Proxmox 8.2.2 Fresh install, reinstall, and reinstall - Root password doesn't work

AdminKMC

New Member
Feb 27, 2024
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I've been testing Proxmox 8.2 for a few months now. I did a fresh reinstall today (a few actually) and something is very wrong.

1. The root password fails, but not consistently. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to log on from one machine on y network, but none of the others. It's not the same machine each time. The one that works now won't work with the next reinstall. When I log out, I might not be able to log back in again. I KNOW the correct root password. It WORKS when it works both via GUI and SSH, but results in "Failed Login" via GUI or SSH from any other machine. I can CHANGE the root password either via GUI or SSH, disconnect SSH from the occasional machine that does connect and log in with the updated password. That same password won't work from any other host (GUI or SSH) and if I log out of the GUI I probably won't be able to log back in again on the host that previously worked.

2. So... Maybe an update will fix it? I nixed the enterprise repositories and added No Subscription. I run update and the server can't connect to the update server. Can't ping it. Traceroute dies on first hop. Can't ping external hosts or gateway by IP address, but I can ping internal hosts on the network by IP. I can resolve DNS (download.proxmox.com resolves to 144.217.255.162), but I can get there. If I try to clear the route table the server just drops out and can't be connected to again.

Edit: If I leave a ping to download.proxmox.com going long enough an occasional ping will return. Maybe 1% success rate.

Over the past few months, I've setup and tested Proxmox VE installs over 30 times. Many using this same server, which is one of three I've been testing with. I have no idea why 8.2.2 is so broken for me. This is fresh out of the box and each reinstall is hosed from the get go. Am I the only experiencing this? I checked the SHA256 and it matches, so the ISO isn't corrupt. I'm going to download another copy, reformat the installer media and see if that makes a difference.
 
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Are you running an old POS-9000 model with the extra-special super-buggy Java interface that you have to hack your machine to even use and regularly crashes the virtual USB keyboard and makes it seem like you are typing the password wrong?

... Asking for a friend. He's got a machine like that too.
 
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Found the issue. No POS-9000. :D We save those for our production servers! Newish Dell Poweredge R750. Previously the machine had been running fine on a 10GB adapter/switch port. After swapping cables and network ports around, I gave it a last shot and reformatted/reinstalled with a 1GB adapter connected to a 1GB switch port. BAM! Everything's fine. Not sure what happened as it was running fine on the previous 10GB/10GB connection. After I get everything updated, I'll try swapping back to the 10GB. I have to update the firmware on the switch this weekend too. So.... Maybe that's part of the issue. I did plug in some SPF+ modules that have issues with the current firmware, but the PM VE server wasn't connect to those.
 
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Following up... Found the real culprit. We had had a number of test machines on the network. All were supposed to have been powered down and reformatted. One was not and it had the same IP address as the one I was applying to this server.
 
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