Module 1: Installing a Base OS

Introduction

This guide will walk you through the process to install Ubuntu Server x64 16.04 LTS.

You can use other distributions of Linux with minimega, but your mileage may vary.

Downloading Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Ubuntu is a free operating system that can be downloaded from ubuntu.com/download/server

A download manager such as downloadthemall for firefox may make this process faster.

Image of dta.png

Currently downloadthemall is only compatible with old versions of FireFox. Another command line alternative is aria2

Burning the ISO Image

Once the download is complete for Ubuntu Server you should have an ISO file. This file is a digital image of a DVD and if you are using bare metal this needs to be burned to a disk.

There are a variety of methods to do so, depending on your hardware it is also possible to use a USB Drive if supported. Consult google for help burning an ISO to a DVD.

Windows – Imgburn, Linux – Brasero, OSX – hdiutil

Note: DVD media is preferred over CD media because dvds can be read from and written to faster.

Nested Virtualization

If you are using nested virtualization you can add the iso file as a cd drive in VMware’s settings.

Booting from the DVD Drive

Insert the newly burned DVD into your machine and turn it off and then back on.

When the machine is booting you will need to tell the bios to boot an operating system from the DVD drive. This is typically done using the keys F2/F8/F11/F12. Consult google if you are unable to do so.

Other Methods

Optical media is quickly becoming outdated. Here are a list of alternative methods that can be googled.

Usb dvd drive, Usb thumbdrive, Android DriveDroid, PXE Booting, Netboot, DD

Installing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Ubuntu Server has a GUI installer that walks you through the process. The steps are outlined below.

Installer Language

Image of 51.png

Select English and Press Enter

Boot Menu

Image of 52.png

Select Install Ubuntu Server and Press Enter

Installed Language

Image of 53.png

Select English as the language to be installed.

Location

Image of 541.png

Set your location so ubuntu can determine the correct timezone information

Keyboard

Image of 56.png
Image of 562.png
Image of 563.png

Set your keyboard to English US either using autodetection or not

Hostname

Image of 57.png

Give the machine a name. For ease of future work numerical values following a set name is preferred. I.E. node1,node2,node3

Username

Image of 58.png
Image of 582.png

Set a fullname and username

Password

Image of 59.png

Set a password

Disk Encryption

Image of 510.png

Don’t encrypt your home directory

Timezone

Image of 511.png

Accept the timezone

Disk Partitioning

Image of 512.png
Image of 5122.png
Image of 5123.png
Image of 5124.png
Image of 5125.png

Use guided partitioning, select your disk, write the changes, and use the whole volume. If you install Ubuntu in future modules using LVM you will have troubles injecting files with minimega.

Installer

Image of 513.png

Wait for the installer to finish copying files to the hard drive.

Proxy

Image of 514.png

No proxy

Updates

Image of 515.png

No autoupdates

Software

Image of 516.png

Select OpenSSH Server with space bar.

Grub

Image of 517.png

Install grub to boot Ubuntu Server

Reboot

Image of 518.png

Continue to reboot

Image of 5182.png

And Ubuntu Server will be installed.

Rename Network Adapters

Ubuntu uses a naming convention for network adapters that can be somewhat confusing. Here is what they mean

Lan-On-Motherboard interfaces: em[port number] (ethernet-on-motherboard [1,2 ..]) IE em0
PCI add-in interfaces: p[slot number]p[port number]_[virtual function instance] IE p3p1

Rename the adapters to start with the “eth” prefix to make things easier.

You can change the grub config to do so with these commands.

sudo sed -i -- 's/grub=GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0"/' /etc/default/grub
sudo update-grub

Enable DHCP at Boot

With the renamed adapter you will need to change eth0 to start with dhcp on boot.

sudo echo -e "auto eth0\niface eth0 inet dhcp" >> /etc/network/interfaces
sudo reboot

Authors

The minimega authors

30 May 2017