Install Windows 10 on Proxmox for PS4 & setup internet – Detailed Tutorial

I hope you have all got Proxmox working on your PS4 by now. If you haven’t yet, check out the Proxmox for PS4 installation tutorial. And now, it is time to run Windows on PS4 with Proxmox. In this detailed tutorial, I will show you how you could get Windows 10 running on Proxmox for PS4, with internet access.

Before we begin, please know that GPU passthrough hasn’t yet been achieved on Proxmox for PS4. So, do not get your hopes extremely high yet. Rest assured, I will be working on adding features to Proxmox whenever I have time. Now, let’s begin the tutorial with the requirements.

Requirements

• PS4 running Proxmox with Ethernet access (Detailed installation tutorial)
• Windows 10 ISO
• VirtIO ISO

Video Tutorial: Install Windows 10 on Proxmox for PS4

How to install Windows 10 on Proxmox for PS4?

The installation of Windows 10 requires uploading ISOs to Proxmox drive, setting up a VM, after which actual Windows 10 installation happens. Then, you will have to setup network. All of these steps will be explained in detail in the tutorial, one by one.

Step 1. Upload ISOs to Proxmox drive

There are multiple ways to upload ISOs. I will explain two methods here.

Method 1. Upload ISO using Admin GUI

This will be the easiest method. But, the upload speed will depend on your internet connection speed. So, this might be slower than the second method. Anyways, here it is:-

1. On the Admin panel, expand ps4linux on the left pane by clicking on it. Then, click on local (ps4linux).
2. Click on ISO Images in the middle pane.
3. In the menu that opens, click on Upload and choose the ISO files (Windows 10 ISO and VirtIO ISO) from your PC/device. Alternatively, click on Upload and provide the direct download links for these ISOs, if you have them.

Method 2. Copy ISO to Proxmox drive

This, in most cases will be faster than the first method. But, this requires a Linux distro (VM/complete installation). You may also use a Live CD.

1. Connect Proxmox PS4 drive to Linux machine.
2. Copy the ISOs to /var/lib/vz/template/iso. You might have to use sudo cp command if direct copying doesn’t work.
3. After copying, load Proxmox on PS4 and go to ISO Images section (check Method 1) to verify if the ISOs show up.

Once the ISOs have been successfully moved/uploaded, move to the next step.

Step 2. Create and configure VM for Windows 10

1. On Admin panel, click on Create VM on top right.
2. This will start a Wizard. Now, go through each of the headings in the same order and make sure the following options are set:-
   • General
     • Name – Set any name for the VM.
   • OS
     • Select Use CD/DVD disc image file (iso) and in the drop down menu for ISO image, select Windows 10 ISO.
     • Type – Set to Microsoft Windows.
     • Version – Set to 10/2016/2019.
   • System
     • Machine – Set to q35.
     • BIOS – Set to OVM (UEFI).
     • EFI Storage – Set to local.
     • SCSI Controller – Set to VirtIO SCSI single.
   • Disks
     • Bus/Device – Set to SCSI.
     • Disk size (GiB) – Set the VM’s storage size, according to your preference.
   • CPU
     • Cores – Set a value between or equal to 4-6. Feel free to experiment.
   • Memory
     • Memory (MiB) – Set the amount of RAM to be allocated to the VM.
   • Network
     • Bridge – Set to vmbr0.
     • Model – Set to VirtIO (paravirtualized).
     • Firewall – Untick/disable.
3. Once all of that is set, click on Confirm and then Finish.

Now, we are ready to install Windows 10 onto the newly created VM.

Step 3. Start VM and install Windows

1. On left pane of the Admin panel, click on the created VM (should be named 100).
2. Click on Start on top right and then, in the middle pane, click on Console. This will give you access to the display of the VM.
3. Run through the usual steps of Windows installation, like choosing language, edition, etc. till you reach the drive selection menu which says, “Where do you want to install Windows?“
4. At this step, click on Hardware in the middle pane.
5. Double click on CD/DVD Drive (ide2) and set the ISO image to VirtIO.
6. Go back to Console and click on Load driver and then Browse.
7. Browse to the VirtIO drive (for example, CD Drive (D:) virtio-win-0.1.221). Expand the folder, vioscsi and then the folder w10, followed by amd64. Click OK.
8. Making sure Red Hat VirtIO SCSI passthrough controller is selected, click on Next.
9. Click on Unallocated Space that shows up, and then click on New. Then, click Apply, and OK.
10. Click on Hardware in the middle pane.
11. Double click on CD/DVD Drive (ide2) and set the ISO image back to Windows 10.
12. Return to Console and click Refresh.
    
13. After that, click on Next.
14. Installation begins. A few restarts later, you should be in Windows 10.

Once Windows 10 has loaded, you need to setup internet access.

Step 4. Set up internet on Windows VM on Proxmox for PS4

1. Click on Hardware in the middle pane.
2. Double click on CD/DVD Drive (ide2) and set the ISO image to VirtIO.
3. Return to Console and right click on Start menu. Then, click Device Manager.
4. Under Other devices, right click on Ethernet controller and click Update driver.
5. Choose Browse my computer for drivers.
6. Click on Browse, expand the VirtIO drive. Then, expand, NetKVM, followed by w10 and then, amd64. Click OK.
7. Click Next and that’s it! You should now have internet access.

Conclusion

So, that’s a way to install Windows 10 on Proxmox for PS4. By the way, feel free to experiment with different settings. As of now though, you might find that the functionality of this setup is nothing awe-inspiring. But, understand that, I consider this to be a good first step towards getting near-native Windows experience on PS4. If you would like to support my endeavour of bringing GPU passthrough and other features hopefully to Proxmox for PS4, please donate on Ko-fi.