Installing a Hypervisor Node¶

There are two MFCloud node ISOs, both UEFI-only, single-disk installers built from a Rocky Linux minimal ISO — pick based on how much of the stack you want pre-baked:

ISO	Base	Scope
`mfcloud-min.iso`	Rocky Linux 10.2	Bare minimum: KVM/libvirt/QEMU + the Emergency UI (`:9443`) + the browser setup wizard. No ZFS/DRBD-LINSTOR/Ceph/LXD/OVS-OVN.
`mfcloud-min-el9.iso`	Rocky Linux 9.8	Same base, plus ZFS, DRBD/LINSTOR, Ceph, and OVS-OVN pre-staged. No LXD.

Both also have a -gpu variant (mfcloud-min-gpu.iso / mfcloud-min-el9-gpu.iso) that ships an ELRepo kernel-ml kernel instead of the stock kernel, for GPU SR-IOV. Pick the -el9 tree if you need LINSTOR/Ceph/OVN storage or networking on this node; pick the plain -min tree for the smallest possible footprint (e.g. a compute-only node whose storage lives elsewhere).

What you need¶

A blank server with VT-x/AMD-V virtualization extensions enabled in BIOS, UEFI boot mode.
At least 64 GB RAM, an SSD/NVMe for the install disk (single-disk install — any other disks are left untouched), 2× NICs recommended.
The ISO, burned to USB or attached via iDRAC/IPMI virtual media.

Step 1 — Boot the ISO and open the setup wizard¶

Boot the ISO. It brings up DHCP on its own and starts a small self-contained HTTP setup wizard, printing the URL to the console:

MFCloud: live install progress is up — watch at http://<node-ip>/setup/

From any machine on the same network, browse to that URL. The wizard (titled MFHYPERVISOR-MIN) has three sections:

Storage — pick the install disk (it will be erased).
Network — pick the management NIC and DHCP or Static IPv4 (address/netmask/gateway/DNS).
Identity — hostname (default mfcloud-min) and root password. Leave the password blank to use the lab default mfpro — the same default used elsewhere (console admin account, Emergency UI). Set a real password here for anything beyond a lab.

Click Install MFHYPERVISOR-MIN. If no browser reaches the wizard within its timeout, the installer degrades to DHCP + lab defaults automatically rather than hanging.

No browser reachable? No problem

The wizard is a convenience, not a requirement — if it times out, the install proceeds unattended with DHCP networking and the mfpro default password, and finishes on its own.

Step 2 — Wait for install + first boot¶

The installer partitions the disk, installs packages, and reboots. First-boot provisioning then:

Generates a per-node Ed25519 keypair and self-signed TLS cert for the Emergency UI.
Hashes the same account password you set in the wizard (or mfpro if left blank) into /etc/mfcloud-agent.htpasswd for the Emergency UI's HTTP Basic Auth — there's no separate random password or one-time console banner for the Emergency UI itself.
On the -el9 tree only: enables firewalld with an allowlist covering every port in Default Ports (SSH plus the ports MFCloud needs). The plain -min tree ships with firewalld off by design, matching its minimal scope.

Step 3 — Verify the Emergency UI¶

Browse to https://<node-ip>:9443/ and log in as root with the password you set (or mfpro). You should see CPU, memory, disk, and VM stats. Accept the self-signed certificate warning.

Step 4 — Onboard the node into the cluster¶

In the master console, Inventory → Add Host, then enter the node's IP — see Add a Host for the three onboarding paths (Imaged fast-path, Agent Trust API, SSH-Push).