Minimum Requirements To Run NethServer 8

Attempted to install NethServer 8. Tried with Debian 11 and CentsOS 9 Stream. Both times failed to connect to NethServer 8 web interface. Tried the third time with CentsOS 9 Stream and installed everything, including GUI. This time I was able to connect to NethServer 8 web interface, create a master node and add a module.

Previous versions of NethServer did all the work in providing a working system. Now we are expected to install the base server OS without any guidance. This is no longer supporting the KISS principle.

My question, what are the minimum requirements in terms of services and applications to install the base server OS? DNS, firewall, mail server and etc. Looking for guidance to setup the base server OS.

Thank you for your hard work. Keep it up.

IMVHO…
Working/installed OS. Static LAN IPv4 address, at least one DNS server configured (as part of TCP/IP Stack)
For the working hardware, take your time to check list for CentOS Stream and Debian 11.

You realize that you’re talking about Alpha-level software, right? This is pre-pre-release software, and it’s to be expected that documentation is going to be absent. Your questions are perfectly valid, but your complaint above, IMO, is very premature.

To the substance of your question, I’ve been able to run it with a base Debian 11 install. The only additional software I’ve installed is the guest agent for my hypervisor, and stuff dealing with SSH certificates, both of which are part of the Debian template I’ve set up.

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In my case the NS8 installation didn’t work via SSH, I needed to install it at the console.

Installing Debian 11 or CentsOS 9 Stream Server offered many choices. The first 2 attempts were installed with no options selected, installed Nethserver 8 successfully. But unable access to the web site to with clusters. The last attempt was installed using CentsOS 9 Stream Server with all options selected. The suggestion was to install Nethserver 8 with no GUI. All I am asking is what are the minimum server options to be installed? Or does it work with no options selected? Is there a firewall in the way?

Yes, it works without GUI (no options) as documented. I just added the SSH server option.

No, this wasn’t the case here.

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Desiderata for Neth8: automatic SSH server install and firewall setting for allowing access on green :wink:

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I’d agree that should be part of the packages to install, but really you’d want to have installed it as part of the base OS. But yes, firewall should allow access on green.

With CentOS 9, I set the “software selection” to “minimum install” and added “guest agents” (because I’m running it as a VM). I didn’t select anything else to install. I set a root password, and checked the box to allow root login with password via SSH. I set a hostname, and then ran the install.

Once I rebooted, I ran (per the docs) curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NethServer/ns8-core/main/core/install.sh | bash. Once that finished, I browsed (using Firefox; Chrome gave SSL errors) to https://192.168.1.227/cluster-admin/ and, after accepting the self-signed cert, got this page:


Logged in using the credentials given in the terminal (admin/Nethesis,1234), tell it to create a cluster, change the admin password, and get this page:

…and after the circle spins for a bit, I get this page:

So, to answer your question: under CentOS Stream 9, the only thing you need is the “minimal install.” Nothing else needs to be installed.

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Thank you for checking out Ns8 Alpha :heart:

There are many ISO, variants and VM images to start from, for both distros. I usually run Debian 11 Digital Ocean official image, and CentOS Stream 9 “generic cloud” image.

So it’s important to share any experience with other installation options!

Installing ssh, and other basic requirements setup can be added to the install.sh script: Pull Requests on GitHub are welcome! Please remember to explain why the Pull Request is opened :wink:

I replied above that the complaint about failing the KISS principle is premature, but as I think further about it, consider this: you’re installing, and presumably expecting to administer, a server that’s designed to be exposed to the Internet. I don’t think expecting the admin to be able to step through a Debian or CentOS installer (both of which are really pretty simple to run through) is in any way excessive, particularly when there’s nothing beyond the minimum install that’s required.

As I’ve shown, it runs fine (did it this afternoon) on a minimum CentOS 9 installation (installed from the ISO downloaded from centos.org).

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So Debian 11 or CentOS 9 are the (currently) preferred distros.
But is one of the two… “a bit more preferred”?
I mean for someone that really has not fav or personal preference, which of the two will more easily result in a working NS8 alpha environment? Preferably virtualized.

On the side: Will more distros be evaluated?

IMVHO choice should be made by the sysadmin favourite flavour.
Bullseye should have more or less 3 years to update (release august 2021) before EOL.
Currently debian supports more other versions…
One ELTS version (Jessie, EOL July 2022) and one LTS (Stretch, same EOL). Buster also is going to be EOL at September 2022.

CentOS should be a rolling release, so currently no EOL/version change is expected, at least as current project claims.

At NS8 current project state, my personal pick would be a rolling release as testbench. It will ease the progress of the installation during the steps and time, not requesting me to change release “that” soon.
Most of my future choices about the underlying Linux distro could dramatically change by the steps and costrains of backup/restore/duplicate/move procedures for the containters; I’d be rather confused and puzzled if a “cross flava” container move/migration/restore would not be possible, due to the project choices.

Wonder if Slackware (15) will be possible in the future, looking to integrate this with my unRAID and possibly skipping installing an fresh VM.

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Currently Slackware don’t support dependency resolution.

I too thought for Slackware, but since NS8 uses Systemd and Slackware is Systemd free Linux distribution yet thus it won’t be supported.

There is a project Dlackware to integrate Systemd into Slackware.

@danb35, please see Connection not private (first time cockpit access) - #20 by LayLow

to ‘whitelist’ the server with no valid certificate yet, so Google Chrome will allow access.

Yeah, Chrome is getting way too paternalistic.

i see many good additions into ns8, based on their public trello cards

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Come from Google. Who thinks that Apple is some kind of amateur at the art of “we are the internet, and the world should faster to acknowledge it”.

so basically from this thread,
Quickstart | NethServer 8

this is the way to install nethserver 8
and is currently supported on Debian 11 as well as centos 9 stream. is this the case?