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WAL ZFS format

Anthony

Proxmox VE Installation Guide (with ZFS Root Filesystem)

This guide walks you through installing Proxmox VE using ZFS for maximum performance, snapshot support, and ARC-based caching.

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✅ Requirements

  • Bootable USB with latest Proxmox VE ISO
  • Mini PC or server with:
  • 1× NVMe SSD (or SATA SSD)
  • 32 GB RAM minimum (64 GB recommended)
  • Display + keyboard (for initial installation only)

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1. Download & Prepare Installation Media

  1. Download the latest Proxmox ISO:
    → https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads
  2. Create a bootable USB:
  3. On Windows: Use Rufus
  4. On macOS/Linux: Use dd or balenaEtcher

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2. Boot and Begin Installation

  1. Insert USB into target machine and boot from it
  2. Choose “Install Proxmox VE” from the boot menu

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3. Choose ZFS Root Filesystem

When the installer asks for Target Hard Disk:

  1. Click Options (bottom right)
  2. Select:
  3. Filesystem: ZFS (RAID0) (if single disk)
  4. Optional:
  5. Enable compression: lz4 (recommended default)
  6. Set ashift: 12 for SSDs (default in most cases)
  7. Swap size: 0 (optional if you prefer no swap)

Note: RAID1/RAID10 is available if you have 2+ drives

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4. Complete Installation

  1. Set:
  2. Country, Timezone, Keyboard
  3. Admin password
  4. Hostname (e.g. sage-proxmox.local)
  5. Set static IP (recommended)
  6. Confirm install and reboot when complete

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5. First Login & Post-Install Checklist

Access the Proxmox Web UI from another device:
“`text

https://your-server-ip:8006

•	Login: root + your password
•	Accept SSL warning

Recommended Settings:

•	Update system (apt update && apt dist-upgrade)
•	Enable Proxmox no-subscription repo (optional)
•	Upload ISO images (e.g. Windows Server 2019)
•	Create ZFS-backed storage pools if needed

⸻

✅ Why ZFS?

Benefit What You Gain
Snapshots Fast backups and rollbacks for VMs
ARC caching RAM-accelerated read performance
Data integrity Checksummed files; automatic silent corruption repair
Compression Reduced disk I/O and longer SSD lifespan

⸻

Optional: Tune ARC

To cap ZFS RAM usage:

echo “options zfs zfs_arc_max=34359738368” > /etc/modprobe.d/zfs.conf

update-initramfs -u && reboot

(Example sets max ARC to 32 GB)

⸻

Done!

You now have a Proxmox VE system using ZFS as its root filesystem — ideal for running your Windows Server 2019 + Sage 50 VM with fast snapshots and enhanced read speed.

Let me know if you’d like a companion guide for creating and backing up your Sage VM on this ZFS setup.