, memory, disk, network, GPU, and other hardware usage information.

A few screenshots of the Windows Task Manager app are shown below:

In this article, I am going to show you 6 different ways of opening the Task Manager app on Windows 10/11.

 

Table of Contents:

1. Opening the Task Manager App from the Start Menu
2. Opening the Task Manager App from the Windows Taskbar
3. Opening the Task Manager App from Run Window
4. Opening the Task Manager App from the Command Prompt/Terminal
5. Opening the Task Manager App from the Windows Logon Menu
6. Opening the Task Manager app Using the Keyboard Shortcut

 

1. Opening the Task Manager App from the Start Menu

Search for the term app:task in the Start Menu and click on the Task Manager app from the search result as marked in the screenshot below.

The Task Manager app should be opened.

 

2. Opening the Task Manager App from the Windows Taskbar

Right-click (RMB) on an empty location of the Windows taskbar and click on Task Manager.

The Task Manager app should be opened.

 

3. Opening the Task Manager App from Run Window

To open the Run window, press <Windows> + Run.

In the Run window, type in taskmgr in the Open section^[1] and click on OK^[2].

The Task Manager app should be opened.

 

4. Opening the Task Manager App from the Command Prompt/Terminal

To open the Terminal app, right-click (RMB) on the Start Menu and click on Terminal.

 

The Terminal app should be opened.

Type in the command taskmgr and press <Enter>. The Task Manager app should be opened.

 

5. Opening the Task Manager App from the Windows Logon Menu

To open the Windows logon menu, press <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <Delete>.

From the Windows logon menu, click on Task Manager. The Task Manager app should be opened.

 

6. Opening the Task Manager app Using the Keyboard Shortcut

To Windows 10/11 Task Manager app can be opened with the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl> + <Shift> + <Escape>.

 

Conclusion:

In this article, I have shown you how to open the Task Manager app on Windows 10/11 in 6 different ways. Feel free to use the method you like the best.

Python and R programming languages rely on Anaconda as their package and environment manager. With Anaconda, you will get tons of the necessary packages for your data science, machine learning, or other computational tasks.To utilize Anaconda on Ubuntu 24.04, install the conda utility for your Python flavor. This post shares the steps for installing conda for Python 3, and we will install version 2024.2-1. Read on!

How to Install conda n Ubuntu 24.04

Anaconda is an open-source platform and by installing conda, you will have access to it and use it for any scientific computational tasks, such as machine learning. The beauty of Anaconda lies in its numerous scientific packages, ensuring you can freely use it for your project needs.

Installing conda on Ubuntu 24.04 follows a series of steps, which we’ve discussed in detail.

Step 1: Downloading the Anaconda Installer
When installing Anaconda, you should check and use the latest version of the installer script. You can access all the latest Anaconda3 installer scripts from the Anaconda Downloads Page.

As of writing this post, we have version 2024.2-1 as the latest version, and we can go ahead and download it using curl.

Ensure you change the version when using the above command. Also, navigate to where you want the installer script to be saved. In the above command, we’ve specified to save the installer as anaconda.sh, but you can use any preferred name.

The installer script is large and will take some time, depending on your network’s performance. Once the download is completed, verify the file is available using the ls command. Another crucial thing is to check the integrity of the installer script.
To do so, we’ve used the SHA-256 checksum by running the below command.

Once you get the output, confirm that it matches against the available Anaconda3 hashes from the website. Once everything checks out, you can proceed with the installation.

Step 2: Run the conda Installer Script
Anaconda has an installer script that will take you through installing it. To run the bash script, execute the below command.

The script will trigger different prompts that will walk you through the installation. For instance, you must press the Enter key to confirm that you are okay with the installation.
Next, a document containing the lengthy Anaconda license agreement will open.

Please go through it, and once you reach the bottom, type yes to confirm that you agree with the license terms.

You must also specify where you want the installation to be installed. By default, the script selects a location in your home directory, which is okay in some instances. However, if you prefer a different location, specify it and press the enter key again to proceed with the process.

Conda will start installing, and the process will take a few minutes. In the end, you will get prompted to initialize Anaconda3. If you wish to initialize it later, choose ‘no.’ Otherwise, type ‘yes,’ as in our case.

That’s it! You will get an output thanking you for installing Anaconda3. This message confirms that the conda utility was installed successfully on Ubuntu 24.04, and you now have the green light to start using it.

Step 3: Activate the Installation and Test Anaconda3
Start by sourcing the ~/.bashrc with the below command.

Next, restart your shell to open up in the Anaconda3 base environment.
You can now check the installed conda version.

Better yet, you can view all the available packages by listing them using the command below.

With that, you’ve installed Conda on Ubuntu 24.04. You can start working on your projects and maximize the power of Anaconda3 courtesy of its multiple packages.

Conclusion

Anaconda is installed by installing the conda command-line utility. To install conda, you must download its installer script, execute it, go through the installation prompts, and agree to the license terms. Once you complete the process, you can use Anaconda3 for your projects and leverage all the packages it offers.