The roadmap

Build a homelab, in order

Every guide on this site, arranged as the 34 steps you'd actually take building a homelab from nothing — from picking hardware to running your own services. Start at step 1 and work down, or jump to the phase you're on.

Phase 1

Plan & prep

Pick the right gear and get your install media ready before you touch a keyboard.

  1. 1Choosing Homelab Hardware: What Actually Matters and What to IgnoreA practical hardware guide for building a multi-node homelab — CPU, RAM, storage, and power requirements explained without the jargon, with specific recommendations at three budget levels.
  2. 2Choosing a Network Switch for Your Homelab: Speed, Managed vs Unmanaged, and VLAN BasicsWhat a network switch actually does, the real difference between 1GbE and 2.5GbE for homelab use, why managed switches matter for clustering, and how to wire up multiple Proxmox nodes correctly.
  3. 3Ventoy: One USB Drive for Every ISO You OwnStop reflashing your USB drive for every OS install. Ventoy lets you boot any ISO by dropping it onto a drive — perfect for homelabbers juggling Proxmox, Ubuntu, GParted, and more.
Phase 2

Install the base

Get Proxmox running, locked down, and (optionally) clustered.

  1. 4Installing Proxmox VE: Complete Step-by-Step Guide from USB to First LoginHow to download Proxmox VE, write a bootable USB drive, install it on your hardware with the correct network settings, and complete the essential post-install configuration — including fixing the subscription nag and switching to the free package repository.
  2. 5Proxmox Security Hardening: SSH Keys, Firewall, and Locking Down a New ClusterEssential security configuration for a new Proxmox cluster — SSH key-based authentication, disabling password login, configuring the built-in firewall, securing the web UI, and the audit steps to verify nothing is exposed that shouldn't be.
  3. 6Forming a Proxmox Cluster: Quorum, Corosync, and Joining Multiple NodesHow to create a Proxmox VE cluster from multiple nodes — what Corosync and quorum actually mean, the exact commands to form and join the cluster, what to verify, and how to avoid the split-brain scenarios that corrupt data.
  4. 7Building a 4-Node Proxmox Cluster on HP EliteDesk Mini PCsHow to assemble a production-grade Proxmox VE 9 cluster from four HP EliteDesk 705 G4 mini PCs — hardware selection, quorum strategy, firewall, and the gotchas that cost a Saturday.
Phase 3

Lay the foundations

Storage, networking, DNS, and firewalling — the plumbing every workload sits on.

  1. 8Proxmox Storage Guide: local-lvm, ZFS, NFS, and When to Use EachA practical breakdown of Proxmox storage backends — what local-lvm actually is, when ZFS makes sense, how to add NAS storage over NFS, and the storage layout decisions that affect your cluster's performance and reliability.
  2. 9Proxmox LXC Networking: Static IPs, VLANs, and Bridge ConfigurationA practical reference for Proxmox LXC container networking — assigning static IPs, configuring the Linux bridge, setting up VLAN-aware bridges, and troubleshooting the common mistakes that cause connectivity failures.
  3. 10Pi-hole on Proxmox LXC: Network-Wide DNS and Ad BlockingRun Pi-hole in a Proxmox LXC container for network-wide ad blocking and local DNS — install it, point your router at it, add local hostnames, and avoid the one mistake that takes your whole network offline.
  4. 11Proxmox Firewall: Securing a Home Cluster with Zone-Based RulesA practical guide to the Proxmox built-in firewall — cluster-level rules, node-level rules, container-level rules, IPSET groups for your trusted subnets, and the exact rule order that keeps your cluster safe without locking yourself out.
Phase 4

Create your first workloads

Choose between a container and a VM, then build one of each.

  1. 12Proxmox VM vs LXC: When to Use EachA practical guide to choosing between a Proxmox VM and an LXC container — kernel sharing, isolation, density, performance, and a decision flowchart for every workload.
  2. 13Creating Your First Proxmox LXC Container: Step-by-StepCreate your first Proxmox LXC container from scratch — download a template, run the wizard the right way, choose privileged vs unprivileged, and do the first-boot setup. The homelab workhorse, explained.
  3. 14Creating Your First Proxmox VM: A Complete WalkthroughCreate a full virtual machine on Proxmox VE from scratch — upload an ISO, configure the VM wizard the right way, install the OS, and add the QEMU guest agent for clean shutdowns and live stats.
Phase 5

Serve apps the right way

Run the self-hosted app ecosystem, then put it behind clean HTTPS URLs.

  1. 15Docker on Proxmox: LXC vs VM, Done RightThe right way to run Docker on Proxmox — why a dedicated VM beats a privileged LXC, how to set both up, and Portainer for a web UI. Avoid the docker-in-LXC pitfalls that cost real downtime.
  2. 16What Is Traefik? Reverse Proxies Explained for HomelabsWhat a reverse proxy does, why every homelab needs one, and how Traefik gives your self-hosted services clean HTTPS URLs with automatic certificates instead of a mess of IP addresses and ports.
Phase 6

Reach it from anywhere

Secure remote access with no port forwarding.

  1. 17Tailscale Subnet Router: Remote Homelab Access Without Port ForwardingInstall Tailscale on one Proxmox node as a subnet router to make your entire homelab reachable from anywhere — no port forwarding, no VPN box, no dynamic DNS.
  2. 18Tailscale Exit Node: Route All Traffic Through Your HomelabConfigure a Proxmox LXC container as a Tailscale exit node so all your device traffic routes through your home network — including split tunneling, subnet routing, and the MagicDNS settings that make it seamless.
Phase 7

Protect it

Automated, deduplicated backups so a mistake is a restore, not a rebuild.

  1. 19Proxmox Backup Server: Automated CT and VM Backups with DeduplicationDeploy Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) in a dedicated LXC container, configure scheduled backups for all containers and VMs, and set retention policies — with verified restore procedures.
Phase 8

See what it is doing

Metrics, dashboards, and alerting for the whole cluster.

  1. 20Proxmox Monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana: Full Stack SetupDeploy a complete observability stack for a Proxmox cluster: node_exporter on all hosts, pve-exporter for cluster metrics, Prometheus scraping everything, and Grafana dashboards with email alerting.
  2. 21Node Exporter + pve-exporter: Complete Proxmox Metrics in GrafanaInstall node_exporter on every Proxmox node and pve-exporter for cluster-level metrics, wire both into Prometheus, and import production-ready Grafana dashboards — with alert rules for the metrics that actually matter.
Phase 9

Run real services

The payoff — self-hosted apps living in their own containers.

  1. 22Wiki.js on Proxmox LXC: Self-Hosted Knowledge Base in 30 MinutesDeploy Wiki.js in an unprivileged Proxmox LXC container with a PostgreSQL backend, HTTPS via a reverse proxy, and automatic backups — the exact setup powering this homelab's documentation.
  2. 23Vaultwarden on Proxmox LXC: Self-Hosted Bitwarden-Compatible Password ManagerDeploy Vaultwarden (the lightweight Bitwarden-compatible server) in an unprivileged Proxmox LXC container with HTTPS, automatic backups, and mobile client access via Tailscale.
  3. 24CPU-Only Ollama Cluster on Proxmox LXC: 3-Node Setup with Load BalancingRun local LLMs across three Proxmox LXC containers with Ollama, expose them via Open WebUI's built-in load balancer, and avoid the Docker-in-LXC pitfalls that cost me two sessions to fix.
  4. 25Open WebUI Advanced: RAG, Pipelines, and Custom System PromptsGo beyond basic chat with Open WebUI — set up Retrieval-Augmented Generation with local documents, configure pipeline tools, create specialized assistants with custom system prompts, and use the API for programmatic access.
  5. 26Hermes Agent: Self-Hosted AI Agent with Fallback Model ChainsDeploy Hermes Agent on Proxmox LXC — a fully autonomous AI agent with tool use, Anthropic primary routing, and OpenRouter fallback chains. Includes the Kanban integration and CLI delegation setup.
Phase 10

Build a media server

Stand up Plex, keep playback smooth on modest hardware, and keep the library tidy.

  1. 27Install Plex Media Server on a NAS or Proxmox LXCSet up Plex Media Server on a NAS or in a Proxmox LXC container, claim it to your account, and build your first movie and TV libraries the right way.
  2. 28Plex Direct Play and Transcoding on Weak HardwareWhy Plex stutters on low-power CPUs, how Direct Play avoids transcoding entirely, and how to tune Plex so 4K files play smoothly without a beefy processor.
  3. 29Organizing a Plex Library: Naming, Agents, and MetadataName movie and TV files so Plex matches them automatically, pick the right metadata agents, and fix wrong titles and broken sort order in an existing library.
Phase 11

Automate your media

The *arr stack: add a title to a watchlist and it downloads, files itself, and appears in your library.

  1. 30What Is the Arr Stack? Sonarr, Radarr, and Prowlarr ExplainedA plain-English guide to the *arr stack — what Sonarr, Radarr, and Prowlarr each do, how they fit together, and how the automated media pipeline actually works.
  2. 31Deploy the Arr Stack with Docker Compose (Prowlarr, Radarr, Sonarr)Stand up the full *arr stack in Docker Compose — Prowlarr, Radarr, Sonarr, and a VPN-shielded download client — with the single-root folder layout that enables instant hardlink imports.
  3. 32Automating the Arr Stack: Import Lists, Quality Profiles, Media ServerMake the *arr stack hands-off — import lists that add titles automatically, quality profiles that grab the best release, and a notification that refreshes Plex or Jellyfin on import.
Phase 12

Go further

Fun projects and building on top of the platform.

  1. 33Fabric Minecraft Server in a Proxmox LXC Container: Mods + JVM TuningRun a Fabric 1.20.1 Minecraft server in an unprivileged Proxmox LXC container with performance mods (Lithium, Starlight, Carpet), JVM garbage collection tuning, and systemd service management.
  2. 34Building a Native Proxmox Dashboard in Flutter: Linux Desktop + iOSHow I built MyOfficeLab — a Flutter app with native Proxmox API integration, live CT metrics, Riverpod 3 state management, CEF webviews, and a cyberpunk design system — targeting both Linux desktop and iOS from one codebase.