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Installation on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

What the server needs, and how to prepare Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS to receive it. The gateway software itself is installed by NetvynX during onboarding — this page covers everything you do before that, so the box is ready when we arrive.

Hardware requirements

Sizing is per deployment — these are the floors. Peak concurrent sessions, busy-hour packet rate and which services you enable all move the numbers, and we size against them before you buy anything.

text
CPU        x86-64, 16 cores minimum, single socket preferred
           AVX2 required; constant TSC and no C-state overrides
Memory     32 GB minimum; 64 GB+ for large session or NAT tables
           all DIMM channels populated, single NUMA node preferred
NICs       2 minimum (core-facing + subscriber-facing)
           Intel or Mellanox recommended; ask us before buying
Management 1 separate NIC, never one of the data ports
Disk       120 GB SSD; more if compliance logs are kept locally
BIOS       VT-d / IOMMU enabled, hyper-threading either way

Supported release

Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS, the GA kernel. Install the server edition — a desktop install brings a network manager and power daemons that fight with the isolation the data plane needs. Do not use HWE or mainline kernels without asking us first; adapter support is verified per kernel.

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Release    Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS, amd64
Kernel     GA (linux-generic), not HWE or mainline
Profile    minimised server install, no desktop
Filesystem ext4 or XFS — either is fine

Installing the OS

A plain server install. Decline the snap extras offered by the installer, then bring the box fully up to date before handover.

shell
# in the installer: "Ubuntu Server (minimized)" is fine
# install OpenSSH; skip every featured snap

apt-get update && apt-get -y full-upgrade
apt-get install -y chrony
reboot

Management network

Give the box a static management address on an interface that is not one of the data ports. The data NICs are handed to the fast path during install and will disappear from the OS — if management is on one of them, you lose the box at that moment.

ini
# /etc/netplan/00-mgmt.yaml  (chmod 600)
network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    eno1:
      addresses: [198.51.100.20/24]
      routes:
        - to: default
          via: 198.51.100.1
      nameservers:
        addresses: [198.51.100.53]

# netplan apply

Time synchronisation

Not optional. Compliance records are only useful if their timestamps hold up, and a lawful-intercept request answered from a clock that drifted is worth nothing. Point chrony at a source you trust and confirm it is stepping before the gateway carries traffic.

shell
systemctl enable --now chrony
chronyc sources -v      # confirm a source is selected (^*)
timedatectl

Access we need

Bring-up is done with your team, not behind your back. We need SSH to the management address, an account with sudo, and out-of-band console access — IPMI, iDRAC, iLO or a serial concentrator. The console matters: binding the data NICs is exactly the step that can cut a network path, and recovering from that without a console means a site visit.

Readiness checklist

When these are all true, the box is ready for us. Send the output of the last three with your handover note and the first session usually completes in under an hour.

shell
lsb_release -d           # Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
uname -r                 # GA kernel
lscpu | head -n 20       # cores, NUMA, flags
free -g                  # memory
lspci | grep -i ethernet # adapter inventory