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9front OS: Installing on a Linode VM

Posted on 04 Jan 2021 - Michael Czigler

Why install 9front on a Linode virtual machine? Because we can!

Preparing the Linode VM

Create a new Linode virtual machine. I would recommend starting with the Shared CPU “Nanode 1GB” plan (which is 1GB of RAM, 25GB of Storage and 1 CPU for 5 USD per month).
Click the Storage tab and press Add a Disk. Specify a Label name, raw format type and the partition size (assuming you chose the “Nanode 1GB” plan, I would recommend using 25600MB) and press Create.

Click the Configurations tab and press Add a Configuration. Specify a Label name and the following recommended parameters and press Submit.

parameter	value
VM Mode	Paravirtualization
Boot Settings	Direct Disk
Run Level	Run Default Level
Memory Limit	Do not set any limits on memory usage
Block Device Assignment	“/dev/sda” matches the Storage tab Label name.
Root Device	/dev/sda
Filesystem/Boot Helpers	All options disabled

Click the Settings tab, and disable the Shutdown Watchdog.

Installation

With the VM powered off, start Rescue mode.
Open a new LISH console window. Once in Rescue mode, download your installation media and copy it to your boot disk. Refer to one of the 9front mirrors for the latest image.
```
wget http://9front.org/iso/9front-8013.d9e940a768d1.amd64.iso.gz -q -O -| funzip | dd of=/dev/sda
```
Close the LISH console window and press the Power Off button.
Press the Configurations tab and, under the configuration previously created, press the Boot button.
Start a new LISH console (Glish). At this point, you should be able to follow the general 9front Installation Guide for installing 9front OS to the boot disk. At the conclusion of the installation the VM should automatically restart.

First Boot

Close the current LISH window. Upon refreshing your browser window, you may see that the VM is powered off. Press the Power On button and launch a new LISH console window (glish).
If all went well, then you should be seeing the rio window manager with a termimal window and process monitor in your LISH console (similar to the screenshot below).

9front in a pseudo-tty

A complete desktop experience over a pseudoterminal. Pretty nifty, right?

Next Steps

There are many resources at your disposal if you are looking to learn more about 9front or plan9. Here are some of the best that I have found:

Also, if you are new to Linode and are looking to sign up, then please consider doing so using my referral link here (which helps support me and my many projects).