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Configuring a Server with an ISO Image Installed (Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, or 22.04)

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This article explains how to configure the network and install an SSH server after installing an Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, or 22.04 ISO image. In addition, we'll show you how to install the open-vm-tools after installing your own ISO image or an older version of an installation.

By default, the IONOS images include the VMware Tools, which are a set of utilities needed to ensure the proper operation of your server. In the ISO images offered by IONOS, the open-vm-tools are also already pre-installed. The open-vm-tools are the open-source implementation of the VMware Tools.

Requirements

  • You have already installed Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, or 22.04.

  • You skipped the network configuration during the distribution installation.

  • You are in the Infrastructure > Servers section of the Cloud Panel.

Logging in to the Server Using the Kvm Console

After installing the ISO image, the server is accessible only by means of the KVM console if the network is not configured. Follow these steps to log in to the server using the KVM console:

  • Select the desired server and click Actions > Access KVM Console. Then, click OK in the KVM Console window.

    The KVM Console opens in a new tab.

  • Log in to the server as an administrator.

Configuring the Network

During installation, you can usually configure DHCP by default. If you choose not to configure the network during installation, you can configure it later.

The method for configuring the network differs from older methods in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 22.04. Unlike the previous versions, these versions use Netplan. Netplan is used to configure network interfaces and replaces the previous configuration using the /etc/network/interfaces file. The configuration is done using .yaml files.

To configure the network, do the following:

  • To identify the network interface, enter the following command:

    ip link

  • Access the /etc/netplan directory.

    cd /etc/netplan

  • To view the files and directories contained in the /etc/netplan directory, type the following command:

    ls

  • To open the configuration file with the vi editor, enter the following command:

    Ubuntu 18.04

    sudo vi /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml

    Ubuntu 20.04

    sudo vi /etc/netplan/99_config.yaml

    or

    sudo vi /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

    Ubuntu 22.04

    sudo vi /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

Note

The vi editor has an insert mode and a command mode. You can enter the insert mode by pressing the i key. In this mode, the entered characters are immediately inserted into the text. To enter the command mode, press the ESC key afterwards. When you use the command mode, your keyboard inputs are interpreted as a command.

  • Insert the following lines and replace the placeholder INTERFACE with the used network interface:

    network:
    ethernets:
    INTERFACE:
    dhcp4: true
    version: 2

    Example:

    network:
    ethernets:
    ens192:
    dhcp4: true
    version: 2

  • To save the changes, press the ESC key and type :wq. Then press Enter.

Attention

During the input, pay attention to the exact number of blanks. Otherwise, an error message will be displayed.

  • To validate the network configuration, enter the following command:

    sudo netplan try

    If an error is displayed, enter the following command to debug the network configuration:

    sudo netplan --debug apply

  • To apply the changes, enter the following command:

    sudo netplan apply

Installing open-vm-tools

By default, the open-vm-tools are pre-installed in the ISO images provided by IONOS. If you use your own ISO image or an older version of an installation, the open-vm-tools may not be included. In this case, follow these steps to install the open-vm-tools:

  • Perform an update:

    sudo apt-get update

  • If your server does not have a graphical interface installed, install open-vm-tools. To do this, type the following command:

    sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools

    If your server's operating system has a graphical interface, install open-vm-tools-desktop. To do this, enter the following command:

    sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools-desktop

Please Note

If your Linux distribution does not offer the open-vm-tools package, you can load the VMware Tools Linux DVD from the IONOS Cloud Panel and then install VMware Tools. Please note that this is not the method recommended by VMware.

More information about open-vm-tools can be found here:

VMware support for open-vm-tools (2073803)

Installing an SSH Server

SSH is installed by default in the IONOS images. If you are using an ISO image, you can select and install SSH during the operating system installation process. If you did not install SSH during the installation of the ISO image, you can install this service later. To do this, follow the steps below:

  • Perform an update. To do this, enter the following command:

    sudo apt-get update

  • To install the OpenSSH software package, enter the following command:

    sudo apt-get install openssh-server

  • Check if the installation was successful. To do this, enter the following command:

    sudo service ssh status

  • If the SSH service is active, type q to return to the command prompt.

    If the SSH service is not active, restart the SSH service and then check the status again. To restart the SSH service, type the following command:

    sudo service ssh restart

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