Patrick Domingues

If you’re running a Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) and need additional storage for virtual machines, backups, or ISO images, adding a large disk partition can optimize your setup and expand capacity. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to add a specific partition as new storage in Proxmox, from formatting and mounting to configuring it in the Proxmox GUI. Whether you’re dealing with local storage or networked drives, this guide covers everything you need to ensure your storage upgrade is smooth and efficient, keeping your Proxmox VE environment scalable and ready for growth.

Adding new storage to Proxmox can be done in a few steps, depending on the type of storage you want to add (e.g., local disk, NFS, or iSCSI). Here’s a guide for adding different types of storage:

1. Adding Local Storage

• Step 1: First, identify the new disk by running:
  bash lsblk
• Step 2: Partition the disk (if necessary) using fdisk or parted.
  bash fdisk /dev/sdX # Replace 'sdX' with your disk identifier.
• Step 3: Format the new partition:
  bash mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1 # Replace 'sdX1' with the partition identifier.
• Step 4: Create a mount point:
  bash mkdir /mnt/newstorage
• Step 5: Mount the storage:
  bash mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/newstorage
• Step 6: Add it to /etc/fstab to ensure it mounts on boot:
  bash echo "/dev/sdX1 /mnt/newstorage ext4 defaults 0 2" >> /etc/fstab
• Step 7: Go to the Proxmox GUI:
  • Navigate to Datacenter > Storage > Add > Directory.
  • Set the Directory to the mount point you created (e.g., /mnt/newstorage), select Content type (like VM Disks, Containers, etc.), and save.

2. Adding NFS Storage

• Step 1: Ensure you have the IP and the NFS export path from the NFS server.
• Step 2: In the Proxmox GUI:
  • Go to Datacenter > Storage > Add > NFS.
  • Enter the ID (a name for this storage).
  • Enter the Server IP and Export Path.
  • Set Content type (e.g., VM images, ISO images).
  • Click Add.

3. Adding iSCSI Storage

• Step 1: Ensure the iSCSI target IP and credentials.
• Step 2: In the Proxmox GUI:
  • Go to Datacenter > Storage > Add > iSCSI.
  • Enter the ID and Portal (iSCSI target IP).
  • Click Add.
• Step 3: Then, to use the iSCSI storage for VM storage, you need to create an LVM on top of it:
  • Go to Datacenter > Storage > Add > LVM.
  • Enter an ID, select the Base Volume from the iSCSI you added, and set the Content type.
  • Click Add.

4. Adding ZFS Storage

• Step 1: If you’re using local disks and want to set up ZFS:
  • Go to Datacenter > Node > Disks > ZFS.
  • Create a ZFS pool, selecting the disk(s) to use and specifying a RAID level (e.g., RAID0, RAID1, etc.).
  • Click Create.
• Step 2: Add it to the Proxmox storage:
  • Go to Datacenter > Storage > Add > ZFS.
  • Enter the ID, choose the ZFS Pool you created, set Content type, and save.

These steps should help you add new storage to your Proxmox setup based on your specific storage type. Let me know if you need more detailed guidance on any part!

Mounting and Configuring a Large Disk and Partition

However, if your goal is to add the large partition, in my case it is (sda2, 10.9TB) of storage. In Proxmox, proceed by mounting and configuring it specifically for that purpose. Here’s a step-by-step guide to set up sda2:

Step 1: Format sda2

If sda2 is unformatted, you’ll need to format it. If it’s already formatted, you can skip this step, but make sure it’s in a compatible filesystem (like ext4 or xfs).

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

Step 2: Create a Mount Point

Choose a location where you’d like to mount this new storage. A common practice is to mount under /mnt or /data.

mkdir /mnt/sda2_storage

Step 3: Mount sda2

Mount sda2 to this new directory.

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2_storage

Step 4: Add Entry to /etc/fstab

To make sure the storage is mounted automatically on boot, add an entry for sda2 in /etc/fstab.

1. Open /etc/fstab in an editor:

   nano /etc/fstab

2. Add the following line at the bottom (replacing with ext4 if that’s the filesystem you chose):

   /dev/sda2 /mnt/sda2_storage ext4 defaults 0 2

3. Save and exit the editor.
4. Verify the mount works by unmounting and remounting:

   umount /mnt/sda2_storage
   mount -a

Step 5: Add the Storage in the Proxmox GUI

1. Go to the Proxmox GUI.
2. Navigate to Datacenter > Storage > Add > Directory.
3. In the Directory field, enter /mnt/sda2_storage.
4. Set the ID (name for this storage).
5. Select the Content types you want to store here (e.g., VM Disks, Containers, ISO images, etc.).
6. Click Add to save.

Your 10.9TB partition should now be available for Proxmox to use for VM storage or other content, as specified in the settings. Let me know if you need further assistance with any of these steps!

Patrick Domingues

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