Gareth Howell

The short answer is, easy! Run the compatibility tests, boot Nitix and do basic configuration, install Lotus Foundations Start, configure users. Unless you choose to burn in your hardware (highly recommended but takes 48 hours) it should all take no more than one hour.

I've installed it several times now on various pieces of kit, just to get the hang of it. Apart from one occasion it all went smoothly. The one that failed is actually a good indication of the sophistication of the product.

First, the successful process. (I'll cover the failed installation separately)
Tip: You may need to "view" the images full size to see them properly (right-click view_Image in Firefox)

1. Configure the hardware

• You will need a box with an Intel x86 processor, at least one hard disk, at least one Ethernet card and a CD/DVD drive.
• If you have two hard disks you can configure one as an intelligent backup drive (idb) or configure a RAID array. If you have more than two, then one can be the idb drive.
• You need two network adapters if you are going to use the Foundations server as a firewall.

Plug (both of) the network adapters into the same switch, insert the CD and power on.

The server will boot from the CD (provided the hard disk(s) are unformatted and present the boot loader



Select option 2 to run the compatibility tests



This will load Nitix in a special mode and present options to do a basic compatibility check, an advanced check or burn in tests.

As a minimum, run the basic compatibility test. Better still, run the burn-in test for 48 hours.

This screen shows the burn in test status screen


2. Initial Load and configuration of Nitix.
At the moment, I am still using the Nitix Blue precursor to Lotus Foundations Start but I doubt the process is going to be much different.

Disconnect the second network adapter if you have it (the one that will connect to the outside world)

Boot from the CD but this time elect to run Nitix (option 1)

Nitix will boot from the CD, discover all the hardware, assign a DHCP address and be ready for configuration (takes about 1 min). If you want (and you probably will) you can change the IP address to one statically assigned to this server.


That's it as far as dealing with the console on the server, the rest is done through the web config interface from a browser. You need to have JavaScript enabled on the browser.

3. Web Configuration
Open a browser and navigate to the URL given on the server's status screen.



You must enter your root password, domain name and can also enter your activation code at this point. If you choose not to, Nitix will run as a trial for 30 days but won't run the software updater.  



You will then be presented with the  Web Config screen.



This screen shows the current status of the server and any outstanding warnings.

Notice that you are warned that you are running under a TRIAL license and that your are booting from the CD

Adjacent to the "Disk Status" there is a warning  that your main disk is not configured. You have the options to add both drives (I have two installed in this example) as a RAID-1 array or have one as the main disk and one as an idb drive. Assuming you have installed reasonably large disks then I would advise choosing to use the second drive as an idb. A better option still is to install three drives, use the first two as a RAID and have the third as your idb drive. I'll blog about using idb and hot swappable drives separately.

To configure the disks, simply click on the appropriate link. Nitix will then configure the disks and install itself to the main disk. You can then shutdown and remove the CD. Nitix will then startup from the installed image.

At the end of this, you have a basic Nitix server installed and running.

I'll cover installing Nitix Blue separately.