I Built a Home Lab Using a GMKtec Mini PC (What Actually Worked)

I recently bought a GMKtec mini PC to build my own home lab — something small, quiet, and powerful enough to run multiple Linux machines for DevOps and Kubernetes practice.

My goal was simple:
turn one box into a lab workstation that I could manage entirely from my Mac.

The hardware

Ryzen 5, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe, and a 2.5 GbE Ethernet port.
On paper, perfect for a homelab.

The key decision

I decided to use Proxmox instead of installing Linux directly. I wanted proper virtualization, snapshots, and the ability to break things safely.

What actually mattered (and what didn’t)

Here’s the part that matters if you’re doing this yourself:

• Use Proxmox VE 9.1

• Use wired Ethernet

• Don’t overthink anything else

Earlier Proxmox versions gave me networking headaches on this hardware because of the Realtek 2.5 GbE NIC. Proxmox 9.1 worked out of the box — no driver hacks, no troubleshooting spiral.

The install (very straightforward)

• Downloaded Proxmox VE 9.1 ISO

• Flashed it using balenaEtcher

• Installed with the graphical installer

• Plugged Ethernet directly into a normal (non-aggregated) router port

• Rebooted

That’s it.

After install, Proxmox showed an IP on the screen. From my Mac, I opened:

https://<proxmox-ip>:8006

The web UI loaded instantly.

That was the “okay, this is real now” moment.

What I’d tell anyone doing this

• Don’t try to be clever with Wi-Fi

• Don’t fight older Proxmox versions

• Use Ethernet, install 9.1, move on with your life

Now this GMKtec runs headless, and I manage everything from my browser — Linux VMs, clusters, experiments, all of it.

Exactly what I wanted.