About This Guide

EnGenius SmartNIC OS Installation Guide

This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough for installing supported Linux operating systems on the EnGenius SmartNIC platform. It is structured into three major parts to help you go from initial connection to a fully deployed and operational system.

Part 1. Operating System Installation

Chapter 1. RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) Installation

• Installation via Serial Console

  • Prepare Kickstart ISO (mkksiso tool)

  • Create bootable USB drive

  • Perform installation through mini-USB console

• Installation via BMC iKVM

  • Launch HTML5 iKVM viewer

  • Mount ISO via virtual media

  • Modify GRUB and enable serial console

  • Verify console output via obmc-console-client

Chapter 2. Rocky Linux 9.4

• Installation Steps

  • Create bootable USB media

  • Temporary GRUB configuration

  • User setup and permanent GRUB updates

Chapter 3. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• Installation Steps

  • Live USB creation and BIOS boot

  • Temporary GRUB edit for console output

  • Updating /etc/default/grub and applying permanent settings

  • Enable serial-getty@ttyS0 service

Chapter 4. CentOS Stream

• Installation Steps

  • Bootable USB creation

  • Text-mode installation

  • Configure serial console and GRUB

  • Validate kernel parameters and console service

Chapter 5. Partition and Storage Configuration

• Expanding System Partition

  • Remove unused partitions (mmcblk0p3)

  • Extend using growpart and resize2fs

  • Verify results with df -h

Part 2. Appendix

Contains supporting information to help you maintain, troubleshoot, and understand terminology used in this guide.

Appendix A. Troubleshooting

• Common installation issues and solutions (e.g., console not responding, USB not detected, GRUB boot failure)

Appendix B. Glossary

• Key technical terms: BMC, iKVM, GRUB, ttyS0, LVM, PFR, etc.