Ready to ditch expensive licenses and complex setups? Platform9 just dropped something huge: the Platform9 Private Cloud Director (PCD) Community Edition—and it’s free forever.
This isn’t a crippled demo or a 30-day trial. You’re getting full-featured, enterprise-grade virtualization with no time limits. If you’ve got a homelab, dev environment, or you just want to try the best VMware alternative out there—this is your moment.
Let’s break down what it is and how to run it in minutes.
It’s a community-supported, single-region version of Platform9’s Private Cloud Director. You get the same modern private cloud tech that powers large-scale enterprise virtualization—just without the price tag.
Here’s what you get out of the box:
- VM High Availability
- Live Migration
- Dynamic Resource Balancing
- Software-Defined Networking
- Works with your existing x86 hardware
- No lock-in, no licenses, no nonsense
It’s a huge win for:
- Dev/test labs
- Homelabs
- POCs or sandboxing production-like environments
Why Should You Care?
Because legacy virtualization tools are getting more expensive, more bloated, and less developer-friendly. PCD Community Edition flips that script.
You’ll be running VMs with cloud-native UX, instant scalability, and self-service provisioning—without the complexity.
Also Read: Platform9 Introduces Partner Program to Accelerate VMware Migration
What You Need to Get Started
Before you jump in, here’s the gear you’ll need.
Minimum Requirements:
- 12 CPUs (16 recommended)
- 32GB RAM
- 50GB disk space (100GB preferred)
- Ubuntu 22.04 AMD64 image
- Virtualization enabled in BIOS (especially if you’re using nested virtualization)
If you’ve got a decent lab server or a mid-tier workstation, you’re good to go.
On Linux/macOS? Super simple
Open a terminal and run:
curl -sfL https://go.pcd.run | bashThe script handles everything—downloads, dependencies, deployment. Once it finishes, it’ll show:
- A fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
- Admin login credentials
If you’re not using DNS, add the following to your /etc/hosts file:
echo "<CE-host-IP> pcd-community.pf9.io" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
echo "<CE-host-IP> pcd.pf9.io" | sudo tee -a /etc/hostsOnce the install finishes, fire up your browser on the same machine and head to:
https://pcd-community.pf9.io
If you added manual DNS entries, it’ll resolve just fine. Since the Community Edition uses self-signed certs, your browser might complain—just accept the warning and continue.
Leave the default domain as-is, click “Use local credentials” in the top right, and log in with the admin username and password shown at the end of the install.
Image: Thanks to Platform9
On Windows? We’ve got you too.
Open Notepad as Administrator, then open this file:
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hostsScroll to the bottom and add these two lines—just replace <CE-Host-IP> with the IP address of your Community Edition host:
<CE-Host-IP> pcd-community.pf9.io
<CE-Host-IP> pcd.pf9.io
Save and close the file. That’s it—your machine can now resolve the PCD UI.
Also Read: 5 Best Modern Virtualization Solutions of 2024
Access the UI
Same deal on Windows: go to https://pcd-community.pf9.io, accept the cert, log in using the credentials provided after install.
Next Steps: Set It Up Your Way
1. Change Your Admin Password
Click your profile → Admin Settings → Update credentials. Easy.
Image: Thanks to Platform9
2. Create a Virtualized Cluster
Define your blueprint and add your hypervisor nodes. Follow this guide to do it right.
3. Launch Your First VM
Pick an image, assign resources, and spin it up! Full steps are here.
You’re not on your own. The Platform9 crew hangs out on Reddit. Docs are always up to date at:
https://platform9.com/docs/private-cloud-director
Ask, explore, build, and share.
Why This Matters
Platform9 just lowered the bar for private cloud. Now anyone can build one—without budget approvals or vendor contracts.
Whether you’re a homelabber, a VMware refugee, or just tired of clunky tools, PCD Community Edition is your new playground.
Try it now. It’s free. It’s full-featured. And it just works.
