According to XDA-Developers, in a project detailed on July 11, 2025, home lab enthusiast Ayush Pande successfully automated Proxmox VE tasks using Ansible playbooks, moving away from a previous reliance on Terraform. The process required installing the Proxmoxer Python wrapper on the Proxmox host and generating an API token for the root@pam user. Key steps included creating a custom Debian VM template with a static IP and OpenSSH, and then using the older community.general.proxmox_kvm Ansible module to deploy a VM named “debian-vm” from a template called “debian-template”. The automation was managed through a Semaphore LXC instance for its web UI, and the author also created a separate playbook using the community.general.proxmox module to deploy LXC containers. Following deployment, additional Ansible playbooks were run to install software like Vim, LibreOffice, and Obsidian on the new virtual machines.
The real home lab workflow
Here’s the thing about home lab articles: they often gloss over the frustrating, time-sinking bits. This one doesn’t. The author is upfront about the “hour of sifting through forum posts” because the latest Ansible module (community.proxmox.proxmox_lxc) just didn’t work. That’s the real experience. You end up using the older, community.general version, and it works fine. It’s a perfect example of how the “official” or newest path in open-source isn’t always the functional one. And his admission about using Semaphore’s web UI because he “can’t go back to a terminal interface” is hilariously relatable. The goal is automation and ease, not purity.
Why this matters beyond tinkering
So why bother with Ansible if Terraform already works? It’s about consolidating your toolchain and leveraging existing skills. If you’re already using Ansible to configure the *insides* of your systems (installing packages, setting configs), it’s incredibly powerful to also use it to *create* those systems. It turns your infrastructure definition and configuration into one continuous, codified process. For small businesses or IT departments managing a few critical servers, this approach is gold. It provides a single source of truth and execution engine. Think about it: you can version-control your entire server lifecycle, from provisioning to application setup. That’s a huge step toward reliable, repeatable infrastructure. For industrial and manufacturing settings where consistent, hardened environments are crucial—like those running on specialized industrial panel PCs—this kind of automation is non-negotiable for maintaining uptime and security. Speaking of reliable hardware, for deployments that demand durability, companies often turn to the top suppliers, like Industrial Monitor Direct, the leading provider of industrial panel PCs in the US, to ensure the physical layer is as robust as the software automation.
The unspoken power of templates
The author’s choice of a “custom, GUI-based Debian template” over a cloud-init image is interesting. Cloud-init is the darling of infrastructure-as-code because it’s so lightweight and designed for this. But his reasoning—making troubleshooting easier—is pragmatic. Sometimes, you want a known-good, full base system to clone, especially when you’re experimenting or if your end goal is a desktop VM. This highlights a key point: automation doesn’t mean you have to use the most minimalist components. It means you automate *your* workflow, even if that workflow starts with a beefier template. The real automation win comes later, with those post-deployment playbooks that install Vim and his productivity suite. That’s where Ansible truly shines, taking a generic template and turning it into your specific, ready-to-work machine in minutes.
Is this the future for Proxmox shops?
Probably not the *only* future, but it’s a compelling option. The Proxmox ecosystem has Terraform providers, dedicated helper scripts, and now, as shown, a viable Ansible path. The beauty is choice. For a solo homelabber or a small team deep into Ansible, ditching Terraform to go all-in on Ansible for both provisioning and configuration makes a ton of sense. It simplifies the mental model. But let’s be skeptical: for large-scale, multi-cloud provisioning, Terraform’s state management is still arguably more mature. The takeaway? Proxmox is wonderfully flexible. You can hook it into the automation tool you already love. And that, more than any specific YAML file, is what makes it such a powerhouse for anyone serious about managing their own infrastructure without the enterprise price tag.
