Initial planning docs and hardening scripts for HA rebuild

Covers node 1 hardware/network layout, LVM-thin -> ZFS migration path,
Ceph as the future HA storage upgrade, and baseline SSH/firewall
hardening.
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# Overview & Roadmap
## Background
Current hardware requires disabling KVM hardware virtualization for VMs to
start at all (falls back to software emulation — slow). This is a
host/BIOS-level issue, not a Proxmox limitation, and shouldn't be needed on
new hardware. Before reusing that workaround on the new box:
- Confirm VT-x (Intel) / AMD-V (AMD) is enabled in BIOS/UEFI.
- Confirm IOMMU is enabled if passthrough is planned.
- Update BIOS/microcode first.
- Rule out running Proxmox nested inside another hypervisor.
## End goal
3-node Proxmox VE cluster with HA-managed VMs. Two ways to get VM disks
available on more than one node (see `02-storage-zfs-ceph.md`):
1. **Ceph** — true distributed shared storage, sync replication, needs 3+
nodes and a fast dedicated network. Zero/near-zero RPO on failover.
2. **ZFS + storage replication** — local ZFS pool per node, Proxmox
replicates VM disks between nodes on a schedule (as often as every
minute). Lighter weight, async — failover loses whatever changed since
last replication.
Starting point: ZFS + replication (lighter, works from node 1 onward).
Ceph is the upgrade path once 3 nodes exist and/or zero-RPO failover
matters enough to justify the overhead.
## Cluster fundamentals (apply from node 1 onward)
- 3 nodes minimum for real quorum. If starting with 2, add a QDevice
(small VM or Raspberry Pi) as tie-breaker.
- Dedicated network for corosync (cluster/quorum traffic) — never shared
with VM or storage traffic. Needs low, consistent latency (well under
5ms); jitter matters more than bandwidth.
- All nodes on the same PVE version, NTP-synced, SSH reachable between
nodes.
- Set VM CPU type to a portable type (e.g. `x86-64-v2-AES` or `kvm64`)
rather than `host` if nodes will ever have different CPUs — needed for
clean live migration.
## Rollout sequence
1. Build node 1 per `01-hardware-node1.md` — fresh PVE install on ZFS boot
mirror, local ZFS "tier 2" pool for VM disks, Ceph-earmarked disks left
idle or as a temporary ZFS pool.
2. Migrate VMs off old hardware via `vzdump` → copy backups → `qmrestore`
onto the new ZFS storage (converts disks to ZVOLs).
3. Apply hardening (`04-security-hardening.md`) and networking
(`03-networking.md`) before exposing the node beyond the LAN.
4. Add nodes 2 and 3 identically (same disk/network layout).
5. Join cluster, stand up dedicated corosync network, configure
replication and HA groups.
6. Optionally migrate the Ceph-earmarked disks from temporary ZFS to real
Ceph OSDs once 3 nodes are up.
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# Node 1 Hardware Layout
Build node 1 so nodes 2/3 are drop-in identical later — don't re-architect
disks or network when the cluster grows.
## Disks — three separate roles, physically separate devices
1. **Boot/OS pool (`rpool`)** — 2x small SSDs (240-480GB plenty), ZFS
mirror. Proxmox itself only. Never share with Ceph OSDs or bulk ZFS
data pools.
2. **Future Ceph OSD disks** — must end up as raw, unformatted devices —
no ZFS/RAID/LVM underneath (Ceph does its own replication; anything
underneath just doubles copy-on-write/checksumming and hurts
performance). Use enterprise SATA/NVMe SSDs with power-loss protection
(PLP) — matters far more for Ceph write latency than for general ZFS
use. Ceph needs 3 nodes minimum to go live, so on node 1 these disks
either sit idle or run as a temporary local ZFS pool to be wiped and
handed to Ceph once nodes 2/3 exist.
3. **Local ZFS "replicated tier" disks** — separate set of disks
(mirror or small raidz) for VMs kept on local storage + PVE
replication rather than Ceph (latency-sensitive or non-critical
workloads). This pool is permanent, not a placeholder.
If budget only allows one extra disk set right now: prioritize the
future-Ceph disks, run everything on ZFS locally until nodes 2/3 arrive,
then split workloads out. Avoid consumer QLC SSDs for either role — Ceph
punishes it on latency, ZFS on sync writes/scrub.
## Networking — cable and provision for the final topology now
Logically separate networks (ideally separate NICs/VLANs):
- **Management** — web UI / SSH
- **Corosync** — cluster quorum traffic, low-latency, unshared
- **Ceph public** — VM-to-OSD traffic
- **Ceph cluster/backend** — OSD-to-OSD replication (heaviest load)
Practical layout: 2x 10/25GbE bonded or split — one pair for Ceph, one
for mgmt + corosync + VM traffic, with corosync on its own VLAN even if
sharing a physical NIC. Get switch/cabling right on node 1 so nodes 2/3
are identical drops.
## CPU / RAM sizing
Size for the end state, not day one — RAM is the hardest thing to
retrofit. Budget covers:
- OS + ZFS ARC (ZFS wants RAM, not just disk)
- Ceph OSD daemons — realistically 3-5GB per OSD once running
- Actual VM workloads
Roughly a core per OSD on top of what VMs need. If OSDs won't be active
for a while, that's headway, but buy for 3 nodes' worth of eventual OSD
load.
## Backup target (PBS)
Keep it off the Ceph/compute nodes if possible — its failure domain
should be independent of the cluster. Modest separate machine or NAS:
ZFS mirror or raidz2, ECC RAM if possible, capacity for retention policy.
If it has to run as a VM inside the cluster short-term, that's a known
compromise, not the end state.
## Node 1 install sequence
1. Install Proxmox VE fresh onto the ZFS boot mirror.
2. Create the local ZFS "tier 2" pool for VM disks.
3. Leave Ceph-earmarked disks idle, or provision as a temporary ZFS pool
(to be wiped once Ceph goes live at 3 nodes).
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# Storage: LVM-thin → ZFS, and the path to Ceph
## Why move off LVM-thin
Neither ZFS nor LVM-thin is shared storage — both are node-local. HA needs
a VM's disk reachable from more than one node so it can restart elsewhere
on host failure. LVM-thin has no answer for that. ZFS does, via
replication; Ceph does natively.
## Two paths to HA-capable storage
| | ZFS + replication | Ceph |
|---|---|---|
| Nodes required | 1+ (replication needs 2+ targets) | 3+ |
| Consistency | Async — snapshot-based, as often as every minute | Sync — real shared storage |
| Data loss on failover | Whatever changed since last replication cycle | ~None |
| Network needs | Normal cluster link | Fast dedicated network (see `03-networking.md`) |
| Overhead | Low | Higher RAM/CPU/disk |
Starting point: **ZFS + replication**. Revisit Ceph once 3 nodes exist or
zero-RPO failover is worth the overhead.
## Migration plan (old hardware → new hardware)
Don't convert the old LVM-thin box in place. Rebuild fresh on new
hardware with ZFS from the installer (mirror if 2+ disks), then move VMs:
1. On the old host: `vzdump` each VM to a backup file (external drive,
NFS share, or PBS if available).
2. Copy backups to the new host.
3. `qmrestore` onto the new ZFS storage — disks land as ZVOLs.
Alternative if both hosts can see each other on the network: temporarily
cluster them and use the GUI "Migrate" with a storage move (offline only
— live migration doesn't cross storage types).
## Later: handing Ceph-earmarked disks over
Once nodes 2 and 3 are up and the Ceph-earmarked disks (see
`01-hardware-node1.md`) can be pooled 3-node minimum:
1. Wipe any temporary ZFS pool on those disks.
2. Initialize Ceph across the 3 nodes.
3. Create OSDs directly on the raw disks (no ZFS/RAID underneath).
4. Migrate VMs that need zero-RPO failover from the ZFS-replicated tier
onto Ceph-backed storage.
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# Networking
## Required separation
Keep these on logically separate networks/VLANs, ideally separate NICs:
- **Management** — web UI (8006), SSH
- **Corosync** — cluster quorum. Low, *consistent* latency (well under
5ms) matters more than bandwidth. Never share with VM/storage traffic.
- **Ceph public** — VM-to-OSD traffic (once Ceph is live)
- **Ceph cluster/backend** — OSD-to-OSD replication, heaviest load
## Practical layout
2x 10/25GbE bonded or split:
- Link pair A → Ceph (public + backend, or split further if 4 NICs
available)
- Link pair B → management + corosync + VM traffic, with corosync on its
own VLAN even when sharing a physical NIC with the rest
## Cluster join requirements
- All nodes reachable to each other on SSH (22) and the corosync network
- Same PVE version across nodes
- NTP-synced clocks
## Firewall
Proxmox's built-in firewall operates at datacenter and node level.
Default-deny, then whitelist:
- SSH from the management network/VLAN only
- Web UI (8006) from the management network/VLAN only
- Corosync ports between cluster nodes
- Ceph ports between cluster nodes (once Ceph is live)
Enforce the network separation above at the firewall — corosync and Ceph
traffic shouldn't be reachable from the VM network even if they end up
sharing a physical link.
See `config/pve-firewall/` for a starting rule set.
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# Security Hardening
Proxmox has no `sudo` out of the box — everything defaults to root. That's
the install default, not the recommended end state. Two layers to harden
separately.
## Linux/SSH layer
- `PermitRootLogin prohibit-password` in `sshd_config` — root can only
log in via SSH key, never password. Kills most brute-force attempts.
See `scripts/harden-ssh.sh`.
- fail2ban jail for SSH on top of that.
- Restrict SSH to the management VLAN/trusted IPs via the Proxmox
firewall (see `03-networking.md`) rather than exposing broadly.
- A separate Linux sudo user isn't strictly required for day-to-day PVE
admin (the PVE permission system below governs that), but worth adding
if multiple people SSH into the box directly, for accountability.
## PVE/web layer (the one that actually matters day-to-day)
- Keep `root@pam` for emergencies only.
- Create a named user (e.g. `wayne@pve`) with the Administrator role for
routine cluster management: Datacenter → Permissions → Users.
- Enable 2FA (TOTP or hardware key) on both that account and `root@pam`:
Datacenter → Permissions → Realms/Users.
- For API integrations (monitoring, automation, Terraform, etc.), issue
scoped API tokens with least-privilege roles (e.g. `PVEAuditor` or a
custom role) — never hand out root credentials.
## Firewall
Default-deny at datacenter/node level, whitelist only what's needed (see
`03-networking.md` for the specifics). Config templates in
`config/pve-firewall/`.
## Repos and updates
Fresh installs point at the enterprise repo, which fails on `apt update`
without a subscription. Switch to the no-subscription repo (or pay for
enterprise). See `scripts/switch-to-no-subscription-repo.sh`. Keep the
host patched — hypervisor CVEs are high-value targets.
## Misc
- Management interface on a network you trust, not the same broadcast
domain as guest VM traffic.
- If the web UI is ever needed outside the LAN, put it behind a VPN —
don't port-forward 8006 directly.
## Further reading
- CIS Benchmark for Proxmox VE
- Community PVE hardening guides (kernel parameters, audit logging,
storage encryption)