Installing Versa FlexVNF Using USB on a White Box : Versa Support

Question

How to install VOS (Versa Operating System) on a white box using USB?

Solution

Follow these steps to create and boot VOS on a white box using a USB:

Step 1 — Create a Bootable USB Drive

Follow one of these methods (as published by Ubuntu):

Please download the ISO file for the required image.
Preferably use a USB 3.0 stick for faster installation.

Detailed Steps: Install on Bare Metal — Versa Docs

Windows

Use Rufus to create a bootable USB (do not use any other utility such as unetbootin).

Ubuntu

Use native Startup Disk Creator.

macOS

Rufus does not run on macOS. Use the following alternatives:

GUI Tools:

balenaEtcher
Simple GUI: select ISO → select USB → Flash. Best for quick USB creation.
UNetbootin
GUI-based ISO to USB creator. May have limitations with some images.
Ventoy
Install Ventoy on USB once, then copy multiple ISOs. Boot menu lets you pick ISO at startup. Best for advanced multi-ISO use.

CLI Method (Advanced):

Use Disk Utility to format USB (FAT32).
Use Terminal with dd to write ISO.

sudo dd status=progress if=<VOS/Director/Analytics ISO> of=/dev/sdb

Example macOS Workflow (balenaEtcher):

Install balenaEtcher on macOS.
Insert USB (8GB+).
Select ISO → Select USB → Flash.
Eject USB and boot white box from USB.

P.S: In case the console cable driver is missing on a new Windows laptop, please refer to: Console Cable Not Working on Windows — Install Missing CP210x USB to UART Driver

Step 2 — Boot from the USB Drive

After the white box boots up with the USB drive, it displays the boot: prompt.
Run the versa-branch-usb command and press <Enter>.
Press <SPACE> when prompted for the video mode.

Since this process is automated, the installation finishes after this step.

Notes:
If you get an error "Your installation CD-ROM couldn't be mounted.." — remove the USB drive from the device and re-insert it. Wait for 5 seconds and then choose the <Yes> option to retry mounting the CD-ROM.
If you are installing on a system where the hard disk already had partitions, you may get prompted to Unmount partitions in use. Choose <Yes> and continue the installation.

Final step of installation (Running kickseed) may take a little longer time (10–15 minutes).

NOTE: After installation, eth0 comes up with the static address of 10.10.10.10/8

Validating Installation

Follow these steps to validate the successful installation of Versa FlexVNF on the white box:

Step 1 — Login via Console

Default Login Credentials:

Username: admin
Password: versa123

Step 2 — Enter CLI Mode

Run the cli command to enter the CLI mode.

Step 3 — Verify Interfaces

Run the following CLI command:

admin@versa-flexvnf-cli> show interfaces brief | tab | nomore

Command output:

NAME       MAC                OPER   ADMIN  TENANT  VRF                        IP
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
eth-0/0    74:fe:48:09:3a:ae  up     up     0       global           10.10.10.10/8
tvi-0/0    n/a                up     up     -       -
tvi-0/0.0  n/a                pdown  up     1       Versa-Provider-Control-VR
tvi-0/1    n/a                up     up     -       -
tvi-0/1.0  n/a                pdown  up     1       Versa-Provider-Control-VR
vni-0/0    74:fe:48:07:d5:73  down   up     -       -
vni-0/0.0  74:fe:48:07:d5:73  down   up     1       WAN1-Transport-VR
vni-0/0.1  74:fe:48:07:d5:73  down   up     1       WAN1-Transport-VR
vni-0/1    74:fe:48:09:3a:af  down   up     -       -
vni-0/1.0  74:fe:48:09:3a:af  down   up     1       global           192.168.1.1/24
vni-0/2    74:fe:48:07:d5:70  down   up     -       -
vni-0/2.0  74:fe:48:07:d5:70  down   up     1       WAN1-Transport-VR
vni-0/2.1  74:fe:48:07:d5:70  down   up     1       WAN1-Transport-VR
vni-0/3    74:fe:48:07:d5:74  down   down   -       -
vni-0/4    74:fe:48:09:3a:ad  down   down   -       -

[ok][2018-02-02 19:11:31]
admin@versa-flexvnf-cli>

Look for this line in the output:

vni-0/1.0  74:fe:48:09:3a:af  down   up     1       global           192.168.1.1/24

If this line does not appear, wait for 2 minutes and re-run the command. Alternatively, press the up arrow to reenter the last used command.
Power off the white box when the above line appears in the command output.

Steps to Load Default Configuration

Versa software installs default device configuration upon first boot in the factory. If the system is rebooted before the software has had a chance to load the config, then the system is left without the default config.

Follow these steps when the validation procedure mentioned above (Validating Installation) fails:

Run the cli command to enter the CLI mode.
Run the config command to enter configuration mode.

In config mode, run:

load merge /opt/versa/etc/bootcfg/default-device.cfg

Run the commit command to save and commit the default configuration.
Run show interfaces brief | tab | nomore to check interface status.

Example:

admin@Controller1:~$ cli

admin connected from 10.40.40.1 using ssh on Controller1
admin@Controller1-cli> conf
Entering configuration mode private
[ok][2018-07-06 12:41:24]

[edit]
admin@Controller1-cli(config)% load merge /opt/versa/etc/bootcfg/default-device.cfg
[ok][2018-07-06 12:41:27]

[edit]
admin@Controller1-cli(config)% commit

In case of any further concerns or queries, feel free to write us at support@versa-networks.com.

Installing Versa FlexVNF Using USB on a White Box