VM Creation Overview

Brief description: Plan and document your six virtual machines before creation.

What You'll Learn

VM specifications and requirements
Network planning
IP address documentation

Virtual Machine Specifications

VM	Name	VM ID	CPU	RAM	Disk	Purpose
VM-1	rocketchat	101	2 vCPU	4 GiB	30 GiB	Rocket.Chat server
VM-2	nextcloud	102	2 vCPU	6 GiB	50 GiB	Nextcloud server
VM-3	nginx-proxy	103	1 vCPU	2 GiB	10 GiB	Reverse proxy
VM-4	mkdocs	104	1 vCPU	2 GiB	10 GiB	Documentation server
VM-5	openldap	105	1 vCPU	2 GiB	10 GiB	LDAP directory
VM-6	keycloak	106	2 vCPU	4 GiB	20 GiB	SSO/IdP server

IP Address Inventory Template

Copy this table and fill in your actual IP addresses as you create each VM:

Network Configuration

Based on your network setup: - vmbr0: Public network (direct internet access) - for port forwarding to internal VMs - vmbr2: Private internal network (192.168.192.0/18 with NAT) - for all other VMs

Your Infrastructure IP Table

VM Name	VM ID	Bridge	Internal IP	Public Domain	Services
rocketchat	101	vmbr2	`___`	chat.example.com	Rocket.Chat Port 3000
nextcloud	102	vmbr2	`___`	cloud.example.com	Nextcloud Port 80/443
nginx-proxy	103	vmbr2	`___`	proxy.example.com	Nginx Port 80/443
mkdocs	104	vmbr2	`___`	docs.example.com	MkDocs Port 8000
openldap	105	vmbr2	`___`	ldap.example.com	LDAP Port 389/636
keycloak	106	vmbr2	`___`	auth.example.com	Keycloak Port 8080

Example (Filled)

VM Name	VM ID	Bridge	Internal IP	Public Domain	Services
rocketchat	101	vmbr2	192.168.192.101	chat.example.com	Rocket.Chat Port 3000
nextcloud	102	vmbr2	192.168.192.102	cloud.example.com	Nextcloud Port 80/443
nginx-proxy	103	vmbr2	192.168.192.20	proxy.example.com	Nginx Port 80/443
mkdocs	104	vmbr2	192.168.192.104	docs.example.com	MkDocs Port 8000
openldap	105	vmbr2	192.168.192.105	ldap.example.com	LDAP Port 389/636
keycloak	106	vmbr2	192.168.192.106	auth.example.com	Keycloak Port 8080

Network Architecture

%%{init: {'theme': 'dark'}}%%
graph TB
    subgraph "Proxmox Host"
        subgraph "vmbr0 (Public - Port Forwarding)"
        end
        subgraph "vmbr2 (Private NAT)"
            VM1[VM-101<br/>Rocket.Chat<br/>192.168.192.101:3000]
            VM2[VM-102<br/>Nextcloud<br/>192.168.192.102:80]
            VM3[VM-103<br/>Nginx Proxy<br/>192.168.192.20:80/443]
            VM4[VM-104<br/>MkDocs<br/>192.168.192.104:8000]
            VM5[VM-105<br/>OpenLDAP<br/>192.168.192.105:389]
            VM6[VM-106<br/>Keycloak<br/>192.168.192.106:8080]
        end
    end

    Internet -->|443| VM3
    VM3 -->|3000| VM1
    VM3 -->|80| VM2
    VM3 -->|8080| VM6
    VM3 -->|8000| VM4
    VM6 -->|389| VM5

Prerequisites

[ ] Proxmox VE installed and accessible
[ ] ZFS storage pool rpool visible in Proxmox
[ ] Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS ISO uploaded (see below)
[ ] Network bridges vmbr0 and vmbr2 configured (see Network Configuration)

Upload Ubuntu ISO

Before creating VMs, upload the Ubuntu ISO:

Download Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS:

# From your local machine
wget https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04-live-server-amd64.iso

In Proxmox Web UI:
Navigate to Datacenter → Storage → local
Click ISO Images
Click Upload
Select the downloaded ISO file
Wait for upload to complete
Verify upload:
ISO should appear in the ISO Images list
Size should be approximately 2GB

Creation Strategy

Recommended Order

VM-103 (Nginx Proxy) - Create first for early testing
VM-101 (Rocket.Chat) - Core communication service
VM-102 (Nextcloud) - File sharing service
VM-106 (Keycloak) - Identity management
VM-105 (OpenLDAP) - Directory services
VM-104 (MkDocs) - Documentation (can be created anytime)

Alternative: Create All at Once

You can also create all VMs in one session, then install Ubuntu on each sequentially.

Verification Checklist

Before proceeding to individual VM creation:

[ ] Ubuntu 24.04 LTS ISO uploaded to Proxmox
[ ] IP address plan documented
[ ] Sufficient storage space in ZFS pool (minimum 130GB total)
[ ] Network bridges vmbr0 and vmbr2 configured
[ ] Proxmox Web UI accessible

Time Estimate

Planning: 15-30 minutes
Creating all VMs: 2-3 hours
Installing Ubuntu on each: 2-3 hours
Total Day 2: 4-5 hours

Next Steps

Choose your first VM to create: - Rocket.Chat VM - VM-101 - Nextcloud VM - VM-102 - Nginx Proxy VM - VM-103 - MkDocs VM - VM-104 - LDAP VM - VM-105 - Keycloak VM - VM-106

Or create all VMs following the same pattern for each.