Installation Guide

Boot the installer, select storage, configure networking — your OviOS node up and running in minutes
OviOS Linux v6 BIOS & UEFI ZFS · ext4
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→ Requirements

Min. System Disk5 GB
FirmwareBIOS or UEFI
NetworkDHCP or Static
Default Loginovios / ovios

1 Accessing the Installer

Boot the OviOS ISO and you will be placed into the live environment. Installation can be performed locally from the console or remotely over SSH — both SSH and DHCP are enabled by default on first boot.

OviOS Linux boot screen showing 'Loading Linux' and 'Loading initial ramdisk'
OviOS Linux boot sequence — loading the kernel and initramfs.
🌐

Remote installation: DHCP and SSH are active immediately after boot. Connect from another machine with ssh root@<ip> (password: ovios) to run the installer remotely.

Login Credentials

Shell Username Password Notes
ovios-shell root ovios OviOS guided shell — default on boot
Bash ovios ovios Standard Linux shell

Starting the Installer

  1. If you are in ovios-shell, switch to Bash first: 
    su-ovios
  2. Launch the installer: 
    sudo setup
  3. Enter password ovios when prompted and follow the on-screen steps.

2 Installer Workflow Overview

The installer walks you through seven steps in sequence. Each step is automated where possible — you only need to make decisions at key points.

1
Firmware Detection

Auto-detects UEFI or Legacy BIOS and configures the bootloader accordingly.

2
Root Filesystem Selection

Choose between ZFS (recommended) or ext4 for the OS root partition.

3
Target Disk Selection

Select the disk OviOS will be installed onto. Do not select your live boot media.

4
Confirm Data Destruction

Explicit confirmation before the selected disk is wiped.

5
System Deployment

Partitioning, filesystem creation, and OS file installation.

6
System Identity

Set the node hostname. OviOS generates the ZFS host ID automatically.

7
Bootloader Installation

GRUB is installed and configured for your detected firmware mode.

3 Step 1 — Firmware Detection

The installer automatically detects whether the system is using UEFI or Legacy BIOS and configures the GRUB bootloader and partition layout accordingly. No action is required at this step.

Firmware Partition Table Boot Partition
UEFI GPT EFI System Partition (FAT32)
Legacy BIOS GPT BIOS Boot Partition

4 Step 2 — Root Filesystem

Choose the filesystem for the OviOS operating system partition. This is the OS disk only — your storage pools are created separately after installation.

Filesystem selection screen in the installer
Select root filesystem: ZFS or ext4.
Option Description Recommended For
ZFS Native ZFS root with snapshot support, data integrity, and boot environment management. Most deployments — best long-term manageability
ext4 Standard Linux filesystem. Simpler and well-understood. Minimal installs or environments where ZFS root is not needed
💡

ZFS root enables boot environment snapshots — you can roll back the OS itself after an update. Recommended for production deployments.

5 Step 3 — Target Disk

The installer lists all available disks with their size and model. Select the disk OviOS will be installed onto.

⚠️

Do not select your USB drive or ISO boot media. The installer lists all attached disks — confirm the target by size and model before proceeding.

💡

Keep the OS disk separate from your storage pool disks. A small SSD or NVMe (16 GB+) is ideal. Your storage data lives on ZFS pools created after installation — an OS disk failure does not affect pool data.

6 Step 4 — Confirm Data Destruction

Before writing anything to disk, the installer displays a confirmation prompt. You must explicitly agree to proceed.

Installer warning about destructive disk operation
Confirmation prompt before destructive disk operations.
🚨

This operation is irreversible. All data on the selected disk — including existing partitions, filesystems, and any ZFS metadata — will be permanently destroyed. Double-check the target disk before confirming.

7 Step 5 — System Deployment

The installer takes over and completes the following automatically. No input is required during this phase.

Installer deployment progress and disk layout
Deployment progress shown while the system is installed.
  • Partitioning: GPT layout with appropriate boot and root partitions for your firmware type.
  • Filesystem setup: Creates /, /home, and /root datasets (ZFS) or partitions (ext4).
  • Base install: Copies the OviOS operating system, kernel, and initramfs to the new system.
⏱️

Deployment typically takes 1–3 minutes depending on disk speed. Do not reboot or interrupt power during this phase.

8 Step 6 — System Identity

Enter a hostname for your OviOS storage node. This name identifies the system on the network and appears in logs, the web interface, and generated reports.

Hostname entry screen during installation
Enter a hostname for your OviOS node.

OviOS automatically generates a unique ZFS host ID (hostid) at this stage. This ID is used by ZFS to prevent accidental pool imports on the wrong system.

9 Step 7 — Bootloader Installation

GRUB is installed to the target disk and configured for the firmware mode detected in Step 1. This step is fully automatic.

ℹ️

Wait for the installer to report completion before rebooting. Interrupting GRUB installation will leave the system unbootable.

10 Network Configuration

After the bootloader is installed, the installer offers to configure network settings. You can set this up now or skip it and use netsetup after first boot.

Network configuration yes/no prompt
Choose whether to configure network settings during installation.
Static network configuration screen
DHCP and static IP options during network configuration.
Method Description When to Use
DHCP Automatic address assignment from your router or DHCP server. Most home and lab setups; configure static IP later
Static IP Manually enter IP address, prefix, gateway, and DNS. Production environments; servers that need a fixed address

The installer enables systemd-networkd and the ovios-ssh service so the system is reachable over the network immediately after first boot.

💡

You can always reconfigure networking after boot using netsetup. See the Admin Guide → Network Configuration for full details including bonding and VLANs.

Reconfiguring After First Boot

# Set a static IP after boot
netsetup --text --iface enp1s0 --method static \
  --address 192.168.10.20 --prefix 24 \
  --gateway 192.168.10.1 --dns 1.1.1.1

11 Finalization & First Boot

The installer cleans up temporary setup files and exports ZFS pools cleanly in preparation for first boot. Once complete, remove the ISO or USB drive and reboot.

  • Temporary installation scripts are removed from the new system
  • ZFS pools are exported cleanly so they import correctly on first boot
  • systemd-networkd and SSH are enabled and will start automatically
✅

After reboot, log in as root (password: ovios) and run ovios hc to confirm the system is healthy. Then proceed to create your storage pools with pool create.

First Steps After Installation

  1. Change the default password: 
    passwd
  2. List available storage disks: 
    listdsk --free
  3. Create your first storage pool, volume and LUN: 
    pool create
    vol create
    lun create
  4. Create your first iSCSI target and map LUNs to it: 
    target create
    lun map
  5. Enable recommended services: 
    options iscsi.enable on
options smb.enable on
options nfs.enable on
options ovios-web.enable on
  6. Run a full health check: 
    ovios hc
OviOS Linux v6 — Storage made simple.