Install Proxmox VE on a Mini PC: Step-by-Step First Install

Guide · OS

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Pinned version: Proxmox VE 9.2 ISO installer, release 9.2-1 (proxmox-ve_9.2-1.iso, per the official downloads page — https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads/proxmox-virtual-environment/iso); admin guide version 9.2.13 (https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/chapter-pve-installation.html). Last checked: 2026-10-24.

Proxmox VE is a Debian-based platform for running virtual machines and LXC containers from a web interface. To install it on a mini PC, confirm the CPU is 64-bit with Intel VT or AMD-V enabled in the BIOS, write the official ISO to a USB stick, run the installer, then manage everything from the web UI.

Proxmox VE is a Debian-based platform for running virtual machines and LXC containers, managed from a web interface. On a homelab mini PC it lets you run Immich, Jellyfin and other services in separate VMs or containers. This guide walks through the official ISO install.

Check your mini PC first

From the official System Requirements:

CPU: 64-bit x86 (Intel 64 or AMD64) with Intel VT or AMD-V for KVM. Make sure virtualization is enabled in the BIOS/UEFI.
RAM: the evaluation minimum is 1 GB plus guest RAM. The recommendation is at least 2 GB for the OS and Proxmox VE services, plus memory for your guests. With ZFS or Ceph, plan roughly 1 GB of extra memory per TB of used storage.
Storage: "best results are achieved with SSDs". The docs recommend SSDs with power-loss protection and discourage consumer SSDs for production use.
Passthrough: to pass a GPU or other PCIe device to a VM (for example for Jellyfin transcoding), the CPU and board need IOMMU (Intel VT-d / AMD-Vi), usually enabled in the BIOS/UEFI.
Raspberry Pi and other device-tree-only boards are not supported.

The docs' minimums are "for evaluation purposes only and should not be used in production". A single mini PC is a homelab, not a production cluster, so go in knowing that. For choosing hardware, see N100 vs N305 vs ThinkCentre Tiny.

Step 1: Make the USB installer

Download the ISO from https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads/proxmox-virtual-environment/iso. The docs recommend a USB flash drive because it's faster than a CD/DVD. The drive must be larger than the ISO, and UNetbootin does not work.

Windows: Etcher works out of the box. Rufus also works, but click No when asked to download a different GRUB version, then pick DD mode.
Linux: find the stick's device name with lsblk (run it before and after plugging the stick in), then:

bash

dd bs=1M conv=fdatasync if=./proxmox-ve_9.2-1.iso of=/dev/XYZ

⚠️ WARNING: dd overwrites the target completely. Replace /dev/XYZ with the USB stick, double-check its size in lsblk, and "do not overwrite the wrong disk!"

Step 2: Run the installer

⚠️ WARNING: "All existing data on the selected drives will be removed during the installation process." Back up anything on the mini PC's disk first.

Enable booting from USB in the firmware and boot the stick. (The docs: "Secure boot needs to be disabled when booting an installer prior to Proxmox VE version 8.1." The installer's optional memtest86+ entry does need Secure Boot turned off.)
Choose Install Proxmox VE (Graphical). If the graphical installer has driver problems, use Terminal UI.
Accept the EULA and pick the target disk. The default file system is ext4 (with LVM). ZFS is available under Options, but don't put ZFS on top of hardware RAID.
Set country, time zone and keyboard.
Set the root password (at least 8 characters; the docs recommend 12+) and an email address for notifications.
Configure the network: pick the interface, hostname, a static IP, gateway and DNS. During install you can set IPv4 or IPv6, not both.
Review the summary and click Install. Remove the USB stick when it finishes and let it reboot.

Step 3: Log in to the web interface

From another computer on your network, open https://<the-ip-you-set>:8006. Log in as root with realm PAM and the password you chose.

The docs' post-install steps (paraphrased from the installation chapter):

Without a subscription key, set up one of the public package repositories so you get security and bug-fix updates. See Package Repositories and copy the exact repository lines from there.
Check the IP configuration, hostname and time zone.
Check your firewall settings.

Next step

Run Jellyfin in a VM or container and set up hardware transcoding: Jellyfin Quick Sync in Docker. Or go back to the starter stack.

Tools: add the Proxmox host overhead to your apps' documented RAM with the hardware sizing calculator.