Can't connect to Proxmox GUI

[Impact]

I'd also take a look at namei -l /var/log/pveproxy/access.log. Looks like this for me

# namei -l /var/log/pveproxy/access.log
f: /var/log/pveproxy/access.log
drwxr-xr-x root     root     /
drwxr-xr-x root     root     var
drwxr-xr-x root     root     log
drwx------ www-data www-data pveproxy
-rw-r----- www-data www-data access.log

Your /var/log/pveproxy has different permissions, for example.

 

[Arity]

systemctl status pveproxy now returns:

*pveproxy service - PVE API Proxy Server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systend/system/pveproxy.service; enabled: preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Mon 2025-12-08 14:37:43 CST: 8s ago
Invocation: 6ee959affcf14929a284e0739da60b60
Process: 329253 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/pvecm updatecerts --silent (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 329257 ExecStart=/usr/bin/pveproxy start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 329265 ExecStartPost=sh -c [ ! -e /var/log/pveam.log ] && /usr/bin/pveupdate (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: 329260 (pveproxy)
Tasks: 4 (limit: 96172)
Memory: 159.5M (peak: 213.9M)
CPU: 873ms
CGroup:/system.slice/pveproxy.service
-329260 pveproxy
-329278 "pveproxy worker"
-329279 "pveproxy worker"
-329280 "pveproxy worker"

Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329260]: starting 1 worker (s)
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329260]: worker 329262 finished
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329260]: worker 329278 started
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329260]: worker 329263 finished
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329260]: starting 2 worker (s)
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329260]: worker 329279 started
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329260]: worker 329280 started
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329278]: unable to open log file '/var/log/pveproxy/access.log' - Permission denied
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329279]: unable to open log file '/var/log/pveproxy/access.log' - Permission denied
Dec 08 14:37:48 pveproxy [329280]: unable to open log file '/var/log/pveproxy/access.log' - Permission denied

 

[Arity]

namei -l /var/log/pveproxy/access.log returns:

f: /var/log/pveproxy/access.log
drwxr-xr-x root     root     /
drwxr-xr-x root     root     var
drwxr-xr-x root     root     log
drwxrwxrwx www-data www-data pveproxy
-rw-r----- www-data www-data access.log

 

[fba]

Use the following commands to fix the permissions, they're bit wide open at the moment.
chmod 700 /var/log/pveproxy and then again systemctl restart pveproxy and systemctl status pveproxy

 

[Arity]

Returning this now:

*pveproxy service - PVE API Proxy Server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systend/system/pveproxy.service; enabled: preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Mon 2025-12-08 15:13:28 CST: 7s ago
Invocation: e97b70072b724e378c17b2f1439f7e5c
Process: 336589 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/pvecm updatecerts --silent (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 336593 ExecStart=/usr/bin/pveproxy start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 336606 ExecStartPost=sh -c [ ! -e /var/log/pveam.log ] && /usr/bin/pveupdate (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: 336602 (pveproxy)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 96172)
Memory: 154.9M (peak: 216.5M)
CPU: 873ms
CGroup:/system.slice/pveproxy.service
-336602 pveproxy
-336633 "pveproxy worker"
-336635 "pveproxy worker"

Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336604]: worker exit
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336605]: worker exit
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336602]: worker 336603 finished
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336602]: worker 336604 finished
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336602]: starting 2 worker(s)
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336602]: worker 336605 finished
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336602]: worker 336633 started
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336602]: worker 336635 started
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336633]: unable to open log file '/var/log/pveproxy/access.log' - Permission denied
Dec 08 15:13:33 pveproxy [336635]: unable to open log file '/var/log/pveproxy/access.log' - Permission denied

 

[fba]

Would you like to delete the file /var/log/pveproxy/access.log and start the service again? Provide the output of journalctl -lu pveproxy afterwards and ss -tlnp | grep 8006

 

[Arity]

Sorry, how do I delete that file?

 

[Impact]

rm -f /var/log/pveproxy/access.log.

 

[Arity]

journalctl -lu pveproxy returns a ton of lines. I can't copy paste since I can't get into the server from my PC... but ss -tlnp | grep 8006 returned:

Error: an inet prefix is expected rather than "-"

I did run a systemctl status pveproxy after systemctl restart pveproxy and it returned:

*pveproxy service - PVE API Proxy Server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systend/system/pveproxy.service; enabled: preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Mon 2025-12-08 19:13:00 CST: 2min 37s ago
Invocation: 902320b0ff4642d282da0585a8b81ead
Process: 385548 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/pvecm updatecerts --silent (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 385552 ExecStart=/usr/bin/pveproxy start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 385560 ExecStartPost=sh -c [ ! -e /var/log/pveam.log ] && /usr/bin/pveupdate (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: 385555 (pveproxy)
Tasks: 4 (limit: 96172)
Memory: 159.8M (peak: 183.3M)
CPU: 803ms
CGroup:/system.slice/pveproxy.service
-385555 pveproxy
-385556 "pveproxy worker"
-385557 "pveproxy worker"
-385558 "pveproxy worker"

Dec 08 19:12:59 pveproxy [385555]: starting server
Dec 08 19:13:00 pveproxy [385555]: starting 3 worker(s)
Dec 08 19:13:00 pveproxy [385555]: worker 385556 started
Dec 08 19:13:00 pveproxy [385555]: worker 385557 started
Dec 08 19:13:00 pveproxy [385555]: worker 385558 started
Dec 08 19:13:00 systemd[1]: Started pveproxy.service - PVE API Proxy Server.

 

[fba]

but ss -tlnp | grep 8006 returned:

Error: an inet prefix is expected rather than "-"

make sure there is no whitespace between the - and the tlpn
For the journalctl command: the first 10-20 lines are enough.
As the pveproxy seems to work now, testing if the web interface is available is an option too, of course.

 

[Arity]

Unfortunately the web interface still won't connect.
ss -tlnp | grep 8006 returned:

LISTEN 0    4096    0.0.0.0:8006    0.0.0.0:*    users:(("pveproxy worker",pid=385558,fd=6),("pveeproxy worker",pid=385557,fd=6),("pveproxy worker",pid-385556,fd=6),("pveproxy",pid=385555,fd=6))

journalctl -lu pveproxy returned:

 

[fba]

ah, ok, my fault, forgot the r in the journalctl command. should be journalctl -lru pveproxy
The ss -tlpn shows that the server is listening on the right port.
Please test the access of the web interface locally on the server with curl -vk https://localhost:8006

 

[Arity]

journalctl -lru pveproxy returns

and curl -vk https://localhost:8006 returns:

I hope swapping to photos is okay

 

[fba]

Totally fine with the pictures.
The output of the curl command shows, that the web ui is working and at least locally available. That's a big plus.
A simple test would be to use a different browser on the desktop machine for the connection.
In addition, you might test the same curl command on your desktop machine. If it is a Windows machine you need to use PowerShell and curl -SkipCertificateCheck https://192.168.1.18:8006
You can also test the network connection from PowerShell with Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.1.18 -Port 8006

 

[Impact]

you need to use PowerShell

Or WSL so you can use the same set of commands

 

[Onslow]

I can't copy paste since I can't get into the server from my PC

You can mount a USB stick in the PVE host, save the outputs of the commands into a text file in the stick, umount the stick, put it into your PC and open the text file.
Then in the Forum post: click three vertical dots at the right side ("More options...") then the icon of the crossed eye ("Spoiler") and paste the text .