Proxmox VE 4.4 - migrate to new

[miranpiscanc]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum. It's time for me to update my small server, which is still running Proxmox 4.4. It's been working great, but it's starting to run out of memory space for the two virtual machines. So, my questions are as follows:

1. Can I directly install the latest version on the new machine?
2. Is there a way to migrate everything, including both virtual machines, from the old hypervisor to the new one?

Thanks to anyone who responds!

 

[dakralex]

Welcome to the Proxmox forum, miranpiscanc!

Upgrading from older Proxmox VE installations to newer versions should be best done incrementally, as this has been tested by the Proxmox staff and many users and would be the safest option to upgrade each version to the next release. I haven't run Proxmox VE 4.4 myself, but there are guides for every major version release at [0], which should give you a starting point. From version 5 onward, there's also a script for each major upgrade (i.e. pve5to6, pve6to7, pve7to8) that will automatically give you hints and warnings about issues that need to be resolved manually before, during and after the upgrade.

[0] https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Category:Upgrade

 

[fiona]

Hi,
if you have a new machine, an easier way is backup all your guests, install the latest version of Proxmox VE on the new machine, and then restore the guests. You probably also want to copy over important configurations from /etc/ and /etc/pve from the old machine (not the whole folders as there might be compat issues, best to check what you actually need).

 

[miranpiscanc]

Thank you for the prompt response, and my compliments to this forum for its quick replies. Since I am new here, I now wonder: is there a license fee to pay? As Fiona rightly mentioned, I am indeed about to purchase a new machine, so I would start directly with the new version. I would then back up the two machines on the old viewer and have the new machine restore them, as I assume the backup files created daily are also readable by the new version. Regarding the Proxmox setup, I have little to no experience, but thank you again for your response

 

[leesteken]

Since I am new here, I now wonder: is there a license fee to pay?

The license is AGLP3; you get all the features (and the source code) for free. You can browse the support subscriptions here: https://proxmox.com/en/proxmox-virtual-environment/pricing

 

[miranpiscanc]

Sorry, I didn’t understand—downloading and using the latest version is free? But does it require paying for support to make it work? Apologies for the questions; I’m a telecommunications technician, and at work, we use another VM (which I won’t name, but it’s terrible). Proxmox is certainly much better, but since I’m a home user, I’ve stuck with version four because I thought you needed to pay for a license to update. Is that not the case?”

 

[leesteken]

Sorry, I didn’t understand—downloading and using the latest version is free?

Yes. And as far as I know this is also true for old versions.

But does it require paying for support to make it work?

No it does not required paying to work. It is free and open software.

I’ve stuck with version four because I thought you needed to pay for a license to update. Is that not the case?”

That is not the case. You could have upgraded (after setting up the right repository) for free all these years.

See the section Support and Pricing here: https://proxmox.com/en/proxmox-virtual-environment/comparison

 

[miranpiscanc]

Okay, thank you for all the explanations. I didn’t know it’s open-source software. Now I’m even happier.

At this point, since you’re all so kind, I’m not sure if it’s allowed to ask for advice on buying a mini PC to install Proxmox here. I found one on a website—can I share a link to get your opinion on whether the machine I want to buy suits my small needs? Thank you

 

[miranpiscanc]

Thank you for the permission, or at least that’s how I understood it. Here are the two links below:

https://amzn.eu/d/0wh6p12

https://amzn.eu/d/7RrniGJ

Thanks

 

[Johannes S]

Okay, thank you for all the explanations. I didn’t know it’s open-source software. Now I’m even happier.

At this point, since you’re all so kind, I’m not sure if it’s allowed to ask for advice on buying a mini PC to install Proxmox here. I found one on a website—can I share a link to get your opinion on whether the machine I want to buy suits my small needs? Thank you

There are a lot of threads on this subject right here in the forum, try the search function In the end it boils down what you want to achieve with it and how high you rate the integretity of your data (e.G. if the mini-pc is just used for learning stuff the possibility for software RAID or ECC RAM isn't so important. On the other hand if you want to want to set it up as a NAS/Homeserver for essential services and thus want bitrot protection on RAM and disk level the story might be different.