HowTo install Debian on the Storage Node¶

Installation¶

Install Debian using the standard (non-minimal) ISO image. During installation:

• Select the target boot disk (e.g. the NVMe drive, not the data drives)
• When prompted, create a temporary user (Debian requires this; it can be removed later)
• Choose "automated network configuration" (will be changed to static IP post-install)

apt install python3 openssh-server sudo

Post-Install¶

Configure Network¶

If you have selected "automated network configuration" during installation process, you will need to update the network interface(s) to your desired settings to configure static IPs. To do so, modify the file located at /etc/network/interfaces with the following changes:

-allow-hotplug enp2s0
-iface enp2s0 inet dhcp
+auto enp2s0
+iface enp2s0 inet static
+  address 10.10.10.30/24
+  gateway 10.10.10.1

Repeat the same for all interfaces you want to use.

After that, restart the network interface(s) with ifdown enp2s0 followed by ifup enp2s0.

APT Sources¶

If you didn't configure additional apt sources during installation, you may want to configure those now.

Add debian.sources file under /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory with the following contents:

Types: deb
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian
Suites: trixie trixie-updates
Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

Types: deb
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian-security
Suites: trixie-security
Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

SSH Access¶

• Add your ssh public key to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
• Make sure you have the following line AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys in /etc/ssh/ssh_config file
• Then restart ssh service with systemctl restart ssh and check that it has "active (running)" status with systemctl status ssh

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/homelab_id_ed25519.pub root@10.10.10.30

# On the controller
cat ~/.ssh/homelab_id_ed25519.pub | ssh root@10.10.10.30 "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

Enable Root SSH Login¶

Debian disables root login via password by default, but allows key-based authentication. Verify that /etc/ssh/sshd_config contains:

PermitRootLogin prohibit-password

If it is set to no, change it to prohibit-password and restart SSH:

systemctl restart ssh

Remove the temporary user¶

Debian does not allow to skip user creation step during installation process. If you don't plan to use that user, or just made a temporary user to "skip" that installation step, remember to remove the user with deluser 'temp' --remove-all-files, where temp is the username you specified during installation process.

Ansible Pre-requisites Checklist¶

Before running the storage playbook (ansible-playbook -i inventory.sh storage.yml), verify the following on the storage node:

• Static IP configured (10.10.10.30 on enp2s0)
• Node is reachable from the controller: ping 10.10.10.30
• SSH key-based root login works: ssh -i ~/.ssh/homelab_id_ed25519 root@10.10.10.30
• APT sources configured (for package installation)
• Data drives are physically installed and visible: lsblk shows the expected disks
• Data drives are partitioned (partition IDs match the inventory in metal/inventory/metal.yml)
• Controller is reachable from the homelab network (see firewall warning below)