[TUTORIAL] Installing Proxmox VE 7.2 on a Mac Mini 2018

[Ocean_Trader]

Source: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1127375/install-ubuntu-18-04-on-mac-mini-2018

Getting Started​

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The above link was instrumental in getting past the roadblocks that I was experiencing the previous day. Yesterday, I tried installing Debian on a Mac Mini 2018. During the installation process, I kept getting an error stating that GRUB could not be installed. As the AskUbuntu post mentions, there are some issues dealing with installing Linux operating systems on the 2018 Mac Mini due to the T2 chip. I found this process to be extremely frustrating and there were not many guides for the newer Mac Minis. I hope this helps someone by at least saving a small bit of time. I also want to mention that I was unable to install Proxmox VE 7.2 directly from the ISO. I read in a few places online that you may need to install Debian and then Proxmox on top of that, so that it is the route that I went with and is what is being described in the guide below.

Modify MacOS Startup Configuration​

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While the Mac Mini is turned off, push the power button. Hold "Command" + "R" keys (or "OPT" + "R" on my keyboard). This will boot the Mac Mini into recovery mode. At the top of the screen, you should see "Startup Security Utility" in the menu bar. Change the settings to "No Security" and "Allow Booting from External Drive".

Preparing the Volumes​

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First, sign into the MacOS computer. You will need a total of two partitions: one for MacOS and the other for Linux.

Partition 1: MacOS. Leave this as is.
Partition 2: Format to a MS-DOS (FAT) format. Adjust volume to desired size and shrink MacOS volume as needed.
The Scheme should be GUID Partition Map.

Boot to Live CD​

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Plug in the USB ISO or DVD with Debian installed. Use Etcher if you need help making a bootable ISO. I used "debian-live-11.4.0-amd64-cinnamon+nonfree.ISO" because it has a nice user-friendly interface to work with when installing. Hold down the "Option" (or "CMD" on my keyboard). Choose the "EFI" boot option. Once the Debian menu comes up, select the Live CD version.

Install Debian​

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When the live desktop appears, open "Terminal". Enter debian-install -b (the AskUbuntu guide recommended ubiquity -b). This should launch the installer but it will not attempt to install GRUB. For the Hard Drive selection, choose "Something Different". Create an EXT4 partition on the partition that you setup earlier on the MacOS. Check the the partition size matches what you said it to earlier before you format it, otherwise you may inadvertently delete your MacOS partition. It should be formatted with "/" (no quotes) as the "Mount Point". The other boxes should remain unchecked. Continue with the installation as normal. Once finished, you may receive a prompt that there is no GRUB installed and may be unable to boot. Close the installer windows and then shutdown the computer.

Install rEFInd​

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Follow these steps in sequence after you have installed Debian and shutdown the machine:

1. Boot into recovery mode ("CMD" + "R")
2. Open the terminal
3. Type csrutil disable
4. Shutdown the Mac Mini. Wait a second. Turn on and boot into normal MacOS.
5. Go to this site and download rEFInd
6. Open Terminal
7. Open the rEFInd folder and find "refind-install". Drag this folder into the terminal.
8. Press enter (you may need to enter your password)
9. Shutdown your computer
10. Boot into recovery mode ("CMD" + "R")
11. Open the terminal
12. Type csrutil enable
13. Restart your computer

Boot into Debian​

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The rEFInd menu should appear on the next boot. You may need to directly select the Debian installation. After the first boot, however, it seems to remember the last selection that I made, so I have not had to make any change to rEFInd after the basic installation. Follow the normal bootup procedure and login to Debian.

At first, I was unable to install any packages, because the computer clock was off. Someone here suggested using hwclock to set the system time but that is for Windows. I ended up just setting the clock manually to the correct time and date.

Install Proxmox VE 7​

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Source: https://computingforgeeks.com/how-to-install-proxmox-ve-on-debian-bullseye/

For installing Proxmox I used the linked guide above. If you follow along with the guide in the link I ran into an issue at step #4. The guide suggests running the following command:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install proxmox-ve postfix open-iscsi

However, after I ran that command, I received an error

...paraphrased
trying to overwrite '/usr/share/applications/qemu.desktop', which is also in package qemu-system-data ...
dpkg-dep: error: paste subprocess was killed by signal
returned error code(1)
...

I then found this article on AskUbuntu for forcing an overwrite. I re-ran the command with the following changes.

sudo apt-get -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-overwrite" install pve-qemu-kvm proxmox-ve postfix open-iscsi

I had a separate issue relating to my network, but I was able to use the GUI interface on the desktop to correct my mistakes and set the correct network information.

Also, when I setup the bridge, I forgot to attach the network interface to the bridge. I used this person's example from the proxmox forums to get back on track and correct the network bridge. Here is another helpful link if you get stuck setting up the hostname and hosts files.

Logging into Proxmox​

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For some reason, I was not able to login to Proxmox at https://ipaddress:8006 using the "root" user at first. I ran the following command from the terminal to reset the password.

sudo su -
passwd
# enter your new password and follow prompt
logout

After this update, I was able to sign in without issue. Proxmox also has a root account reset page.

Additional Sources​

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Debian ISO download repository - https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/...irmware/11.4.0-live+nonfree/amd64/iso-hybrid/

Easy Debian Install - https://itsfoss.com/install-debian-easily/

How to setup a Static IP address on Debian Linux - https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-setup-a-static-ip-address-on-debian-linux

How to set up static IP address on Debian Linux 10/11 - https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/add-configure-set-up-static-ip-address-on-debianlinux/

 

[barzag]

thank you for this great tutorial. I'm looking to control the fan on a macmini8.1. do you have an idea ? all t2 mac drivers https://github.com/AdityaGarg8/T2-Debian-Kernel
I can't manage to graft these patches on the pve 5.15 or 5.19 kernel

 

[barzag]

a beautiful project in the yard. compiling pve kernel with t2 patches
https://github.com/AdityaGarg8/pve-edge-kernel-t2

 

[Ocean_Trader]

Why would I install Debian first and then Proxmox? Is that just a personal preference? Or was that required in order to get Proxmox to work?

I was unable to install Proxmox directly using the ISO image V7.2. I would prefer to install Proxmox directly, so if you figure it out, please be sure to share your steps.

During the installation process, I kept getting an error stating that GRUB could not be installed

 

[Wayne Muelver]

When the live desktop appears, open "Terminal". Enter debian-install -b (the AskUbuntu guide recommended ubiquity -b). This should launch the installer but it will not attempt to install GRUB. For the Hard Drive selection, choose "Something Different". Create an EXT4 partition on the partition that you setup earlier on the MacOS. Check the the partition size matches what you said it to earlier before you format it, otherwise you may inadvertently delete your MacOS partition. It should be formatted with "/" (no quotes) as the "Mount Point". The other boxes should remain unchecked. Continue with the installation as normal. Once finished, you may receive a prompt that there is no GRUB installed and may be unable to boot. Close the installer windows and then shutdown the computer.

I could not find the version you installed. The version currently available is "debian-11.6.0-amd64-netinst.iso" and it does not seem to follow any of the patterns described above unless you left a whole lot of stuff out. That seems to happen to me a lot. People figure stuff is jus common sense so they don't mention it. I am new to this though so it is all pretty foreign to me. I am trying to learn. There is no desktop. There is no Terminal. There is a setup/configuration menu that asks some of these questions but with different terms and there are a bunch more questions it asks not covered here. So, I am a bit lost. I got as far as partitioning the partition we had set up for Mac OS and set it to EXT4 but I can not proceed further. It says the root has no file system and asks me to fix it in the partition menu but it does not tell me how to do that and won't let me proceed.

 

[Ocean_Trader]

I could not find the version you installed. The version currently available is "debian-11.6.0-amd64-netinst.iso"

There are, if you will, two "versions" of Debian: A free and a non-free label. However, both are free as in no money changes hands to you. Based on the image filename name you mentioned, you installed the free version. I strongly recommend installing the non-free ISO image as it will have many novice-friendly features bundled with the installer unlike the free version. From the main website, you can find the non-free ISO images using the following steps:
1. https://www.debian.org/CD/live/
2. https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/...uding-firmware/current-live/amd64/iso-hybrid/
3. https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/...debian-live-11.6.0-amd64-cinnamon+nonfree.iso

 

[davidthornton]

I have a Mac Mini 2018 i7 (A1993 - https://support.apple.com/kb/SP782) that I would like to install ProxMox onto. I have obviously found this thread. Before I begin trying it I wondered if there had been any further updates or observations since @Ocean_Trader posted? Thank you.

 

[OliverGaida]

I installed Porxmox 8.1.3 on an macmini 2012 without any special and without any problems. I just followed the instructions on https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_12_Bookworm which means in short:

- install debian 12
- install proxmox from apt-repo
- some configuration stuff

But all the details are in the wiki link. One hint from my side, I used the whole disk, when i set up debian, so i delete all partitions on the mac.

Have fun.