Introduction

Welcome to the ultimate, no-nonsense, extremely detailed tutorial on installing the Zevenet Linux OS. Whether you’re a seasoned sysadmin or a curious newbie who thinks “root” is just a plant’s part, this guide will take you through each step—from download to first load-balancing rule—with a sprinkle of humor and a mountain of detail. Strap in, make yourself a strong cup of coffee (or tea), and let’s get started!

What Is Zevenet?

Zevenet is an open-source load balancer, application delivery controller, and SSL offloading solution. It scales from small home labs to enterprise data centers, and it’s packed with features you didn’t even know you needed (or that your boss will demand next week).

Official website: https://www.zevenet.com

System Requirements

Note: If you try installing on a toaster, we cannot guarantee lifetime support. Just saying.

Download Zevenet ISO

1. Open your browser and navigate to Zevenet official site.
2. Go to Download gt Community Edition.
3. Select the latest stable ISO (e.g., zevenet-ce-x.y.z-amd64.iso).
4. Click Download and save the ISO to your Downloads folder.

Your ISO is now sitting there mocking you. Time to turn it into bootable media!

Prepare Bootable USB

Choose your weapon:

• Etcher (cross-platform, easy GUI)
• dd (for hardcore terminal users)
• Rufus (Windows only)

Using Etcher

1. Launch Etcher.
2. Select the Zevenet ISO.
3. Choose your USB drive.
4. Click Flash!

Using dd

sudo dd if=~/Downloads/zevenet-ce-x.y.z-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress  sync
  

Warning: Replace /dev/sdX with your actual USB device. If you pick your system disk, you’ll have an expensive paperweight.

BIOS/UEFI Boot

1. Insert USB, reboot the machine.
2. Enter BIOS/UEFI (usually F2, Del, or Esc).
3. Set USB as first boot device.
4. Save and exit.

The magic screen appears in 3… 2… 1…

Installation Steps

1. Select Installation Mode

You’ll be greeted with a console menu:

• Install Zevenet – Fresh install (recommended).
• Rescue Mode – For those “oops” moments.
• Memtest – Hardcore RAM testing.

Choose Install Zevenet and press Enter.

2. Accept License Agreement

Scroll with Page Up/Page Down, then highlight I Agree and hit Enter. You have no other choice.

3. Partition Disks

We’ll use Guided – use entire disk unless you’re an LVM wizard. Confirm your target disk and proceed.

4. Set Hostname Timezone

• Enter a hostname (e.g., zevenet-lb).
• Select your time zone from the map or list.

5. Create Admin User

Define an administrator username (e.g., admin) and a strong password. No “12345” or “password”—seriously.

6. Install GRUB

Let the installer put GRUB on your primary disk. It’s the one that boots the system—no brainer.

7. Finish Installation

When prompted, remove USB and reboot. Zevenet will boot up for the first time. Feel free to give it a round of applause.

First Boot Initial Configuration

1. Log in via console or SSH (ssh admin@your-ip-address).
2. Change default passwords if not done already.
3. Run sudo zevenet configuration to launch the guided network setup.

You’ll be asked to configure:

• Management interface IP, subnet, gateway
• DNS servers
• Optional: secondary interfaces for real traffic

Accessing the Web UI

After networking is up, open your browser and navigate to https://ltmanagement-ipgt:444. You’ll see the Zevenet dashboard.

Login with the admin credentials you created. If your browser yells about a certificate, just accept the risk (or upload a proper cert later).

Creating Your First Load Balancer

Step 1: Create a Farm

• Go to Load Balancing gt Farms.
• Click Add Farm.
• Name it (e.g., web-farm).
• Choose Virtual IP (VIP) and Port (e.g., 192.168.1.100:80).

Step 2: Add Backends

1. Inside the farm, navigate to Real Servers.
2. Click Add Real Server.
3. Enter each web server’s IP and port (e.g., 192.168.1.101:80).

Step 3: Select Load Balancing Method

Round Robin, Least Connections, Source IP Hash… pick your favorite algorithm like picking a flavor of ice cream.

Advanced Features

• SSL Offloading: Upload or generate certificates in SSL gt Certificates.
• Health Checks: Configure HTTP/HTTPS checks to remove unhealthy servers automatically.
• Global Persistence: Keep users on the same backend for the session.
• High Availability: Pair two Zevenet nodes in active/standby with VRRP.

Troubleshooting Tips

• No Web UI? Check systemctl status zevenet.service and review /var/log/zevenet/.
• Packet drops? Verify firewall rules and ensure IP forwarding is enabled (sysctl net.ipv4.ip_forward=1).
• Unexpected behavior? Reboot—sometimes Unix needs a nap too.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve installed Zevenet, set up your first farm, and peeked at advanced features. Now you’re officially in the load-balancing game. Take a well-deserved break, then explore analytics, security policies, or CLI automation. And remember: if your boss asks for “just one more simple feature,” you can point them to Zevenet’s rich plugin system.

Happy balancing!

— Your friendly, slightly witty guide through the Zevenet installation labyrinth.