Fresh Proxmox Install, no web interface

herpderp

New Member
Oct 17, 2016
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TL: DR Out-of-the-box install has no web interface.

Title pretty much covers it.

I installed Proxomox twice because I thought something went wrong with the install.

I'd be more than happy to troubleshoot it myself, but there's absolutely zero documentation for anything related to CLI or webserver... I can find a www-data process running in top. That's all the information I can find.

pveversion and pve-manager are already installed, as I am unable to install them, and the excuse is that they already are installed...

pveversion and pve-manager are the only things I can find any reference to, but there are no man entries for these.

Dead end. No web interface. No errors. No docs. No logs (maybe there are, but there's no docs to tell me where to look). No config files. Nothing.

I'd be happy to RTFM, but there is no FM. Wiki contains nothing.
 
post the output of:

> pveversion -v
 
Meh, clearly this is a dead project. Guess I'll stick with VMWare.

Your analysis is a bit weird and I have a personal feeling that I do not miss your troll posts that much.
 
Lols, I rented a server for $70/mo with proxmox on it, it clearly doesn't work at all as advertised, the documentation does even exist. I've read every link going 4 links deep from the one you posted, and there is absolutely nothing of use. It's completely random and has nothing to do with the fct that there is no web interface, and there isn't even a web service present. It's all "Proxmox is so great" and nothing I can use to fix the obviously not working system... There is not even a webserver present, so how could there be a web interface for it? This is utterly ridiculous!
 
Does it use lighttpd? thttpd? Apache(2)? None are present. There's no mention of any of this. No man pages. Nothing in the wiki... I've been reading for days, tons of unrelated nonsense and hype, and I come to the forums for help, and I get called a troll? You guys need to get your act together... This is unforgivably immature.
 
Code:
root@pve:~# apt-get install apache2
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  apache2-bin apache2-data apache2-utils libapr1 libaprutil1 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap liblua5.1-0
Suggested packages:
  apache2-doc apache2-suexec-pristine apache2-suexec-custom
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  apache2 apache2-bin apache2-data apache2-utils libapr1 libaprutil1 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap liblua5.1-0
0 upgraded, 9 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,921 kB of archives.
After this operation, 6,538 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
Fresh, out of the box proxmox. Re-installed twice, same thing.
Code:
root@pve:~# pveversion -v
proxmox-ve: 4.2-48 (running kernel: 4.4.6-1-pve)
pve-manager: 4.2-2 (running version: 4.2-2/725d76f0)
pve-kernel-4.4.6-1-pve: 4.4.6-48
lvm2: 2.02.116-pve2
corosync-pve: 2.3.5-2
libqb0: 1.0-1
pve-cluster: 4.0-39
qemu-server: 4.0-72
pve-firmware: 1.1-8
libpve-common-perl: 4.0-59
libpve-access-control: 4.0-16
libpve-storage-perl: 4.0-50
pve-libspice-server1: 0.12.5-2
vncterm: 1.2-1
pve-qemu-kvm: 2.5-14
pve-container: 1.0-62
pve-firewall: 2.0-25
pve-ha-manager: 1.0-28
ksm-control-daemon: 1.2-1
glusterfs-client: 3.5.2-2+deb8u2
lxc-pve: 1.1.5-7
lxcfs: 2.0.0-pve2
cgmanager: 0.39-pve1
criu: 1.6.0-1
zfsutils: 0.6.5-pve9~jessie
I find no documentation referring to how I would create or install a 3rd party web interface, because it clearly doesn't come with it out of the box.

The IP use during installation is good for SSH, but that is all. There is no form of httpd running or even present.
 
Maybe... you just are missing that proxmox use its own web interface (called pveproxy), not a standard web server? Older version were based on apache2 http server, but not anymore. Really, there is a web interface... it runs on https://<host ip address>:8006/ and is usually accessible from other hosts through any modern web browser...

citing the wiki (http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Service_daemons#pveproxy):
"
pveproxy
pveproxy is the REST API proxy server, listening on port 8006 - used in PVE 3.0+ onwards. This service run as user 'www-data', and forwards request to other nodes (or pvedaemon) if required. API calls which do not require root privileges are directly answered by this server."

If you prefer VMWare, that's ok, it's just a matter of personal preference, no one here blames you if you really wish that.
 
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Well that's really interesting and useful information! Thanks for throwing me a bone! Appreciate the help, sir/ma'am!

I'm logged in! Via a web interface! Nice!

Maybe someone could write it down somewhere, like in a man page, or a wiki, or some kind of documentation! Maybe put it in an FM, so I could RTFM? Especially given that the name of it has "proxy" in it which is deceptive and leads a clue-seeker to think that it's, you know, a proxy... httpd != proxy.

If someone constantly referred to his car as a waffle, wouldn't that be confusing? Would a confused onlooker be a troll? Or would it be the intentional-dysphagia wackadoodle who kept using the wrong word while keeping his secret decoder ring hidden?

Oh, and if I want to download ISO installation media directly to the server and use it to build a VM, might mention that /var/lib/vz/images/, as you'd expect, is not the correct place. The correct location is /var/lib/vz/templates/iso/ - would save a lot of time to just wget it from one datacenter to another via an ssh session instead of downloading it and re-uploading it... This is really helpful for people who have terribly slow internet connections.

I don't prefer VMWare. It sucks [expletive deleted]. But holy cow the documentation here is tragic beyond words, and those refusing to acknowledge it trolling those who are trying to figure it out, and then calling the noob a troll for not reading source code to figure it out... This kind of abuse from Staff/Moderators? Really? Millennials never grow up, and they're quite detectable.
 
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@herpderp, the information you needed was printed right on the installation page:
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Installation
Further configuration is done via the Proxmox web interface. Just point your browser to the IP address given during installation (https://youripaddress:8006).
NO, it is not.

The link to the web interface was not working, because there was no service listening.

I rebooted a few times, the ol' standby, no effect.

Once identified, I forced the service to start. It did. Rebooted a few times. Still working. It just needed a kick in the pants.
 
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But holy cow the documentation here is tragic beyond words.

I don't particularly like the style of your posts, but this doesn't really count at all to me, and for sure I have to agree with some of your points, and in particular with this, somehow. Not tragic, but geez... I am used to better docs.

I feel like documentation once was better, easier, now it is difficult to find "basic" things, like "how to install a vm".

And there was , but it's been removed recently:
http://pve.proxmox.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Installation&action=history
where you see several info sections where removed with notes like "remove virtual machine section (see reference docs instead))"

Yes, there are all technical details, but not a clear guide on how to do this simple thing. Mostly no versioned docs, you are bound to always use the latest version or you're on yourself...

Which reference docs? I guess they refer to the new "hidden?" (I could not find a link to it on the wki or the main website) docs repository: http://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/, but as said, nowhere is this link clearly defined... I tried to add a link to it in the wiki, where some info was removed... but then someone removed my edit

http://pve.proxmox.com/mediawiki/in...line_tools&type=revision&diff=9130&oldid=9028

Compare it with this http://www.ovirt.org/documentation/quickstart/quickstart-guide/
Of course it's a matter of preference...

So, I can feel what you experience. I don't like it, too. But over the years (I started with pve 1.5), I have now more experience, enough for me, and perhaps I need less "basic info", or less often, so I can do without it, anyway...

And, over the years, I become somehow "used" to deal with proxmox staff attitude that sometimes (not always) sounds like "we do what we want" (tm), since there's nothing we can do about it: the software is damn good, imho, but all the rest is often not so much... always imho, of course.

You could also be helped by some book: https://www.packtpub.com/all?search=proxmox, I bought one or two.

Also, on this forum there are also very good proxmox users that will glady help you, but like anyone, don't particularly like an "aggressive" or "harsh" posting style...

Well, that's all. I just wished to add some more info.

Welcome!
 
I don't particularly like the style of your posts, but this doesn't really count at all to me, and for sure I have to agree with some of your points, and in particular with this, somehow. Not tragic, but geez... I am used to better docs.

I feel like documentation once was better, easier, now it is difficult to find "basic" things, like "how to install a vm".

And there was , but it's been removed recently:
http://pve.proxmox.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Installation&action=history
where you see several info sections where removed with notes like "remove virtual machine section (see reference docs instead))"

Yes, there are all technical details, but not a clear guide on how to do this simple thing. Mostly no versioned docs, you are bound to always use the latest version or you're on yourself...

since 4.3, you always get a copy of the docs for your version included - just click the help button in the GUI and/or check the man pages (which contain a lot more than just the CLI and config file syntax descriptions). the online copy is always for the current version.

Which reference docs? I guess they refer to the new "hidden?" (I could not find a link to it on the wki or the main website) docs repository: http://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/, but as said, nowhere is this link clearly defined... I tried to add a link to it in the wiki, where some info was removed... but then someone removed my edit

http://pve.proxmox.com/mediawiki/in...line_tools&type=revision&diff=9130&oldid=9028

the reference documentation in HTML / PDF / .. is linked to on the wiki start page, and most of the content is available in the wiki as well: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Category:Reference_Documentation

if you feel like something is missing from the reference documentation, feel free to contribute content (it's mostly plain text): http://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#_improving_the_proxmox_ve_documentation

we are working on improving the documentation (the admin guide is the result of a lot of cleanup, consolidation and addition to existing documentation).
 
since 4.3, you always get a copy of the docs for your version included

Yes, I've read, but I use an older version. And, what if I was a non user, and I wish to get info about, learn or compare pve to alternatives? The main site only points to the wiki, which points you for "reference docs" to another place...

the reference documentation in HTML / PDF / .. is linked to on the wiki start page,

Yes, but it's a recent change: less than one month... and it was not even announced, it seems.

I feel that it was made just when in a forum post someone (me) asked where I could find some info that was removed from the wiki... dietmar pointed me to the new url, and the same day martin added that to the wiki...

see https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/w...he-qm-command-line-options.29448/#post-147662
and http://pve.proxmox.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&type=revision&diff=9032&oldid=8933

if you feel like something is missing from the reference documentation, feel free to contribute

Ok, you know what it's missing? Images. At all. There is not a single image, atm. Apart the proxmox logo, of course. (checked html & pdf versions)

How can people understand well a fairly complex system like pve from that guide if there are no images?
The main management interface is a GUI! That doc seems more a command line man page, not a "guide" on a web page...

The wiki has images (and had more before), and for a reason: they are useful! You can compare them with what you see on your systems, or spot if your system is different, if you're looking elsewhere! Perhaps learn more, easier and better! Even videos or animated gif would help, but heck, at least some image...

Then, once I contributed more to the wiki (check) but I started to be disappointed on the "contributions management", whoever did it and for whatever reason: I would have preferred to be contacted, and maybe explained a "new ongoing strategy" a "different required style", but I simply got contributions removed.

Thus I started to feel uninvolved, and this is still so. I am contributing elsewhere (unrelated) instead.

we are working on improving the documentation (the admin guide is the result of a lot of cleanup, consolidation and addition to existing documentation).

Guys, you have a forum that could support polls, or at least a sticky thread could be used as a poll. Please, start to ask people what they think, what they prefer... even before changing: make preview versions of things (at least new documentation pages) try to get some public feedback before removing old stuff, replacing it with very different solutions.

Of course I believe you are doing all changes (software, staff, docs) to make pve a better product, but really, even if pve is really a unique and good marvel, a really "different" virtualization environment, you could benefit by looking at other documentation systems, and try to do the same... unless you already have something clearly better.

That said,
thank for you comment, I will keep an eye on documentation changes.
 
Yes, I've read, but I use an older version. And, what if I was a non user, and I wish to get info about, learn or compare pve to alternatives? The main site only points to the wiki, which points you for "reference docs" to another place...

then you should probably use the current version - which is available online, both in the wiki and standalone

Yes, but it's a recent change: less than one month... and it was not even announced, it seems.

I feel that it was made just when in a forum post someone (me) asked where I could find some info that was removed from the wiki... dietmar pointed me to the new url, and the same day martin added that to the wiki...

see https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/w...he-qm-command-line-options.29448/#post-147662
and http://pve.proxmox.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&type=revision&diff=9032&oldid=8933

we don't want to hide our documentation on purpose ;) sometimes we miss stuff, or limited resources means that changes are a bit delayed - a little poking and prodding if you see something that does not look correct is always a good idea.

Ok, you know what it's missing? Images. At all. There is not a single image, atm. Apart the proxmox logo, of course. (checked html & pdf versions)

How can people understand well a fairly complex system like pve from that guide if there are no images?
The main management interface is a GUI! That doc seems more a command line man page, not a "guide" on a web page...

The wiki has images (and had more before), and for a reason: they are useful! You can compare them with what you see on your systems, or spot if your system is different, if you're looking elsewhere! Perhaps learn more, easier and better! Even videos or animated gif would help, but heck, at least some image...

there are patches on the list for adding some screenshots to the reference documentation - but those are not yet merged and published. it's unfortunately not that easy to integrate them when you have four different output formats (plain text man pages, standalone HTML, wiki, PDF), but we are trying our best. note that step by step how tos with lots of screenshots are still supposed to live in the wiki or in screencasts, and not in the reference documentation. if you have ideas for sections where a graphical representation would help understanding (not a screenshot, but stuff like the graphic in the introduction), please tell us.

Then, once I contributed more to the wiki (check) but I started to be disappointed on the "contributions management", whoever did it and for whatever reason: I would have preferred to be contacted, and maybe explained a "new ongoing strategy" a "different required style", but I simply got contributions removed.

Thus I started to feel uninvolved, and this is still so. I am contributing elsewhere (unrelated) instead.

most of the stuff that was removed was actually merged into the reference documentation, or removed if it was very unrelated or outdated. again - if you feel like something was removed but should have stayed, give us a ping (here, or on the lists) and we can reevaluate. I hope you also understand that cleaning up a wiki with years of content is not an easy task.

Guys, you have a forum that could support polls, or at least a sticky thread could be used as a poll. Please, start to ask people what they think, what they prefer... even before changing: make preview versions of things (at least new documentation pages) try to get some public feedback before removing old stuff, replacing it with very different solutions.

Of course I believe you are doing all changes (software, staff, docs) to make pve a better product, but really, even if pve is really a unique and good marvel, a really "different" virtualization environment, you could benefit by looking at other documentation systems, and try to do the same... unless you already have something clearly better.

That said,
thank for you comment, I will keep an eye on documentation changes.

so far the feedback for the new documentation has been very positive, but of course changes are always painful (especially if they are not instant and instantly perfect). the wiki integration is getting better every week (for example, linking between the reference documentation pages, inclusion in the wiki internal search) - I hope this will alleviate some of the pain ;)
 

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