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Install the OS by auto-installation

Auto-install is a tool to install and reinstall an operating system on a dedicated server automatically through the control panel. Standard OS images and OS images with applications are available for auto-installation .If you want to use your own image, install the OS manually.

Install the OS by auto-installation

carefully

The automatic reinstallation of the OS will delete data on all disks, even if you partition only the boot disk.

We recommend that you save your data or create a backup before reinstalling the OS.

For your information

When the OS installation is complete, the number of authorization attempts when connecting via SSH will be limited.After 10 unsuccessful password attempts from one IP address, this IP address will be blocked for 24 hours.If you forget the password from the server, you can reset and recover it.

  1. In the Control Panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Dedicated Servers.

  2. In the Servers section, open the Server page → Operating System tab.

  3. Click Change OS Configuration.

  4. Optional: change the hostname.

  5. Optional: Select the public IP address of the server.The IP address will be automatically configured on the port.The list displays the IP addresses that are assigned to the server in the control panel and for which a VLAN is configured on the network port.

  6. Optional: Select a private IP address for the server to automatically configure on the port.The list displays the IP addresses that are assigned to the server in the control panel.

  7. Optional: Add an SSH key to securely connect to the server.You can add a new public SSH key or select a downloaded key from the repository for SSH keys.

  8. Optional: Enter user data.Using user data helps automate server configuration.The field is not available for all OSs.Specify user data only for servers without hardware HBAs and RAID controllers.

  9. Select an image to install the OS.

  10. Optional: If the server configuration has RAID controllers, configure hardware RAID arrays.OS auto-installation is only available for RAID1 and RAID0 types.Only two disks can be added to RAID1.

    If the OS configuration does not show the RAID controller configuration and disk partitioning, the OS installation will require Servercore engineers to install the OS.In this case, after clicking the Install button, a ticket will be created to change the OS configuration.Once completed, the OS configuration will show the RAID controller and hardware RAID configuration and disk partitioning will be available to you.

  11. Optionally: partition the disks.You can choose the disk on which to create the root partition / and install the OS.If you have four or more disks installed on the server, you can pair them into different RAID types, such as RAID1 and RAID0.

    By default, the optimal RAID type is defined and only partitioned disks and disks in RAID are partitioned.If you leave the default partitioning, the OS will be installed on the first disk according to the order of installing disks on the server — NVMe → SSD → HDD.

  12. Click Install.Installation can take from 7 to 60 minutes, depending on server performance and the distribution selected.If it takes longer, create a ticket.

  13. After the OS installation, a password will be generated to connect to the server.The password can be viewed in the control panel on the server page → Operating System tab .It is available for viewing 24 hours after the OS installation is complete.

Partition the disks

You can partition the disks during the automatic OS installation process in step 11.

You can perform partitioning for each disk separately for the following operating systems: Ubuntu 24.04LTS, Ubuntu 22.04LTS, AlmaLinux 9.2x86_64, Oracle 9x86_64, Debian 12x86_64, Debian 11x86_64, Proxmox, Rocky 9.2x86_64.

  1. In the Partitioning block, select the disk and click Make System — the root partition / will be created on this disk and the OS will be  installed.

  2. Optional: add disks to RAID.On the same server, you can add disks to different RAID arrays.For example, your server has four disks, you can add two of them to RAID1 and the other two to RAID0.

    Determine the RAID type:

    • RAID1 is mirroring, all data is written to separate physical disks in a RAID set.RAID1 is built with a minimum of two disks;
    • RAID0 — disk allocation, disk striping.If one of the disks in RAID0 fails, all data will be lost with no possibility of recovery.RAID0 array is assembled from a minimum of two disks;
    • RAID10 — mirroring, disk striping.All data is written sequentially to multiple disks.RAID10 array is assembled from a minimum of four disks.

  3. Check the disk partitioning or RAID.The partitioning table will show the mandatory partitions with mount points — /boot, /, swap.

  4. Optionally: click Add Partition.The choice of partition file system depends on the OS limitations.

  5. If you are installing an OS on the disk, make sure there is no unmapped area left on the disk.

  6. Partition each disk on the server.

  7. Go to step 12 in the automatic OS installation process.