Install Debian-based ECI Images (Generic)

You are ready to install an ECI Debian-based minimal image on a target system, if you have built an image for any of the following targets:

• core-bookworm

• core-noble

To deploy the image on a target system, you need to do the following:

1. Create a bootable USB

2. Configure the target system BIOS

3. Boot and install the image

Create Bootable USB

The following steps are applicable to:

Do the following to create a bootable USB, which you will later use to build and install the ECI image:

1. Open a terminal to the ECI directory. In Canonical® Ubuntu®, you can right-click an empty space in the directory explorer and select Open in Terminal.

   

2. Insert a USB drive with at least 12 GB capacity into the Linux build system.

   Note: For best performance, use a USB 3.1 (or greater) device and port.

   Warning

   All data on the USB mass storage device will be erased!

   At the terminal prompt, run the create_bootable_usb.sh script:

   $ ./create_bootable_usb.sh
   

   If the message “Please run as root” appears, run the script again with sudo:

   $ sudo ./create_bootable_usb.sh
   

   

   If no ECI images have been built yet, the script will display the message: No built images found. Refer to Build ECI and build an ECI image. Then, run the create_bootable_usb.sh script.

   

3. The script will display a list of available ECI images. Enter an image name from the list. In this example, core-bookworm was entered.

   

   If a mass storage device cannot be located, the script will display the message: ERR: No removable mass storage devices found. Insert a USB drive with at least 12GB capacity into the Linux build system and run the create_bootable_usb.sh script again.

   

4. The script will display a list of available removable mass storage devices.

   

   Enter the name of a device from the displayed list. In this example, the device name displayed is sdc.

   

   When the warning, Warning: All data will be erased on <device> Proceed? [y/N] is displayed, enter y to proceed. The target ECI image will be written to the removable mass storage device.

5. After the script completes, you will have a bootable USB drive that can install the target ECI image. You may eject the USB drive from the Linux build system. You will use this USB drive to boot and install the image.

   

Configure Target System BIOS

The following section is applicable to:

To achieve real-time determinism and utilize available Intel silicon features, certain BIOS settings need to be configured. Do the following:

1. Boot the target system and access the BIOS (typically pressing the delete or F2 keys while booting will open the BIOS menu).

   

2. Select Restore Defaults or Load Defaults and then select Save Changes and Reset. As the target system is booting, access the BIOS again (as per Step 1).

3. Modify the BIOS configuration as listed in the following table.

   Note: The available configurations depend on the platform, BIOS in use, or both. In this case, modify as many configurations as possible.

   Atom & Core ProcessorsXeon Processors

   Setting Name	Option	Setting Menu
   Hyper-Threading	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ CPU Configuration
   Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)	Disabled* (see footnote)	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ CPU Configuration
   Intel(R) SpeedStep	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ Power & Performance ⟶ CPU - Power Management Control
   Turbo Mode	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ Power & Performance ⟶ CPU - Power Management Control
   C States	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ Power & Performance ⟶ CPU - Power Management Control
   RC6 (Render Standby)	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ Power & Performance ⟶ GT - Power Management Control
   Maximum GT freq	Lowest (usually 100MHz)	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ Power & Performance ⟶ GT - Power Management Control
   SA GV	Fixed High	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ Memory Configuration
   VT-d	Enabled* (see footnote)	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ System Agent (SA) Configuration
   PCI Express Clock Gating	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ System Agent (SA) Configuration ⟶ PCI Express Configuration
   Gfx Low Power Mode	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ System Agent (SA) Configuration ⟶ Graphics Configuration
   ACPI S3 Support	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ ACPI Settings
   Native ASPM	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ ACPI Settings
   Legacy IO Low Latency	Enabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ PCH-IO Configuration
   PCH Cross Throttling	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ PCH-IO Configuration
   Delay Enable DMI ASPM	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ PCH-IO Configuration ⟶ PCI Express Configuration
   DMI Link ASPM	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ PCH-IO Configuration ⟶ PCI Express Configuration
   Aggressive LPM Support	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ PCH-IO Configuration ⟶ SATA And RST Configuration
   USB Periodic SMI	Disabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ LEGACY USB Configuration

   • VT-x and VT-d are required by most virtualization solutions (KVM, RTH Hypervisor, ACRN Hypervisor, etc.), so set to enabled for greatest compatibility. However, if you know that virtualization will not be used, you can safely set VT-x and VT-d to disabled.

Boot and Install Image

The following steps are applicable to:

To boot and install the image, insert the bootable USB drive created earlier into the target system, and do the following:

1. Power on the target system and access the BIOS (typically pressing the delete or F2 keys while booting will open the BIOS menu).

   

2. At the BIOS menu, navigate to the Save & Exit tab or open the Boot Manager Menu. On this page, you should see an entry with the prefix “UEFI …”. Select the entry that looks like: UEFI: <vendor>…, where <vendor> is the vendor of the USB drive.

   Note: If the USB device does not appear in the boot menu, you may need to enable “Legacy USB Support” in BIOS. Configure the following BIOS setting, then reboot the target system for the changes to take effect:

   Setting Name	Option	Setting Menu
   Legacy USB Support	Enabled	Intel Advanced Menu ⟶ USB Configuration ⟶ Legacy USB Support

   

3. The target system will boot from the USB drive. A boot menu will appear with a few options. Choose the install option.

   

4. The target system will begin the installation process. During the installation, you will be prompted to: Please select an install target or press n to exit. Enter an available install target (make sure that the target is correct). For example, enter sdb.

5. If you see the prompt: /dev/sdb# contains a ext4 file system … Proceed anyway? (y,N) , press y to continue.

6. After the installation is complete, remove the USB drive and press Enter, on the keyboard, to reboot the target system.

7. Let the target system boot completely. Select boot from the GRUB menu (this option will automatically be selected after 5 seconds).

   

8. A login prompt will eventually appear. Login with user root and password root. See Manage Users and Permissions in ECI Images for information about additional users and methods of modifying user permissions.

What Next after Installing Debian-based ECI Images (Generic)

After installing the Debian-based ECI image (core-bookworm or core-noble), proceed to setup the ECI APT repository.