Synopsis

no-subscription [OPTIONS]…​ [pve|pbs|pmg|ceph]…​

Options

-t FILE

Target specific repository source FILE. Must be one of the default locations. Can be specified only once. Cannot be combined with arguments.

-a

Autorun mode - NOT permitted to run unless allowed by configuration. Verbose user notices suppressed.

Arguments

pve|pbs|pmg|ceph

Perform setup of specific no-subscription repository, disable default one (if present). More can be specified at the same time.

With no argument provided, presence of existing default repository source(s) will be taken as an indication which source(s) to set up, except when used with -t option.

Configuration

The following files are sourced for option variables:

/etc/free-pmx/no-subscription.conf

Shared configuration file. File can be pre-created before package install to avoid default behaviour during first install.

/etc/os-release

Comes with standard Proxmox/Debian install and contains operating system identification data. It is used to determine Debian release codename to set up the correct repositories.

no-subscription.conf

All option names are uppercase, values lowercase. There must NO WHITESPACE between option name, = sign and the assigned value.

FREE_PMX_NO_SUBSCRIPTION=VALUE

Determines when and how the repository sources are set up.

auto

Sources are set up upon install and whenever brought in via Proxmox package install.

manual

Sources can ONLY be set up by invoking the command.

prohibit

Sources will NOT be set up and the command invocation will reject setup.

FREE_PMX_CEPH=VALUE

Actual Ceph release name, e.g. squid.

FREE_PMX_APTKEY=VALUE

Path to custom keyring file. Disables Proxmox release key check and download.

Operation

In detection mode, default source file names - not contents - are used to determine which source(s) to set up. New sources (with no-subscription as part of their file name) are created UNLESS the files already exist.

Original sources are disabled by appending .disabled suffix to their names so as not to clutter the GUI list any more while having been retained intact.

Note
This is NOT the same as 'disabling' such sources using the Proxmox GUI - which instead performs changes in the files contents.

Sources

The recognised default source files under /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory:

  • pve-enterprise.sources

  • pbs-enterprise.sources

  • pmg-enterprise.sources

  • ceph.sources

The new source files that can be created under /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory:

  • pve-no-subscription.sources

  • pbs-no-subscription.sources

  • pmg-no-subscription.sources

  • ceph-no-subscription.sources

Note
Support for .list format is still provided if deployed on a system based on Debian 12 (e.g. PVE 8) or earlier.

Proxmox release key

Unless overridden (see FREE_PMX_APTKEY configuration option above), Proxmox release key is downloaded to:

  • /etc/apt/keyrings/proxmox-release-<debian_release_codename>.gpg

If already present, e.g. downloaded earlier as managed by the user, the key details are merely displayed.

Note

This is a more conservative approach compared to verifying repositories against an archive keyring:

  • /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg

That keyring is brought in by the proxmox-archive-keyring package and subject to further updates. To use it, see FREE_PMX_APTKEY configuration option.

Exit status

0

Success. Includes scenarios, such as:

  • setup is prohibited by configuration; or

  • some default sources are missing; or

  • no default sources were found to determine which ones to set up; or

  • no-subscription sources are already setup.

1

Failure. Issues encountered, such as:

  • invalid options or arguments provided; or

  • no system release name could be determined; or

  • only some of the candidate sources could be set up.

Versions support

  • PVE 8 and 9

  • PBS 3 and 4

  • PMG 8 and 9 (expected)

Important
Installations on bare Debian require: perl, wget, gpg

Notes

The command can be used on plain Debian installs without Proxmox packages installed - with explicit argument indicating which Proxmox product APT repositories to set up - before proceeding with the actual Proxmox product installation. It will retrieve the correct Proxmox release key and set up the repository sources as requested.

Resources

Copying

Copyright © 2025 free-pmx.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 3.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.3.