Bare-metal Install
Contents
Standard Installation
BIOS Configuration Checks
Boot Order
Before installing QuantaStor from the ISO, two changes must be made to the BIOS. First the USB or CD/DVD device with the QuantaStor ISO media must be selected as the primary boot device so that the install media loads at the initial install time. Second, the system disk, (the disk the system will boot to after installation has completed) should be the selected hard disk to boot from and assigned to the second position in the BIOS boot order. After installation is complete you will need to remove the ISO installation media.
Power Save Settings
Make sure that your storage appliance server is set to the Performance settings. You do not want the drives to go into power save mode as this can cause stability problems. QuantaStor is not designed to hibernate or sleep like a desktop operating system.
IPMI/iDRAC Settings
Be sure to apply an IP address to the server's IPMI port so that you can remotely access the console. This is especially important for triage of connectivity and network issues.
Starting the Installation from ISO/USB media
Preparing the ISO/USB media
For bare-metal installation we recommend using a 8GB or larger USB stick. Once you've downloaded the ISO file from the OSNEXUS web site you can put it onto your USB device using software like usbwriter. Another option is to burn a DVD and use a portable USB DVD device to install from. Detailed instructions on how to put QuantaStor on to USB media is provided here for both Windows and Linux.
Insert and Boot from the QuantaStor USB Install Media
After connecting your QuantaStor Install USB stick to the server you will see the QuantaStor screen appear and it will automatically select 'English' as the default language and begin the installation process.
Selecting a hostname
The first question you will be asked as part of the installation process is what do you want to name the host. By default the name 'quantastor' is given, but you can give the system any valid host name. If you're setting up multiple appliances you should give them each unique names. You can also change the name later through the web management interface using the Storage System Modify dialog.
Selecting a network port
The second step in the console level installation process is the selection of which port to use for network communication during the install process. If the new QuantaStor system has a single network interface then it will automatically attempt to configure the using DHCP; if DHCP is not available then standard details will need to be provided (Static IP Address, Subnetmask, and gateway if applicable). If multiple ports are detected a menu will be provided allowing you to choose which interface to use for the management port. The installation process will use the network to try to get more recent versions of packages than those that are on the CD.
Selecting the device to install the QuantaStor OS
Finally, the configuration wizard will ask which partitioning scheme to use. We recommend 'Guided installation, use entire disk'. If you are planning to mirror your boot drive (highly recommended) then you'll want to use the Hardware RAID controller's configuration BIOS to create a RAID1 logical drive first. The next screen will ask you which disk you want to use as the system boot disk, at that point you'll select your RAID1 mirrored system/boot drive.
WARNING, this disk will be reformatted as part of the installation process so be careful to choose a disk that does not have data on it you need.
Bare-metal Installation is Complete
That's all the key questions you will be asked as part of the installation process. After the installation completes the system will reboot and will start-up the QuantaStor system. At this point you can login using the 'qadmin' user account and 'qadmin' password so that you can get the IP address of the system. To get the IP address just type 'ifconfig' at the command prompt after you have logged in. You'll see an entry for 'eth0' with an IP address assigned to it. Enter that IP address into your web browser to connect to your QuantaStor storage system via your favorite web browser so that you can start to configure the rest of the system.
A video of the installation process is available on the main web site in the Videos section.
