Proxmox 8 How to use CLI only to create and spin up new Linux VMs (qemu)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Util now this page is just some sort of a collection of notes. — Axel Werner 2024-07-20 08:16

Important paths and files:

Boot ISOs can be found in Proxmox storage named: zfsjbod ( physical: /zpool-jbod/proxmox/template/iso/ )
- Valid ISO files:
  - zfsjbod:iso/debian-12.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso
  - zfsjbod:iso/debian-12.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso
  - zfsjbod:iso/rescuezilla-2.4.2-64bit.jammy.iso
  - zfsjbod:iso/SLE-15-SP5-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso
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List available VMs (NOT lxc containers!) and status:
```
qm list
```
Destroy/Remove/Delete existing VM:
```
qm destroy vmId
```
List all available Proxmox storages:
```
pvesm status
```
List all content of a specific PM storage:
```
pvesm list storageId
```
Show detailed configuration settings for a specific VM ID 666:
```
qm config 666
```
Set/Change the RAM amount for VM ID 666:
```
qm set 666 --memory 1024
```
Sets/Overwrites all TAGS of a VM. WARNING: Will replace any existing tags! :
```
qm set 666 --tags dmz,testing,db
qm set 666 --tags '' # removes all tags
```
Set nameservers using Cloud-Init feature. (Cloud Init must be enabled for this VM to work!) :
```
qm set 666 --nameserver 8.8.8.8,1.1.1.1
```

Stopping/Starting/Restarting a VM:

qm shutdown 666 # gracefull shutdown (via guest tools)
qm shutdown 666 --timeout 60 # with timeout for a hard stop
qm stop 666 # hard stop/pull plug/crash
qm start 666

qm reboot 666 # gracefully reboot using guest tools
qm reboot 666 --timeout 60 # same but with HARD STOP after timeout

List all available snapshots of a VM:
```
qm listsnapshot 666
```
Delete a named snapshot of a VM:
```
qm delsnapshot 666 snapshotName
```

Delete ALL SNAPSHOTS of this VM:

vmid=666
qm listsnapshot "$vmid"             |\
   grep -v "You are here"           |\
   awk '{print $2}'                 |\
   xargs -n1 qm delsnapshot "$vmid"

Create a new 'named' UNSAFE ONLINE snapshot (no RAM/unsafe crashed state):
```
qm snapshot 666 snapshotName 
```

Create a new 'named' OFFLINE snapshot (no RAM/safe state):

qm shutdown 666 
qm snapshot 666 snapshotName 
qm start 666

Create a new 'named' ONLINE snapshot (with RAM+state):
```
qm snapshot 666 snapshotName --vmstate 
```

Switch/Revert/Rollback to a specific named snapshot of this VM:

qm rollback 666 snapshotName
qm rollback 666 snapshotName --start # with autostart

Set/Reset the ROOT (user) password via installed guest addons:
```
qm guest passwd 666 root --password moreThan5Chars
```
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Clone (quick) existing VM:

qm clone existingVmId newVmId \
   --name 'newVms.fqdn.lan'       \
   --storage targetStorageId  \  # optional

Create basic 1 Disk Linux UEFI VM with Cloud-Init capabilities:

Create UEFI/Cloud-Init VM using Debian netboot ISO:

# define new VM id and your 
# PVE storage volume
# of choice.
#
vmId=666
pveStorage=local

qm stop "$vmId"
qm destroy "$vmId"

qm create "$vmId"                                              \
   --name newHostname.lan                                      \
   --description "once uppon a time..."                        \
   --cores 4                                                   \
   --memory 2048                                               \
   --cdrom zfsjbod:iso/debian-12.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso         \
   --virtio0 "$pveStorage":50,backup=1,discard=on,format=qcow2 \
   --ciuser root                                               \
   --cipassword 12345                                          \
   --ipconfig0 ip=dhcp,ip6=auto                                \
   --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0                                  \
   --sshkeys ssh-public-key-file.pub                           \
   --ostype l26                                                \
   --agent 1                                                   \
   --citype nocloud                                            \
   --ciupgrade 1                                               \
   --serial0 socket                                            \
   --storage local                                             \
   --tags someTag                                              \
   --scsihw virtio-scsi-single                                 \
   --bios ovmf                                                 \
   --efidisk0 "$pveStorage":1                                  \
   --ide0 "$pveStorage":cloudinit,media=cdrom                  \
   #

qm status 666

SSH into new VM and install some vital packages needed for cloud-init. Also we make sure that we can SSH login as root in the future:

ssh user@newHostname.lan
su - # no sudo just yet
# enter 'user' password 
apt update                 \
  && apt install -y        \
         cloud-init        \
         qemu-guest-agent 
echo "PermitRootLogin yes" >>/etc/ssh/sshd_config
reboot

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Axel Werner's OPEN SOURCE Knowledge Base

Table of Contents

Proxmox 8 How to use CLI only to create and spin up new Linux VMs (qemu)

Important paths and files:

CLI navigation:

Create basic 1 Disk Linux UEFI VM with Cloud-Init capabilities: