2.2. Prepare Installation Media

Download the installer ISO image from: https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads/category/iso-images-pve

The Proxmox VE installation media is a hybrid ISO image. It works in two ways:

Using a USB flash drive to install Proxmox VE is the recommended way because it is the faster option.

The flash drive needs to have at least 1 GB of storage available.

On Unix-like operating system use the dd command to copy the ISO image to the USB flash drive. First find the correct device name of the USB flash drive (see below). Then run the dd command.

# dd bs=1M conv=fdatasync if=./proxmox-ve_*.iso of=/dev/XYZ

Open the terminal (query Terminal in Spotlight).

Convert the .iso file to .img using the convert option of hdiutil for example.

# hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o proxmox-ve_*.dmg proxmox-ve_*.iso

To get the current list of devices run the command:

# diskutil list

Now insert the USB flash drive and run this command again to determine which device node has been assigned to it. (e.g., /dev/diskX).

# diskutil list
# diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX
# sudo dd if=proxmox-ve_*.dmg of=/dev/rdiskX bs=1m

Etcher works out of the box. Download Etcher from https://etcher.io. It will guide you through the process of selecting the ISO and your USB Drive.

Rufus is a more lightweight alternative, but you need to use the DD mode to make it work. Download Rufus from https://rufus.ie/. Either install it or use the portable version. Select the destination drive and the Proxmox VE ISO file.

Important

Once you Start you have to click No on the dialog asking to download a different version of GRUB. In the next dialog select the DD mode.