Installation

ProxCenter can be deployed in two ways: through our hosted platform with zero setup, or self-hosted on your own infrastructure using Docker.

Option 1: Hosted Platform

The fastest way to get started. No server required -- your dashboard is ready immediately.

1. Visit proxcenter.io and create an account
2. Log in to your dashboard at app.proxcenter.io
3. Start adding your Proxmox connections

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The hosted platform is ideal if you want to get started quickly without managing the ProxCenter application itself. Your Proxmox credentials are encrypted at rest, and all communication with your nodes uses TLS.

Option 2: Self-Hosted with Docker

Deploy ProxCenter on your own server for full control over your data and configuration.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Requirement	Details
Operating System	Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, or any Docker-compatible distribution)
Docker	Docker Engine 24+ and Docker Compose v2+
RAM	Minimum 2 GB
Disk Space	Minimum 10 GB (more recommended for database growth)
Ports	3000 (ProxCenter web interface), 5432 (PostgreSQL, internal only)
Network	Connectivity to your Proxmox nodes on port 8006 (PVE) and/or 8007 (PBS)

Step 1: Create a project directory

mkdir proxcenter && cd proxcenter

Step 2: Create the Docker Compose file

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following content:

services:
  proxcenter:
    image: ghcr.io/proxcenter/proxcenter:latest
    container_name: proxcenter
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://proxcenter:changeme-db-password@db:5432/proxcenter
      - SECRET_KEY=changeme-generate-a-random-secret
      # Optional: Activate an Enterprise license
      # - PROXCENTER_LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key-here
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    restart: unless-stopped

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    container_name: proxcenter-db
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=proxcenter
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme-db-password
      - POSTGRES_DB=proxcenter
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U proxcenter"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  pgdata:

Step 3: Configure environment variables

Before starting, update the environment variables:

Variable	Required	Description
DATABASE_URL	Yes	PostgreSQL connection string. Update the password to match POSTGRES_PASSWORD.
SECRET_KEY	Yes	A random string used for session encryption. Generate one with openssl rand -hex 32.
PROXCENTER_LICENSE_KEY	No	Your Enterprise license key. Omit this for the Community edition.

attention

Change the default passwords before deploying. Use a strong, unique password for both the SECRET_KEY and the PostgreSQL password. Never use the placeholder values in production.

Generate a secure secret key:

openssl rand -hex 32

Step 4: Start ProxCenter

docker compose up -d

Verify the containers are running:

docker compose ps

You should see both proxcenter and proxcenter-db in a running state.

Step 5: Access the dashboard

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://your-server-ip:3000

On the first launch, you will be prompted to create your admin account. This account has full access to ProxCenter and cannot be deleted.

Updating ProxCenter

To update to the latest version:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

info

ProxCenter handles database migrations automatically on startup. No manual migration steps are needed.

Uninstalling

To stop and remove ProxCenter (data is preserved in the Docker volume):

docker compose down

To remove everything including data:

docker compose down -v

Post-Installation Steps

Regardless of which deployment method you chose:

1. Create your admin account on first login
2. Connect your Proxmox infrastructure -- Add your PVE and PBS instances
3. Activate your license (optional) -- If you have an Enterprise license key, go to Settings > License and enter it
4. Explore the dashboard -- Head to First Steps for a guided tour

Next Steps

Once ProxCenter is up and running, the next step is to connect your Proxmox infrastructure.