Managing Multiple Proxmox Clusters? Meet ProxCenter!

Good morning! Who doesn't know Proxmox? It is the open-source virtualization environment that is currently making VMware tremble. In a previous video, we explored a set of alternative interfaces for managing Proxmox clusters. Today, we are going to dive into another fantastic solution: ProxCenter.

Now, don't get me wrong. The native Proxmox web interface is great and very well-designed. However, it can sometimes feel a bit too technical, and navigating through it often requires a few too many clicks—especially when you are trying to manage multiple clusters simultaneously. While Proxmox does offer its own dedicated suite for multi-cluster management, the open-source community is always working on innovative alternatives. That is exactly where ProxCenter comes in.

What is ProxCenter?

ProxCenter is a highly interesting open-source management platform. It acts as a centralized dashboard to manage multiple Proxmox clusters, nodes, hypervisors, networks, and storage subsystems (like Ceph, which is essential for High Availability and live migrations between nodes).

One of the most exciting aspects of ProxCenter is its ambition. While it is currently a fantastic console for Proxmox, the developers are expanding its capabilities to manage other hypervisors in the future, such as VMware, Hyper-V, Nutanix, and XCP-ng.

Fast and Simple Installation

Installing ProxCenter is surprisingly straightforward. It is distributed as a Docker container, bundled with a PostgreSQL database to store all your multi-cluster configurations.

By running a simple curl script provided on their GitHub page, the system verifies your Docker installation, downloads the necessary ProxCenter and PostgreSQL images, and sets everything up neatly within the /opt/proxcenter directory. It keeps your system clean and avoids scattering files everywhere.

Connecting Your Proxmox Environment

Once installed, you simply create a user and log into the dashboard. Adding your Proxmox nodes or clusters is a breeze:

To generate this token, head over to your native Proxmox interface, go to Datacenter > Permissions > API Tokens, and create a new token. For testing purposes, I gave it full root privileges, but in a production environment, you should absolutely use privilege separation and assign granular access to a dedicated user.

Exploring the Dashboard and Features

The moment you log in, you are greeted by a customizable dashboard where you can place various widgets—much like Zabbix—to get a managerial overview of your entire environment. Let's break down some of the best features.

Inventory and Topology Views

The Inventory tab gives you a high-level overview of your servers, available updates, and hardware utilization. You can filter views by nodes, storage, tags, or virtual machines.

Unfortunately, the main test cluster I was using for this demonstration died on me this morning—most likely a UPS issue! Because of this, I had to run my tests on a standalone node. As a result, the Topology and Ceph storage views couldn't fully showcase their visual flow and data mapping. However, when the cluster is up, these visual schemes are incredibly useful for understanding how your VMs and distributed storage are operating.

VM Templates and Easy Deployment

This is where ProxCenter truly shines. The Template feature drastically simplifies VM provisioning. I tested this by deploying a Rocky Linux 10 distribution:

After a quick deployment process—downloading the image, creating the VM, and configuring Cloud-Init—my new Rocky Linux VM was up and running flawlessly.

Remote Management and Logs

ProxCenter retains all the essential remote management tools you expect. You can easily access your VMs via NoVNC or SPICE sessions directly from the interface. It also features centralized event management and audit logs, which are lifesavers when you need to track down what happened across a massive infrastructure.

Community vs. Enterprise Version

Before you dive in, it is important to note the difference between the available versions. The Community Version is free and includes almost everything a homelab enthusiast or small business would need.

However, some advanced features are locked behind the Enterprise Version. These include:

For 80% of users managing personal labs or standalone servers, the Community version is more than enough.

Final Thoughts

ProxCenter is a very interesting project with a sleek, modern design. Features like the Template deployer and centralized event management make it a highly valuable tool for anyone looking to simplify their Proxmox operations.

If you have a cluster or even just a standalone node, I highly recommend spinning up the Docker container and giving it a try. It costs you very little time but offers a lot of convenience.

What do you think of ProxCenter? Have you tried it in your own lab? Let me know in the comments below! Sorry if I lengthened this post a bit, but there was a lot of ground to cover.

See you next week! If you liked this content, please give the video a thumbs up.

A greeting from Dimitri Bellini!

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