Prerequisites

On your local machine (operator workstation)

• Linux:
  • Ubuntu LTS Desktop or Server (24.04) — primary supported platform, what we develop and test on
  • Debian 13 — also expected to work (less extensively tested)
  • Other distros may work but are not officially supported
• Python 3.10+
• python3-bcrypt (required to generate passphrase-protected ed25519 SSH keys; the wizard preflight detects it and offers an Install button if missing, but you can pre-install with sudo apt install python3-bcrypt)
• Network access to your Proxmox (see ports below)

On the Proxmox server

• One physical interface with internet access (e.g., vmbr0)
• Root SSH access enabled (the wizard will install a key automatically)
• Storage local-lvm available

Network ports — operator → Proxmox

The wizard and range42-context need these open from your operator machine to the Proxmox host:

Port	Protocol	Used for
22	TCP	SSH (root for bootstrap, jump_user for ProxyJump after)
8006	HTTPS	Proxmox API (VM lifecycle, network config, etc.)

If you're behind a firewall, allow at least 22 + 8006.

Optional — local apt proxy

If you have a local apt cache (apt-cacher-ng, Squid, etc.), the wizard's step 0 lets you provide its URL. When set, range42 plumbs the proxy through three layers automatically:

• deployer-cli (/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00range42-proxy) — applied by deployer.bootstrap before any apt install
• Proxmox host — a cloud-init snippet is dropped at /var/lib/vz/snippets/range42-apt-proxy.yaml by proxmox.init
• lab VMs — the snippet is attached as cloud-init vendor-data on every VM template (qm set <id> --cicustom vendor=...); all clones inherit the proxy at first boot

Format expected: http(s)://host:port (e.g. http://192.168.1.50:3142 for apt-cacher-ng's default port). The wizard validates the format and runs a reachability check before letting you proceed.

Leave the field empty in the wizard if you don't have a proxy — everything works without it, just slower on apt-heavy installs.