Troubleshooting

Start with the symptom you can see. Change one thing, test again, and keep notes.

The USB stick will not boot

• Reflash the Proxmox ISO with balenaEtcher and let validation finish.
• Use the PC’s one-time boot menu, usually F12, F2, or Del, and select the USB stick.
• In BIOS settings, enable USB boot and Intel VT-x or AMD-V virtualization.

Proxmox does not open on port 8006

• Use https, not http: https://PROXMOX-IP:8006.
• Confirm the IP shown on the physical server’s console.
• Make sure the server and your everyday computer are on the same home network.
• Try ping PROXMOX-IP in the VS Code terminal. If it fails, check the Ethernet cable and the gateway entered during installation.

The browser certificate warning is expected for a new Proxmox server. Accept it only when the address is your server’s address.

SSH says connection refused

• Confirm the target IP. The Proxmox host and Debian container have different addresses.
• Confirm the target is running in Proxmox.
• Open the container’s Console in Proxmox and run ip address to check its current address.
• Retry ssh root@CORRECT-IP.

If SSH rejects the key, use the Proxmox console to compare /root/.ssh/authorized_keys with the output of ssh-keygen -y -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 on your everyday computer.

Docker will not start in the LXC

Select the Debian container in Proxmox, open Options → Features, and confirm Nesting is enabled. Restart the container after changing it, then run:

systemctl status docker --no-pager
docker run --rm hello-world

A Docker port is already allocated

Only one container can use a particular host port. Find the owner:

docker ps --format 'table {{.Names}}\t{{.Ports}}'

In the new stack, change the number on the left side of the port mapping. For example, change 8080:80 to 8081:80, redeploy, then browse to port 8081.

I broke it

Stop changing things. In Proxmox, select the Debian container, open Snapshots, select the last known-good snapshot, and choose Rollback. Changes made after that snapshot will be discarded.

If there is no snapshot, inspect the affected stack’s logs in Dockhand or Dozzle before deleting anything.