Hi,
I would like to share a small project I built for Proxmox called GuestPilot.
The goal was simple: have a small, fast, root-local tool to monitor and control VMs / CTs without exposing the full Proxmox API surface to end users.
For my use case, the standard Proxmox interface is excellent for administration, but sometimes it feels too heavy for small maintenance tasks such as:
Instead of exposing the full Proxmox API and its permission complexity, this tool only exposes a few very specific actions I actually want to allow.
That makes it easier to build a lightweight external frontend, for example in PHP, for simple customer self-service tasks.
https://github.com/redlemonbe/guestpilot
Release v1.0.0:
https://github.com/redlemonbe/guestpilot/releases/tag/v1.0.0
I am especially interested in feedback from people who also wanted:
I would like to share a small project I built for Proxmox called GuestPilot.
The goal was simple: have a small, fast, root-local tool to monitor and control VMs / CTs without exposing the full Proxmox API surface to end users.
For my use case, the standard Proxmox interface is excellent for administration, but sometimes it feels too heavy for small maintenance tasks such as:
- checking guest status quickly
- starting or stopping a VM
- restarting a guest
- reacting to Wake-on-LAN packets
- exposing a very small API for a lightweight external frontend
- lightweight
- fast
- easy to move from one Proxmox host to another
- low memory usage
- low runtime dependency footprint
- safer than glueing everything together with shell scripts
Current features
- terminal live dashboard
- host information:
- CPU
- memory
- load
- uptime
- IP / MAC
- guest information:
- VM / CT status
- CPU load
- memory load
- uptime
- IP / MAC when available
- guest actions:
- start
- shutdown
- kill
- restart
- Wake-on-LAN listener:
- listens for valid magic packets
- can auto-start the matching VM when possible
- optional JSON HTTP API
- all mode or local node-only mode
- config file support
- file logging
- systemd service mode
- API protection:
- API key
- IP / CIDR allowlist
- temporary block after repeated auth failures
Why I made it
The main reason is that I want a very small control layer between users and Proxmox.Instead of exposing the full Proxmox API and its permission complexity, this tool only exposes a few very specific actions I actually want to allow.
That makes it easier to build a lightweight external frontend, for example in PHP, for simple customer self-service tasks.
Repository / release
Source code:https://github.com/redlemonbe/guestpilot
Release v1.0.0:
https://github.com/redlemonbe/guestpilot/releases/tag/v1.0.0
Feedback welcome
If some of you find this useful, I would be happy to get feedback, ideas, or suggestions.I am especially interested in feedback from people who also wanted:
- a lighter guest control layer
- WOL-driven guest startup
- a simpler and more restricted API on top of Proxmox
