When performing a fresh Proxmox installation, I follow these steps to remove the enterprise repository and the subscription nag message. Additionally, I create a base Ubuntu VM template, and occasionally, a Debian VM template. The same steps apply to both.

Removing the Enterprise Repository and Subscription Nag Message

SSH into the Proxmox node or open the shell via the web interface by selecting the node (e.g., pve3), then click on Shell in the menu to open the shell in the same window, or click the shell button on the top right bar to open it in a new window.

Copy and paste the following command into the shell and press enter:

bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/raw/main/misc/post-pve-install.sh)"

Always review bash scripts before running them to understand what they do and avoid potential security risks. There are many malicious scripts out there.

If you want to inspect this bash script or explore other helpful scripts, you can find them on tteck's GitHub page.

When the post-install script starts, type y and press enter to begin the process:

• Select "yes" to correct Proxmox sources, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.
• Select "yes" to remove the enterprise repository, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.
• Select "yes" to enable the no-subscription repository, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.
• Select "yes" to correct Ceph package sources, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.
• Select "no" to adding the PVE test repository unless you are sure you want to test packages, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.
• Select "yes" to disable the subscription nag, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.
• Press enter to continue to the next message.
• Select "no" to disabling HA unless you are sure you will never cluster your node, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.
• Press enter to update the Proxmox node.
• Wait a minute for the process to complete, then choose "yes" to restart the Proxmox node, press tab to move to "ok" and press enter.

Once the script has run and the node has restarted, we can proceed to create the Ubuntu VM template using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Server.

Steps to Create an Ubuntu VM Template

• Access the Proxmox web interface and open the shell for the node or SSH into it.
• If you prefer a different release of Ubuntu, visit this link to choose your version.
• Download the Ubuntu image (modify the link if you chose a different release) by pasting wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img into the shell and pressing enter.
• Create the VM by pasting qm create 9999 --memory 4096 --core 2 --name ubuntu-template --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 into the shell and pressing enter. You can change 9999 to any VM number you prefer. I use 9999 to keep it out of the way. You can also rename ubuntu-template to your desired template name and change vmbr0 to your preferred network interface.
• Import the downloaded image to storage by pasting qm disk import 9999 noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img local-lvm into the shell and pressing enter.
• Attach the image as a disk to the VM by pasting qm set 9999 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-9999-disk-0 into the shell and pressing enter.
• Add Cloud Init as a drive to allow for pre-configuration when creating a VM by pasting qm set 9999 --ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit into the shell and pressing enter.
• Set the VM's BIOS to boot only from the Cloud Init drive by pasting qm set 9999 --boot c --bootdisk scsi0 into the shell and pressing enter.
• Add serial as the display output, which works with most cloud images, by pasting qm set 9999 --serial0 socket --vga serial0 into the shell and pressing enter.
• You can now edit the hardware configuration and set the Cloud Init settings by selecting the ubuntu-template (or your chosen name) VM from the left panel and then choosing Cloud-Init from the middle menu. You can leave everything as default and customize it as needed when cloning the VM. The disk size will adjust automatically based on your requirements during boot, and this will also work if you increase the size later without needing to run gpart in the VM.
• Convert the VM to a template by pasting qm template 9999 into the shell and pressing enter.

Now that the template is created, you can right-click it in the left menu and choose Clone whenever you need a new VM, and it will be ready in minutes.