I am gyptazy (pronounced ɡʏpˈteɪziː) - an enthusiastic and passionated DevOps engineer and developer.
I am currently working on a new storage integration for PegaProx. The idea is to move snapshot operations directly to the place where the data is stored: the storage system itself. Instead of only using the built in snapshot functionality of Proxmox VE, PegaProx will be able to create and manage snapshots directly on NetApp ONTAP storage systems. PegaProx with ... Read More
When talking about open-source virtualization platforms, Proxmox VE is probably one of the first solutions that comes to mind. It combines KVM virtual machines, LXC containers, storage, networking and clustering behind a convenient management interface. But what if you want to build the same kind of environment on FreeBSD ? This is exactly where Sylve becomes interesting. Some more general ...…
Some journeys don't end where you expect them to. Sometimes they bring you right back to where everything began, only with a lot more experience and a much better ecosystem waiting for you. That's exactly what is happening with BoxyBSD . When I first launched the project, the entire infrastructure was powered by FreeBSD and the bhyve hypervisor. It felt ... Read More
snac2 with native push notifications? One of the most requested features for mobile users has finally arrived by adding native push notification support for iOS and Android applications is now available for snac and snac2. I've been a snac citizen in the Fediverse (because Mastodon is just too fat when running a single user instance) since the very beginning of ... Read More
BackupPilot brings the Proxmox Backup Server to the Linux Desktop! For many years, Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) has established itself as one of the most efficient and reliable backup solutions in the open-source ecosystem. It is widely used alongside Proxmox VE to protect virtual machines and containers through fast, incremental, and deduplicated backups. However, the Proxmox ecosystem is not…
Starling (not to mix up with Starlink) is a lightweight and minimalist ActivityPub server for the Fediverse. Written entirely in PHP and powered by SQLite, Starling makes it possible to run your own decentralized social network on shared hosting, low-resource VPS systems, or simple self-hosted environments. The Fediverse is a decentralized social networking ecosystem based on open standards such…
The last weeks were pretty crazy when it comes to security issues that affect basically everyone. Applications, virtualization stacks like QEMU, CI/CD platforms, operating systems, kernels and even components that were considered stable and trusted for years suddenly became part of critical discussions again. What makes this wave of vulnerabilities different is not only the technical impact…
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS has just been released, yet Proxmox does not immediately provide an official LXC container template for it. The reason? Because people were asking for it . This is the same as we already encounted in the past for Debian 13 . Ubuntu 26.04 LXC Template for Proxmox VE by gyptazy. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS LXC Template for Proxmox This ... Read More
With version 0.9.8, PegaProx now includes a native Prometheus exporter. This makes it much easier to collect metrics directly from your environment without relying on additional tools or complicated setups. Grafana Dashboard for PegaProx by gyptazy. The collected metrics can be integrated seamlessly into Grafana, allowing you to visualize and analyze them in a clear and structured way. This…
PegaProx for Proxmox VE clusters continues to evolve from a simple idea into a more complete solution that addresses real world needs in enterprise virtualization environments. One of the most frequently requested features has been a centralized logging capability, and this is exactly what is now being introduced. Instead of having to manually collect logs from individual nodes, administrators can…
Security has become one of the most critical aspects of operating modern virtualization infrastructures. With the introduction of version 0.9.1.1 , PegaProx now includes integrated CIS Benchmark auditing and CVE vulnerability scanning , bringing automated security visibility directly into the virtualization management layer. By combining infrastructure management with continuous security…
PegaProx was originally designed as a centralized control platform for Proxmox VE based infrastructures. Pegaprox's goal has always been to bring together complex virtualization environments into a single management interface that simplifies daily operations and reduces administrative overhead. While the last upgrades added support for additional features, like EntraID / OIDC support , the latest…
Running a Proxmox VE cluster is fantastic for virtualization — until patch day arrives. Then it becomes a repetitive routine: migrate VMs, update packages, reboot nodes, wait for quorum, and repeat for every server. On clusters with more than a handful of nodes, this process is not only time-consuming, it is also easy to get wrong. A missed migration or ... Read More
Setting up a reliable mail infrastructure is no longer limited to large organizations. With modern components like Stalwart Mail Server and FoundationDB, it is possible to run a highly available and distributed mail platform without relying on a single machine or a fragile storage backend and I became a pretty huge fan of this setup. The goal of this setup ... Read More
The evolution of PegaProx from a promising management tool to a powerhouse datacenter manager (often also mentioned as the alternative of vCenter/vSphere for Proxmox environemnts) has reached a major milestone today. With the release of version 0.6.6 , the development team has delivered on one of the most vocal requests from the enterprise community: the integration of centralized,…
FOSDEM , the Free and Open Source Developers’ European Meeting, is an annual pilgrimage for open source enthusiasts from all over the world. What started as a small gathering in 2000, originally named the Open Source Developers of Europe Meeting (OSDEM), has grown into one of the most significant conferences dedicated to free and open source software. In 2026, FOSDEM ... Read More
PegaProx is designed to be the central control point for modern Proxmox VE based datacenters. It brings together everything administrators need to manage complex infrastructures in a single, clear interface, similar to what many operators already know from established enterprise virtualization platforms. Instead of switching between clusters, nodes, storage views, and monitoring tools , PegaProx…
This post describes how to export metrics from bhyve based virtual machines and Jails managed by Sylve on FreeBSD by my Prometheus exporter. The focus is on collecting reliable data from the host system without relying on tooling that was primarily designed for Linux hypervisors or assumes the existence of hypervisor level counters. Monitoring bhyve workloads on FreeBSD is different ... Read More
Snapshots are one of the most useful safety mechanisms in virtualized environments. They make it easy to roll back changes, reduce risk during upgrades, and provide confidence when testing or migrating workloads. Proxmox VE supports snapshots for both virtual machines and containers, and on a single guest level this works well and reliably. The problem starts once a setup grows ... Read More
Two years ago I started working on a project called ProxLB because something essential was missing in my daily work with Proxmox VE based clusters. At that time I was deeply involved in my BoxyBSD project which provides free VPS instances for people who are interested in BSD systems. Running such an environment made it very clear that a DRS ... Read More
ProxLB is a lightweight load-balancing and placement helper designed for Proxmox VE environments, helping operators make smarter scheduling and availability decisions for virtual machines and containers. It provides advanced features such as pinning, affinity and anti-affinity rules, maintenance mode, and intelligent node selection to keep workloads where they belong. With a strong focus on…
With Proxmox Backup Server 4 , a long-awaited feature has finally arrived: native support for S3-compatible object storage as a datastore. This fundamentally expands how backups can be designed, stored, and scaled in Proxmox environments. Until now, Proxmox Backup Server required local disks or locally attached storage to host datastores. With version 4, this limitation is gone. Datastores can now…
Live migration is one of the most powerful and frequently used features in a Proxmox VE cluster, but it relies on a prerequisite that is often underestimated: consistent CPU compatibility across all nodes. In real-world environments, clusters rarely consist of identical hardware where we could simply use the host type. Nodes are added over time, CPU generations differ, and feature ... Read More
BoxyBSD started as a simple idea. Lowering the barrier of entry into the BSD world. What began in late 2022 on spare hardware has grown into a globally distributed, fully automated, free VPS platform that allows beginners and newcomers to explore BSD systems without needing a credit card, prior infrastructure knowledge, or their own hardware. Where was the talk given? ... Read More
The Proxmox Datacenter Manager 1.0 brings something many administrators have wanted for a long time. A single place where all Proxmox VE clusters, individual nodes and Proxmox Backup Server instances come together. Instead of jumping through different interfaces, everything appears in one central cockpit. You get a clear and consistent overview of hosts, VMs, containers and datastores, even when…
Creating a highly secure Proxmox cluster with proper micro segmentation has become one of the most frequent topics in my discussions with users and customers. Almost every organization that migrates from another virtualization platform asks the same question early on. How can network segments be defined and enforced directly inside Proxmox in a simple and centralized way? For a long ... Read More
IncusOS is an immutable operating system created with one clear goal: To run Incus safely, predictably and efficiently. Every part of its design focuses on providing a hardened, consistent and fully automated foundation for container and virtual machine management. Built on Debian 13, IncusOS includes its own kernel and Incus builds to maintain full control over the complete software stack. ...…
Let me spoiler, it's the best I've seen so far for bhyve and FreeBSD! When Stefano told me about Sylve , I just had a quick look at the GitHub project and thought, "okay, just another of thousands jail manager just with a better web ui, similar to the Proxmox one" and I got completely wrong while giving it a ... Read More
In today's globalized IT landscape the term "cloud" dominates conversations about infrastructure, applications, and deployment strategies. Public cloud providers promise scalability, flexibility, and resilience but yet many organizations still operate their own infrastructure for reasons of control, cost, and compliance. In these environments, FreeBSD continues to play an important role as a…
In this HowTo we install and configure Kanidm on Linux Debian Trixie and use it for authentication with Proxmox by OIDC (OpenID Connect). In previous articles, I’ve already shown another example in how to integrate Proxmox VE with external identity providers such as Authentik and Keycloak, using them as realms to centralize authentication. Both of these solutions are powerful in ... Read More
Running your own package mirror (such as for Proxmox products) may seem like an advanced setup, but it addresses challenges that are increasingly relevant in modern infrastructures. At its core, a mirror is simply a local copy of selected repositories, yet the advantages extend far beyond faster downloads. By keeping a local mirror, organizations can reduce external bandwidth usage because ...…
It has now been several weeks since the release of Debian 13 (Trixie), yet Proxmox still does not provide an official LXC container template for it. While Debian 13 was still in its final freeze phase, I had already created an early beta template ( debian-13-standard_13.x-beta_lxc_proxmox_amd64.tar.gz ) so both I and others could start testing early. Since then, many of you have ... Read More
Managing Proxmox storage resources at scale has traditionally been a cumbersome task. In clustered environments where consistency, reliability, and speed are critical, manually adding or removing storage definitions on each node wastes valuable time and introduces the risk of human error. Imagine configuring NFS shares, CephFS mounts, iSCSI targets or Proxmox Backup Server repositories across…
The Proxmox ecosystem has grown massively in recent months – and one of the key reasons behind this growth is the strong and active community that continues to push the project forward after the VMware aquisition by Broadcom. You can really feel the momentum. There is a lot happening around Proxmox, and the pace is only picking up. I see ... Read More
On September 25th, 2025, the Dutch Proxmox Day returns to Ede, Netherlands—bringing together Proxmox users, operators, and developers from across Europe. This community-driven conference focuses entirely on Proxmox VE, real-world cluster operations, and modern virtualization workflows. Organized by Tuxis B.V., a long-time contributor to the Proxmox ecosystem, the event is completely free to attend…
Proxmox VE 9 Beta 1 has been released and represents a major step forward for the Proxmox virtualization platform. For the first time, Proxmox VE is built on Debian 13 “Trixie”, providing a modern and future-proof operating system base while preserving the stability and predictability Proxmox is known for. This beta release introduces several long-requested features, most notably native virtual…
Over the last few months, I’ve repeatedly been asked how I test my Ansible modules and ProxLB setup in a fully automated and reproducible way. When developing new features or debugging complex behavior, having a clean, quickly deployable Proxmox instance is essential. The same question usually follows: how can Proxmox be deployed without walking through the ISO installer step by ... Read More
Managing Proxmox VE subscription licenses at scale is a long-standing pain point for administrators. In enterprise environments, manually assigning licenses across dozens or hundreds of nodes is slow, error-prone, and nearly impossible to audit properly. With the new proxmox_node Ansible module, Proxmox license and node management can now be automated end-to-end using the official API—bringing…
When it comes to virtualization, many administrators still believe that NFS is not suitable for serious enterprise workloads and that protocols like iSCSI or Fibre Channel are required to achieve acceptable performance. While this assumption may have been true years ago, modern infrastructure tells a very different story. With fast networking becoming the norm, protocol efficiency and latency…
Running your own on-prem PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) can be a game-changer and it’s not just for enterprises, but also for advanced homelabs. Whether it’s about securing internal services, managing client certificates for S/MIME email encryption, or just having full control over certificate issuance, operating your own root CA brings a lot of flexibility and independence. There are many ways…
Automating Proxmox VE cluster creation has long meant fragile shell scripts, manual SSH steps, and hard-to-debug Ansible hacks. With the new native Ansible modules proxmox_cluster and proxmox_cluster_info , you can now create and join Proxmox clusters cleanly via the official API—fully idempotent, error-aware, and ready for real-world automation. Both modules use the official Proxmox VE API,…
When I first started BoxyBSD, I had a fairly straightforward goal in mind: Build a completely free VPS hosting platform with full IPv6 support aimed at beginners and small open-source projects. Something simple, lightweight, and accessible. But as the project evolved, I realized it was becoming much more than just a small personal project and BoxyBSD started giving back - ... Read More
When exploring secure and efficient authentication options for a Proxmox setup, Authentik paired with OpenID Connect (OIDC) emerges as a compelling choice, particularly for those who prioritize open-source tools and in-house data control. Authentik, an open-source identity provider, empowers administrators to customize authentication flows without the constraints of proprietary systems, avoiding…
Incus has quickly established itself as a modern, powerful alternative for managing containers and virtual machines. In a previous article, I covered what Incus is, how it works, and how to build an Incus cluster. After publishing that guide and sharing it on social media, one question kept coming up again and again: can you easily run BSD virtual machines ... Read More
Incus is a versatile and efficient tool for managing both system containers and virtual machines, offering a unified way to run full Linux systems. It supports a wide range of Linux distributions and relies on a simple but powerful REST API. Whether you’re running a single machine or scaling across a full data center, Incus adapts easily to your needs. ... Read More
April, April! No, even it’s the first of April – this is real! After months of development, I’m thrilled to announce the release of ProxLB 1.1.0 – thanks to my company credativ GmbH for sponsoring this project where I could work on this during my work time! It’s been quite the journey since I started this project in mid-2024, and ... Read More
Running Windows virtual machines on Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE) has improved dramatically over the past few years. Still, Windows guests occasionally suffer from noticeable performance issues that rarely affect Linux VMs. In almost all real-world cases, these problems can be traced back to three root causes. Missing or outdated Windows guest drivers and tools Suboptimal VM configuration (for…
Proxmox Backup Server is an essential component for anyone running Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE) or managing backups in a modern virtualized infrastructure. It delivers a high-performance, deduplication-enabled backup solution that ensures reliable data protection while keeping storage usage efficient. Like any critical infrastructure service, continuous monitoring of its performance and…
When deploying an open-source chat solution like Matrix Synapse, authentication is a critical component. Many organizations rely on centralized identity providers to manage access securely and efficiently. This is where OpenID Connect (OIDC) comes into play, enabling seamless integration with enterprise identity platforms such as Microsoft Azure Active Directory, now known as Microsoft Entra ID.…
Kleene is a container management (jail manager) platform designed specifically for FreeBSD, bringing familiar concepts from Docker while fully embracing FreeBSDs native tools and philosophy. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Kleene follows the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle, leveraging FreeBSD’s built-in features to simplify application deployment, maintenance, and upgrades without…