New Proxmox/Data Server build

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Just got done putting my HL15 together and installing proxmox, waiting for my moca adapter to arrive so i can get internet to it and install Houston UI. Ignore the fact that my “rack” is a metrorack shelf… I’ll try documenting my adventure here
Server build is:

  • HL15 (duh)
  • Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
  • AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
  • Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler (it fits, but it rubs against the top panel, i hope the new standoffs that were sent to try dealing with the pcie card not sitting flush issue are shorter and not longer…)
  • 32GB DDR5-6000 memory
  • 500GB NVME WD SN770 for Proxmox install and vm drive (need to get 2 1tb nvme drives for this tbh, but ill do that later, this is all just for testing and learning)
  • 2 8TB WD Red Drives
  • LSI 9300-16i HBA Card
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Need to find a good deal on exos drives… i wish i could get bulk discount from the 45HL store for buying 5 drives at a time lol…

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Just got internet to my server, trying to setup Houston on top of proxmox 8 and the setup script did not work, as expected though. installed everything individually and hopefully i can log in after a reboot… fingers crossed!
Login worked, but i had to set the “Connect To” address to localhost/127.0.0.1

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Curious on your steps for getting cockpit/houston ui installed on proxmox 8. That’s what I’m trying to do to not so much luck. I might have it going I have another thread going for the drive alias’ that I’m going to test tonight.

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i had it half working, then started using test repo and cockpit killed itself
i just get stuck at this now EDIT: This is due to an update disallowing root login on cockpit, removing root from /etc/cockpit/disallowed-users should work (nvm it doesn’t)
Trying to play around with dmap and was able to trick it into thinking its an AV15 as for some reason HL15 isnt a valid option

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Oh I got that working with “HL-15”, you just have to use the test repo. I’ll post later tonight with how I’ve got it working to the point maybe we can compare notes and get a proper guide going.

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Okay no making fun of me here. I’m pretty n00b when it comes to Linux so I’m trying to document what I’m doing and write up a guide for doing a fresh install. Right now these notes are super duper basic:

  1. Install Proxmox
  2. Enable Non Prod/Enterprise Udpates
  3. Pull down the 45Drives Test Repos:
    curl -o /etc/apt/sources.list.d/45drives.sources https://repo.45drives.com/lists/45drives.sources
  4. Ensure the 45Drives testing repo is Enabled (can be done from the pve GUI)
  5. Add the Debian backports repository (not sure if this will eventually break Proxmox…Who Knows?)
   . /etc/os-release
   echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian ${VERSION_CODENAME}-backports main" > \
        /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list
   apt update
  1. Install Cockpit: apt install -t ${VERSION_CODENAME}-backports cockpit
  2. Modify cockpit to allow root user by removing root from this: nano /etc/cockpit/disallowed-users
  3. Confirm you can login to Cockpit with root account
  4. This folder is missing for some reason?: sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/udisks2/modules
  5. Install 45Drives stuff: curl -LO https://repo.45drives.com/setup && bash setup
  6. Install 45Drives stuff: apt install cockpit-45drives-hardware cockpit-navigator cockpit-identities cockpit-zfs-manager

Some items I still am working:

  • The 45Drives Disks section. I have another forum post going for that one. The creator of the dalias tool is helping troubleshoot that right now.

  • Under the Services tab in Cockpit I have an error that znapzend ZFS Backup System Failed to start. Not sure about this one yet, Could it because I don’t have a Zpool yet? Will dig into this once the disk alias piece is figured out. :confused:

  • 45Drives Motherboard section doesn’t have the X11SPH-nCTPF motherboard as an supported motherboard. There is an open issue on Github for that opened on Nov 8th located here: Support for the 45HomeLab HL15 · Issue #24 · 45Drives/cockpit-hardware · GitHub

  • Cockpit Software updates section throws an error: Loading available updates failed. Please resolve the issue and reload this page. Cannot refresh cache whilst offline

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As for the software update issue, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) — Cockpit Project
And the number 10 step should be number 3 (it does the same thing, plus when you run it at step 10 it disables the test repo again)
beyond that, it seems that the HL-15 support in cockpit-45drives-hardware is not actually there completely yet after some browsing on their github. :man_shrugging:

Also, I am very much debating on if i just want to go with a Windows Server setup to deal with samba shares, users and permissions and stuff and how to best do that in proxmox and pass the zfs array through hardware and not as a network share… :face_with_head_bandage:

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Thanks for pointing that out! I’ve updated my instructions so far and also wrote the steps to fix the Software updates tab now too. Just waiting on some more feedback to hopefully get the dalias item figured out

I really want this to replace my current UnRaid server as it’s getting old. But I was hoping the full setup was a bit more end user friendly. I get it if you are building your own, but I felt like the full build was lacking that polish. Which at this case is why I’m trying to write instructions and get this figured out, maybe write up a tutorial to help the community. I had the Rocky Linux install from 45Drives on there but it also had errors out of the box for samba, and a few others that also got me frustrated for a full build solution. I think the Proxmox and Cockpit/Houston UI is the way to go but need the scripts or the repos updated so these small configurations are just done automatically.

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Yeah, Houston was definitely not ready for HL15 and the psychos doing stupid sh!t with it (aka us). I don’t blame the 45drives guys for this either, as it was marketed for the homelabbers who want to fck around and find out (especially at launch) but the full build should definitely not have issues like that tbh although i dont have all the context. At least you aren’t going full dipsh*t like I am and trying to figure out a way to use Windows Active Directory to manage Users and Permissions for the samba shares (to no avail)

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