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Windows 11 on Proxmox VE: q35, OVMF, vTPM, VirtIO and snapshots

Verified 3 min read

Build a Windows 11 26H2 VM on PVE 9.2.2 with UEFI, vTPM 2.0, VirtIO drivers, QEMU Guest Agent and a snapshot chain that can be rebuilt.

Tested onPro (26H2) · Build 26300.9457 · x64
E2
Build
26300.9457
Edition
Pro (26H2)
Architecture
x64
Support
Lab (PVE VM 361)
Evidence
E2Reproduced in the lab
Verified
2026-10-28
Test machine
PVE 9.2.2 VM 361; q35/OVMF/vTPM 2.0/Secure Boot; 8GB/4 vCPU; SATA system disk + VirtIO NIC/vioser; Windows 11 Pro 26300.9457
Page type
Lab
Windows 11 Pro 26H2 on PVE VM 361, showing UEFI, Secure Boot On, QEMU system manufacturer and Standard PC model.
VM 361: Windows 11 Pro 26H2, UEFI, Secure Boot On. QEMU/Standard PC strings are expected in a VM; the evidence is the edition/build and firmware state. Click to open full size.

The short answer

Section titled “The short answer”

A Windows 11 VM on PVE is not “create VM, next, next”. The supported configuration is:

  • q35 machine;
  • OVMF (UEFI) firmware;
  • EFI disk + vTPM 2.0;
  • Secure Boot if you want the Windows 11 baseline;
  • VirtIO disk/network with the driver ISO available;
  • QEMU Guest Agent installed;
  • a snapshot after the clean state.

Our VM 361 uses a SATA system disk because Windows Setup could not see the VirtIO SCSI disk before drivers. That is a VM workaround, not a physical-hardware recommendation.

VM settings that matter

Section titled “VM settings that matter”
Setting Lab value Why
Machine q35 Modern PCIe/PCI layout
BIOS OVMF (UEFI) Windows 11 requirement
EFI disk Enabled UEFI variables
TPM vTPM 2.0 Windows 11 requirement
Secure Boot On Supported baseline
CPU host Nested virtualization/performance
RAM 8GB Practical for Windows 11 + browser
Disk 256GB, SATA (lab) Setup visibility before VirtIO
Network VirtIO Performance; needs driver
Display Standard/SPICE Console access
Agent QEMU Guest Agent Shutdown/IP reporting

Build order

Section titled “Build order”
  1. Upload the official Windows 11 ISO and the VirtIO driver ISO to PVE storage.
  2. Create the VM with q35/OVMF, EFI disk, vTPM, 8GB RAM, 4 vCPU, host CPU.
  3. Add a disk and a VirtIO network device. Add the VirtIO ISO as a second CD-ROM.
  4. Boot the Windows ISO, install Windows, and load the VirtIO storage driver if the disk is invisible.
  5. Install the VirtIO network/serial/balloon drivers from the driver ISO.
  6. Install QEMU Guest Agent, then verify from the host.
  7. Install Windows updates and the vendor tools you need.
  8. Shut down cleanly and take a snapshot named for the state.

Verify the guest

Section titled “Verify the guest”
Terminal window
winver
Get-PnpDevice -Status Error
Get-Service QEMU-GA

On the PVE host:

Terminal window
qm agent 361 ping
qm guest cmd 361 get-osinfo

If the agent does not respond, check the VirtIO serial device and the guest service. A VM can run without the agent, but snapshots/shutdown/IP reporting are less graceful.

qm config sanity check

Section titled “qm config sanity check”

From the PVE host, confirm the VM is what you think it is:

Terminal window
qm config 361 | egrep '^(machine|bios|efidisk0|tpmstate0|scsi0|sata0|net0|agent):'

Expected shape for this lab: machine: q35, bios: ovmf, an efidisk0, a tpmstate0, a disk, net0 on VirtIO and agent: 1. If bios is SeaBIOS or there is no TPM, Windows 11 may install but not in the supported configuration.

Troubleshooting matrix

Section titled “Troubleshooting matrix”
Symptom Check Fix
Setup cannot see the disk Disk bus + VirtIO ISO Load the VirtIO storage driver, or use SATA for the lab
No network after install VirtIO NIC driver Install from the VirtIO ISO, then reboot
Agent not running Get-Service QEMU-GA Install the agent, enable the VirtIO serial device
Very slow console Display/SPICE settings Use SPICE or RDP; do not judge performance from the console
Snapshot grows forever Snapshot chain Consolidate/delete old snapshots; keep a separate backup

Snapshots

Section titled “Snapshots”

Use snapshots for lab state, not as your only backup:

  • win26h2-pre-wsl — clean install
  • win26h2-wsl2-devdrive — WSL/Dev Drive
  • win26h2-hvci-off / win26h2-hvci-on — HVCI experiment

Snapshots live on the PVE storage and can grow; keep a separate backup of anything you cannot rebuild. Do not snapshot a running VM with an active database and call it consistent.

What this page does not do

Section titled “What this page does not do”
  • No GPU passthrough (see the separate page).
  • No activation guidance.
  • No claim that a VM score equals bare metal.

Host sizing and nested virtualisation

Section titled “Host sizing and nested virtualisation”

Sources