Additional PVE Nodes¶

This guide covers expanding your Proxmox cluster beyond the initial node for increased capacity and redundancy.

Prerequisites¶

• Proxmox Node (tappaas1) installed
• Firewall configured
• Additional hardware prepared
• Network connectivity to existing cluster

Node Naming Convention¶

Installation¶

Install Proxmox VE¶

Use the same USB installation media as the initial node:

1. Boot from Proxmox VE USB
2. Configure with appropriate hostname and IP
3. Use the same root password as tappaas1
4. Complete installation and reboot

Run Post-Installation Script¶

REPO="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TAPPaaS/TAPPaaS/"
BRANCH="main"
curl -fsSL ${REPO}${BRANCH}/src/foundation/05-ProxmoxNode/install.sh | bash

DNS Registration¶

Register the new node in OPNsense DNS:

1. Access OPNsense web interface
2. Navigate to Services → Unbound DNS → Host Overrides
3. Add the new node:

Network Bridge Configuration¶

The network bridge must be renamed for consistency.

Edit Network Configuration¶

nano /etc/network/interfaces

Replace both occurrences of vmbr0 with lan:

auto lan
iface lan inet static
    address 10.0.0.11/24
    gateway 10.0.0.1
    bridge-ports eth0
    bridge-stp off
    bridge-fd 0

Reboot¶

reboot

After reboot, verify the node is accessible at the new IP.

Join Cluster¶

Get Join Information¶

On tappaas1, get the cluster join information:

1. Navigate to Datacenter → Cluster
2. Click Join Information
3. Copy the join information

Join from New Node¶

On the new node's web interface:

1. Navigate to Datacenter → Cluster
2. Click Join Cluster
3. Paste the join information
4. Enter the root password for tappaas1
5. Click Join

Alternatively, via CLI on the new node:

pvecm add 10.0.0.10

Failover Configuration (Optional)¶

If the node will serve as a firewall backup:

Create WAN Bridge¶

1. Navigate to tappaas2 → Network
2. Click Create → Linux Bridge
3. Configure:
4. Name: wan
5. Bridge ports: Secondary network interface (e.g., eth1)

This enables high-availability firewall failover.

Storage Configuration¶

Create ZFS Pool¶

Create a storage pool matching your setup:

# Mirror (2 disks)
zpool create tanka1 mirror /dev/sdb /dev/sdc

# Or RAIDZ1 (3+ disks)
zpool create tanka1 raidz /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd

Add to Proxmox Storage¶

The ZFS pool should automatically appear in Proxmox storage configuration.

Verification¶

Verify the node joined successfully:

# On any cluster node
pvecm status
pvecm nodes

Expected output shows all nodes with "online" status.

Removing Nodes¶

If you need to remove a node later:

# From another cluster member
pvecm delnode tappaasN

# Then remove the node directory
rm -rf /etc/pve/nodes/tappaasN

Repeat for Additional Nodes¶

Follow this procedure for each additional node you want to add to the cluster.

Next Steps¶

Continue to NixOS Template creation.