Proxmox VE - Full Management

Complete control over Proxmox VE hypervisor via REST API.

Setup

export PVE_URL="https://192.168.1.10:8006"
export PVE_TOKEN="user@pam!tokenid=secret-uuid"

Create API token: Datacenter → Permissions → API Tokens → Add (uncheck Privilege Separation)

Auth Header

AUTH="Authorization: PVEAPIToken=$PVE_TOKEN"

Cluster & Nodes

# Cluster status
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/cluster/status" | jq

# List nodes
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes" | jq '.data[] | {node, status, cpu: (.cpu*100|round), mem_pct: (.mem/.maxmem*100|round)}'

# Node details
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/status" | jq

List VMs & Containers

# All VMs on node
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu" | jq '.data[] | {vmid, name, status}'

# All LXC on node
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/lxc" | jq '.data[] | {vmid, name, status}'

# Cluster-wide (all VMs + LXC)
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/cluster/resources?type=vm" | jq '.data[] | {node, type, vmid, name, status}'

VM/Container Control

# Start
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/status/start"

# Stop (immediate)
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/status/stop"

# Shutdown (graceful)
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/status/shutdown"

# Reboot
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/status/reboot"

# For LXC: replace /qemu/ with /lxc/

Create LXC Container

# Get next available VMID
NEWID=$(curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/cluster/nextid" | jq -r '.data')

# Create container
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/lxc" \
  -d "vmid=$NEWID" \
  -d "hostname=my-container" \
  -d "ostemplate=local:vztmpl/debian-12-standard_12.2-1_amd64.tar.zst" \
  -d "storage=local-lvm" \
  -d "rootfs=local-lvm:8" \
  -d "memory=1024" \
  -d "swap=512" \
  -d "cores=2" \
  -d "net0=name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp" \
  -d "password=changeme123" \
  -d "start=1"

LXC Parameters:

Create VM

# Get next VMID
NEWID=$(curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/cluster/nextid" | jq -r '.data')

# Create VM
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu" \
  -d "vmid=$NEWID" \
  -d "name=my-vm" \
  -d "memory=2048" \
  -d "cores=2" \
  -d "sockets=1" \
  -d "cpu=host" \
  -d "net0=virtio,bridge=vmbr0" \
  -d "scsi0=local-lvm:32" \
  -d "scsihw=virtio-scsi-pci" \
  -d "ide2=local:iso/ubuntu-22.04.iso,media=cdrom" \
  -d "boot=order=scsi0;ide2;net0" \
  -d "ostype=l26"

VM Parameters:

Clone VM/Container

# Clone VM
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/clone" \
  -d "newid=201" \
  -d "name=cloned-vm" \
  -d "full=1" \
  -d "storage=local-lvm"

# Clone LXC
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/lxc/{vmid}/clone" \
  -d "newid=202" \
  -d "hostname=cloned-ct" \
  -d "full=1" \
  -d "storage=local-lvm"

Clone Parameters:

Convert to Template

# Convert VM to template
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/template"

# Convert LXC to template
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/lxc/{vmid}/template"

Snapshots

# List snapshots
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/snapshot" | jq '.data[] | {name, description}'

# Create snapshot
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/snapshot" \
  -d "snapname=before-update" \
  -d "description=Snapshot before system update"

# Rollback
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/snapshot/{snapname}/rollback"

# Delete snapshot
curl -sk -X DELETE -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}/snapshot/{snapname}"

Backups

# Start backup
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/vzdump" \
  -d "vmid={vmid}" \
  -d "storage=local" \
  -d "mode=snapshot" \
  -d "compress=zstd"

# List backups
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/storage/{storage}/content?content=backup" | jq

# Restore backup
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu" \
  -d "vmid=300" \
  -d "archive=local:backup/vzdump-qemu-100-2024_01_01-12_00_00.vma.zst" \
  -d "storage=local-lvm"

Storage & Templates

# List storage
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/storage" | jq '.data[] | {storage, type, avail, used}'

# List available templates
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/storage/local/content?content=vztmpl" | jq '.data[] | .volid'

# List ISOs
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/storage/local/content?content=iso" | jq '.data[] | .volid'

# Download template
curl -sk -X POST -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/aplinfo" \
  -d "storage=local" \
  -d "template=debian-12-standard_12.2-1_amd64.tar.zst"

Tasks

# Recent tasks
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/tasks?limit=10" | jq '.data[] | {upid, type, status}'

# Task status
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/tasks/{upid}/status" | jq

# Task log
curl -sk -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/tasks/{upid}/log" | jq -r '.data[].t'

Delete VM/Container

# Delete VM (must be stopped)
curl -sk -X DELETE -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}"

# Delete LXC
curl -sk -X DELETE -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/lxc/{vmid}"

# Force delete (purge)
curl -sk -X DELETE -H "$AUTH" "$PVE_URL/api2/json/nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}?purge=1&destroy-unreferenced-disks=1"

Quick Reference

Notes

• Use -k for self-signed certs
• API tokens don't need CSRF
• Replace {node} with node name (e.g., pve)
• Replace {vmid} with VM/container ID
• Use qemu for VMs, lxc for containers
• All create/clone operations return task UPID for tracking