OS installation
The following document contains information about supported operating systems installation process on Protectli hardware. This includes official resources from the OS vendor and some tips that we found during testing.
FreeBSD
Installation documentation
Official documentation can be found here.
Installation images
Installer images can be downloaded from the official website.
Debian
Installation documentation
Official documentation can be found here.
Installation images
Installer images can be downloaded from the official website
pfSense
Installation documentation
Official documentation can be found here.
Installation images
Installer images can be downloaded from the official website.
Installation using only serial port
If you want to install pfSense using only a serial connection you
have to download pfSense-CE-memstick-serial-* image.
Please also note that pfSense only uses serial 0 during the installation.
Ubuntu Server
Installation documentation
Official documentation can be found here.
Installation images
Installer images can be downloaded from the official website.
Proxmox Virtual Environment
Installation documentation
Official documentation can be found here.
Installation images
Installer images can be downloaded from the official website.
OPNsense
Installation documentation
Official documentation can be found here.
Note
When you boot the installer's live environment to start installation you have to log in as installer with password opnsense.
Installation images
Installer images can be downloaded from the official website.
XCP-NG
Installation documentation
Official documentation can be found here.
Installation images
Installer images can be downloaded from the official website.
ESXI
Installation documentation (8.0U3e)
Follow the steps described here and install the free 8.0U3e version.
It is important to know that the ESXi installer won't offer an option to partition a drive, or install alongside an existing OS. To avoid wiping away other OSes, it is best to plug in an additional drive.
Installation using only serial port
Current versions of ESXI (8.0U3e) do not support installing using only serial console.
Installation images
The official installer image can be found on Brodacom's website.
Setting up SSH
To enable easy headless access, enable SSH server setup on startup, following this guide.. The instructions are the same, save for minor cosmetic UI differences in the screenshots. To sum it up:
- Log in to the Web UI hosted on your platform's IP
- Click on the gear icon to the left, dubbed as
Manage - Click on services
- Search for SSH
- Right click on the status and set the policy to
Start and stop with the host