Configuring a Server After Installing an ISO Image (CentOS Stream 8)

For Cloud Servers

This guide describes how to configure the network and install SSH after installing a CentOS Stream 8 ISO image. In addition, we'll show you how to install open-vm-tools after installing your own ISO image or an older version of an installation.

By default, the IONOS images include VMware Tools. The VMware Tools consist of a set of utilities that are needed to ensure the proper operation of your server. The open-vm-tools are the open-source implementation of the VMware Tools.

Configuring the Network

CentOS Stream 8 configures the network interface correctly via DHCP but automatically sets the parameter ONBOOT=no if you do not activate the network interface Ethernet (ens192) under NETWORK & NAME during the installation. If the parameter ONBOOT=no is set, the network will not be activated after the subsequent reboot. In this case, server access is possible only by means of the KVM Console. To change the ONBOOT parameter after the installation is complete, follow the steps below:

In the Cloud Panel, select your 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.
Open the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens192 file using the vi editor. To do this, enter the following command:
[root@localhost ~]# vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens192

Notes

When you are presented with the CentOS Stream 8 graphical interface, you must open the terminal to open the vi editor. To do this, click Applications > System Tools > Terminal.
The vi editor has an insert mode and a command mode. You can call the insert mode with the i key. In this mode, the characters you type 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.

Change the ONBOOT=no parameter as follows:
ONBOOT=yes
Press the ESC key.
To exit vi and save the file, type the following command, and then press Enter:
:wq
Restart the server to apply the changes. To do this, type the following command:
[root@localhost ~]# systemctl reboot

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:
yum update
If your server does not have a graphical interface installed, install open-vm-tools. To do this, enter the following command:
yum 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:
yum 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 Cloud Panel and then install VMWare Tools. Please note that this is not the way 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 install SSH during the operating system installation process. If SSH was not installed during the installation of the ISO image, you can install this service afterwards. To do this, follow the steps below:

Perform an update. To do this, enter the following command:
yum update
To install the OpenSSH software package, enter the following command:
dnf -y install openssh openssh-server openssh-clients openssl-libs
To start the sshd deamon, enter the following command:
systemctl start sshd.service
Check if the installation was successful. To do this, enter the following command:
systemctl status sshd.service
If the SSH service is active, enter q to return to the command prompt.

If the SSH service is not active, enter the following command to restart the service:
systemctl restart sshd.service
To start the SSH service with each boot, enter the following command:
systemctl enable sshd