Step-by-Step Installation of Openfiler


This document describes the process of installing Openfiler using the default graphical installation interface. If you experience any problems with the graphical install track, such as a garbled screen due to the installer not being able to auto-detect your graphics hardware, please try a text-based install.


Total time for installation is about 5 - 10 minutes including software installation to disk.


System Requirements

Openfiler has the following hardware requirements to be successfully installed:
  1. x86 or x64 based computer or Virtual Machine with at least 512MB RAM and 1GB storage for the OS image.
  2. At least one supported network interface card
  3. A CDROM or DVD-ROM drive if you are performing a local install
  4. A supported disk controller with data drives attached.

Installation
The installation process is described with screenshots for illustrative purposes. If you are unable to proceed at any point with the installation process or you make a mistake, use the Back button to return to previous points in the installation process.

Starting the Installation
To begin the installation, insert the Openfiler disk into your CD/DVD-ROM drive and ensure your system is configured to boot off the CD/DVD-ROM drive. After the system POSTs, the installer boot prompt will come up. At this point, just hit the Enter key to proceed.

After a few moments, the first screen of the installer will be presented. If at this point your screen happens to be garbled, it is likely that the installer has been unable to automatically detect your graphics subsystem hardware. You may restart the installation process in text-mode and proceed accordingly in that case. 

The next step is to click on the Next button to proceed with the installation.

Keyboard Selection

This screen deals with keyboard layout selection. Use the scroll bar on the right to scroll up and down and select your desired keyboard layout from the list. Once you are satisfied with your selection, click the Next button to proceed.


Disk Partitioning Setup

Next comes the disk partitioning.  You can select automatic/manual disk partitioning as it ensures you will end up with a bootable system and with the correct partitioning scheme.

Click the Next button once you have selected the correct radiobutton option.


Network Configuration

In this section you will configure network devices, system hostname and DNS parameters. You will need to configure at least one network interface card in order to access the Openfiler web interface and to serve data to clients on a network.

Once you have configured a network IP address, you may now enter a hostname for the system. The default hostname localhost.localdomain is not suitable and you will need to enter a proper hostname for the system. This will be used later when you configure the system to participate on your network either as an Active Directory / Windows NT PDC client or as an LDAP domain member server. You will also, at this point, need to configure gateway IP address and DNS server IP addresses. To complete this task you will need the following information:
  1. Desired hostname - this is the name you will call the system. Usually this will be a fully qualified hostname e.g storageserver.mydomain.com

  2. Gateway IP address - this is the IP address of your network gateway to allow routing to the Internet

  3. Primary DNS Server - this is the DNS server on your network. Note that if you intend to use Active Directory or LDAP as your authentication mechanism, you will need to assign a functional DNS IP address so that the authentication mechanism is able to resolve the authentication server hostnames.

  4. Secondary/Tertiary DNS Server - enter a second and third DNS server if they are available on your network.
  You can simply click Next and proceed to the next stage of the installation process.

Time Zone Selection

Set the default system time zone. You can achieve this by following the instructions on the left side of the screen. If your system BIOS has been configured to use UTC, check the UTC checkbox at the bottom of the screen and click Next to proceed.

Set Root Password

You need to configure a root password for the system. The root password is the superuser administrator password. With the root account, you can log into the system to perform any administrative tasks that are not offered via the web interface. Select a suitable password and enter it twice in the provided textboxes. When you are satisfied with your entries, click Next to proceed with the installation process.

About To Install

This screen informs you that installation configuration has been completed and the installer is awaiting your input to start the installation process which will format disks, copy data to the system and configure system parameters such as setting up the boot loader and adding system users. Click Next if you are satisfied with the entries you have made in the previous screens.


Installation

Once you have clicked Next in the preceding section, the installer will begin the installation process. The following screenshots depict what happens at this point.

Installation Complete

Once the installation has completed, you will be presented with a congratulatory message. At this point you simply need to click the Reboot button to finish the installer and boot into the installed Openfiler system.

Note

After you click Reboot remove the installation CD from the CD/DVD-ROM drive.


Once the system boots up, start configuring Openfiler by pointing your browser at the host name or IP address of the Openfiler system. The interface is accessible from https port 446. e.g.. https://homer.mydomain.com:446.

Management Interface: https://<ip of openfiler host>:446
Administrator Username: openfiler
Administrator Password: password

You can learn how to manage the Openfiler system by browsing the administrator guide online which can be found here.

Congratulations

Congratulations! Thank you for choosing to use Openfiler.




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