Proxmox VE
A free, open-source type-1 hypervisor (Debian-based) for running VMs and LXC containers on dedicated hardware, with a full web management UI built in.
1Download the installer ISO
Grab the current Proxmox VE ISO from the official downloads page -- always a fresh link, since the exact filename changes with every release.
2Write it to a USB drive
Use Rufus (Windows), balenaEtcher (any OS), or `dd` (Linux/MacOS) to write the ISO to a USB stick -- this erases the drive.
# Linux/MacOS example -- replace /dev/sdX with your actual USB device sudo dd if=proxmox-ve_*.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=1M status=progress conv=fsyncDouble-check the target device before running dd -- it overwrites whatever is there with no confirmation prompt.
3Boot the target machine from the USB drive
Enter the BIOS/UEFI boot menu (often F11/F12/Esc at startup) and select the USB drive, then follow the graphical installer -- disk selection, country/timezone, root password, and network configuration.
4Open the web UI
Once installed, the node reboots and the management UI is reachable over HTTPS on port 8006.
https://<the-server's-ip>:8006The TLS certificate is self-signed on first boot -- your browser will warn about it, which is expected until you replace it with a real one.