With the new version 6.3, Proxmox is updating its virtual environment. The latest cluster- and HA-capable VE is based on Debian GNU / Linux 10. 6 (“Buster”) with a specially adapted Linux kernel 5.4-LTS. Via LXC 4.0 and QEMU / KVM 5.1, the virtualization platform provides both resource-saving Linux containers and full-fledged VMs.

Administration can be done in the terminal or via an easy-to-use web interface. For large storage requirements, Proxmox uses ZFS version 0.8.5 in addition to the usual Linux file systems. There are many new features in the WebGUI, such as an improved editor to set the start sequence for VMs. The integration of ZFS into the virtualization platform has been optimized, slowly CIFS and NFS systems get more time until the timeout.

Ceph than Nautilus or Octopus The highly available, distributed and robust Ceph for Proxmox clusters can be used in two versions: as an older Ceph Nautilus 14 .2. 15 or as a more recent octopus 15 .2.6. The desired version is selected during installation in the configuration wizard. Thanks to its multi-site replication capability, Ceph Octopus offers advantages in terms of redundancy and disaster recovery.

Proxmox VE 6.3 directly supports the systemd-free Devuan GNU / Linux and in Linux containers (LXC) Kali Linux, a pre-configured Linux distribution for penetration testing and “ethical hacking”. Virtual machines under QEMU can now be shut down during a backup, vCPUs support other CPU options such as SSE4.2 and also get along better with multi-NUMA nodes.

Team: Hypervisor, Mail Gateway and Backup Server A week ago the Viennese Proxmox Server Solution GmbH published their Mail Gateway 6.4, a mail proxy that works between the firewall and mail server and is supposed to offer extensive spam and virus protection. An object-oriented set of rules defines filter rules according to user name, domains, time frame, type of content and the resulting action. Both Proxmox VE 6.3 and Mail Gateway 6.3 are designed to work with the new Proxmox Backup Server 1.0.

Like the E -Mail Gateway has Proxmox VE 6.3 built in its own backup.

(Image: Proxmox)

As usual, the manufacturer documents details of all innovations and planned developments in a Roadmap. Proxmox VE 6.3 is available immediately and is licensed under the GNU Affero GPL v3. The open source software can be used free of charge without access to the Enterprise Repository, professional support with access to the Enterprise Repository is available from 85 Euro (net) per year and CPU socket.

(avr)