Installing Ubuntu

The purpose of this guide is to cover Ubuntu installation process, focusing on sections required for a succesfull flexiWAN deployment. The steps below apply to baremetal or virtualization installation of Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

In order to sucessfully install Ubuntu and later flexiWAN on your device, prepare the following:

On bare-metal installation:

  • Flash the latest Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS AMD64 installation image to USB.

  • Image can be flashed using Rufus (Windows) or Balena Etcher if you’re on MacOS or Linux.

  • Windows users should not use DD mode, instead use ISO mode (option in Rufus)

  • For those who install Ubuntu on devices with serial console, such as those from our Hardware partners, after flashing the ISO to USB, Ubuntu must be configured to use serial console output.

  • Insert USB to the device and turn on the device

  • Boot the device

Note

If the device has a serial console, booting the Ubuntu image will show the following error:

graphics initialization failed Error setting up gfxboot

Simply enter the following line in the boot: section to boot Ubuntu installer in serial console mode. Make sure to type and not copy paste the command.

install console=ttyS0,115200n8 vga=none

In case the device uses a different baud rate, change the 115200 part to the correct baud rate

On virtual machine installation:

  • Attach the Ubuntu ISO in your virtual CD/DVD drive.

  • Boot the device

Installation Steps

Follow the next installation steps for both bare-metal and virtualized installation:

On the first screen select language and press enter.

Ubuntu setup 1

When prompted, select “Install Ubuntu Server” and press enter.

Ubuntu setup 2

Once the setup starts, select the setup language.

Ubuntu setup 3

Set your location.

Ubuntu setup 4

Set “No” for detecting keyboard layout and set US layout in the step after that.

Ubuntu setup 5
Ubuntu setup 6

Select the network interface with internet connection / network connection. Rest of interface configuration can be done from flexiManage.

Ubuntu setup 7

Enter device hostname.

Ubuntu setup 8

Set device username.

Ubuntu setup 9

Add a good and secure password. Don’t forget to write it down.

Ubuntu setup 10

Configure time based on your location.

Ubuntu setup 11

Select “Guided - use entire disk” option on partitioning page.

Ubuntu setup 12

Keep the disk selected and press enter.

Ubuntu setup 13

Confirm disk configuration and write the changes to disks.

Ubuntu setup 14

Select Continue, unless you’re behind a proxy (usually no).

Ubuntu setup 15

Select “No automatic updates”. This will be handled by flexiWAN.

Ubuntu setup 16

Select SSH with space bar and then continue.

Ubuntu setup 17

Confirm with yes to install the bootloader.

Ubuntu setup 18

Select yes and on reboot unplug the USB with Ubuntu installer. If this is virtual machine, ISO should automatically disconnect on reboot.

Ubuntu setup 19

That’s it, upon reboot you can login to the device with the username and password set during the installation setup. Next step is to follow manual flexiWAN installation steps which can be found here