Running on Proxmox

Proxmox is an open-source platform for virtualization.

Deploy VyOS from CLI with qcow2 image

  1. Download the .qcow2 image from https://support.vyos.io/. Official images are available to users with a valid subscription.

  2. Copy the .qcow2 image to a temporary directory on the Proxmox server.

  3. The following commands assume VM ID 200 is unused and that the imported disk will be stored in a storage pool named local-lvm.

    $ qm create 200 --name vyos --memory 4096 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0
$ qm importdisk 200 \
    /var/lib/vz/images/vyos-<version>-proxmox-amd64.qcow2 \
    local-lvm
$ qm set 200 --virtio0 local-lvm:vm-200-disk-0
$ qm set 200 --boot order=virtio0

  4. When using a qcow2 image on Proxmox, the system does not include any preconfigured user accounts. You must define a user account using Cloud-Init before the first boot. Otherwise, login access is not possible.

    Attach a Cloud-Init data source to the VM. For example, using local-lvm storage:

    $ qm set 200 --ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit

    Configure the Cloud-Init user data before the first boot. For key-based access, create the vyos user and import public SSH keys from a file on the Proxmox host:

    qm set 200 --ciuser vyos
qm set 200 --sshkeys ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

    The --sshkeys argument expects a file containing one or more OpenSSH public keys.

    Alternatively, add a Cloud-Init drive using the Proxmox GUI:

    1. Open the VM and navigate to Hardware

    2. Click Add → CloudInit Drive

    3. Select a storage (for example, local-lvm)

    4. Click Add

    If using the GUI, set the same user and SSH public key values in the VM’s Cloud-Init tab before starting it.

  5. Start the virtual machine using the Proxmox GUI or by running qm start 200.

Deploy VyOS from CLI with rolling release ISO

  1. Download the rolling release ISO from https://vyos.net/get/nightly-builds/.

  2. Prepare the VM for ISO installation. The commands below assume that the ISO image is available in the local storage, a VM ID 200 is unused, and a 15GB disk will be created on storage pool local-lvm.

qm create 200 --name vyos --memory 4096 \
--net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 \
--scsihw virtio-scsi-pci \
--scsi0 local-lvm:15 \
--ide2 local:iso/vyos-<version>.iso,media=cdrom \
--boot order=ide2

  1. Start the VM using qm start 200 or by clicking the Start button in the Proxmox GUI.

  2. In the Proxmox GUI, open the virtual console for your new VM. The login username and password are vyos/vyos.

  3. After booting into the live system, type install image and follow the prompts to install VyOS to the virtual drive.

  4. After installation completes, remove the installation ISO using the GUI or run qm set 200 --ide2 none, then set the boot device with qm set 200 --boot order=scsi0.

  5. Reboot the virtual machine using the GUI or run qm reboot 200.

For more information about downloading and installing Proxmox, visit https://www.proxmox.com/en/.