pve-fake-subscription

Disables the "No valid subscription" dialog on all Proxmox products.

I am really poor and I can't afford a license. I just want to get rid of the annoying dialog.

Features

Works for:

• Proxmox VE (5.x or later; 3.x and 4.x require some manual actions)
• Proxmox Mail Gateway (5.x or later)
• Proxmox Backup Server (1.x or later)

Highlights:

• Non-intrusive: zero modification of any system file
• Future-proof: persists between system updates & major upgrades
• Hassle-free: you can uninstall at any time
• Comes with standard Debian package, easy to manage and automate
• No JavaScript is involved in the whole process, as I believe JavaScript is harmful to developers

Usage

Installation

1. Download the latest release
2. Install: run dpkg -i pve-fake-subscription_*.deb as root on every node
3. (Optional) echo "127.0.0.1 shop.maurer-it.com" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts to prevent fake keys from being checked against the Proxmox servers

Notes:

After installation, please refrain yourself from clicking the "check" button on the "Subscription" page. It will invalidate the cache and temporary revert your instance into an unlicensed status.

The fake subscription status doesn't grant you free access to the enterprise repository. You should switch to the no-subscription repository if not already done. Use the following method:

• Proxmox VE (PVE)
• Proxmox Mail Gateway (PMG)
• Proxmox Backup Server (PBS)

Uninstallation

Run as root:

apt purge pve-fake-subscription

This will revert your system to a "no subscription key" status.

Development Notes

Building the Package

Automated Build (Recommended)

The package is automatically built using GitHub Actions on every push and release. Simply:

1. Push your changes to the repository
2. For releases, create a git tag: git tag v0.0.12 && git push origin v0.0.12
3. The DEB package will be available in the GitHub release or as an artifact

Manual Build

Install nFPM, then:

./package.sh

Or use nfpm directly:

rm -rf out
mkdir -p out
nfpm pkg --packager deb --target out
cd out && sha256sum -b -- * > sha256sum.txt

Compatibility Information for Old Proxmox VE Versions

PVE 4.x

After installation or updates, run:

sed -i'' -e's/pve8p/pve4p/g' /usr/bin/pve-fake-subscription
pve-fake-subscription

PVE 3.x

Installation with dpkg -i will not work because of missing dependencies. Use the following script to install manually:

# extract the deb package
mkdir -p /tmp/pve-fake-subscription
dpkg-deb -x pve-fake-subscription_*.deb /tmp/pve-fake-subscription

# patch and install the script
sed -i'' -e's/python3/python/g' -e's/pve8p/pve4p/g' /tmp/pve-fake-subscription/usr/bin/pve-fake-subscription
mv /tmp/pve-fake-subscription/usr/bin/pve-fake-subscription /usr/local/bin/

# install the timer
ln -sf /usr/local/bin/pve-fake-subscription /etc/cron.hourly/pve-fake-subscription

# invoke it once
/usr/local/bin/pve-fake-subscription

# remove temporary files
rm -rf /tmp/pve-fake-subscription

Removal:

rm -f /usr/local/bin/pve-fake-subscription /etc/cron.hourly/pve-fake-subscription /etc/subscription