System serial number should be entered in all lower-case. For example, if the serial number is 7X1234, then the password would be 7x1234.

Connect your server to a monitor to determine the IP addresses assigned to your server. Afterwards you can configure and manage your server from any other computer on your network.

The following commands will determine the server's IP address:

ifconfig

ip link show

In the directions below replace IPADDRESS with the server's IP address.

Configure Hostname And Domain

To configure the hostname and domain, run these commands:

sudo nano /etc/hosts
sudo nano /etc/hostname

Example /etc/hosts file:

127.0.0.1       localhost  
10.120.150.5    fileserver.mydomain.com fileserver  

# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts  
::1     ip6-localhost ip6-loopback  
fe00::0 ip6-localnet  
ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix  
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes  
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters  
ff02::3 ip6-allhosts  

Example /etc/hostname file:

fileserver

Verify the correct hostname and domain with this command:

hostname -f

Configure Time Zone

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Configure Network Interface for Ubuntu Server 18.04

Ubuntu Server 18.04 is shipping with netplan, so the system file will need to be edited for networking. With this command, we will edit the file:

sudo nano /etc/netplan/50-cloud-int.yaml

This command will list the network interfaces:

ip link show

This text will need to be edited depending on what the system will label the network interfaces.

network:
    version: 2
    ethernets:
        eno1:
            addresses: [ ]
            dhcp4: true
            optional: true
        eno2:
            addresses: [ ]
            dhcp4: true
            optional: true

Now if the router has DHCP setup you will get an IP address for the port that has the Ethernet cable attached.

Configure Network Interface for Ubuntu Server 16.04

To change the IP address of the server, run these commands:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Adjust as necessary & press Ctrl+X → Y → Enter to save. Next, restart network services (this will drop your ssh connection):

sudo systemctl restart networking

Example /etc/network/interfaces file:

# This is the loopback interface - Do not adjust  
auto lo  
iface lo inet loopback  

# Primary Network Interface  
auto eth0  
iface eth0 inet static  
address 10.13.15.10  
netmask 255.255.255.0  
gateway 10.13.15.1  
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4  

auto eth1  
iface eth1 inet static  
address 10.13.15.11  
netmask 255.255.255.0  
gateway 10.13.15.1  
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4  

Remote Administration

To remotely administer the server, a secure shell program needs installed to accept incoming SSH connections. Install the program with this command:

sudo apt install openssh-server

And then configure the program by editing its settings file with this command:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

And to use the new settings, restart the SSH daemon with this command (or restart the server):

sudo systemctl restart sshd

Then, from another Linux client terminal:

ssh oem@IPADDRESS

From a Windows computer:
Download PuTTY

Add Administrative User

To add another user, enter these commands:

ssh oem@IPADDRESS
sudo adduser [new username]
sudo adduser [new username] adm
sudo adduser [new username] sudo
exit

Log back in by typing:

ssh [new username]@IPADDRESS

Remove the OEM User:

sudo deluser oem

Update Packages

Download and install updates:

sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade

Reboot may be required for the changes to take effect:

sudo reboot

Configure BMC

To setup remote management on the server, connect an additional Ethernet line to the management interface port. Configure the management interface IP address in BIOS. Next, use a web browser on another computer to see the management interface.

See Intel's user guide for configuring the BMC here:

Intel BMC User Guide

To run the jwviewer.jnlp file on the viewing computer, please install this program:

sudo apt install icedtea-netx

Which will install the program 'javaws' (Java Web Services)

BMC on the Ibex Pro GPU

On the Ibex Pro GPU, the BMC interface will look slightly different. See the Gigabyte Server Management Console manual.

For this machine, the default BMC username is admin and the default password is password.

Additional Server Resources

Ubuntu Server Information

Ubuntu Server Documentation

Troubleshooting

If the Jackal 2U server is fully loaded with 8 spinning drives, and will not boot, staggered drive startup may be needed. Enter into BIOS, and in the 'Setup Mass Storage Controller Configuration' screen, enable 'AHCI HDD Staggered Spin-Up'.