If you have a laptop at home that is collecting dust, don’t throw it away, since you can use it for many things, even if it already has many years behind it.
To give it a new life, instead of throwing it away, one of the most important options to consider is Proxmox, which is an operating system based on Debian, a Linux distro, which make the most of your device’s hardware.
It has several versions dedicated to different scenarios, although here I will talk to you about Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE), an open source solution that allows virtualization in a different way than what can be found in others.
This is because it uses Type 1 Hypervisor, which means you can run almost directly on Proxmox hardware, with all the possibilities this has for seamlessly launching virtual machines, containers, and other services.
To exemplify some of the uses when you have configured everything, think that you will be able to have different containers at your disposal to launch services without affecting overall performanceas an ad blocker or in the field of home automation.
I have used Virtualbox, so that you can test Proxmox VE before installing it permanently, but as always, you can configure it directly from a USB device to which you have downloaded its ISO file.
How to correctly configure Proxmox in VirtualBox
The first thing you have to have on hand before starting is VirtualBox with active virtualization from the UEFI/BIOS of your laptop, so that there is no problem with the hypervisor when launching Proxmox.
As well as the Proxmox VE ISO file, which you can download here. In this case, with the latest version available, Proxmox VE 9.1, released on November 19 and with a size of 1.83 gigabytes.
To get started, create a new machine in VirtualBox and name it whatever you want, in my case Proxmox-test-server. In the settings, you will have to add the Proxmox VE ISO image, set as Linux type, Debian subtype and Debian 64-bit version.
Next, it will ask you to choose the hardware you prefer, something that will depend entirely on the components of your PC; here, I have opted for 4 cores and a base memory of more than 8,000 megabytes, but Proxmox’s minimum requirements are suitable for old and humble laptops.
Within the option of Create a virtual disk nowalso choose the disk size you prefer, here you will see it with 60 gigabytes, but it all depends on your needs. And, before running the machine, you will have to make the following changes in the settings tab Configuration.
Inside Systemchoose as main Optics as a boot order, so that it perfectly recognizes the ISO image; Here it is important to remember that, after reaching the last Proxmox installation point, you have to deselect the Optics or else you will enter an installation loop.
In Redchoose the network adapter option bridge adapter and select the name of your network adapter – it should appear as the manufacturer of your computer’s processor, generally – which will cause the VM to connect directly to your network, with its own IP.
With these settings, you can now start the Proxmox VM to check what it is capable of, although first we need to configure this system so that it does not give us subsequent errors.
Installing Proxmox VE to start using it
In computing, to check the results without having to consume absolutely all the resources of the host machine, or in a more secure way, what is known as virtualization is used, although a step further would be containers.
While VMs are a virtual representation or emulation of a physical PC, containers take the load off the machine’s operating systemhaving a smaller size, although both work together. And Proxmox achieves spectacular results.
Installing Proxmox is very easy, as it will offer you detailed instructions if you choose the Graphical option, in which you will have to select region, time zone, language and most importantly, your credentials.
It will ask you to choose a domain, which you can enter as Test-proxmox.local and, in addition, you will have to provide an email and a password.
The steps are very easy and the guide is very intuitive, although remember that, before hitting the restart button, you will have to change the disk drive that I have already mentioned before, so as not to get into a loop.
From here on, simply Run Proxmox whenever you want and you will have your own server runningwhich you can access with the address that will be given to you upon completion of the installation.