You, too, can turn your spare Raspberry Pi 5 into a Proxmox virtualization host

Credit: meteyou Published Sep 20, 2026, 1:22 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary Turn a spare Raspberry Pi 5 into a Proxmox VE ARM64 host using a prebuilt flashable image. It requires Ethernet (no Wi‑Fi) because Proxmox needs a Linux bridge, and it won't replace a full server. There's an open-source repo that's easy to install via Raspberry Pi Imager, letting you boot straight into Proxmox. It's always good to find a new way to put your unused hardware to use, and turning one into a Proxmox virtualisation host is definitely one of the more useful ways. If you have a Raspberry Pi 5 that isn't earning its rent, someone on Reddit has devised a way to turn it into a handy Proxmox tool, although it comes with a handful of downsides. Someone turned their spare Pi 5 into a Proxmox host They made the code open-source and easy to install Redditor meteyou posted on the Raspberry Pi subreddit to show off their newest project. As is the case of all tinkerers, they had a spare SBC not pulling its weight, so they decided to put it to work: I had a Raspberry Pi 5 sitting around and wanted to put it to use as a small virtualization host. Now that Proxmox VE supports ARM64, I built a prebuilt Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) image with Proxmox VE already installed, so you can flash it and boot straight into a working Proxmox node. Getting it set up is pretty easy; you flash it using the Raspberry Pi Imager, then add the release manifest as a custom repo URL. You can then set up everything as normal, including your username and password, which also become your web UI login details. Plus, all the network stuff is already set up for Proxmox, saving you some tinkering. Meteyou says there are two problems with the project. First, you can't use this over Wi-Fi, so you'll need to connect your Pi to the network with an Ethernet cable. Due to how Proxmox works, you need a Linux bridge, and you can't do that over wireless. Second, the creator admits that it won't be replacing a 'real' server any time soon, as high-RAM Pis are far too expensive to justify shelling out just for this. However, if you already have one sitting around and collecting dust, it makes for a nice way to get a server going at zero additional cost, so there's that. If you want to give it a go, head over to the project's GitHub page and try it right now.