This page presents a list of commonly used commands for proxmox.
# list VMs
qm list
# Create or restore a virtual machine.
qm create <vmid>
# Create or restore a virtual machine with core, memory, disks specified.
qm create <vmid> --name <vm-name> --cores <number-of-cores> --memory <memory-size-in-bytes> --scsi0 file=<vg-name>:<size-in-gb> --cdrom local:<iso-name> --net0 virtio,bridge=<bridge-name>
# start a VM
qm start <vmid>
# Suspend virtual machine.
qm suspend <vmid>
# shutdown a VM
qm shutdown <vmid>
# reboot a VM
qm reboot <vmid>
# reset a VM
qm reset <vmid>
# stop a VM
qm stop <vmid>
# Destroy the VM and all used/owned volumes.
# Removes any VM specific permissions and firewall rules
qm destroy <vmid>
# Enter Qemu Monitor interface.
qm monitor <vmid>
# Get the virtual machine configuration with both current and pending values.
qm pending <vmid>
# Send key event to virtual machine.
qm sendkey <vmid> <key> [OPTIONS]
# Show command line which is used to start the VM (debug info).
qm showcmd <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Unlock the VM.
qm unlock <vmid>
# Clone a VM
qm clone <vmid> <newid>
# Clone a VM in full clone mode and also set the name.
qm clone <vmid> <newid> --full --name <name>
# Migrate a VM
qm migrate <vmid> <target-node>
# Show VM status
qm status <vmid>
# Clean up resources for a VM
qm cleanup <vmid> <clean-shutdown> <guest-requested>
# Create a Template.
qm template <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Set virtual machine options (synchrounous API)
qm set <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Get automatically generated cloudinit config.
qm cloudinit dump <vmid> <type>
# Get the cloudinit configuration with both current and pending values.
qm cloudinit pending <vmid>
# Regenerate and change cloudinit config drive.
qm cloudinit update <vmid>
# Import an external disk image as an unused disk in a VM.
# The image format has to be supported by qemu-img(1).
qm disk import <vmid> <source> <storage>
# Move volume to different storage or to a different VM.
qm disk move <vmid> <disk> [<storage>] [OPTIONS]
# Rescan all storages and update disk sizes and unused disk images.
qm disk rescan [OPTIONS]
# Extend volume size.
qm disk resize <vmid> <disk> <size> [OPTIONS]
# Unlink/delete disk images.
qm disk unlink <vmid> --idlist <string> [OPTIONS]
# rescan volumes
qm rescan
# List all snapshots.
qm listsnapshot <vmid>
# Snapshot a VM
qm snapshot <vmid> <snapname>
# Delete a snapshot.
qm delsnapshot <vmid> <snapname>
# Rollback a snapshot
qm rollback <vmid> <snapname>
# Open a terminal using a serial device
# (The VM need to have a serial device configured, for example serial0: socket)
qm terminal <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Proxy VM VNC traffic to stdin/stdout
qm vncproxy <vmid>
# Execute Qemu Guest Agent commands.
qm guest cmd <vmid> <command>
# Executes the given command via the guest agent
qm guest exec <vmid> [<extra-args>] [OPTIONS]
# Gets the status of the given pid started by the guest-agent
qm guest exec-status <vmid> <pid>
# Sets the password for the given user to the given password
qm guest passwd <vmid> <username> [OPTIONS]
# Create a PV
pvcreate <disk-device-name>
# Remove a PV
pvremove <disk-device-name>
# List all PVs
pvs
# Create a VG
vgcreate <vg-name> <disk-device-name>
# Remove a VG
vgremove <vg-name>
# List all VGs
vgs
# Create a LV
lvcreate -L <lv-size> -n <lv-name> <vg-name>
# Remove a LV
lvremove <vg-name>/<lv-name>
# List all LVs
lvs
# Create a new storage.
pvesm add <type> <storage> [OPTIONS]
# Allocate disk images.
pvesm alloc <storage> <vmid> <filename> <size> [OPTIONS]
# Delete volume
pvesm free <volume> [OPTIONS]
# Delete storage configuration.
pvesm remove <storage>
# List storage content.
pvesm list <storage> [OPTIONS]
# An alias for pvesm scan lvm.
pvesm lvmscan
# An alias for pvesm scan lvmthin.
pvesm lvmthinscan
# List local LVM volume groups.
pvesm scan lvm
# List local LVM Thin Pools.
pvesm scan lvmthin <vg>
# Get status for all datastores.
pvesm status [OPTIONS]
# list all templates
pveam available
# list all templates
pveam list <storage>
# Download appliance templates
pveam download <storage> <template>
# Remove a template.
pveam remove <template-path>
# Update Container Template Database.
pveam update
# List containers
pct list
# Create or restore a container.
pct create <vmid> <ostemplate> [OPTIONS]
# Start the container.
pct start <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Create a container clone/copy
pct clone <vmid> <newid> [OPTIONS]
# Suspend the container. This is experimental.
pct suspend <vmid>
# Resume the container.
pct resume <vmid>
# Stop the container.
# This will abruptly stop all processes running in the container.
pct stop <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Shutdown the container.
# This will trigger a clean shutdown of the container, see lxc-stop(1) for details.
pct shutdown <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Destroy the container (also delete all uses files).
pct destroy <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Show CT status.
pct status <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Migrate the container to another node. Creates a new migration task.
pct migrate <vmid> <target> [OPTIONS]
# Get container configuration.
pct config <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Print the list of assigned CPU sets.
pct cpusets
# Get container configuration, including pending changes.
pct pending <vmid>
# Reboot the container by shutting it down, and starting it again. Applies pending changes.
pct reboot <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Create or restore a container.
pct restore <vmid> <ostemplate> [OPTIONS]
# Set container options.
pct set <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Create a Template.
pct template <vmid>
# Unlock the VM.
pct unlock <vmid>
# Get the container’s current disk usage.
pct df <vmid>
# Run a filesystem check (fsck) on a container volume.
pct fsck <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Run fstrim on a chosen CT and its mountpoints.
pct fstrim <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Mount the container’s filesystem on the host.
# This will hold a lock on the container and is meant for emergency maintenance only
# as it will prevent further operations on the container other than start and stop.
pct mount <vmid>
# Move a rootfs-/mp-volume to a different storage or to a different container.
pct move-volume <vmid> <volume> [<storage>] [<target-vmid>] [<target-volume>] [OPTIONS]
# Unmount the container’s filesystem.
pct unmount <vmid>
# Resize a container mount point.
pct resize <vmid> <disk> <size> [OPTIONS]
# Rescan all storages and update disk sizes and unused disk images.
pct rescan [OPTIONS]
# Launch a console for the specified container.
pct console <vmid> [OPTIONS]
# Launch a shell for the specified container.
pct enter <vmid>
# Launch a command inside the specified container.
pct exec <vmid> [<extra-args>]
# Copy a file from the container to the local system.
pct pull <vmid> <path> <destination> [OPTIONS]
# Copy a local file to the container.
pct push <vmid> <file> <destination> [OPTIONS]
# Snapshot a container.
pct snapshot <vmid> <snapname> [OPTIONS]
# List all snapshots.
pct listsnapshot <vmid>
# Rollback LXC state to specified snapshot.
pct rollback <vmid> <snapname> [OPTIONS]
# Delete a LXC snapshot.
pct delsnapshot <vmid> <snapname> [OPTIONS]
# Restart web GUI
service pveproxy restart
| Path | Use |
|---|---|
/etc/pve/authkey.pub |
Public key used by the ticket system |
/etc/pve/ceph.conf |
Ceph configuration file (note: /etc/ceph/ceph.conf is a symbolic link to this) |
/etc/pve/corosync.conf |
Corosync cluster configuration file (prior to Proxmox VE 4.x, this file was called cluster.conf) |
/etc/pve/datacenter.cfg |
Proxmox VE data center-wide configuration (keyboard layout, proxy, …) |
/etc/pve/domains.cfg |
Proxmox VE authentication domains |
/etc/pve/firewall/cluster.fw |
Firewall configuration applied to all nodes |
/etc/pve/firewall/<NAME>.fw |
Firewall configuration for individual nodes |
/etc/pve/firewall/<VMID>.fw |
Firewall configuration for VMs and containers |
/etc/pve/ha/crm_commands |
Displays HA operations that are currently being carried out by the CRM |
/etc/pve/ha/manager_status |
JSON-formatted information regarding HA services on the cluster |
/etc/pve/ha/resources.cfg |
Resources managed by high availability, and their current state |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/config |
Node-specific configuration |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/lxc/<VMID>.conf |
VM configuration data for LXC containers |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/openvz/ |
Prior to PVE 4.0, used for container configuration data (deprecated, removed soon) |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/pve-ssl.key |
Private SSL key for pve-ssl.pem |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/pve-ssl.pem |
Public SSL certificate for web server (signed by cluster CA) |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/pveproxy-ssl.key |
Private SSL key for pveproxy-ssl.pem (optional) |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/pveproxy-ssl.pem |
Public SSL certificate (chain) for web server (optional override for pve-ssl.pem) |
/etc/pve/nodes/<NAME>/qemu-server/<VMID>.conf |
VM configuration data for KVM VMs |
/etc/pve/priv/authkey.key |
Private key used by ticket system |
/etc/pve/priv/authorized_keys |
SSH keys of cluster members for authentication |
/etc/pve/priv/ceph* |
Ceph authentication keys and associated capabilities |
/etc/pve/priv/known_hosts |
SSH keys of the cluster members for verification |
/etc/pve/priv/lock/* |
Lock files used by various services to ensure safe cluster-wide operations |
/etc/pve/priv/pve-root-ca.key |
Private key of cluster CA |
/etc/pve/priv/shadow.cfg |
Shadow password file for PVE Realm users |
/etc/pve/priv/storage/<STORAGE-ID>.pw |
Contains the password of a storage in plain text |
/etc/pve/priv/tfa.cfg |
Base64-encoded two-factor authentication configuration |
/etc/pve/priv/token.cfg |
API token secrets of all tokens |
/etc/pve/pve-root-ca.pem |
Public certificate of cluster CA |
/etc/pve/pve-www.key |
Private key used for generating CSRF tokens |
/etc/pve/sdn/* |
Shared configuration files for Software Defined Networking (SDN) |
/etc/pve/status.cfg |
Proxmox VE external metrics server configuration |
/etc/pve/storage.cfg |
Proxmox VE storage configuration |
/etc/pve/user.cfg |
Proxmox VE access control configuration (users/groups/…) |
/etc/pve/virtual-guest/cpu-models.conf |
For storing custom CPU models |
/etc/pve/vzdump.cron |
Cluster-wide vzdump backup-job schedule |
| Path | Use |
|---|---|
/etc/pve/.version |
file versions (to detect file modifications) |
/etc/pve/.members |
Info about cluster members |
/etc/pve/.vmlist |
List of all VMs |
/etc/pve/.clusterlog |
Cluster log (last 50 entries) |
/etc/pve/.rrd |
RRD data (most recent entries) |
| Path | Use |
|---|---|
/etc/vz/conf/xxx.conf |
config |
/var/lib/vz/root/xxx |
data |
/var/lib/vz/template/cache |
template |
/var/lib/vz/dump |
snapshot |
/etc/vz/vz.conf |
OpenVZ config |
| Path | Use |
|---|---|
/var/lib/vz/images/xxx |
data |
/var/lib/vz/template/iso |
template |
/var/lib/vz/dump |
snapshot |
| Path | Use |
|---|---|
/var/lib/lxc/xxx/config |
config |
/var/lib/vz/images/xxx |
data |
/var/lib/vz/template/cache |
template |
/var/lib/vz/dump |
snapshot |