this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2025
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Fresh Proxmox install w/ full disk encryption—so install Debian first, then Proxmox on top? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by barnaclebill@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Background: I'd like to turn an old personal laptop into a Jellyfin server so that I can stream media to my living room TV. I want to be able to expand what I use this server for over time. I'm leaning toward Proxmox as the OS so that I can spin up new containers for various services instead of installing a bunch of services on a base Debian install. I also want full disk encryption so that any data on the OS drive is less likely to be compromised by theft or Craigslist.

Question #1: I gather the general accepted approach for this is to first install Debian as a base w/ full disk encryption enabled and then install Proxmox on top because there is no option for full disk encryption in the native installer for Proxmox. Is this still the case?

Excerpt from this tutorial from November 2023 on the Proxmox Forum:

This tutorial deals with encryption of an existing installation. If you are starting fresh, my recommendation would be to install Debian with full disk encryption and then add Proxmox to it.

Excerpt from this post from February 2019 on the Level1Techs Forum:

The easiest way to do an encrypted Proxmox setup is to start with a minimal, vanilla Debian install. Set up the encrypted partition using the installer like you would with any other Debian system. Once installed, reboot. Then follow the guide for installing Proxmox on Debian.

Question #2: I don't mind entering the key manually whenever I reboot the server, but will I be able to unlock the server remotely? For example, suppose I'm tinkering in the web admin panel or an SSH session and I want/need to reboot—will I have to physically go over to the laptop and enter the key every time?

Also, I appreciate any other tips from the community to help me think about this in the right way. Thanks!

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[–] glizzyguzzler@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 15 hours ago

Since you’re not using proxmox as an OS install, why not check out Incus? It accomplishes the same goals as proxmox but is easier to use (for me at least). Make sure you install incus’ web ui, makes it ez pz. Incus does the VMs and containers just like proxmox but isn’t focused on clustering 1st but rather machine 1st. It does do clustering, but the default UI is set for your machine to start so it makes more sense to me. The forums are very useful and questions get answered quickly, and there’s an Ubuntu-only fork called LXD which expands the available pool of answers. (For now, almost all commands are the same between Incus and LXD). I run the incus stable release from the Zabbly package repo, I think the long term release doesn’t have the web ui yet (I could be wrong). Never have had a problem. When Debian 13 hits I’ll switch to whatever is included there and should be set.

https://linuxcontainers.org/incus/docs/main/installing/#installing-from-package

I use incus for VMs and LXC containers. I also have Docker on the Debian system. Many types of containers for every purpose!

I installed incus on a Debian system that I encrypted with LUKS. It unlocks after reboots with a USB drive, basically I use it like a yubikey but you could leave it in so the system always reboots no problem. There’s also a network unlock too but I didn’t try to figure that out. Without USB drive or network, you’ll have to enter the encryption key on every reboot.