Proxmox Cheat sheet - General Commands

I've put together some of the most used commands you'll more or less use when working with Proxmox.

Below, you'll find the commands in code-blocks, a nifty PDF cheat guide, and some images that you can print off to hang on your wall and show off to all your friends! (if that's your thing)

The Journey & Tribulations with my Mini Proxmox Setup

I discuss my new 2-node Proxmox cluster, highlighting challenges and achievements.

Art of InfraDan Jones

Virtual Machine Management (QEMU/ KVM)

$ qm list
# List all VMs and their status

$ qm shutdown <vmid>
# Example: qm shutdown 100
# Graceful shutdown of VM

$ qm snapshot <vmid> <name>
# Example: qm snapshot 100 pre-update
# Create a Snapshot of a VM

$ qm rollback <vmid> <snapshot>
# Example: qm rollback 100 pre-update
# Restore VM to a Snapshot

$ qm config <vmid>
# Example: qm config 100
# Display VM Configuration

$ qm listsnapshot <vmid>
# Example: qm listsnapshot 100
# List all Snapshots for a VM

$ qm migrate <vmid> <target-node>
# Example: qm migrate 100 node2
# Migrate VM between nodes

$ qm set <vmid> [options]
# Example: qm set 100 --cores 4 --memory 4096 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0
# Change a VM’s Configuration Options

$ qm clone <vmid> <newid>
# Example: qm clone 100 110 --name "VM-Clone" --full
# Clone existing VM

$ qm reboot <vmid>
# Example: qm reboot 100
# Reboot VM

$ qm destroy <vmid>
# Example: qm destroy 100
# Delete VM and attached settings

$ qm start <vmid>
# Example: qm start 100
# Start VM with given ID

$ qm stop <vmid>
# Example: qm stop 100
# Stop VM with given ID

LXC Container Management (pct)

$ pct list
# List all LXCs

$ pct stop <ctid>
# Example: pct stop 100
# Stop (abrupt power down) LXC

$ pct start <ctid>
# Example: pct start 100
# Start (boot-up) LXC

$ pct shutdown <ctid>
# Example: pct shutdown 100
# Shutdown (Graceful) LXC

$ pct destroy <ctid>
# Example: pct destroy 100
# Delete (destroy) LXC

$ pct reboot <ctid>
# Example: pct reboot 100
# Reboot LXC

$ pct create <ctid> <template> [options]
# Example: pct create 200 local:vztmpl/debian-11-standard_11.0-1_amd64.tar.gz --cores 2 --memory 1024
# Create New CT with Given ID & Specified OS

$ pct rollback <ctid> <snapshot>
# Example: pct rollback 100 pre_upgrade
# Restore CT to a Snapshot

$ pct migrate <ctid> <node>
# Example: pct migrate 100 node2
# Migrate CT to another Node

$ pct listsnapshot <ctid>
# Example: pct listsnapshot 100
# List all Snapshots for a CT

$ pct snapshot <ctid> <name>
# Example: pct snapshot 100 pre-upgrade
# Create Snapshot of a CT

$ pct resize <ctid> <disk> <size>
# Example: pct resize 100 rootfs 15G
# Resize disk for CT

$ pct enter <ctid>
# Example: pct enter 100
# Open a Shell into a CT

Firewall Management (PVE Firewall)

$ pve-firewall status
# Check PVE Firewall Status

$ pve-firewall log
# Display Proxmox Firewall Log

$ pve-firewall reload
# Reload Firewall Config All-Nodes

$ pve-firewall delete rule <rule-id>
# Example: pve-firewall delete rule 3
# Delete Firewall Rule

$ pve-firewall create rule -action accept -macro <service>
# Example: pve-firewall create rule -action accept -macro ssh
# Create new Firewall Rule

Other Commands

$ pveversion -v
# Show Version of Proxmox VE

$ qmrestore <backup-file> <vmid> [options]
# Example: qmrestore backup/vzdump-qemu-100-2025_07_01.vma 100 --force
# Restore QEMU VM from a Backup Archive

$ vzdump <vmid> [options]
# Example: vzdump 100 --mode snapshot --compress zstd --storage local --notes "Nightly backup"
# Backup and Restore (VM or CT) to Archive File