pve-vm-setup

Textual TUI for creating Proxmox VMs with live reference data, guarded create controls, and a guided multi-step wizard.

What it does

• logs into a Proxmox VE API endpoint
• loads nodes, pools, storages, bridges, tags, and ISO images from the live cluster
• walks through VM creation in a step-by-step wizard
• can run in a safe read-only mode, a normal live-create mode, or a restricted test mode

Commands

• Run directly from this repo (without cloning): uvx git+https://git.s1q.dev/phg/pve-vm-setup.git
• Install dependencies: uv sync
• Run the app from the checkout repository: uv run -m pve_vm_setup
• Run live diagnostics: uv run -m pve_vm_setup --doctor-live
• Run tests: uv run pytest
• Run read-only live tests: uv run pytest -m live
• Run live create tests: uv run pytest -m live_create
• Lint: uv run ruff check .
• Format: uv run ruff format .

Typical usage

1. Copy .env.example to ~/.config/pve-vm-setup/.env or .env.
2. Fill in the Proxmox connection settings.
3. Decide whether this machine should be allowed to create VMs at all.
4. Optionally enable test mode if you want live creates restricted to a known node/pool and auto-tagged.
5. Start the app with uv run python -m pve_vm_setup.
6. Log in and complete the wizard.

Before the final create request, the app asks whether the VM should be started automatically after creation.

Operating modes

Read-only mode

Use this when you want to browse live data and validate the setup without creating anything.

• Set PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE=true
• Recommended for first-time setup
• --doctor-live is useful here

Normal live-create mode

Use this when you want to create real VMs without the extra test-mode restrictions.

• Set PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE=false or leave it unset
• Leave PROXMOX_ENABLE_TEST_MODE=false
• Recommended only when you are comfortable with the target cluster and defaults

Restricted test mode

Use this when you want live creates, but only inside a constrained sandbox.

• Set PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE=false
• Set PROXMOX_ENABLE_TEST_MODE=true
• PROXMOX_TEST_NODE, PROXMOX_TEST_POOL, PROXMOX_TEST_TAG, and PROXMOX_TEST_VM_NAME_PREFIX become required
• The app restricts creates to the configured node and pool
• The app automatically adds the configured tag and name prefix

Environment variables

Start from .env.example. The table below describes every supported variable that is currently parsed by the app.

Configuration source order:

1. Process environment variables
2. ~/.config/pve-vm-setup/.env
3. .env in the current working directory

Higher entries override lower ones.

Variable	Required	Default	Recommended	Purpose
PROXMOX_URL	Required for live access	none	Yes	Base Proxmox URL, for example https://pve.example.com:8006. This is the only setting required to make the interactive app use the real Proxmox backend instead of fake mode.
PROXMOX_REALM	Optional	none	Recommended	Default realm for login. If unset, the login view loads realms from Proxmox and lets you choose one manually. Still required for non-interactive doctor login checks.
PROXMOX_USER	Optional	none	Recommended	Default username shown in the login form. If unset, you can type it manually. Still required for non-interactive doctor login checks.
PROXMOX_PASSWORD	Optional	none	Usually no	Default password shown in the login form. If unset, you can type it manually. Still required for non-interactive doctor login checks.
PROXMOX_VERIFY_TLS	Optional	false	Yes, if your certificates are valid	Controls TLS certificate verification for API calls. Set to true for properly trusted certificates. Set to false only for internal or self-signed setups you explicitly trust.
PROXMOX_API_BASE	Optional	/api2/json	Usually leave as-is	API base path appended to PROXMOX_URL. Only change this if your deployment needs a different base path.
PROXMOX_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS	Optional	15	Usually yes	Request timeout used for API calls and task polling. Increase it if your environment is slow.
PROXMOX_DEFAULT_ISO_SELECTOR	Optional	unset	Optional	Controls which ISO image is auto-selected in the OS step. Uses glob matching by default. If prefixed with regex:, the remainder is treated as a regular expression.
PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE	Optional	false	Yes	Global create safety switch. Set to true to block VM creation completely. Leave unset or set to false to allow creates.
PROXMOX_ENABLE_TEST_MODE	Optional	false	Yes for shared or risky environments	Enables restricted live-create mode. When enabled, the PROXMOX_TEST_* scope settings become mandatory.
PROXMOX_TEST_NODE	Required only in test mode	none	Yes in test mode	Node that live creates are restricted to.
PROXMOX_TEST_POOL	Required only in test mode	none	Yes in test mode	Pool that live creates are restricted to.
PROXMOX_TEST_TAG	Required only in test mode	codex-e2e	Yes in test mode	Tag added automatically to created VMs in test mode.
PROXMOX_TEST_VM_NAME_PREFIX	Required only in test mode	codex-e2e-	Yes in test mode	Prefix added automatically to VM names in test mode.
PROXMOX_KEEP_FAILED_VM	Optional	true	Leave as-is for now	Parsed by settings, but currently not acted on by the create workflow yet. Treat it as reserved for future cleanup behavior.

ISO selector syntax

PROXMOX_DEFAULT_ISO_SELECTOR supports two forms:

• Glob syntax, used by default
• Regex syntax, enabled with a regex: prefix

Examples:

• PROXMOX_DEFAULT_ISO_SELECTOR=*ubuntu*
• PROXMOX_DEFAULT_ISO_SELECTOR=*debian-12*
• PROXMOX_DEFAULT_ISO_SELECTOR=regex:nixos-minimal-\d{2}\.\d{2}\..*-x86_64-linux\.iso$

Behavior:

• if the selector matches one or more ISOs, the app picks from those matches
• if multiple matching NixOS-style ISOs exist, it prefers the latest one by release naming
• if nothing matches, the app falls back to the built-in default picker

Recommended .env setups

Safe initial setup

PROXMOX_URL=https://pve.example.com:8006
PROXMOX_REALM=pam
PROXMOX_USER=root
PROXMOX_PASSWORD=replace-me
PROXMOX_VERIFY_TLS=true
PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE=true
PROXMOX_ENABLE_TEST_MODE=false

Normal live-create setup

PROXMOX_URL=https://pve.example.com:8006
PROXMOX_REALM=pam
PROXMOX_USER=root
PROXMOX_PASSWORD=replace-me
PROXMOX_VERIFY_TLS=true
PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE=false
PROXMOX_ENABLE_TEST_MODE=false
PROXMOX_DEFAULT_ISO_SELECTOR=*nixos*

Restricted test setup

PROXMOX_URL=https://pve.example.com:8006
PROXMOX_REALM=pam
PROXMOX_USER=root
PROXMOX_PASSWORD=replace-me
PROXMOX_VERIFY_TLS=true
PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE=false
PROXMOX_ENABLE_TEST_MODE=true
PROXMOX_TEST_NODE=pve-test-01
PROXMOX_TEST_POOL=sandbox
PROXMOX_TEST_TAG=codex-e2e
PROXMOX_TEST_VM_NAME_PREFIX=codex-e2e-

Notes and caveats

• Interactive live access only requires PROXMOX_URL.
• PROXMOX_USER, PROXMOX_PASSWORD, and PROXMOX_REALM act as login defaults for the UI.
• --doctor-live still requires PROXMOX_URL, PROXMOX_USER, PROXMOX_PASSWORD, and PROXMOX_REALM because it performs a full non-interactive login.
• Test mode is not the same as read-only mode. Test mode still performs real creates when creation is allowed.
• If PROXMOX_PREVENT_CREATE=true, the confirm step validates but actual creation is blocked.
• PROXMOX_TEST_POOL is currently required when test mode is enabled.
• PROXMOX_KEEP_FAILED_VM is currently reserved and not yet implemented in the workflow logic.

Live diagnostics

Run:

uv run python -m pve_vm_setup --doctor-live

This verifies:

• transport reachability
• API base access
• visible nodes
• configured test node and pool, when test mode is enabled

Use this before enabling creates against a real cluster.

Engineering rules

• Write tests before implementation
• Prefer small PR-sized tasks
• Keep business logic out of widgets where possible
• Field-like widgets should default to compact 3-row controls with no empty spacer line between the value row and the border
• Every screen must have empty/loading/error coverage
• Every interactive feature needs at least one Pilot test
• Visual changes should be covered by snapshot tests