Storage Configuration¶

Comprehensive storage setup for Proxmox VE including ZFS configuration and directory management.

📋 Storage Overview¶

Proxmox VE supports multiple storage types:

Local: Direct attached storage (DAS)
ZFS: Advanced filesystem with snapshots and compression
LVM: Logical Volume Manager
Network Storage: NFS, iSCSI, Ceph
Cloud Storage: Various cloud providers

🔧 Initial Storage Reconfiguration¶

Remove Local-LVM and Extend Root¶

By default, Proxmox creates a small root partition and large local-lvm. For single-node setups, it’s often better to use all space for root:

# Remove local-lvm storage
lvremove /dev/pve/data

# Extend root partition to use all available space
lvresize -l +100%FREE /dev/pve/root
resize2fs /dev/mapper/pve-root

# Verify the change
df -h

Update Storage Configuration¶

In Proxmox web interface:

Datacenter → Storage
Remove local-lvm storage
Edit local storage
Enable all content types: VZDump backup, ISO image, Container template, Disk image, Container, Snippets

🗄️ ZFS Storage Setup¶

ZFS provides advanced features like snapshots, compression, and data integrity checking.

ZFS Pool Creation¶

Create ZFS storage pool:

# Wipe existing partitions on target disks
wipefs -a /dev/sdb /dev/sdc

# Create ZFS pool (adjust disk names as needed)
zpool create -f ZFS01 /dev/sdb /dev/sdc

# Create dataset with mountpoint
zfs create ZFS01/Data01
zfs set mountpoint=/zfsdata ZFS01/Data01

ZFS Configuration Options¶

Optimize ZFS for your use case:

# Enable compression (saves space, improves performance)
zfs set compression=lz4 ZFS01/Data01

# Set recordsize for VM images (improves performance)
zfs set recordsize=64K ZFS01/Data01

# Enable deduplication (use carefully, requires lots of RAM)
# zfs set dedup=on ZFS01/Data01

Add ZFS Storage to Proxmox¶

In Proxmox web interface:

Datacenter → Storage → Add → Directory
Configuration: - ID: ZFSData01 - Directory: /zfsdata - Content: Select all needed types - Shared: No (unless using shared storage)

📁 Directory Structure Setup¶

Create organized directory structure for different services:

# Main storage directories
mkdir -p /zfsdata/{vms,containers,backups,iso,templates}

# Docker service directories
mkdir -p /docker/{transmission/{data,watch},prowlarr/config,radarr/config,bazarr/config}

# Media storage (adjust path based on your setup)
mkdir -p /mnt/nas-library/MULTIMEDIA/{movies,tv-shows,Downloads/{complete,incomplete}}

# Backup directories
mkdir -p /backup/{proxmox,docker-configs,media-metadata}

Set Proper Permissions¶

# Create service user
adduser arr-stack --uid 1002 --disabled-password --gecos ""

# Set permissions for Docker directories
chown -R 1002:1002 /docker/

# Set permissions for media directories
chown -R 1002:1002 /mnt/nas-library/MULTIMEDIA/

# Backup directory permissions
chown -R root:root /backup/
chmod 750 /backup/

🌐 Network Storage Configuration¶

NFS Storage Setup¶

For network-attached storage:

# Install NFS client
apt install nfs-common

# Create mount point
mkdir -p /mnt/nas-storage

# Add to fstab for persistent mounting
echo "192.168.1.100:/volume1/proxmox /mnt/nas-storage nfs defaults 0 0" >> /etc/fstab

# Mount immediately
mount -a

Add NFS to Proxmox:

Datacenter → Storage → Add → NFS
Configuration: - ID: NAS-Storage - Server: 192.168.1.100 - Export: /volume1/proxmox - Content: Select appropriate types

iSCSI Storage Setup¶

For iSCSI targets:

# Install iSCSI initiator
apt install open-iscsi

# Discover iSCSI targets
iscsiadm -m discovery -t st -p 192.168.1.200

# Login to target
iscsiadm -m node --login

📊 Storage Monitoring¶

Monitor storage usage and health:

# Check disk usage
df -h

# ZFS pool status
zpool status

# ZFS dataset usage
zfs list

# Check for disk errors
dmesg | grep -i error

Storage Health Script¶

Create monitoring script:

cat > /usr/local/bin/storage-health.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Storage Health Report ==="
echo "Date: $(date)"
echo

echo "=== Disk Usage ==="
df -h
echo

echo "=== ZFS Pool Status ==="
zpool status
echo

echo "=== ZFS Dataset Usage ==="
zfs list
echo

echo "=== Recent Disk Errors ==="
dmesg | grep -i error | tail -10
EOF

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/storage-health.sh

🔄 Backup Configuration¶

Automated Backup Setup¶

Configure automated backups for critical data:

# Create backup script
cat > /usr/local/bin/storage-backup.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash

BACKUP_DIR="/backup"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

# Backup Proxmox configuration
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/pve-config-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/pve/

# Backup Docker configurations
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/docker-configs-$DATE.tar.gz" /docker/

# ZFS snapshot (if using ZFS)
zfs snapshot ZFS01/Data01@backup-$DATE

# Clean old backups (keep 7 days)
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "*.tar.gz" -mtime +7 -delete

# Clean old ZFS snapshots (keep 14 days)
zfs list -t snapshot | grep backup- | awk '{print $1}' | while read snap; do
    creation=$(zfs get -H -o value creation "$snap")
    if [[ $(date -d "$creation" +%s) -lt $(date -d "14 days ago" +%s) ]]; then
        zfs destroy "$snap"
    fi
done
EOF

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/storage-backup.sh

Schedule Backups¶

Add to crontab:

# Edit root crontab
crontab -e

# Add daily backup at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/storage-backup.sh

🚨 Troubleshooting¶

Common Storage Issues¶

ZFS Pool Import Issues:

# Force import pool
zpool import -f ZFS01

# Check pool status
zpool status ZFS01

Mount Issues:

# Check mount status
mount | grep zfs

# Remount if needed
zfs mount ZFS01/Data01

Permission Issues:

# Reset permissions
chown -R 1002:1002 /docker/
chmod -R 755 /docker/