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Getting started

This guide takes you from blank servers to a working cluster with a running virtual machine. Plan for about fifteen minutes per node, most of it unattended.

Before you start

  • One server for a lab, three or more for production. Hardware guidance is on the download page.
  • Each server needs a system disk and at least one empty data disk. The installer uses the data disk for cluster storage — anything on it will be erased.
  • Servers should reach each other on one network. A second, faster network dedicated to storage traffic is recommended for production.
  • Virtualization extensions (Intel VT-x / AMD-V) enabled in firmware.

Install the first node

  1. Write the installer ISO to a USB stick and boot the server from it.
  2. The installer asks a handful of questions — hostname, management network address, disks — and handles the rest itself. When it reboots, the node is up.
  3. Browse to https://<node-address>:8443. The first-boot wizard asks for an administrator e-mail, a password, and a name for your organisation. That's the whole setup.
Single node first, cluster later is fine. Everything you build on one node carries over when more nodes join.

Create your first virtual machine

  1. Upload an operating system image (or ISO) under Images.
  2. Choose Virtual machines → Create. Pick the image, give the VM CPUs, memory and a disk, and connect it to the default network.
  3. Open the console from the browser and install or configure the guest as usual.

From here, snapshots, cloning and templates are one click each — make a template from your configured VM and every future VM starts half-finished.

Grow to three nodes

  1. Install the same ISO on the next two servers.
  2. In the console, choose Hosts → Add host and point it at each new node.
  3. The platform absorbs their disks into the storage pool and starts scheduling workloads across all three.

With three nodes you get the full production feature set: storage that survives a host failure, automatic VM restart on another host, and zero-downtime live migration.

Five minutes well spent after setup

  • Create a backup policy — even a simple daily one.
  • Turn on multi-factor authentication for administrators.
  • Add an alert channel (e-mail or chat webhook) so the platform can tell you when something needs attention.