# OVHcloud Bare Metal Installation Plakar Control Plane can be deployed on an OVHcloud dedicated server using the official `QCOW2` image. The image can be downloaded from the [Downloads Page](/download). Dedicated servers are available in the OVHcloud Control Panel under **Bare Metal Cloud -> Dedicated Servers**. ## Ordering a Dedicated Server Plakar Control Plane requires the following recommended setup: - A minimum of **4 vCPUs** - At least **16 GB RAM** - A first disk of around **10 GB** for the OS - A second disk of at least **1 TB** for Control Plane data These are recommendations for a production deployment. For evaluation or testing, you can reduce CPU, RAM, and storage. The data volume stores the database, logs, and all Plakar state. Backups themselves are stored wherever you configure using apps. > [!NOTE]+ > > Dedicated servers on OVHcloud are preconfigured hardware offers, so you cannot > always select an exact combination of CPU, RAM, and disk sizes. Choose the > closest available offer to the recommended specifications above. ## Installing the Appliance The Plakar Control Plane appliance is distributed as a `QCOW2` image. OVHcloud allows custom images to be installed through its custom OS flow. After ordering a dedicated server, the following setup is required. ### OS Setup Set **Type of OS** to **Custom**, then select **Bring your own image**. {{< figure src="../images/baremetal-1.png" alt="" class="mx-auto max-w-100" >}} ### Appliance Image Provide a publicly accessible URL for the Plakar Control Plane `QCOW2` image in **Image URL**. You can use the download link from the [Downloads Page](/downloads), or host the image yourself on publicly accessible storage such as an S3 bucket. and set the **Image Type** to **qcow2**. You can optionally provide a checksum to verify the image during installation. We publish both `SHA-256` and `MD5` checksums on the Downloads Page. If you provide a checksum, enter it in **Image checksum** and select the corresponding **checksum type**. ![](../images/baremetal-2.png) ### SSH Public Key Leave **SSH Public Key** blank. OVHcloud's SSH key configuration is not read by the appliance. If you need SSH access, provide your public key through **Config Drive UserData**. The appliance uses the `plakar` user for SSH access. ### Config Drive UserData Config Drive UserData contains the cloud-init configuration used by the appliance. It can be used to configure SSH access, an HTTP proxy, or a Harbor registry mirror. See [Configuring the Appliance](#configuring-the-appliance) for more information. ![](../images/baremetal-3.png) ### EFI Bootloader The appliance boots through `UEFI`. Set **Path of the EFI bootloader from the OS installed on the server** to: ```text \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI ``` ![](../images/baremetal-4.png) ## Configuring the Appliance Config Drive UserData is the cloud-init configuration passed to the appliance during installation. At minimum, it can contain an SSH public key. Proxy and registry mirror settings can be added when required by your environment. ### What needs to be reachable Plakar Control Plane requires HTTPS access to `api.plakar.io` for runtime configuration, license validation, and plugin downloads. If your proxy uses a whitelist instead of allowing all outbound traffic, add `*.plakar.io` to it. The appliance also needs to pull container images from `docker.io` and `ghcr.io`. There are two supported approaches: 1. **Route image pulls through the HTTP proxy.** If you choose this option, the proxy should allow access to: - `*.docker.io` - `*.docker.com` - `*.ghcr.io` - `*.githubusercontent.com` 2. **Use a Harbor registry mirror.** This is the recommended approach for production deployments because images are pulled from a local registry cache instead of the public internet. When using Harbor, you don't need to whitelist the Docker and GitHub domains above on your proxy. ### UserData Example The following example configures an SSH key, an HTTP proxy, and Harbor registry mirrors: ```yaml #cloud-config ssh_authorized_keys: - ssh-ed25519 AAAA... proxy: http: http://: https: http://: no_proxy: .corp.example,10.0.0.0/8 # optional registry: mirrors: docker.io: /dockerhub-proxy ghcr.io: /ghcr-proxy insecure: false # true: skip TLS verification for the mirror hosts ``` Every top-level key above is optional. Include only the configuration required by your environment. ### Network Configuration By default, the appliance uses DHCP to obtain its network configuration. If the OVHcloud server requires a static IP address, multiple network interfaces, or custom routes, you can configure them using the `network` key in UserData. For example: ```yaml #cloud-config network: ethernets: eth0: addresses: [10.0.1.5/24] gateway4: 10.0.1.1 nameservers: addresses: [10.0.1.53, 10.0.1.54] ``` ### Connect over SSH If you configured an SSH public key, connect to the appliance using the `plakar` user: ```sh ssh plakar@ ``` Replace `` with the public IP address assigned to the dedicated server. ## Start the Appliance and Complete Enrollment Once the installation settings are configured, confirm the order to start the installation. > [!NOTE]+ > > The first boot may take some time while the appliance completes its initial > setup. Once the appliance has booted and the initial setup is complete, open Plakar Control Plane from a browser using the server's public IP address: ```text http:// ``` For a new installation, you will be guided through the enrollment process to: - Register the instance with Plakar services for licensing and billing - Create the initial administrator account See the [enrollment](../../enrollment) documentation for more information.