Installation of updates (minor) in Proxmox VE

This article explains how to install minor updates in Proxmox VE and what things need to be considered here, including for cluster systems.

Important hint: NEVER install updates via apt ugrade. This can make your Proxmox VE system unusable, as dependences between the different package sources (repositories) are not considered.

1. Installation of Proxmox (Minor) updates via UI

You can install updates for each Proxmox system in the host view under hostname -> updates. All packages, for which a new version is available, are displayed. The new Minor Ceph updates would be listed here. With a click on upgrade, the command line is opened and the command apt dist-upgrade is executed.

Important: We recommend to perform a reboot after every (Kernel) update so that the new Kernel gets active.

2. Installation of Proxmox (Minor) updates via command line

You can also perform the updates over CLI:

# update package sources 
apt update

# install packages 
apt dist-upgrade

Important: Never use apt upgrade. Please view the important hint in the article introduction.

3. Handling of Cluster systems

The handling of the updates for cluster systems is a little bit different, as there are dependences of the Proxmox cluster (Corosync) and also of the storage, for example at Ceph (with triple replication). The following things should be considered:

• migration of VMs: empty the host, migrate VMs onto other host of the cluster (right click on the host, bulk migration)
• installation of updates: When the host is empty, the updates can be installed as described above (step 1 and 2)
• restart server
• recovery of Proxmox VE AND wait for Ceph (verify Ceph dashboard, as Ceph may have to recover some data)

Attention: If you restart too early, the quorum of the storage or the Proxmox cluster falls below and you risk downtime. For this reason:

• always wait for the recovery of Proxmox and Ceph
• never update more than one host at the same time

In a nutshell: Empty the host, install updates, reboot, wait for recovery and then treat the next host in the same way.

Furthermore, it is quite important that you always update on one date / evening. It is not recommended to run the Proxmox hosts in different versions. This means, for example, that if you install updates on a 7-node cluster, you should also schedule the other 6 nodes on the same date.

Author: Jonas Sterr Jonas Sterr has been working for Thomas-Krenn for several years. Originally employed as a trainee in technical support and then in hosting (formerly Filoo), Mr. Sterr now mainly deals with the topics of storage (SDS / Huawei / Netapp), virtualization (VMware, Proxmox, HyperV) and network (switches, firewalls) in product management at Thomas-Krenn.AG in Freyung.

Translator: Alina Ranzinger Alina has been working at Thomas-Krenn.AG since 2024. After her training as multilingual business assistant, she got her job as assistant of the Product Management and is responsible for the translation of texts and for the organisation of the department.