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Installation guide

For self-hosted installations (your own licensed VM/image) — does not apply to RedTech's managed service.

Prefer the quick 4-step version? You'll find it right in the download form. This guide goes into the detail of each step, including optional SSH access and how to activate a paid license.

1. Requirements

You don't need to install Docker yourself or have access to any image registry: everything ships already set up inside the VM.

2. Restore the template on your Proxmox

The backup contains a Debian VM already prepared: Docker installed, the VulkanoVM images already loaded, and a service that generates secrets and starts the stack by itself on first boot. You don't need to SSH in or edit any file.

A. Upload the backup to your Proxmox

From the web UI: Datacenter → (pick your storage, e.g. local) → Backups → Upload, and select the .vma.zst file.

Via CLI, if you have SSH access to the node:

scp vulkanovm-*.vma.zst root@your-proxmox:/var/lib/vz/dump/

B. Restore as a new VM

In Backups, select the uploaded file → Restore. Pick a free VMID and the target storage for the disk. You'll end up with a new, powered-off VM ready to start.

C. Boot and finish the setup from your browser

Start the VM from Proxmox. Wait a good minute (it's generating secure passwords, pulling a couple of public Docker Hub images — nginx, postgres, redis, certbot, it needs outbound internet for this — and bringing up the stack, all on its own). Then open in your browser:

http://<VM-IP>/

You'll see the first-time setup wizard: it asks for the email and password you want for your administrator account (and, optionally, your domain and mail server — you can leave that for later). Once done, you log in directly with those credentials.

Without a license installed, the instance runs on the Free tier: 1 datacenter, 1 cluster, 1 node, 1 tenant, 1 user, and 5 VMs maximum. It's fully functional for evaluating the product.

3. Emergency SSH access (optional)

The template ships with no preconfigured user or password, and doesn't need one for normal operation — the whole boot and admin-account setup happen on their own (see section 2). This is only for if you want to SSH in to check logs or debug something.

A. User and SSH access

In the VM's Cloud-Init tab, before booting, fill in the SSH public key field with your public key.

⚠️ The Cloud-Init Password field doesn't work for SSH — the base image ships with SSH password login disabled (PasswordAuthentication no) as a factory hardening default. Without an SSH key, you can only get in via Proxmox's console (noVNC), never via SSH password.

The User field is optional — if left empty, it defaults to debian. After saving, Proxmox regenerates the Cloud-Init disk on its own.

B. Checking first-boot progress

Once you're in (via SSH or console):

sudo systemctl status vulkanovm-firstboot
cd /opt/vulkanovm && sudo docker compose ps

C. The VM's IP

By default it uses DHCP — your network's DHCP server assigns the address. To find it once booted: the VM's Summary tab in Proxmox, under "IPs" (the QEMU guest agent is already installed and enabled), or via CLI: qm guest cmd <vmid> network-get-interfaces. If you'd rather use a static IP, set it in the Cloud-Init tab before the first boot.

D. Exposing the app to the internet (only if your LAN/VPN isn't enough)

This is your own network's responsibility — the template doesn't configure it for you:

If you're only going to use it inside your LAN/VPN, skip this and access it directly via the VM's private IP.

4. Activating a paid license (Standard / Enterprise)

All of this happens in the browser, no SSH needed — superadmin panel → License.

  1. That screen shows your Instance ID right at the top, with a copy button. Send it to RedTech when purchasing your license (it's your installation's unique fingerprint).
  2. RedTech will send you the contents of your license.
  3. Paste it into the "Install / update license" box on that same screen and click Install license. It applies immediately, no restart needed.

The license is tied to that Instance ID: pasting it into another installation won't work, since its Instance ID will be different.

If your license expires: during the grace period stated in the license itself, it keeps working exactly as before, with your plan's limits. Once that window closes, the instance blocks all actions (create, edit, delete, powering VMs on/off, console) until you install a new license — but you can still see everything (dashboards, lists, reports) and reach this same screen to renew it. Nothing is lost or deleted in the meantime.

5. Connecting your Proxmox VE

VulkanoVM needs a dedicated API user and token on every Proxmox VE you want to manage — never use your personal username/password.

A. Create the user and token

B. Create a custom role OrchestratorAdmin

With these minimum privileges:

C. Apply the permission

At the cluster's root path (/), with Propagate enabled, so it covers all nodes and storages.

Note: some Proxmox clusters require Privilege Separation = OFF on the token for these permissions to work correctly.

Something not adding up? Email us at admin@vulkanovm.com.