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RMU Build: Prerequisites

Networking, hardware, domain, and installation-media requirements to gather before starting the Gen-1 to Gen-1.5 RMU build runbook.

·May 4, 2026·3 min read

This page covers the prerequisites for the Gen-1 to Gen-1.5 RMU build runbook. Complete every item here before starting the Proxmox build.

Verification with DFINITY Foundation

DFINITY must perform some bridge updating before this work begins, and will also verify a few details with you. Contact them at least one week before your planned start date.

Determine networking information

What you need to know

Obtain your 1G management uplink IP information from your network provider:

  • Your usable customer address range and Network Mask.
  • The Gateway for that customer address range.

This information will be needed for the DNS records below.

What you must do

  • Allocate one of your available IP addresses (External IP) from the usable customer address range to assign to the RMU.
  • It is advantageous to the network if the first two nodes in each data center have already been redeployed with IPv4 before executing this runbook.

Hardware requirements

This runbook uses hardware that most Gen-1 sites already have — in particular, the Supermicro Skylake RMU, which is repurposed as part of these directions.

  • Purchase a USB console cable. Choose one that matches the laptop you intend to bring into the data center:
  • For sites that do not already have a Supermicro Skylake RMU (some of the earliest sites had an Intel NUC instead), contact DFINITY for a recommendation suited to your situation.

Domain name

You need an internet domain that you have administrative access to in order to add the required A records. This domain is referred to as <domain> in the commands and examples throughout the runbook.

If you operate multiple data centers, prepend your site code (<dc>) to your root domain name — for example, xx1.domain.com.

Add two records (with optional dc):

  1. A record for teleport.<dc>.<domain> pointing to External IP.
  2. A record for *.teleport.<dc>.<domain> pointing to External IP.

These records allow you to access the RMU and its hosted services remotely and securely.

Data center resources

  • Smart Hands, or a technician who will travel to the data center.
  • A crash cart with a VGA adapter (for SuperMicro) or HDMI (for NUC).

USB drive

You will need one high-speed USB drive.

Download Proxmox VE's latest release ISO installer from the Proxmox downloads page (currently v8.1.x) and flash it to the USB stick:

  1. Download balenaEtcher.
  2. Insert the USB drive and open balenaEtcher.
  3. Select Flash from file and choose the downloaded Proxmox ISO. The exact UI may differ between operating systems.
  4. Confirm that your USB drive is selected, then click Select.
  5. Click Flash!.
  6. Wait for balenaEtcher to flash the image onto the USB drive.

Continue

Proceed to Install Proxmox.

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