How to Install Windows 11 LTSC on Proxmox VE with VirtIO Drivers

Posted by KumanLabs August 14, 2026 Post a Comment

Intro

According to my previous plan on this page, I want to have a VM on my Proxmox homelab and I finally choose Windows 11 LTSC.

Considering to have minimum resource and footprint, Windows 11 LTSC runs very well on Proxmox VE when the VM is configured with the proper virtual hardware. This guide covers the recommended VM settings, VirtIO drivers, TPM 2.0, UEFI, and QEMU Guest Agent.

Recommended VM Settings

Create a new VM in Proxmox with the following settings:

Machine: q35
BIOS: OVMF (UEFI)
EFI Disk: Enabled
Pre-Enroll Keys: Enabled
TPM: 2.0
SCSI Controller: VirtIO SCSI Single
QEMU Guest Agent: Enabled

Recommended CPU and memory:

CPU Type: host
Sockets: 1
Cores: 4
RAM: 8 GB

For heavier workloads, use 6–8 vCPUs and 16 GB RAM or more.

For Proxmox clusters that require live migration between different CPU generations, use a compatible CPU model instead of host.

Prepare the Required ISO Files & New VM Setup

Prepare two ISO files and make sure they are available on proxmox:

Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC ISO. Download here
VirtIO Windows Driver ISO. Download here

Attach the Windows 11 LTSC ISO as the primary CD/DVD drive.

Configure the Virtual Disk

Use the following disk configuration:

Bus/Device: SCSI
Disk Size: 40 GB
IO Thread: Enabled
Discard: Enabled

Use VirtIO SCSI Single as the SCSI controller.

Configure the Network

For the network device, use:

Bridge: vmbr0
Model: VirtIO

VirtIO provides better performance and lower virtualization overhead than traditional emulated network adapters.

Install Windows 11 LTSC

Start the VM and begin the Windows installation.

When you reach:

Where do you want to install Windows?

the virtual disk may not appear because Windows does not include the VirtIO SCSI driver by default.

Click Load Driver, browse the VirtIO ISO, and load the Windows x64 storage driver from the vioscsi directory.

Load Driver
→ VirtIO ISO
→ vioscsi
→ Windows x64 driver

After loading the driver, the virtual disk should appear. Select the disk and continue the Windows installation.

Install VirtIO Drivers

After Windows 11 LTSC finishes installing, open the VirtIO CD inside Windows and run the VirtIO Guest Tools installer.

This installs important components such as:

VirtIO Network Driver (NetKVM)
VirtIO Storage Driver
VirtIO Serial Driver
Balloon Driver
QEMU Guest Agent

Restart Windows after the installation.

Enable QEMU Guest Agent

In Proxmox, go to:

VM → Options → QEMU Guest Agent → Enabled

Inside Windows, verify that the QEMU Guest Agent service is running.

The guest agent improves communication between Windows and Proxmox and provides better VM management and guest information.

Verify TPM and Secure Boot

Press Win + R and run:

tpm.msc

Confirm that TPM 2.0 is available.

Then run:

msinfo32

Verify the following values:

BIOS Mode: UEFI
Secure Boot State: On

Recommended Windows 11 LTSC Proxmox Configuration

Machine: q35
BIOS: OVMF (UEFI)
Secure Boot: Enabled
TPM: 2.0

CPU Type: host
CPU: 4 cores
RAM: 8–16 GB

Disk: 100–128 GB
Bus: SCSI
Controller: VirtIO SCSI Single
IO Thread: Enabled
Discard: Enabled

Network: VirtIO
QEMU Guest Agent: Enabled

Conclusion

A recommended Windows 11 LTSC setup on Proxmox VE uses:

+ Q35
+ OVMF UEFI
+ TPM 2.0
+ Secure Boot
+ VirtIO SCSI
+ VirtIO Network
+ QEMU Guest Agent

If the Windows 11 LTSC installer cannot detect the virtual disk, load the vioscsi driver from the VirtIO ISO.

After Windows is installed, install the full VirtIO Guest Tools package to improve storage performance, network performance, and integration with Proxmox VE.

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JUNNIUS