Installing FreeBSD 14.1 on an OVH "KS-STOR | Intel Xeon-D 1521" Dedicated Server

T

tennea9

Hello everyone !

I tried a dedicated server at OVH and tried to install FreeBSD... and it works fine !
It is entirely possible to install FreeBSD 14.1 on this dedicated server "KS-STOR | Intel Xeon-D 1521" at OVH.

The process is simple:
  • Boot into rescue mode (debian-10), restart your server then log in via SSH
Code: 
ssh root@SERVER-IP
  • List the storage devices connected to the server :
Code: 
lsblk
  • Erase the disks (not mandatory.. your choice)
Code: 
nohup dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M &
nohup dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M &
# [...]
nohup dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/nvme0n1 bs=1M &
  • Monitor when the erase operations are complete:
Code: 
ps -ef | grep 'dd if=' | grep -v grep
  • Install parted:
Code: 
apt update
apt install parted -y
  • Create GPT tables on the disks (again, not mandatory, just to clean...)
Code: 
parted /dev/sda mklabel gpt
parted /dev/sdb mklabel gpt
# [...]
parted /dev/nvme0n1 mklabel gpt
  • Download the FreeBSD memstick image:
Code: 
wget https://download.freebsd.org/releases/amd64/amd64/ISO-IMAGES/14.1/FreeBSD-14.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img
  • Burn the image to one of the HDDs:
Code: 
dd if=FreeBSD-14.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img of=/dev/sda bs=1M status=progress

In your OVH interface, set the boot to disk this time (instead of rescue).
Restart the server and use the IPMI/KVM console (via your web browser, for example... it works very well with Firefox contrary to what is said) to watch the server boot from the FreeBSD image installer and configure your options during install (root, users etc..)

Proceed with the normal installation of FreeBSD on the NVMe... configure the network statically using the information provided on the IP/gateway page... (it does not work via DHCP... whereas it works on NetBSD... strange...).

After spending 2 days trying to get this server working with OmniOSce and NetBSD (installs fine, but does not boot), I must say I am relieved to see that it works at least for a BSD!!! :-D.
 
tennea9 said:
and use the IPMI/KVM console
Click to expand...
Couldn't you "mount" the ISO remotely using IPMI? Older versions of IPMI don't have this feature though. It's terribly slow when done over the internet but it works, I've reinstalled several servers this way.
 
No, because the version of IPMI for this server seems to be too old.
This server is from the "eco" range; it's an entry-level model.
I did not find this option.
It seems that it is not possible for every server at OVH.
I alo tried with the java file, but as I couldn't make it work on my laptop (seems iKVM is missing).. it may be possible this way (rather than the browser) but I could not try
 
tennea9 said:
No, because the version of IPMI for this server seems to be too old.
Click to expand...
Another option is to boot from an ISO on an SMB share. But that would require some local Samba or Windows server that has the ISOs available on it. I assume OVH doesn't have this available either.
tennea9 said:
I alo tried with the java file, but as I couldn't make it work on my laptop (seems iKVM is missing).
Click to expand...
It should download this automatically. The problem is usually that these old IPMI versions use SSL/TLS protocols that have been disabled on recent Java versions. So you get some cryptic error when it fails to load it.
 
:-S... no idea !
You can make a virtual local network with everything on OVH (VPS, Bare..).. so it could be possible I think.
Anyway, FreeBSD seems to be the only BSD working on this server.
NetBSD is installing well, but does not boot, and OmniOSce can only be written on the disk but does not boot.. I'm currently struggling trying to understand why (seems that the firmware doesn't want...)
It's also possible to use iPXE.. but my results were not very good 🙃
 
With regards to the SSL/TLS Java issue, you can edit security.properties and enable those dodgy old protocols again. But that's obviously not the best or safest thing to do.
 
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