Installing Windows 11 on Proxmox VE: Complete Guide

Why Windows 11 on Proxmox?

Running Windows 11 as a virtual machine on Proxmox VE is useful for testing software, running Windows-only applications, maintaining a gaming VM with GPU passthrough, or providing a remote desktop environment. Windows 11 has stricter hardware requirements than previous versions — specifically TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot — but Proxmox can emulate both of these, making the installation straightforward once you know the right settings.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, download two ISO files and upload them to your Proxmox storage:

• Windows 11 ISO — Download from Microsoft's official website.
• VirtIO drivers ISO — Download the latest virtio-win.iso from the Fedora project. These drivers are essential for disk and network performance in a Proxmox VM.

Creating the VM with Correct Settings

Windows 11 requires specific VM settings for TPM and UEFI. You can create the VM from the command line with all the right options:

# Create the Windows 11 VM with UEFI, TPM, and VirtIO
qm create 200 --name windows11 \
  --memory 8192 \
  --cores 4 \
  --cpu host \
  --bios ovmf \
  --machine pc-q35-9.0 \
  --efidisk0 local-lvm:1,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=1 \
  --tpmstate0 local-lvm:1,version=v2.0 \
  --scsihw virtio-scsi-single \
  --scsi0 local-lvm:64,iothread=1 \
  --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 \
  --cdrom local:iso/Win11.iso \
  --ide0 local:iso/virtio-win.iso,media=cdrom \
  --ostype win11 \
  --boot order=ide2

# Start the VM
qm start 200

The key settings explained:

• bios: ovmf — Enables UEFI boot, required for Windows 11.
• efidisk0 with pre-enrolled-keys=1 — Enables Secure Boot with Microsoft's keys pre-loaded.
• tpmstate0 version=v2.0 — Emulates a TPM 2.0 chip, satisfying Windows 11's requirement.
• machine: q35 — Modern chipset emulation with PCIe support.
• scsihw: virtio-scsi-single with iothread — Best disk performance for Windows VMs.
• cpu: host — Passes through your CPU features for maximum performance.

Installing Windows with VirtIO Drivers

Open the VM console in the Proxmox web UI and proceed with the Windows installation. When you reach the disk selection screen, Windows will not see any drives because it does not include VirtIO drivers by default. To load them:

1. Click Load driver on the disk selection screen.
2. Browse to the VirtIO CD drive (usually D: or E:).
3. Navigate to vioscsi\w11\amd64 and select the driver.
4. The disk will now appear. Select it and continue the installation.

After Windows finishes installing, you should also install the network driver. Open Device Manager, find the unrecognized Ethernet controller, and update the driver by pointing to the VirtIO CD under NetKVM\w11\amd64.

Installing Guest Agent and Tools

The QEMU Guest Agent allows Proxmox to communicate with the Windows VM for proper shutdown, freeze/thaw for consistent snapshots, and IP address reporting. Install it from the VirtIO ISO:

## On the VirtIO CD, run:
D:\guest-agent\qemu-ga-x86_64.msi

After installing the guest agent, enable it in Proxmox:

# Enable QEMU Guest Agent for the VM
qm set 200 --agent enabled=1

# Reboot the VM to activate
qm reboot 200

For additional drivers (balloon memory, display, serial), run the virtio-win-gt-x64.msi installer from the VirtIO ISO. This installs all remaining VirtIO drivers and the memory ballooning service in one step.

Enabling Remote Desktop (RDP)

The Proxmox noVNC console works for initial setup, but for daily use, RDP provides much better performance with full resolution support and clipboard sharing. Enable RDP inside Windows:

1. Open Settings > System > Remote Desktop.
2. Toggle Enable Remote Desktop to On.
3. Note your VM's IP address from Settings > Network & Internet.

From your local machine, connect using any RDP client:

# Linux: connect with xfreerdp
xfreerdp /v:10.0.0.200 /u:YourUsername /size:1920x1080 /dynamic-resolution

# macOS: use Microsoft Remote Desktop from the App Store
# Windows: use the built-in Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe)

Performance Tips

• Use VirtIO SCSI with iothread — This provides near-native disk performance. Avoid IDE or SATA emulation.
• Enable balloon driver — Allows Proxmox to reclaim unused memory from the Windows VM.
• Set CPU type to host — Exposes all CPU features to the VM for better performance.
• Disable Windows Search indexing — Reduces unnecessary disk I/O on virtual disks.
• Use SSD-backed storage — Windows VMs are disk-heavy; NVMe or SSD storage makes a significant difference.

Managing Your Windows VM

Once your Windows VM is running, you can manage it through Proxmox's web UI — starting, stopping, taking snapshots, and monitoring resources. For quick actions on the go, ProxmoxR lets you check your Windows VM status, trigger a shutdown or restart, and monitor resource usage from your phone, which is handy when you need to free up host resources or restart the VM remotely.

With the right configuration, Windows 11 runs smoothly on Proxmox VE. The VirtIO drivers ensure near-native performance, and the TPM and UEFI emulation satisfy all of Windows 11's requirements without any workarounds.