10 Proxmox tools that can transform your entire experience

Home labs are synonymous with experimentation tools and self-hosted services, some useful, others quirky (but just as helpful). Although most server operating systems (including the community-favorite Proxmox) are designed to handle production-tier workloads, there are plenty of apps you can deploy on your workstation and client devices to boost their functionality. So, here’s a collection of utilities you’d want to add to your Proxmox home lab.

WinSCP

Transfer files like there’s no tomorrow

An FTP server makes it easy to share documents between two systems, and you can even use it to send files to and from your Proxmox rig. Perhaps you wish to copy the configuration files for your Proxmox machine. Or maybe you need to transfer media files to a virtualized Jellyfin, Plex, or Emby server.

For Windows clients, WinSCP remains my favorite file manager for FTP workloads. It’s an open-source tool that also supports SFTP, S3, WebDAV, and SCP protocols, and even lets you execute commands with a built-in terminal.

PuTTY

The best SSH client on the block

From troubleshooting to executing commands using a remote client, the Secure Shell protocol is highly useful in Proxmox environments. While you can technically use SSH on the Windows terminal thanks to the OpenSSH package, PuTTY remains my go-to solution for accessing my Proxmox server and virtual guests.

In addition to its solid customization features, PuTTY houses several quality-of-life features, including auto-login, session logging, and support for serial communication – with the last one being indispensable for configuring microcontrollers and smart gadgets.

WireGuard

Headscale is a worthwhile alternative

Accessing your Proxmox machine from external networks makes it vulnerable to security threats. Deploying a VPN can curb these risks, allowing you to use your self-hosted containers without worrying about hackers breaking into your home network.

Having used both OpenVPN and WireGuard, I prefer the lower latency and better performance offered by the latter. For folks willing to use an external control center for the VPN, Tailscale is a solid option that wraps some extra features with WireGuard. Plus, you can even deploy a self-hosted Headscale instance if you want the facilities of Tailscale but prefer running services on local hardware.

TriliumNext Notes

The be-all-and-end-all note-taker

Making notes of your containerized services and charting detailed diagrams for your network infrastructure may sound tedious, but it saves you the hassle of recalling everything from memory if you need to redeploy certain services after a botched experiment. While there are tons of to-do list builders and note-taking apps in the self-hosting landscape, TriliumNext Notes remains my favorite documentation tool.

From full-on scripting provisions to mind maps, Mermaid diagrams, and relation maps, Trilium has everything you need to manage your home lab notes like a pro. Plus, it has the most efficient search utility compared to other self-hosted note-taking apps, and you can even use the node map to better organize your self-written home server documentation.

Homepage

With a shout out to Heimdall

Once your container and virtual machine library starts to grow, you’ll have a hard time recalling the IP address and port number for every service. Dashboard apps are pretty useful in this situation, as they help you organize your app catalog from a centralized UI.

Having used Heimdall at the start of my Proxmox journey, I can confirm that it’s a solid option for beginners. However, Homepage remains my top recommendation for ace home labbers who don’t mind tinkering with YAML files. With Homepage, you can add custom bookmarks, organize your self-hosted Proxmox services inside tables, and even set up monitoring widgets for them.

Prometheus + Grafana

A powerful home lab monitoring duo

If your workloads require constant access to your Proxmox LXCs and VMs, you can deploy a dedicated monitoring utility to ensure they remain operational at all times. The Prometheus and Grafana combo works incredibly well when you need detailed reports on your virtual guests and self-hosted apps.

For the uninitiated, Prometheus is a data scraping tool that aggregates different statistics from your Proxmox guests and stores them inside a database. Meanwhile, Grafana is a data visualization utility that accepts the metrics collected by Prometheus and uses them to generate detailed reports and graphs.

Proxmox Backup Server

To protect your PVE guests from your tinkering antics

By their very nature, Proxmox virtual environments are suitable for experiments that can (and possibly will) break your server. But if you’re already running some useful services on your Proxmox host, it’s a good idea to back them up regularly. Otherwise, you may have to go the whole hog and deploy them from scratch in case you bring the server down with your experiments.

Provided you’ve got a spare x86 system, Proxmox Backup Server is hands-down the best solution to back up your PVE virtual guests. Setting it up is fairly easy, and once you’ve paired it with the Proxmox server, you can set up different backup schedules to ensure your VM and container data isn’t lost even if your experiments render the PVE host unusable.

ntopng

A multipurpose network analysis utility

The Prometheus and Grafana duo is perfect for monitoring your Proxmox server, but you’ll require an advanced tool to keep a weather eye on your home network. Capable of doubling as a solid intrusion detection system, ntopng is an amazing network monitoring and traffic analysis app for your Proxmox setup.

Plus, it can scan for network latency, generate detailed reports on your traffic history, and even send alerts upon detecting traffic anomalies. While its UI can seem intimidating at first glance, ntopng is fairly easy to get into once you go through the documentation.

Ansible and Terraform

Automate everything

Automation is pretty common in the self-hosting and home lab domains. After all, few things are as satisfying as watching your virtual machines and containers get provisioned and configured automatically from just a few lines of code. Although they have a steep learning curve, Ansible and Terraform are ideal for automating your Proxmox tasks.

Terraform is the better tool of the two for assigning resources and deploying virtual guests in Proxmox using templates. While you could technically use it for the same purpose, Ansible and its Playbooks are better suited to configuring the packages, dependencies, and other internal aspects of the VMs provisioned using Terraform.

Docker, Podman, and Containerd

Containers as far as the eye can see

On its own, Proxmox supports LXC containerization and offers plenty of Turnkey templates to make deploying these containers a breeze. That said, Docker containers have their own utility, especially once you include the thousands of first-party and community-created images available on Docker Hub.

Technically, you can deploy a Docker environment within an LXC container, but I recommend going the virtual machine route for a simpler setup with better isolation provisions. Alternatively, you can check out Podman and Containerd if you want to experiment with other containerization environments.

If you’re still not satisfied with the list, I’ve got a couple of other recommendations. If you prefer using Docker containers on your home lab, Portainer provides an intuitive GUI to manage your services. Likewise, Kubernetes is great for scaling your containerized workloads when you’ve got multiple VMs and Proxmox nodes running Docker environments.

For beginners who find the Proxmox web UI too complex, you can look into the Proxmox Data Center Manager utility. However, I recommend sticking to the online interface because the Data Center Manager is still in the early stages of development. Finally, if you want a simple monitoring tool instead of the hardcore Prometheus + Grafana combo, Uptime Kuma is worth checking out!

Source Info: https://www.xda-developers.com/proxmox-tools-that-can-transform-your-entire-experience/