Proxmox VE - SysAdm Cheatsheet

Proxmox VE brings together a lot of day-to-day administration: checking node and cluster health, managing VMs and containers and keeping an eye on storage and replication. When something needs attention, it helps to have the right command close at hand.

This cheatsheet collects useful Proxmox VE commands for quick checks and troubleshooting, covering pvecm, pvesh, pvesm, qm, pct, Corosync, DRBD and LINBIT SDS.

Who is this for?

Proxmox VE administrators who need to:

• Check node, cluster, quorum, and storage status
• Manage or inspect QEMU VMs and LXC containers from the command line
• Check Corosync membership and communication
• Inspect DRBD replication and LINBIT SDS resources
• Find commonly used commands while maintaining or troubleshooting a cluster

Node Stats & Health

• Cluster Status: pvecm status (Check quorum details and node math)
• Cluster Members: pvecm nodes
• Resource Usage: pvesh get /nodes/{nodename}/status
• Storage Status: pvesm status
• System Logs: journalctl -f -u pvedaemon -u pveproxy

Corosync & Quorum Essentials

• Check Quorum Status: corosync-cmapctl | grep quorum (Verifies node voting power)
• Detailed Ring Status: corosync-cfgtool -s (Checks if communication rings/links are healthy)
• Emergency Vote Override: pvecm expected 1 (Forces quorum to 1 to bypass multi-node requirements)
• Reload Corosync Config: corosync-cfgtool -R (Applies changes to corosync.conf without a reboot)
• View Ring Members: corosync-cmapctl runtime.totem.pg.mrp.srp.members

VM Basics (QEMU/KVM)

• List VMs: qm list
• Start VM: qm start <vmid>
• Shutdown VM: qm shutdown <vmid>
• Force Stop VM: qm stop <vmid>
• VM Configuration: qm config <vmid>
• Migrate VM: qm migrate <vmid> <target-node> --online

Container Basics (LXC)

• List Containers: pct list
• Start Container: pct start <vmid>
• Shutdown Container: pct shutdown <vmid>
• Force Stop Container: pct stop <vmid>
• Enter CT Shell: pct enter <vmid>
• CT Configuration: pct config <vmid>

DRBD & LINBIT SDS

• DRBD Status Overview: drbdadm status (Check replication state and connection)
• Detailed Core Stats: drbdsetup status --verbose --statistics
• Linstor Cluster Status: linstor node list
• Linstor Storage Pools: linstor storage-pool list
• Linstor Resource List: linstor resource list
• Force DRBD Primary: drbdadm primary <resource> --force

Keep this handy for routine checks and first-pass troubleshooting. Before running a command that changes state, confirm the node, VM or container ID and resource you intend to target. Take particular care with quorum overrides and forced DRBD promotion and follow the recovery procedure for your environment.

For command options and details beyond this quick reference, consult the relevant Proxmox VE, DRBD and LINBIT documentation.