Virtualization: Testing Proxmox and ESXi

After evaluating my home environment I thought it was time to repurpose the home server into a dedicated host for virtual machines. Ideally one of these will run my Minecraft server and as time goes on I might find other uses that I can launch additional VMs for. 

However instead of running a Type 2 Hypervisor, such as a Oracle Virtualbox on top of a Window 11 machine, I wanted to see if I could get a Type 1 Hypervisor to run bare metal. I have some experience working with VMware workstation and vSphere, but not installing one. So this is a documentation of my journey, more than a  guide. Note that VMware ESXi did not work on my Dell Optiplex, because it did not find the ethernet adapter. So then I tried Proxmox instead.

Downloading the .iso for ESXi

1. I started downloading the software which required me to register on Broadcoms website. In the top corner I clicked on register and followed a simple registration process.

2. After login in I went to the free downloads portal and looked for "VMware vSphere Hypervisor".

3. There I clicked my way to version 8.0U3e. I had to accept an agreement before I could download the .iso with the cloud icon. The download itself was just about 600mb and it is already licenced.

Installation issues with the .iso for ESXi

According to guides online it is as simple as booting from the .iso.

So I was going to put that to the test, but first - backup the current installation of course!

I wrote the .iso to a USB and booted from it, so far so good, but in the middle of the installation I ran into a common problem, the ethernet adapter was not supported by the OS. So here the journey ended.

Going with Proxmox instead.

I started by getting the .iso and wrote it to a USB with Rufus.

Then I booted my server from the .ISO and let it install. One learning I took away from this was that I had to put AHCI mode instead of the RAID, this is because the Proxmox installation didn't find the harddrive.

After a while I was faced with a login screen on the computer and an IP. This was my cue to get on my usual computer and browse into the IP.

The username is defaulted to "root", password is the password you set up in the installation.

You get into a view that is segmented into "datacenter", "username", "localnetwork", "local (username)" and "local-lvm (username)".

Creating my first test VM

My first takeaway here was to upload the .iso that you want into the segment called "local (username)" and ISO-images. It is a simple upload.

Next step is to press the segment just called "username" and do the create VM button.

You fill in name, ID, select cores and an amount of RAM that will be sufficient.

I had some easily fixed issues in my first attempts, too many cores and too much ram.

After fixing that I could start it with no issues. Surprisingly enough even the network worked.

I loaded in a Win11 x64 .iso with 8gb om ram and a couple of cores to do my first testing.

After that it was a usual Windows setup.

Updating the Proxmox

You can either login on the computer directly, or use SSH root@ipaddress with your password.

Then do the usual apt-get upgrade -y && apt-get update -y and you will update the OS.

Fiction: The Descendant, a short story

The Descendant

A short story, by Erik Engström, 2025-09-17

A couple of pigeons were strutting around on the ground as a cool breeze swept across the plaza. It was early spring when I decided to have my coffee outdoors for the first time this year.

One of the birds stood out against the others, it was white and slightly spotted. They were living in the moment, scouring for crumbles that had been left on the ground from earlier guests.

After a while they took off flying towards another part of the city, and I was once again alone with myself and my thoughts.

Glancing at my wristwatch, I knew it was time, they would be here any minute so I took my cup and went inside and found a secluded corner in the café.

As expected, and as they usually are, they were on time. Temporal agents were coming through the door and gracefully coming over to my corner where they sat down, face to face with me. Apart from their wildly different clothes, they all shared the same face. My face. Or maybe I carried their face.

When you work for The Time Council you are sometimes provided a new identity. Instead of looking like a nobody, they make you look like everybody. Should one agent be caught, then the opposition would simply think that they have captured the only agent. Perhaps they would even dismiss the person as a regular time traveler as there would be photos of the same person in multiple points in time.

One of them handed me a letter addressed to Ramel Loveworth, which read:

“Mr. Loveworth, you have been permanently dismissed from the Council for interfering with the timeline. As an agent you are there to observe and not be observed. Your actions have costed us greatly. The rules are clear and despite this you intervened. Hand in your device to agent Sidney Bardlet and continue your civilian days in time alone from this point onwards.”

I stared at the paper, deep down I knew that I had broken the rules but even now I was also convinced that I did the right thing. Countless lives had been saved from a terrible fate no one knew about now. A brief moment followed and I removed the wristwatch and put it in the outstretched hand of agent Bardlet.

Without a word they got up and left as proudly as they had entered, leaving me alone in the corner again. My eyes drifted to my wrist, realizing what it all had costed me.

As we had been to every point in the past and the future, we also developed a near perfect understanding of cause and effect. What people sometimes attributed to random occurrences or accidents we always knew how to trace back to the source.

What is difficult with having access to any point in the timeline is not that you don't know what to change, because you will not run out of such things.

It is knowing that you are able to but shouldn't change it, and now I know the price for doing so.