Setting up a Proxmox package repository

The Proxmox VE offers three main repositories:

Repository	Subscription	Usage
Enterprise	Required	This is primarily used in the production of the Proxmox node. Packages in this repository go through additional scrutiny, bug fixes, and testing.
No-Subscription	Not required	This is used in learning, training, and home Proxmox cluster nodes. Packages in this repository go through initial bug fixes and are stable enough to be referred as the final release.
Test	Not required	This is used for the testing and development of Proxmox only. Packages in this repository are usually the very latest and are still going through final phases of the release cycle, such as beta testing and release candidate. Packages in this repository may contain a number of bugs and issues. Users of this repository are encouraged to share bug reports with developers.

The location and content of the Enterprise Repository source file is as follows:

#cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list
deb https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian wheezy pve-enterprise

The location and content of the No-Subscription Repository source file is as follows:

#cat /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://ftp.ca.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib
deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian wheezy pve-no-subscription
deb http://security.debian.org / wheezy/updates main contrib

Proxmox offers a Test Repository to allow users to try out new features or packages. As the name implies, the Test Repository should only be used for testing. All the new features of Proxmox are released in the Test Repository before they are available for the No-Subscription and Enterprise repositories. Packages in the Test Repository are not well-tested and may contain bugs. For this reason, the repository should never be used in a production-level cluster. The Test Repository is not enabled by default.

Getting ready

Log in to the Proxmox node through a console or SSH. The repository source file needs to be edited through CLI to enable the Test Repository.

How to do it…

Use the following steps to set up the Proxmox package repository:

1. Open the repository source file using any favorite text editor:

   #nano /etc/apt/sources.list
   

2. Make the necessary changes to make the entries look similar to the following:

   deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib
   deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian wheezy pvetest
   deb http://security .debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib
   

3. Save the file and exit the editor.
4. Run the following command to update the repositories:

   #apt-get update
   

How it works…

Usually, the announcement of the availability of a new package is made on the official Proxmox forum (http://forum.proxmox.com). The name of the package or the version information is included in the announcement. If you want to find information on a package, simply ask for it on the forum. Once you have the information, simply run the apt-get command to install it through CLI:

#apt-get install <package_name>

There's more…

Besides Enterprise, No-Subscription, and Test repositories there are two repositories that are outdated and are no longer supported or updated:

• Outdated stable repository (pve): This repository has stopped receiving updates after the initial release of Proxmox VE 3.1:

  /etc/apt/sources.list
  deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib
  deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian wheezy pve
  deb http://security .debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib
  

  If you're upgrading from Proxmox VE 2.x to 3.x, the second entry in /etc/apt/sources.list needs to be changed from wheezy pve to wheezy pve-no-subscription.

• Outdated Proxmox VE 2.x stable repository (squeeze pve): In order to have a stable Proxmox node, it is highly recommended to upgrade and update to the latest stable release of the Proxmox VE.

  /etc/apt/sources.list
  deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian squeeze main contrib
  deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian squeeze pve
  deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib