Dedicated Servers and Bare Metal Servers: Installing an operating system via netboot.xyz

This article explains how to install an operating system with netboot.xyz on a Dedicated Server or Bare Metal Server.

If you select the Self Installation image when creating a Dedicated Servers or Bare Metal Servers, or when installing a new image, the operating system is not installed automatically. In this case, after provisioning the server or installing a new image, you can access netboot.xyz with the VNC console or the serial console to install the desired operating system.

With netboot.xyz, you can boot various operating system installers or utilities via PXE using a single tool. This allows you to use a single medium for many different operating systems or tools.

Notes

The use of netboot.xyz requires good knowledge of Linux server administration.
The creation and configuration of RAID is not included in the scope of support. An overview of the services included can be found on the following page:
Scope of support for server products

Start installation with netboot.xyz

To install an operating system with netboot.xyz, complete the following:

Log in to your IONOS account.
Click on Menu > Servers & Cloud in the title bar.
Optional: If you have multiple server contracts, select the desired contract.

Click on the desired server in the Cloud Panel within the Infrastructure > Servers area.
Click on the Console button. To create a connection to the VNC console, select VNC Console. The VNC console then opens in a new tab and the connection to the server is established. This may take some time. To create a connection with the serial console, select Enable Serial Console. The serial console window then opens in a new window.
If you have selected the Enable Serial Console option, establish a connection to your server using the access data displayed. You can find instructions on how to do this in the following articles:
Establishing an SSH connection to your Linux server from a Microsoft Windows computer
Establishing an SSH connection to your Linux server from a Linux computer
Select the Continue with Self installation Here option. The menu will load.
Select the desired installation method in the Distributions area.
GNU/Linux: This resource-saving method provides the installer required to begin and then only downloads the required packages. In addition to the various distribution versions, you will also find rescue systems in this section.
Live CDs: Many distributions only offer their software as an ISO or as a live CD/DVD, which you can download and boot into memory. This does not write to the server's hard drive. Installation from the live system is usually possible. However, these are more extensive installations that can require a lot of bandwidth.
Select the desired Linux distribution.
Select the desired version.

Note

To subsequently select a different version or a different distribution, press the ESC key.

Select the desired installation type. The installation will begin.
Follow the steps to install the desired operating system.

Restart the installation

Note

If you install the desktop version of a Linux distribution, the server may go into hibernation mode after 15 minutes of inactivity, for example. To deactivate hibernation in this case, restart the server in the Cloud Panel. Then manually adjust the sleep mode settings in your operating system.

To restart the installation after selecting the distribution or to install a different distribution, complete the following:

Log in to your IONOS account.
Click on Menu > Servers & Cloud in the title bar.
Optional: If you have multiple server contracts, select the desired contract.

Click on the desired server in the Infrastructure > Servers area of the Cloud Panel.
Click on Actions.
Click on Reinstall Image. The Reinstall Image area opens.
Click on the Self Installation tab.
Select the Self Ins... option.
Click on Reinstall Image. The image is installed on the server.
Click on Console. To create a connection to the VNC console, select VNC Console. The VNC console then opens in a new tab and the connection to the server is established. This may take some time. To create a connection with the serial console, select Enable Serial Console. The serial console window then opens in a new window.
If you have selected the Enable Serial Console option, establish a connection to your server using the access data displayed. You can find instructions on how to do this in the following articles:
Establishing an SSH connection to your Linux server from a Windows computer
Establishing an SSH connection to your Linux server from a Linux computer
Select the Continue with Self installation Here option. The menu will load.
Select the desired installation method in the Distributions area.
Select the desired Linux distribution.
Select the desired version.
Select the desired installation type. The installation will begin.
Follow the steps to install the desired operating system.