Installing an OS on a Physical Server: IPMI ISO Mounting and PXE

Once you have a physical (dedicated) server, how do you get an operating system onto it? Unlike a cloud VM where you click a button, bare metal relies on out-of-band management or network boot. In most cases your provider pre-installs the OS and hands you a set of root credentials—but understanding the flow below pays off whenever you need to reinstall, switch distributions, or customize the disk layout.

Method 1: Mounting an ISO via IPMI/BMC Remote KVM

Every modern server board carries a dedicated management chip called the BMC (exposed under names like IPMI, iDRAC, iLO, or plain BMC). It has its own network port and power rail, so it stays reachable even when the host is powered off—hence "out-of-band" management.

Through the BMC web console you can operate the machine as if sitting in front of it:

• Remote KVM: see the server's video output in your browser and take over keyboard and mouse.
• Virtual Media: "mount" a local .iso image as a virtual optical drive.
• Power and boot control: power on/off, reboot, and temporarily boot from the virtual CD.

A typical flow:

• Log in to the BMC web console and launch the remote KVM.
• Mount your install ISO (Debian, Ubuntu, Rocky, etc.) under Virtual Media.
• Set the one-time boot device to CD/DVD and reboot the server.
• Complete the graphical or text installer inside the KVM window.

This approach is ideal for installing or rescuing a single machine—flexible and hands-on.

Method 2: PXE Network Boot for Fleet Installs

When you need to provision dozens or hundreds of machines, mounting an ISO one by one is far too slow. PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) lets a server pull its installer straight from the network:

• DHCP: hands out an IP and points the client to the boot file (next-server + filename).
• TFTP: serves a lightweight bootloader such as pxelinux.0 or iPXE.
• HTTP/NFS: hosts the install kernel, initrd, and package repositories.

Pair PXE with an unattended answer file (Kickstart, Preseed, or cloud-init) and each box installs fully automatically—the standard practice for data-center rollouts.

During Install: RAID and Partitioning

Physical servers usually ship with multiple disks, so installation surfaces two choices:

• RAID: build the array in the RAID card's BIOS or the installer. RAID 1 mirrors for safety, RAID 10 balances speed and redundancy, and RAID 0 chases raw speed with no redundancy.
• Partitioning: a common layout is /boot (or an EFI partition) + / (root) + swap, with data disks mounted separately at /data. UEFI systems require an ESP.

First Steps After Install

Once the fresh system boots, handle these before running any workload:

# 1. Update the system
apt update && apt upgrade -y     # Debian/Ubuntu
# dnf upgrade -y                 # Rocky/Alma

# 2. Change the default root password and add a normal user
passwd
adduser ops

# 3. Check networking and set the hostname
ip addr; hostnamectl set-hostname my-server

# 4. Install monitoring/security basics (as needed)
apt install -y htop ufw fail2ban node_exporter

It's also wise to set up SSH key login, disable password authentication, and enable the firewall.

Summary

Bare-metal provisioning follows two main tracks: IPMI ISO mounting shines for flexible single-machine installs and rescue, while PXE network boot is built for automated fleet deployment—and neither lets you skip planning RAID and partitions. In day-to-day use most people receive a server that's already been imaged by their provider, so the real value of knowing this flow is staying oriented when it comes time to reinstall, swap distros, or troubleshoot.