Hetzner-ZFS-Proxmox

Instructions for installing proxmox in hetzner with zfs.
Enter Rescue Mode:

1.1. Log into the Hetzner Robot Web Interface.

1.2. Select your server, go to the "Rescue" tab, select "Linux" as the operating system and click "Activate rescue system". You will receive an email with the rescue system's credentials.

1.3. Restart the server to enter the rescue system.

SSH into Rescue System:

2.1. SSH into the server using the provided credentials in the email.

Setup the Partition Scheme for NVMe and Hard drives:

It's recommended to use the NVMe drives for the ZFS rpool (OS and VM images) and the hard drives for a secondary pool for data storage.

Follow these steps for the NVMe drives:

3.1. Use fdisk to create a GPT partition table and a single Linux partition on each NVMe drive. For example, for the first NVMe drive:

use lsblk if you don't know your drives.

fdisk /dev/nvme0n1

Follow the prompts to create a new GPT table (g command) and a new partition (n command). Repeat the process for the second NVMe drive.

Create a ZFS mirrored pool using these partitions:

zpool create -f -o ashift=12 -O atime=off -O canmount=off -O compression=lz4 -O normalization=formD -O mountpoint=/ -R /mnt rpool mirror /dev/nvme0n1p1 /dev/nvme1n1p1

Do similar steps for the hard drives but the pool should be created without the -R /mnt and -O mountpoint=/ options. I like to do this to avoid boot errors

zpool create -f -o ashift=12 -O atime=off -O canmount=off -O compression=lz4 -O normalization=formD data-pool mirror /dev/sda /dev/sdb

Install Proxmox:

Download and install Proxmox onto the ZFS rpool:

apt-get update
apt-get install -y debootstrap gdisk zfs-initramfs
debootstrap --arch amd64 buster /mnt

Mount the system folders into the chroot environment:

mount --rbind /dev /mnt/dev
mount --rbind /proc /mnt/proc
mount --rbind /sys /mnt/sys

Chroot into the environment:

chroot /mnt /bin/bash --login

Set up your /etc/apt/sources.list:

apt-get install -y wget
echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve bookworm pve-no-subscription" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-install-repo.list
wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/proxmox-release-bookworm.gpg -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxmox-release-bookworm.gpg

echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list

echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ bookworm-security main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ bookworm-security main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list

echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list

Update repo and system

apt update && apt full-upgrade
apt install pve-kernel-6.2

Install proxmox

apt update
apt dist-upgrade
apt install proxmox-ve postfix open-iscsi

Grub stuff

grub-probe /boot/grub

grub-install /dev/nvme0n1
grub-install /dev/nvme1n1
update-grub

Exit & Reboot

exit && reboot