¶ Step one
First, save or write the ISO image to your preferred media. Then, select that media as your boot device and press Enter to start the installation.
If you are installing on a virtual machine, power it on and select the boot media to load the blësk ISO image from a local or network drive.
In this step of the installation, you will see three options.
To test the media before installing, select option 2: Test this media & install blësk 8 (optional).
To proceed directly with the installation without testing, select option 1: Install blësk 8 (recommended).
¶ Select Installation Language
In this step, select the language and keyboard settings for the installation.
Click Continue to proceed to the Installation Summary page.
¶ Installation Summery
In this step of the installation, make your selections from the Installation Summary page:
- Installation Destination
- KDUMP
- Network & Host Name
- Root Password
- Time & Date
¶ Installation Destination
In this step, select the target media for the blësk installation.
Under Storage Configuration, choose either Automatic or Custom.
For this documentation, we will proceed with the Custom configuration option.
¶ Custom Storage Configuration
To continue with the Custom Storage Configuration, select Custom and click Done to proceed.
On the next screen, click Click here to create them automatically to generate the partitions.
At this stage, allocate storage for blësk-home by entering a value in the Desired Capacity box while the blësk-home option is selected.
The allocation depends on the available storage and the amount you wish to assign to blësk-home.
For a classic installation, we recommend allocating 2 GB to blësk-home.
Click Update Settings to apply the changes.
Allocate the remaining storage to blësk-root.
To do this, select blësk-root, enter the desired value in the Desired Capacity box, and click Update Settings to apply the changes.
Click Done in the upper-left corner of the screen to save all changes and proceed.
¶ KDUMP
In this step, deselect the Enable kdump checkbox, then click Done to save the settings and return to the Installation Summary screen.
¶ Network & Host Name
At this stage of the installation, enter the Host Name and click Apply to save the changes.
Click Configure in the bottom-right corner to open the Network Configuration page, then follow these steps :
Step 1 - Under the General tab, select Connect automatically with priority
Step 2 - Click the IPv4 Settings tab to access the IPv4 configuration.
Step 3 - It is recommended to use a static IP address for your blësk server. Select Manual from the Method drop down menu.
Step 4 - click the Add button to add an IP address.
Step 5 - enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
Step 6 - add the DNS server information in the DNS servers box, separated by a comma.
Step 7 - Click on IPv6 Settings tab to access the IPv6 settings and select Ignore from the Method.
Step 8 - click Save to save the settings and return to the Network & Host Name screen.
At this point of the installation, toggle the Ethernet setting to ON to check the settings.
This will also check on your network to be sure the defined IP is not already used by another device.
Click on Done to save all changes.
¶ Root Password
Under USER SETTINGS, click Root Password to open the password creation page.
Enter and confirm your new password, then click Done to return to the Installation Summary page.
[Note: User creation is an optional step and can be left as default.]
¶ Time & Date
Click the Time and Date icon to open the Time & Date settings screen.
Adjust the time to match your local time zone, then click Done to save and exit.
¶ Begin Installation
At this stage, click the Begin Installation button to start installing blësk OS.
¶ Installation Progress
This part of the installation may take several minutes. A reboot will be required before you can start using blësk.
¶ Reboot System
This concludes the installation process. blësk is now successfully installed and ready to use!
Click Reboot System in the bottom-right corner of the screen to restart your system.
¶ Finalize the configuration
Open a web browser and enter the URL or IP address of your blësk server. On the configuration screen, provide the following information :
- System Administrator Email: Enter the email address of the system administrator.
- Community String: Enter the Community String used by SNMP to send requests to devices on your network.
- Mail Server: Enter the IP address or hostname of the mail server that will be used to send notifications.
- Core Switch: Enter the IP address of one of your core switches (Layer 3) in this field.
¶ Accept the Agreement
Read and accept the blësk License Agreement terms and conditions, then click Submit.
¶ Activate the software
On the final setup page, activate your server by entering the blësk license key. You should have received this key via email at the time of download.
If you have not received or have lost your license key, please contact us.
¶ System Resource Verification
This step allows you to check whether your system meets the necessary resource requirements to run blësk optimally.
¶ Auto detection wizard
During the initial setup, you can launch the wizard to scan and automatically detect your devices.
While this can also be done after setup, if you choose to use it now, follow these steps to complete the process correctly.
Clicking Yes will open an authentication box prompting you to enter your username and password.
Use admin/admin to login.
¶ Credentials
Before scanning and detecting devices, enter the credentials that will be used to authenticate on the hosts and collect the required data and parameters.
¶ WMI Credentials
At this stage, define the credentials that will be used to monitor Windows machines. By default, the WMI protocol is used, allowing agentless monitoring. Alternatively, you can choose SNMP for Windows, but note that the SNMP protocol must be installed and properly configured on the Windows machines.
Click the Add button to create a new entry, and repeat this step for any additional WMI credentials. For Windows machines that are not part of a domain, use the local administrator account and its corresponding password. Once all credentials are added, click Next to continue.
¶ VMware Credentials
In this step, create the credentials needed to authenticate on VMware ESXi servers. Typically, this is the root account along with its password.
Click the Add button to create a new entry, and repeat for any additional usernames and passwords you may have. When finished, click Next to continue.
¶ SSH Credentials
This step allows you to create credentials for authenticating on network devices such as switches and firewalls. Click Add to create a new entry, and repeat for any additional access credentials you may have.
If the device is a switch and requires an Enable Password, enter it in the corresponding field. For Unix servers, you can leave the Enable Password field empty. Once completed, click Next to continue.
¶ Telnet Credentials
This step allows you to create credentials for authenticating on network devices, such as switches and firewalls, that use the Telnet protocol. Click Add to create a new entry, and repeat for any additional credentials you may have.
If the device is a switch and requires an Enable Password, enter it in the corresponding field. Once completed, click Next to continue.
¶ Start Wizard
Once all the credentials have been created, you will be redirected to the auto detection engine where you will be able to start scanning the network to detect devices to be imported into blësk.
blësk requires credentials to get the most information out of the devices on the network. Be sure your devices are configured correctly and you have proper access prior to running a discovery.
Start by scanning a small range of IP like a /24 subnet or if you know the device that you want to import, then list them separate by a comma.
Click Discover to begin the scan. It can take few seconds to few minutes depending on the number on IPs to scan.
Discovery wizard will display a list the IPs.
Select the IP address you would like to add to a Monitoring group and click Add to continue adding the IP(s).
For information on using and managing your blësk server, please refer to the blësk Documentation on Using and managing your blësk.