Phase 6

Debian

This Debian VM is your “app host” for Docker.

1) Create the Debian VM

Suggested starting resources:

  • vCPU: 4–12
  • RAM: 16–32 GB (more if LLMs)
  • Disk: 100–300 GB on fast storage

Proxmox settings (recommended):

  • Machine: q35
  • BIOS: OVMF (UEFI)
  • CPU type: host
  • Disk: VirtIO SCSI
  • Network: VirtIO

Install Debian from ISO normally.

2) SSH crash course

Install SSH server

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y openssh-server
sudo systemctl enable --now ssh

Find the VM IP

ip a

Connect from your computer

ssh youruser@<debian-ip>

On your computer:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519
ssh-copy-id youruser@<debian-ip>

3) GPU/iGPU passthrough overview

Two common goals:

  • Jellyfin hardware transcoding (Intel Quick Sync or NVIDIA NVENC)
  • Ollama acceleration (typically NVIDIA)

If you get stuck with iGPU passthrough, consider:

  • using an NVIDIA GPU passthrough, or
  • running Jellyfin in an LXC with /dev/dri (outside the scope of this VM-only guide)

4) Enable IOMMU on Proxmox (required)

BIOS settings

Enable:

  • Intel VT-d / AMD-Vi (IOMMU)
  • Above 4G decoding (often required for GPUs)

Proxmox GRUB settings

Edit:

nano /etc/default/grub

Intel:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet intel_iommu=on iommu=pt"

AMD:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet amd_iommu=on iommu=pt"

Apply + reboot:

update-grub
reboot

Load VFIO modules

Create:

nano /etc/modules-load.d/vfio.conf

Add:

vfio
vfio_iommu_type1
vfio_pci
vfio_virqfd

Reboot and confirm:

dmesg | grep -e IOMMU -e DMAR

5) NVIDIA GPU passthrough (most common)

Identify GPU PCI devices

On Proxmox:

lspci -nn | grep -i nvidia

You’ll typically see:

  • GPU function (e.g., 01:00.0)
  • Audio function (e.g., 01:00.1)

Add GPU to the Debian VM

Proxmox UI:

  • Debian VM → Hardware → Add → PCI Device
  • Add the GPU and its audio function
  • Check “PCI-Express” and “All Functions” when appropriate

Install NVIDIA drivers in Debian

Inside Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nvidia-driver
sudo reboot

Verify:

nvidia-smi

6) Intel Quick Sync (VAAPI) notes

If Debian has access to /dev/dri, install:

sudo apt install -y vainfo intel-media-va-driver
vainfo

Next

Proceed to: NAS Access from Debian

Navigation: ← Home Assistant OS VM on Proxmox (Backups to NAS) | NAS Access from Debian (SMB/NFS Mounts) →