Install an OS via autoinstall

Last update: September 11 2026Open in Markdown

Auto-install is a tool for automatically installing and reinstalling the operating system on a dedicated server through the control panel. The following are available for auto-install:

• standard OS images;
• OS images with applications;
• your images, prepared for OS auto-install.

You can install the OS manually from a custom image. You can also order the Astra Linux OS installation service on your dedicated server.

OS auto-install is not available for pre-configured servers with upgrades.

Install OS via auto-install

carefully

During automatic OS reinstallation, data on all disks will be deleted, even if you only partition the boot disk.

Before reinstalling the OS, we recommend saving data or creating a backup.

Linux

For your information

Once the OS installation is complete, the number of authentication attempts when connecting via SSH will be limited. After 10 failed password attempts from a single IP address, this IP address will be blocked for 24 hours. If you forget your server password, you can reset and recover it.

1. In the control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Dedicated Servers.

2. In the Servers section, open the server page → Operating System tab.

3. Click Reinstall OS.

4. Optional: change the hostname.

5. Optional: select a public IP address for the server. The IP address will be automatically configured on the port. The list displays IP addresses that are assigned to the server in the control panel and for which a VLAN is configured on the network port.

6. Optional: select a private IP address for the server to automatically configure it on the port. The list shows IP addresses that are assigned to the server in the control panel.

7. Optional: for secure server connection, add an SSH key. You can add a new public SSH key or select an uploaded key from the SSH key storage.

8. Optional: enter user data. Using user data helps automate server configuration. The field is not available for all OSs. You can specify user data only for servers without hardware HBA and RAID controllers.

9. Select an image to install the OS.

10. Optional: if the server configuration includes RAID controllers, configure hardware RAID arrays. OS auto-install is only available for RAID1 and RAID0 levels. Only two disks can be added to RAID1.

    If RAID controller configuration and disk partitioning are not displayed in the OS configuration, OS installation will require assistance from Selectel engineers. In this case, after clicking Install, a ticket will be created to change the OS configuration. Once the work is complete, the RAID controller will be displayed in the OS configuration, and hardware RAID configuration and disk partitioning will become available to you.

11. Optional: partition the disks. You can select the disk where the root partition / will be created and the OS installed. If the server has four or more disks, you can create RAID pairs at different levels, such as RAID1 and RAID0.

    By default, the optimal RAID level is determined, and only disks with partitions and disks in RAID are partitioned. If you leave the default partitioning, the OS will be installed on the first disk according to the drive installation order on the server: NVMe → SSD → HDD.

12. Click Install. Installation may take from 7 to 60 minutes; its duration depends on server performance and the selected distribution. If more time has passed, create a ticket.

13. After OS installation completes, a password is generated for server connection. View the password in the control panel on the server page → Operating System tab. The password is available for 24 hours after installation completes.

Windows

An evaluation version of the OS will be installed.

The OS will be installed on the first disk according to the drive installation order on the server: NVMe → SSD → HDD.

1. In the control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Dedicated Servers.

2. In the Servers section, open the server page → Operating System tab.

3. Click Reinstall OS.

4. Optional: change the hostname.

5. Optional: select a public IP address for the server. The IP address will be automatically configured on the port. The list displays IP addresses that are assigned to the server in the control panel and for which a VLAN is configured on the network port.

6. Select an image to install the OS.

7. Optional: select the system disk on which the OS will be installed.

8. Click Install. Installation can take 120 minutes or more; its duration depends on server performance and the selected distribution. If more time has passed, create a ticket.

9. After OS installation completes, a password is generated for server connection. View the password in the control panel on the server page → Operating System tab. The password is available for 24 hours after installation completes. If you forget your server password, you can reset and recover it.

10. Partition the disks using Windows tools or configure software RAID.

Custom image

1. In the control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Dedicated Servers.

2. In the Servers section, open the server page → Operating System tab.

3. Click Reinstall OS.

4. Optional: select a public IP address for the server. The IP address will be automatically configured on the port. The list displays IP addresses that are assigned to the server in the control panel and for which a VLAN is configured on the network port.

5. Select the OS image that you prepared for the dedicated server.

6. Optional: select the system disk on which the OS will be installed.

7. Optional: if you are installing a Linux-based OS, you can partition the disks and configure software RAID.

8. Click Install. Installation can take 120 minutes or more; its duration depends on server performance and the selected distribution. If more time has passed, create a ticket.

9. After OS installation completes, a password is generated for server connection. View the password in the control panel on the server page → Operating System tab. The password is available for 24 hours after installation completes. If you forget your server password, you can reset and recover it.

Partition disks

Linux (partitioning for each disk)

You can partition disks during the automated OS installation process at step 11.

Partitioning for each disk separately can be performed for the following OSs: Ubuntu 24.04LTS, Ubuntu 22.04LTS, AlmaLinux 9.2x86_64, Oracle 9x86_64, Debian 12x86_64, Debian 11x86_64, Proxmox, Rocky 9.2x86_64.

1. In the Partitioning block, select a disk and click Make system disk — the root partition / will be created on this disk and the OS installed.

2. Optional: add disks to a RAID array. On a single server, you can add disks to different RAID arrays. For example, if your server has four disks, you can add two of them to RAID1 and the other two to RAID0.

   Select a RAID level:

   • RAID1 — mirroring, all data is written to separate physical disks in the RAID set. A RAID1 array is built from a minimum of two disks;

   • RAID0 — striping. If one disk fails in RAID0, all data will be lost without possibility of recovery. A RAID0 array is built from a minimum of two disks;

   • RAID10 — mirroring and striping. All data is written sequentially across multiple disks. A RAID10 array is built from a minimum of four disks.

3. Check disk or RAID partitioning. The partitioning table displays required partitions with mount points: /boot, /, swap. The root partition / minimum size is 20 GB.

4. Optional: add a partition — select a file system and enter the partition size in GB. The choice of partition file system depends on OS limitations.

5. If an OS is being installed on the disk, make sure that no unallocated space remains on it.

6. Partition each disk on the server.

7. Proceed to step 12 in the automated OS installation process.

Linux (partitioning the boot disk only)

You can partition disks during the automated OS installation process at step 11.

Only the boot disk will be partitioned. The remaining disks can be partitioned using OS tools after installation.

1. In the Partitioning block, select a disk and click Make system disk — the root partition / will be created on this disk and the OS installed.

2. If the server has one disk, skip this step. If the server has two or more disks, add the disks to a RAID and specify its level:

   • RAID1 — mirroring, all data is written to separate physical disks in the RAID set. A RAID1 array is built from a minimum of two disks;

   • RAID0 — striping. If one disk fails in RAID0, all data will be lost without possibility of recovery. A RAID0 array is built from a minimum of two disks;

   • RAID10 — mirroring and striping. All data is written sequentially across multiple disks. A RAID10 array is built from a minimum of four disks.

3. Check the system disk or RAID partitioning. The partitioning table displays required partitions with mount points: /boot, /, swap. The root partition / minimum size is 20 GB.

4. Optional: add a partition — select a file system and enter the partition size in GB. The choice of partition file system depends on OS limitations.

5. Make sure that no unallocated space remains on the disk. If you need to leave unallocated space, create an additional partition with free space and delete it after the OS installation completes.

6. Proceed to step 12 in the automated OS installation process.

Windows

1. Connect to the server via RDP or via the KVM console.

2. Press Win + R.

3. Launch the disk management utility:

   diskmgmt.msc

4. Right-click the partition you want to shrink and select Shrink Volume.

5. In the Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB field, specify the amount of space to allocate.

6. Click Shrink. The allocated space information will be labeled as Unallocated.

7. Create a new partition by right-clicking the unallocated space and selecting New simple volume.

8. In the Simple volume size in MB field, enter the partition size.

9. Optional: select a drive letter.

10. Specify the partition file system.

11. Click Finish.