Proxmox 8.4 Ubuntu 24.04 server with lightweight desktop

T

Tomm

New Member
Jul 9, 2025
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Hello,

I'm new to proxmox and like it a lot.
I´ve installed HomeAssistant, an Ubuntu Desktop, A windows 11 VM on it in my home network.
Today I've installed an Ubuntu server 25.04 and it works fine.
Because I want to use the Ubuntu server as a home server, I would like to install a lightweight desktop on it.
So I installed KDE desktop but after installing and on the desktop, I do not have a internet connection anymore in the GUI.
I've searched for a solution and I understand that server uses networkd and desktops uses Networkmanager for network connections.

My questions are: 1) is it not possible to run a GUI desktop on Ubuntu server in Proxmox?
2) is there a good replacement for remote management for Ubuntu server ?

Thank you for your help.

Greetings Tom
 
Hello @Tomm and welcome to Proxmox Community :)

I also use Kubuntu Desktop, and it works very well. Even installing it on a server-version should not be a problem.

25.04 is a unstable version of Ubuntu. A lot of usertesting is often done on this version. Therefore, I would recommend that you only use Ubuntu/Kubuntu in the LTS version in productive environments.

So I installed KDE desktop but after installing and on the desktop, I do not have a internet connection anymore in the GUI.
Click to expand...

Only in the GUI? Ubuntu-Server uses as default networkd (netplan). This should not change when installing Kubuntu Desktop (I believe). Give me the output of:

Code: 
networkctl status

and

Code: 
nmcli

With that you to see what is being used for the network.
 
hello @fireon ,

Thank you for your reply. because i'm a newbie on Proxmox, I'm still in the experimental phase.
But, I've installed 24.04 server with KDE-full desktop. NOT Kubuntu. In the Konsole, pinging to nu.nl, works good.
Downloading updates from Discover results in a window "Error, can't refresh cache whilst offline'

When excuting networkctl status, all seems fine. Again, impossible to install google-chrome-stable using apt-get.

But, never mind, I've ordered a new NAS and I will install Kubuntu and sideloaded, TrueNAS.

This week my new toy arrives.

Thanks anyhow.

I'm madly in love with Proxmox but have to learn alot. !!!!!!!!

Greetings, Tom
 
this could be similar like in debian. if you install a debian cli system it uses ifupdown, if you then install gnome or kde then networkmanager gets installed and interferes with ifupdown.

check if netplan an networkmanager are installed. you could try to remove netplan and see if networkmanager only works. (take a backup of your vm before doing anything)
 
Off-topic rant, on lighter environments: I setup an Alpine LXC (from the Proxmox-available template), added various functions/applications including Xfce desktop, it has a total Proxmox backup size of ~330MB, and host node side you can barely tell when its running!
 
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@leesteken I didn't said KDE is a lightweight desktop. I ASKED for a lightweight desktop for Ubuntu server.

But, as in my response I already mentioned, I will install KUBUNTU and TrueNAS on my new NAS device.
The REAL Ubuntu gurus will ofcourse install Ubuntu server on Proxmox but I'm too lazy and too old to learn and memorize every cmdline commando.
So, a lightweight desktop easier for me.

Again, thank you for all your replies.

Oh, BTW I've ordered the "AOOSTAR WTR MAX 11 Bays, AMD R7 Pro 8845HS 8 Cores Max 5.1GHz, 64GB DDR5 RAM 2TB NVME' as homeserver.
 
Tomm said:
The REAL Ubuntu gurus will ofcourse install Ubuntu server on Proxmox but I'm too lazy and too old to learn and memorize every cmdline commando.
So, a lightweight desktop easier for me.
Click to expand...
I must be honest - I have no idea what you are going on about. Looking at all your posts in this thread - I still can't figure out exactly what you aim to achieve, and where this is PVE-centric.
 
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@gfngfn256 FYI It was about Ubuntu server with KDE desktop in PROXMOX. No internet connection in GUI.
But, I already told everyone, I'm changing my OS to Kubuntu.

so this item can be closed. Thank you.
 
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