Phase 1 – Install Proxmox VE 9.2

Download here: https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads/proxmox-virtual-environment

Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE) is a free, open-source enterprise virtualization platform. It combines multiple infrastructure technologies into a single management platform:

  • KVM for full virtual machines
  • LXC for lightweight Linux containers
  • Software-defined storage (ZFS and Ceph)
  • Software-defined networking (SDN)
  • High Availability (HA) clustering
  • Integrated backup support via Proxmox Backup Server
  • Web-based management interface and REST API

Unlike traditional hypervisors that require separate products for clustering, storage, networking and management, Proxmox integrates everything into one platform.

Core architecture

              Web GUI / REST API / CLI
                         │
        ┌────────────────┼────────────────┐
        │                │                │
      KVM VMs        LXC Containers     HA Manager
        │                │                │
        └────────────────┼────────────────┘
                         │
                 Linux Kernel + QEMU
                         │
         ┌───────────────┬──────────────┐
         │               │              │
        ZFS           Ceph RBD        NFS/CIFS
         │               │              │
         └───────────────┼──────────────┘
                         │
                  Physical servers

Why it has become so popular

Proxmox has become one of the most popular virtualization platforms because it offers:

  • No per-core licensing
  • Enterprise-grade clustering
  • Excellent ZFS support
  • Built-in Ceph integration
  • Easy live migration
  • HA without additional software
  • Modern web interface
  • REST API for automation
  • Large community

It has become particularly popular for:

  • Homelabs
  • SMEs
  • MSPs
  • Universities
  • HPC labs
  • AI clusters
  • Edge computing

What’s new in Proxmox VE 9.2-1?

Version 9.2-1 (released 21 May 2026) is one of the biggest operational improvements since the 9.x series began.

1. Dynamic Load Balancer

This is arguably the headline feature.

Previously:

  • You manually balanced VMs.
  • One node could become overloaded.
  • HA only restarted failed VMs.

Now:

The Cluster Resource Scheduler (CRS) continuously monitors node utilisation and can automatically migrate HA-managed VMs to improve cluster balance while respecting HA policies.

Think of it as:

VMware DRS—finally arriving in Proxmox.

For an SRE this means:

  • lower CPU hotspots
  • better RAM distribution
  • improved cluster utilisation
  • less manual intervention

2. WireGuard SDN fabrics

Software Defined Networking gains native WireGuard support.

Instead of building tunnels manually, SDN can now use WireGuard fabrics.

Ideal for:

  • multi-site clusters
  • home lab + cloud
  • disaster recovery
  • remote edge clusters

This makes secure networking dramatically easier.

3. Better BGP / EVPN support

Networking receives major upgrades:

  • Route Maps
  • Prefix Lists
  • BGP filtering
  • OSPF redistribution
  • IPv6 EVPN underlay
  • Better EVPN controller options

This moves Proxmox SDN much closer to enterprise data centre networking.

4. Custom CPU Model Manager

Previously:

CPU models

were edited using configuration files.

Now there is a GUI under:

Datacenter
    →
Custom CPU Models

You can:

  • create CPU profiles
  • edit profiles
  • delete profiles
  • inspect supported CPU flags

This is extremely useful for mixed CPU clusters.

Example:

Intel Xeon E5
AMD EPYC

You can expose a compatible CPU feature set across all hosts for live migration.

5. HA Arm / Disarm

Cluster maintenance has become much easier.

You can now temporarily disarm the High Availability manager.

Before:

Maintenance often triggered:

  • fencing
  • unwanted migrations
  • HA recovery actions

Now:

    Disarm HA
        ↓
Perform maintenance
        ↓
      Arm HA
        ↓
 Everything resumes

This is one of the most requested enterprise features.

6. Updated software stack

9.2 updates almost every major component:

ComponentVersion
Debian13.5 Trixie
Linux Kernel7.0
QEMU11.0
LXC7.0
ZFS2.4
CephTentacle 20.2.1
Alternative CephSquid 19.2.x

7. Better Ceph support

Ceph Tentacle is now the recommended release.

Benefits include:

  • better performance
  • improved recovery
  • newer BlueStore features
  • updated replication
  • improved management

This is especially valuable if you’re building a hyper-converged infrastructure.

8. Storage improvements

9.2 also improves:

  • ZFS performance
  • storage management
  • replication
  • snapshot handling
  • integration with Ceph

9. General stability

Hundreds of fixes include improvements to:

  • VM migration
  • clustering
  • networking
  • storage
  • GUI responsiveness
  • API behaviour
  • backup handling

Why this matters for your homelab

Given the OpenStack/Ceph/Kubernetes homelab you’ve been planning, Proxmox 9.2 is a particularly good foundation because it provides:

  • Dynamic load balancing across your cluster as VM workloads change.
  • Native WireGuard SDN, making it easier to extend your lab securely or connect remote sites.
  • Custom CPU models, useful if your cluster contains heterogeneous hardware (for example, different Xeon generations).
  • Improved HA maintenance, reducing operational friction during upgrades and testing.
  • Ceph Tentacle support, aligning well with a modern hyper-converged storage stack.
  • Linux 7.0 and newer QEMU/LXC, bringing broader hardware compatibility and performance improvements.

For a three-node homelab evolving into OpenStack, Kubernetes, Ceph, and Slurm, Proxmox VE 9.2 is currently the most capable release to build on.

Homelab Install

Install screens below – click to view image: