Ubuntu is a great Linux distribution that can be used for a variety of tasks from a desktop operating system to forming the basis for a mail, web or VoIP server; it can even run your TV or pet robot. It has a fantastic community supporting it and over the last few years has become one of my favourite distributions for various reasons.
One big benefit of Ubuntu is the fact that they offer LTS (Long Term Support) releases which are supported and maintained with security patches for five years. This makes Ubuntu a great choice for business where it will be used in a production environment.
Today we are going to install the Server edition Ubuntu 1604 LTS on XenServer. Let’s get started.
Download the Ubuntu ISO
- Navigate to www.ubuntu.com
- Navigate to Downloads > Server
- Download the latest LTS version. This article uses 1604 TLS.
- Save the ISO image in your XenServer CIFS ISO share
Create Virtual Machine
- Connect to your XenServer in XenCenter
- On the top menu select VM > New VM
- Select the Ubuntu Trusty Tahr 14.04 template and click Next
- Set Name to the new server’s name
- Set Description to have some relevant information about the purpose of the server, which OS and template are being used and when it was built and by whom.
- Click Next
- Select Install from ISO library or DVD drive:
- Select the Ubuntu ISO that we downloaded earlier and click Next
- If the XenServer is in a pool, select Don’t assign this VM a home server
- Click Next
- Set Number of vCPUs to
2or more depending on the requirements - Set Memory to
2048or more depending on the requirements - Click Next
- Select the default 8GB disk and click Properties
- Set Size to 16GB or more depending on the requirements
- Click OK and Next
- Select any network interfaces that are not required and click Delete
- Click Next
- Review the settings and then click Create Now
- Select the new Virtual Machine from the tree on the left pain in XenCenter
- Select the Console tab. To continue the installation.
Install Ubuntu
- Set Language to English and hit
enter - Select Install Ubuntu Server and hit
enter - Set Language to English and hit
enter - Set Country, territory or area to Australia and hit
enter - Set Detect keyboard layout? to No and hit
enter - Set Country of origin for the keyboard: to English (US) and hit
enter - Set Keyboard layout to English (US) and hit
enter - Set Hostname to the server’s hostname (eg.
melbpabx03) and hitenter - Set Full name for the new user to your full name and hit
enter - Set Username for your account to your preferred username and hit
enter - Set Choose a password for the new user to your preferred password and hit
enter - Retype the password and hit
enter - Set Encrypt your home directory? to No and hit
enter - Select Yes to accept the timezone or change it if required then hit
enter - Set Partitioning method to *Guided – use entire disk and set up LVM** and hit
enter - Check that the correct disk is selected (should only be one) and hit
enter - Set Write the changes to disk and configure LVM? to Yes and hit
enter - Set Amount of volume group to use for guided partitioning to use the entire disk and hit
enter - Confirm the changes, select Yes and hit
enterto Write the changes to disks - Leave HTTP Proxy blank and hit
enter - Select Install security updates automatically and hit
enter - Select Standard system utilities and OpenSSH server and hit ‘enter’
- Set Install the GRUB boot loader to the master boot record to Yes and hit
enter - Hit
enterto reboot the VM (the ISO should automatically eject).
Getting the IP Address
Assuming that you have a DHCP server running on your network, your new VM should now have an IP address. Let’s find out what this address is, then we can connect to the server remotely via SSH to complete the configuration. You can use the terminal application if you are using a Mac or Linux machine or Putty if you are using Windows.
- On the XenServer Console tab, login with the credentials you configured earlier.
ifconfig- Look for the line starting with inet addr: which should contain the server’s IP address
- Use your ssh client to connect to the server’s IP address.
Install Xen-Tools
- In XenCenter insert xs-tools.iso into DVD Drive 1: on the VM’s Console tab
sudo mount /dev/cdrom/ /mnt(ignore the warning about mounting read-only)sudo /mnt/Linux/install.shsudo reboot- Eject xs-tools.iso from the DVD Drive 1
Install Updates
sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get upgrade
Let the Ubuntu goodness begin
You now have an operational Ubuntu Server and are ready to take over the world. What will you build? Let us know what you would like to see us build. Enjoy.