Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Mastering Proxmox
Mastering Proxmox

Mastering Proxmox: Master Proxmox VE to effectively implement server virtualization technology within your network

eBook
€19.99 €28.99
Paperback
€35.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Mastering Proxmox

Chapter 2. Proxmox Under the Hood

In the previous chapter, we have seen how a Proxmox GUI looks like and set up a basic cluster, which we are going to use for hands-on learning of Proxmox. In this chapter, we will look at how configuration files hold a Proxmox virtualization platform together, files to be used for advanced configuration, and how to troubleshoot a Proxmox platform. Proxmox is built on Debian Linux, which is very stable with a large active community. So, it inherited the heavy dependency on configuration or the .conf files as we Linux users lovingly like to call them. The Proxmox GUI provides you with the ability to manage a cluster, but does not provide direct access to any configuration files. Any direct changes by an advanced user have to be done through CLI. Commonly used scenarios such as adding special arguments in configuration files are also done through CLI. In this chapter, we will look at the following topics:

  • The Proxmox directory structure
  • Configuration...

The Proxmox cluster directory structure

Proxmox is a cluster-based hypervisor. It is meant to be used with several server nodes. By using multiple nodes in a cluster, we provide redundancy or High Availability to the platform while increasing uptime. A production virtual environment may have several dozens to several hundreds of nodes in a cluster. As an administrator, it may not be a realistic scenario to change configuration files in the cluster one node at a time. Depending on the number of nodes in a cluster, it may take several hours just to change one small argument in a configuration file of all the nodes. An administrator would have to go from node to node to apply these changes. To alleviate wastage of precious time, Proxmox implemented the clustered filesystem to keep all the configuration files, or any other common files shared by all the nodes in the cluster, in a synchronous state. Its official name is Proxmox Cluster file system or pmxcfs, which is a database-driven filesystem...

Dissecting the configuration files

We now know where all the important files that hold a Proxmox cluster together are placed. We will now go inside some of these files for better understanding of what they do and the command arguments they use. You can use any Linux editor to view/edit these configuration files. In this book, we will use #nano to view and edit.

During the learning process, it will be a good idea to make a backup of the configuration files before editing them. In case something goes wrong, you will be able to replace it with the original working configuration file. Simply copy a configuration file using the following command:

# cp /etc/pve/<config_file> /home/<any_folder>

We can also use the SCP command to back up files to another node:

# scp /etc/pve/<config_file> <user>@<ip_or_hostname>:/<folder>

The cluster configuration file

The following code is what our cluster.conf file currently looks like from the cluster we created earlier in Chapter...

User configuration files

The user.cfg file holds all user and group information in the cluster and is located under /etc/pve/. It follows the following format to store all user information:

  • For user information, the format is as follows:
    <type>:<user>@realm:enable:expiry:f_name:l_name:email:comment
  • For group information, the format is as follows:
    <type>:<group_name>:user@realm:comment

Based on this format, the following is what our user.cfg file looks like right now. Depending on user information you have entered, the file content may vary:

user:root@pam:1:0:::[email protected]::
user:pmxuser@pve:1:0:ABC:XYZ:[email protected]:A User:

group:test:wahmed@pve:This is Test Group:

Note that the file user.cfg does not hold any user password. This information is stored under /etc/pve/priv/shadow.cfg.

The password configuration file

The password configuration file is located under /etc/pve/priv/shadow.cfg and stores all the passwords for users in the cluster. The format is rather...

Member nodes

Located under /etc/pve/.members, the member node file shows all the member nodes that are a part of the Proxmox cluster. It is a great way to see the cluster status, when the Proxmox GUI becomes inaccessible for any reason. The following is the .members file in our basic cluster:

{
  "nodename": "pmxvm01",
  "version": 9,
  "cluster": { "name": "pmx-cluster", "version": 2, "nodes": 2, "quorate": 1 },
  "nodelist": {
    "pmxvm01": { "id": 1, "online": 1, "ip": "192.168.145.1"},
    "pmxvm02": { "id": 2, "online": 1, "ip": "192.168.145.2"}
  }
}

The .members file

The content of a .members file is as follows:

"nodename": "pmxvm01"

The previous code section shows the current node where the .members file is being accessed.

"version": 9

The .members file has its...

The virtual machine list file

Located under /etc/pve/.vmlist, the virtual machine list file stores a list of all the virtual machines within the Proxmox cluster. The .vmlist file uses the following format to store the list:

"<vmid>": { "node": "<nodename>", "type": "<vm_type>", "version": <int> }

We have two virtual machines and one template in our basic cluster. The following is the information stored in the .vmlist file:

{
  "version": 24,
  "ids": {
  "121": { "node": "pmxvm01", "type": "openvz", "version": 20 },
  "101": { "node": "pmxvm01", "type": "qemu", "version": 11 },
  "201": { "node": "pmxvm01", "type": "qemu", "version": 22 }}
}

Please note that a VM with ID 201 is a KVM template in our cluster. But...

The Proxmox cluster directory structure


Proxmox is a cluster-based hypervisor. It is meant to be used with several server nodes. By using multiple nodes in a cluster, we provide redundancy or High Availability to the platform while increasing uptime. A production virtual environment may have several dozens to several hundreds of nodes in a cluster. As an administrator, it may not be a realistic scenario to change configuration files in the cluster one node at a time. Depending on the number of nodes in a cluster, it may take several hours just to change one small argument in a configuration file of all the nodes. An administrator would have to go from node to node to apply these changes. To alleviate wastage of precious time, Proxmox implemented the clustered filesystem to keep all the configuration files, or any other common files shared by all the nodes in the cluster, in a synchronous state. Its official name is Proxmox Cluster file system or pmxcfs, which is a database-driven filesystem...

Dissecting the configuration files


We now know where all the important files that hold a Proxmox cluster together are placed. We will now go inside some of these files for better understanding of what they do and the command arguments they use. You can use any Linux editor to view/edit these configuration files. In this book, we will use #nano to view and edit.

During the learning process, it will be a good idea to make a backup of the configuration files before editing them. In case something goes wrong, you will be able to replace it with the original working configuration file. Simply copy a configuration file using the following command:

# cp /etc/pve/<config_file> /home/<any_folder>

We can also use the SCP command to back up files to another node:

# scp /etc/pve/<config_file> <user>@<ip_or_hostname>:/<folder>

The cluster configuration file

The following code is what our cluster.conf file currently looks like from the cluster we created earlier in Chapter...

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Description

This is not an instructional guide, but a practical, scenario-based book which guides you through everything you need to know in a practical manner by letting you build your own cluster. By the end of the book, you will have a fully functional Proxmox cluster setup at your disposal and have the knowledge to replicate virtualization solutions .If you already know what the word virtualization means and you are ready to stand out from the crowd equipped with the unique ability to design and implement a rock-solid virtualized network environment using Proxmox, then you have just picked up the only book you will need. Linux system administration experience together with knowledge of networking and virtualization concepts is assumed. This book is also useful if you are already using Proxmox and simply want to master its advanced features.

What you will learn

  • Provide big business virtualization technology at small business prices by using Proxmox
  • Configure virtual machines beyond the basic default setup
  • Set up virtual environments of any size
  • Set up scalable, distributed shared storage systems using Ceph
  • Analyze realworld virtual environment scenarios and formulate Proxmoxbased solutions
  • Monitor resources and virtual machines to maintain performance and uptime
  • Troubleshoot a virtual environment based on reallife scenarios

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jul 14, 2014
Length: 310 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783980826
Tools :

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing

Product Details

Publication date : Jul 14, 2014
Length: 310 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783980826
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
€18.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
€189.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
€264.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total 114.97
Proxmox High Availability
€36.99
Mastering Proxmox
€35.99
Proxmox Cookbook
€41.99
Total 114.97 Stars icon
Banner background image

Table of Contents

11 Chapters
1. Dive into the Virtual World with Proxmox Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Proxmox Under the Hood Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Shared Storages with Proxmox Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. A Virtual Machine for a Virtual World Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Network of Virtual Networks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Proxmox HA – Zero Downtime Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. High Availability Storage for High Availability Cluster Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Proxmox Production Level Setup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Proxmox Troubleshooting Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Putting It All Together Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.3
(18 Ratings)
5 star 50%
4 star 33.3%
3 star 16.7%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




Malcolm J Warwick Apr 03, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
very well written and easy to understand
Amazon Verified review Amazon
matthew williams Jan 14, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I got a review copy of this book an a electronic version from Packt Publishing's staff, which I thank for the opportunity they gave me.I've used Proxmox heavily in the past and this book does a great job of helping guide users through setting up Proxmox for production use.One of the hidden gems of this book is chapter 7 which derives into the usage of Ceph for high availability storage. Whether you use Proxmox or not the chapter on high availability storage is well worth the cost aloneIf you are in the need for a high powered virtual machine cluster and don't wasn't to get tied into the high price that can go with other solutions then Proxmox is really one of the best solutions or there and Mastering Proxmox will help you to get the most out of Proxmox
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ruusento Sep 18, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I got a review copy of this book from Packt Publishing's staff, which I thank for the opportunity they gave me.What can I say about this book?It is a nice and quite complete book/sysadmin manual with various configuration examples, sample hardware BOMs, and with many tips and tricks for troubleshooting and setting up clusters of any dimension. Takes care of covering quite every aspect and feature of the latest 3.x branch of PVE, including eventual infographics on how to set up every particular feature. Highly recommended for every Proxmox sysadmin and enthusiast, which might prefer a manual instead of looking for threads and eventual guides into the PVE forums.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Karl Jan 30, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent book, which goes into great detail on building a high availability Proxmox cluster.There is a special section on troubleshooting which was also excellent. I purchased the book to help me with my understanding of the inner workings of the network functions. It explains each aspect of the system in a thorough and concise manner.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Grayson Kent Feb 11, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Amazing book. I wish all guides were this thorough and well-thought out. One of the few books I read digitally and liked enough to buy to have around. My only criticism is that I felt the Ceph stuff should be put into its own book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is included in a Packt subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content

How can I cancel my subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

What are credits? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team. 

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.