DCImanager utilizes OS templates to install operating systems (OS). OS templates in DCImanager is a set of disk images and installation scripts. After installation, you will have an operating system without additional software and settings ("freshly installed" OS).
In order for the operating system to be available for installation on the server, the appropriate template from the ISPsystem repository must be uploaded to the location.
You can install the following operating systems:
- AlmaLinux 8;
- Astra Linux 2.12;
- CentOS 6, 7, 8;
- CentOS Stream 8, 9;
- Debian 8, 9, 10, 11;
- Fedora 32;
- FreeBSD 11, 12, 13;
- Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04, 20.04;
- VMware ESXi 6 (hypervisor);
- Windows 10;
Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016, 2019.
The maximum time allotted for installing Windows OS is 200 minutes, for other OS — 140 minutes. If during this time the OS is not installed, DCImanager will forcibly complete the installation operation.
Note
In some cases, you may need to use the WinNtSetup utility to successfully install Windows OS. To use the utility when installing the OS, add the $WINNTSETUP macro with the "yes" value to the OS template settings. For more information on template settings, see Templates management.
Note
Before installing the OS, make sure that on the server:
- for Windows OS — boot from iPXE is enabled;
- for other OS — boot from PXE or iPXE is enabled.
Read more:
Install OS from template
To install an operating system to the server:
- Go to Servers → menu → Install OS from template.
- Select the Operating system.
Select one of the available Applications and scripts. You can create your own script in advance or select scripts available from ISPsystem repository. Read more in Scripts.
- Click on Next.
Select the Drive layout method:
Note
Drive layout is also not available for Windows and when installing from an ISO image.
- Click on Next.
Enter the Server administrator password.
Specify the SSH key to access the server. You can select the key From the client area or Add a new one. To add a new SSH key:
Enter its Name in DCImanager.
Paste the content of the public key into the SSH-key content field.
- Press Add.
Click on Install. DCImanager will start the process in the background. The Server status will be changed in to "OS installation".
Mounting ISO images
Note
The feature is supported only for DCImanager Infrastructure licenses and servers with BMC Redfish.
If the location settings do not support PXE operations, you can install the OS on the server by mounting an ISO image:
- Load the ISO image to the location. Read more in ISO images.
- Mount the ISO image to the server: Servers → select the server → Mount the ISO-image menu → → select the image → Mount. The server status will change to Mounted ISO-image.
You can mount an ISO image to multiple servers at the same time. Read more in Group operations. - Connect to the server BMC and install the OS from the mounted image.
- After installing the OS, press Unmount in the Server status column.