Please guide me on how to install Proxmox VE on a Dell PowerEdge R520 server

[VSB]

Hello all,

I have been trying to install Proxmox VE 7.2 for the last two days but have been unsuccessful. I am new to servers/homelab but trying to learn and this seems to be my first big hurdle.

What I'm using:

Dell PowerEdge R520, 48GB RAM, Xeon E5-2440 v2
8 x 1TB HDD
iDRAC 7
BIOS version:  2.9.0
PERC H310 Mini: 20.13.3-0001
Lifecycle firmware version: 2.65.65.65

I first tried to setup a RAID 5 via the Dell lifecycle controller and then install proxmox using the default settings (ext4) but the installation keeps failing with the message "unable to partition harddisk '/dev/sda' " and sometimes on the black screen I can see a repeated message "PTE read access is not set".

I then read comments about not using a hardware RAID but instead setting it up via Proxmox via ZFS so I deleted my RAID array via the lifecycle controller and again tried but this time selected ZFS RAIDZ1 but it doesn't seem to see any disks.

I have also read comments where people have said don't setup a RAID 0 hardware array and then have ZFS.

I'm also reading stuff about IT mode HBA and to be honest it's all a bit alien to me and I don't really understand what it is or how to configure my server for it.

Could someone point me in the right direction, please?

Thanks for reading

============

Edit: Proxmox 6.4 has installed successfully. Could the issue be that V.7.2 does not like the perc H310 Mini?

 

[Stoiko Ivanov]

Edit: Proxmox 6.4 has installed successfully. Could the issue be that V.7.2 does not like the perc H310 Mini?

Could you try the 7.1 installer as well?

my guess is that the R520 (as a slightly older system) does not handle the enabled intel_iommu too well or needs iommu=pt added to the kernel commandline with the kernel version shipped in the 7.2 iso

else - if upgrading to the latest 7.2 version from 6.4 works fine you can of course leave it at that as well!

 

[bingsin]

Try use the fast initialization option to on bmc or bios.

 

[VSB]

Could you try the 7.1 installer as well?

my guess is that the R520 (as a slightly older system) does not handle the enabled intel_iommu too well or needs iommu=pt added to the kernel commandline with the kernel version shipped in the 7.2 iso

else - if upgrading to the latest 7.2 version from 6.4 works fine you can of course leave it at that as well!

Hi, I will try updating 6.4-->7.1 and let you know how I get on.

iommu=pt added to the kernel commandline with the kernel version shipped in the 7.2 iso

Apologies, I am new to all of this but are there any instructions or guides available for doing this?

Try use the fast initialization option to on bmc or bios.

Thanks for your reply. I will give it a try

 

[VSB]

I just wanted to provide a quick update.

I ran an update & upgrade which took me to v6.4-15 by following this video.

I then had a look at this guide and ran the commands: pve6to7 and pve6to7 --full and thankfully there were no warnings.

I then watched this video which took me up to v7.2-5 (I don't know how to reach 7.1 via the upgrade method).

The good news is that it appears to be working! Having said that, are there any obvious things that I can look at to confirm that the change has been successful and everything is working as it should?

Many thanks

 

[Stoiko Ivanov]

Having said that, are there any obvious things that I can look at to confirm that the change has been successful and everything is working as it should?

Well - share the output of `pveversion -v` - that gives a good indication if all packages have been installed in the correct versions.

Else - if everything works as it should - that's quite a good indication - that it's fine

Apart from that I usually quickly read through the journal since boot `journalctl -b` for any error-messages which might be relevant (you can just google them and usually get a good idea what they mean - and most concerning issues are highlighted in red)

I hope this helps!

 

[VSB]

Well - share the output of `pveversion -v` - that gives a good indication if all packages have been installed in the correct versions.

Linux proxmox 5.15.35-3-pve #1 SMP PVE 5.15.35-6 (Fri, 17 Jun 2022 13:42:35 +0200) x86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Wed Jun 29 23:20:26 BST 2022 from 192.168.0.11 on pts/0
root@proxmox:~# pveversion -v
proxmox-ve: 7.2-1 (running kernel: 5.15.35-3-pve)
pve-manager: 7.2-5 (running version: 7.2-5/12f1e639)
pve-kernel-5.15: 7.2-5
pve-kernel-helper: 7.2-5
pve-kernel-5.4: 6.4-18
pve-kernel-5.15.35-3-pve: 5.15.35-6
pve-kernel-5.4.189-2-pve: 5.4.189-2
pve-kernel-5.4.106-1-pve: 5.4.106-1
ceph-fuse: 14.2.21-1
corosync: 3.1.5-pve2
criu: 3.15-1+pve-1
glusterfs-client: 9.2-1
ifupdown: 0.8.36+pve1
ksm-control-daemon: 1.4-1
libjs-extjs: 7.0.0-1
libknet1: 1.24-pve1
libproxmox-acme-perl: 1.4.2
libproxmox-backup-qemu0: 1.3.1-1
libpve-access-control: 7.2-2
libpve-apiclient-perl: 3.2-1
libpve-common-perl: 7.2-2
libpve-guest-common-perl: 4.1-2
libpve-http-server-perl: 4.1-2
libpve-storage-perl: 7.2-5
libqb0: 1.0.5-1
libspice-server1: 0.14.3-2.1
lvm2: 2.03.11-2.1
lxc-pve: 4.0.12-1
lxcfs: 4.0.12-pve1
novnc-pve: 1.3.0-3
proxmox-backup-client: 2.2.3-1
proxmox-backup-file-restore: 2.2.3-1
proxmox-mini-journalreader: 1.3-1
proxmox-widget-toolkit: 3.5.1
pve-cluster: 7.2-1
pve-container: 4.2-1
pve-docs: 7.2-2
pve-edk2-firmware: 3.20210831-2
pve-firewall: 4.2-5
pve-firmware: 3.4-2
pve-ha-manager: 3.3-4
pve-i18n: 2.7-2
pve-qemu-kvm: 6.2.0-10
pve-xtermjs: 4.16.0-1
qemu-server: 7.2-3
smartmontools: 7.2-pve3
spiceterm: 3.2-2
swtpm: 0.7.1~bpo11+1
vncterm: 1.7-1
zfsutils-linux: 2.1.4-pve1
root@proxmox:~#

root@proxmox:~# journalctl -b

-- Journal begins at Wed 2022-06-29 23:13:11 BST, ends at Thu 2022-06-30 19:37:19 BST. --
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: Linux version 5.15.35-3-pve (build@proxmox) (gcc (Debian 10.2.1-6) 10.2.1 20210110, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.35.2) #1 SM>
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.15.35-3-pve root=/dev/mapper/pve-root ro quiet
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: KERNEL supported cpus:
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel:   Intel GenuineIntel
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel:   AMD AuthenticAMD
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel:   Hygon HygonGenuine
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel:   Centaur CentaurHauls
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel:   zhaoxin   Shanghai  
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x001: 'x87 floating point registers'
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x002: 'SSE registers'
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x004: 'AVX registers'
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: x86/fpu: xstate_offset[2]:  576, xstate_sizes[2]:  256
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: x86/fpu: Enabled xstate features 0x7, context size is 832 bytes, using 'standard' format.
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: signal: max sigframe size: 1776
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009bfff] usable
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x00000000cd2effff] usable
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000cd2f0000-0x00000000cd31bfff] reserved
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000cd31c000-0x00000000cd35afff] ACPI data
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000cd35b000-0x00000000cfffffff] reserved
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000e0000000-0x00000000efffffff] reserved
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fe000000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x0000000c2fffffff] usable
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: NX (Execute Disable) protection: active
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: SMBIOS 2.7 present.
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: DMI: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R520/03P5P3, BIOS 2.9.0 01/09/2020
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: tsc: Fast TSC calibration using PIT
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: tsc: Detected 1899.824 MHz processor
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: e820: update [mem 0x00000000-0x00000fff] usable ==> reserved
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: e820: remove [mem 0x000a0000-0x000fffff] usable
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: last_pfn = 0xc30000 max_arch_pfn = 0x400000000
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: x86/PAT: Configuration [0-7]: WB  WC  UC- UC  WB  WP  UC- WT  
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: e820: update [mem 0xd0000000-0xffffffff] usable ==> reserved
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: last_pfn = 0xcd2f0 max_arch_pfn = 0x400000000
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: found SMP MP-table at [mem 0x000fe710-0x000fe71f]
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: Using GB pages for direct mapping
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: RAMDISK: [mem 0x30761000-0x343a7fff]
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: ACPI: Early table checksum verification disabled
Jun 30 00:02:12 proxmox kernel: ACPI: RSDP 0x00000000000F10D0 000024 (v02 DELL  )
[ICODE]

Nothing in red so I guess that's good? :-)