Nexapp - Installation

To begin the installation process, first download the latest NexappOS image. Once the download is complete, you can install NexappOS using one of the following methods:

Direct disk installation
Write the downloaded image directly to the target disk. This creates a ready-to-boot NexappOS system on internal storage or appliance media.
USB boot installation
Create a bootable USB stick using the downloaded image. Boot the system from the USB stick and run the installer command to copy NexappOS onto the internal disk.

Choose the method that best fits your environment and proceed with the appropriate steps below.

Related page:
- Download: /wiki/download
(replace with your actual Download page link)

Install on Bare Metal

NexappOS can be used directly from a USB stick or installed to any bootable device such as an SSD, hard disk, or SD card.

Direct Disk Installation (Linux)

Attach the target disk / stick / SD card to a Linux desktop machine.
Find the device name. In the example below, the device is /dev/sdd.
As root, write the downloaded image to the device:

zcat nexappos-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz | dd of=/dev/sdd bs=1M iflag=fullblock status=progress oflag=direct

Unplug the disk / stick / card from the desktop and plug it into the server.
Boot the server and select the correct device (USB, SD card, or hard disk) from the boot menu.
NexappOS will start and is ready for first-boot configuration.

Writing the Image on Windows

Note Writing the image on a Windows machine is not recommended because it can disrupt disk partitioning. If you must use Windows, follow the steps below carefully.

Format the USB drive.
Unmount/eject it before writing the image.
Use one of these tools to write the USB stick:
- Balena Etcher
- Win32 Disk Imager
- Rawrite32

Install from USB to Internal Disk

For production use, NexappOS is recommended on internal storage for better reliability and performance. If you boot NexappOS from USB first, you can install it onto the internal disk using a dedicated command.

Connect to the server using VGA, serial console, or SSH.
Log in with the default credentials.
Run the installer and follow the instructions:

ns-install

The system will stop services at the end of installation.
After shutdown:
- remove the USB stick safely
- boot the server again from internal disk

Note The USB stick should be used only for the initial installation. Upgrades and factory reset are performed using documented options in the web interface or command line. If administrative access is lost and a reset is required, boot into failsafe mode and perform recovery from there (see the failsafe section in this manual).

Install on Virtual Machines

You can deploy NexappOS as a virtual machine by using the downloaded image as a VM disk.

Extract the downloaded image:

gunzip nexappos-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz

Create a new virtual machine and select the uncompressed image as the VM disk.
Boot the virtual machine.

Note If you want to store logs locally inside the VM, attach an additional virtual hard drive and select it under: System → Storage.

Install on Proxmox

The NexappOS image can be imported into Proxmox.

Create two different network bridges (example: vmbr0 and vmbr1).
Create a VM (example VM ID 401):

qm create 401 --name "NexappOS" --ostype l26 --cores 1 --memory 1024 \
--net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0,firewall=0 --net1 virtio,bridge=vmbr1,firewall=0 \
--scsihw virtio-scsi-pci

Download the image:

wget '<your-nexappos-image-url>.img.gz'

Extract the image:

gunzip nexappos-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz

Import the extracted image as a VM disk:

qm importdisk 401 nexappos-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img local-lvm

Attach the disk to the VM:

qm set 401 --scsi0 "local-lvm:vm-401-disk-0"

Set the boot order:

qm set 401 --boot order=scsi0

Start the VM.

QEMU Guest Agent (Optional)

The QEMU guest agent is not included by default, but can be installed in QEMU/KVM-based hypervisors.

Ensure the VM is running.
Connect using SSH or Proxmox console.
Install the agent:

opkg update
opkg install qemu-ga

Start the service:

/etc/init.d/qemu-ga start

Note After an image upgrade, the guest agent may be removed and will need reinstalling. See “Restore extra packages” in this manual.

Install on VMware

VMware may not import raw disk images reliably. Convert the image to .vmdk first.

Decompress the image file.
Convert raw image to VMware format.

On Linux:

qemu-img convert -f raw -O vmdk <source_image.raw> <destination_image.vmdk>

Replace:

<source_image.raw> with the path to your raw NexappOS image
<destination_image.vmdk> with your desired VMDK filename

Recommended VMware settings:

Guest OS: Other Linux 5.x or later
SCSI Controller: VMware Paravirtual
Network Adapters: E1000
Firmware: BIOS (not UEFI)

VMware open-vm-tools (Optional)

Not included by default. Install manually:

opkg update
opkg install open-vm-tools
/etc/init.d/vmtoolsd start

Note After an image upgrade, open-vm-tools may be removed and must be reinstalled. See “Restore extra packages”.

Install on Hyper-V

Hyper-V requires .vhdx format.

Decompress the image file.
Convert raw image to .vhdx.

On Linux:

qemu-img convert -f raw -O vhdx <source_image.raw> <destination_image.vhdx>

Replace:

<source_image.raw> with your raw NexappOS image
<destination_image.vhdx> with your desired VHDX filename

Install on VirtualBox

VirtualBox requires .vdi format.

Decompress the image file.
Convert raw image to .vdi.

Example:

VBoxManage convertfromraw <source_image.raw> <destination_image.vdi>

Replace:

<source_image.raw> with your raw NexappOS image
<destination_image.vdi> with your desired VDI filename

Default Network Configuration

When NexappOS boots for the first time, it automatically configures network interfaces using safe defaults.

Default Behavior (Physical Systems)

LAN interface: static IP 192.168.1.1
WAN interface: DHCP (receives an IP address from the ISP/uplink)

Default Behavior (KVM / Cloud VM)

On KVM-based platforms and some cloud environments:

LAN interface: DHCP from the virtualization platform
WAN interface: DHCP from the ISP/uplink

Note In production environments, you may need to modify the default network configuration. Example changes include:

using a different LAN subnet

setting WAN to static or PPPoE

adding more WAN links for SD-WAN

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