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Should I install Proxmox Virtual Environment 8 on a Legion Pro 5i Gen 8?

M0rn1n6St4r ..
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I'm looking for help and advice.  Click images to see larger version.

Morgonaut — Triple Boot HackintoshI have a little experience operating Proxmox VE on servers — which belong to clients.  But, they are running older versions.  Mostly, I just interact with the Linux guest VMs (Virtual Machines) hosted on Proxmox.

In the past, I have seen YouTube videos touting, "I run Linux, macOS, and Windows — on one machine, simultaneously — with Proxmox!"  Typically, however, the YouTuber is running Proxmox on a desktop PC — with a workstation CPU (Threadripper or Xeon W) — and at least 2 graphics cards.  At least one of the graphics cards is an AMD Radeon — for PCI-passthrough to the macOS guest VM.

My goal is to build a portable virtual environment.  To work with, I only have 2 graphics devices — Intel 13th-gen integrated-graphics and NVIDIA RTX 4060 discreet-graphics.  Except on standby, the system guzzles battery.  I don't expect to run this without the power supply (available).  Power concerns aside, I suspect I can run (at most) 2 VMs to 2 displays — including (or in addition to) the built-in display.  As I don't want to rely on another device to manage Proxmox, I am aware I will need to install a (light) desktop environment.

My major concern are the IOMMU groups for PCI-passthrough.  The RTX 4060 is definitely in a discreet group — to pass through to Windows or Linux.  But, macOS will only work with Intel or AMD graphics (or very old NVIDIA cards).  In the past, I have run Mojave on a guest VM in VirtualBox — on a Lenovo 2-in-1 (Intel 8th-gen Core i7 + NVIDIA MX230).  I did not find a way to pass through the Intel integrated-graphics.  Nor did I find a way to output sound.

I hope I have better luck with KVM and qemu.

Another concern is BIOS updates.  I haven't had to download a BIOS-update and run it from boot-media in over a decade.  Nor have I checked if that is still possible.  I see that I can download a BIOS update (.exe) from Lenovo Support.  But, can I run the update without Windows?  Although I plan to have a Windows VM, I don't plan to use the OEM (bare metal) Windows system.

Legion Pro 5i under light loadI have already backed up the initial state of the SSD.  So far, I have been using the Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 — solely with Linux Live-USB.  Here are the Geekbench 6 results (links launch new tab or window):

I don't know if this can be done.  A few years ago, I was excited to try.  But, much has changed.

Once more... I am looking for help and advice.  Thanks in advance!

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    Sorry, both too technical for me, and not sure you have fully described your current system for more tech savy folks to answer.  What CPU do you have, How Much RAM?  What BIOS Version are you runnng, etc...  I am 100% sure some smart member will be able to help you out.  

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    Sorry, both too technical for me, and not sure you have fully described your current system for more tech savy folks to answer.  What CPU do you have, How Much RAM?  What BIOS Version are you runnng, etc...  I am 100% sure some smart member will be able to help you out.  

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  • Offline in reply to Peter M.

    I guess I assumed a knowledgeable reply would check the product page and the Geekbench6 links I provided.  The Geekbench6 links, alone, provide some of the information about which you inquire.

    But, you make some good points,  

    When I receive a promising reply, hopefully, the right questions will be asked.  Although I am no expert, I know enough to recognize the genuine article.

    I do not want to offend you, but I've run VMs on a laptop with far fewer resources.  Using an 8th-gen Intel Core-i7 U (ultrabook) CPU (4c/8t) and only 8 GB DDR4-2400 RAM — with a Linux host-OS and VirtualBox (or qemu).  So, I know I can run all 3 OS with a Type-2 Hypervisor — on a 4-year-old budget-laptop.  But, I've never attempted to run a Type-1 Hypervisor (like Proxmox VE) on any laptop.  Nor have I attempted to run more than 1 guest-OS, simultaneously, on a laptop.

    To answer a couple of your questions, the laptop on which I plan to do this has a 13th-gen Intel Core-i7 HX (extended TDP, +32W for greater boost-clocks) CPU (16c/24t) and 16 GB DDR5-4800 RAM.

    Very little of that is relevant.  I can allocate 2c/2t to the host, 6c/6t to the open-source guest, and 4c/8t (each) to each closed-source guest.  Initially, I will allocate 2 GB RAM to Proxmox + 2 GB RAM to guest-Linux + 6 GB RAM to guest-macOS + 6 GB RAM to guest- Windows.  Later, I will upgrade the RAM from 2×8 GB SODIMM to 2×16 GB SODIMM — doubling the memory allocation to each OS.  At that time, I may add another PCIe Gen4 m.2 SSD — which I may or may not PCI-passthough, depending on which IOMMU group it's in.

    The primary issue will be the allocation and PCI-passthrough of graphics.  I want all 3 guest-OS to display with some level of graphics acceleration — and to display simultaneously — via built-in display + HDMI-display + DP-display.

    If not for potential issues with BIOS updates, I would just proceed.  The default method to update the BIOS requires Windows.  Unless I am mistaken, even on a Type-1 Hypervisor, a guest-OS (i.e. Windows) will not have access to the UEFI partition.  Without that, a Windows VM cannot update the BIOS via the default method — a "BIOS-updater" .exe — typically run downloaded and run through the LenovoVantage app.

    But, I have already found a promising bootable-USB alternative, on Lenovo's support-site.  I just need to test it.  If it works, I don't need to keep a "bare-metal" Windows device/partition.

    For now, however, I see no reason to publish more details about my system.  I may inadvertently reveal vulnerabilities in my system, that I've yet to patch.

    btw- I wrote this reply, partly to answer some questions that others may have.  I don't expect you to understand it all.  Nor do I expect a reply. :-)