Install on Bare Metal

Create a Bootable USB Image

This section describes how to create a bootable USB image on a Windows system.

Before you create a bootable USB image, ensure that you have the following:

• 4-GB or larger USB stick or flash drive
• Microsoft Windows XP or later
• Rufus, a free utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives
• .iso file of VOS software image

To create a bootable USB image on windows:

1. Download the image to your Windows PC.
   
   
    
2. Create a bootable USB disk using Rufus:
   1. Install Rufus
   2. Insert the USB stick
   3. Rufus sets the device in the Device field. If the device is incorrect, select the USB storage device.
      
      
3. Select the .iso file and click Open.
   
   
4. Click Start to initiate the write process.
   
   
5. In the ISOHybrid image detected window, click OK.
   
   
6. In the Rufus popup window, the following warning displays. Click OK to continue.
   
   
   
   The Status bar displays the progress of writing to the USB device.
   
   
7. When the Ready box displays to indicate that the writing to the USB device is complete, click Close.
   
   

Install the VOS Software

This section describes how to install the VOS software on a bare-metal platform:

Before you install the VOS software, ensure that you have the following:

• Console cable
• USB drive on which you have loaded the desired VOS software image

To install or downgrade the VOS software on a bare-metal platform:

1. Connect your laptop to the Versa branch appliance using a console cable.
2. Insert the USB drive into one of the USB ports on the Versa branch appliance. The appliance boots. The device may recognize the installation media automatically during startup, or you may need to hold down a key (usually F12) to display the boot menu and then choose to boot from USB.
3. Press the Esc/Del key to interrupt the boot process and enter BIOS mode.
4. In the Boot tab, under Boot Option Priorities, select Boot Option #1, which is your USB drive, and make sure that you select Legacy boot mode and not UEFI mode. Then press Esc. If your USB drive is not shown as Boot Option #1, select Boot Option #1 and press F4 to save the changes and exit the setup process.
   
   
    
5. The following error displays, followed by the boot: prompt, and the installation stops:
   
   
6. In response to the error "Error setting up gfxboot", type versa-branch-usb and press Enter. Then press the spacebar to continue.
   
   
7. In response to the configure the network error message, select Continue.
   
   
8. In response to the Partition Disks prompt "unmount the partitions that are in use?", select or type Yes. The Versa branch appliance installs the software and then reboots.
   
   
    
9. While the Versa branch appliance is rebooting, remove your USB drive from the appliance.
10. Log in to the Versa branch appliance. The VOS (FlexVNF) banner displays.
    
    
     
11. To verify the version of software that was installed, issue the show system package-info command:
    
    

Supported Software Information

Releases 20.2 and later support all content described in this article.

Additional Information

Branch Hardware and Software Requirements
Branch Overview
Initial Branch Software Configuration