Hello,
I've rented an OVH dedicated server and I'm trying to install
OpenBSD 7.8 instead of Ubuntu 24.04.
The server has the following hardware:
CPU - Intel Xeon-E3 1270 v6 - 4c/8t - 3.8 GHz/4.2 GHz
RAM - 64 GB ECC 2400 MHz
Disk - 450 GB SSD NVMe
"uname -a" returns the following:
Linux ns563582 6.8.0-87-generic #88-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sat Oct
11 09:28:41 UTC 2025 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
I've updated the GRUB configuration to show the menu at boot, and I've
added the following entry in the file /etc/grub.d/40_custom before
executing "update-grub":
menuentry "OpenBSD Installer" {
insmod part_gpt
insmod gzio
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,gpt3)
kopenbsd /bsd.rd
boot
}
In GRUB I've tried "ls (hd0,gpt3)/" and the file bsd.rd is there, so
GRUB has access to the (ext4) partition. The SHA256 sum of the file
is valid.
In boot(8) I've read that bsd.rd uses pc0 / VGA console by default,
and according to the OVH documentation, KVM too, so I should see
the output or at least an error.
When I reboot the server and access to it using
KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse), I have access to GRUB, I go to
"OpenBSD Installer", hit Enter, and then I have a blank screen
without an error. Sometimes I even loose the connection to KVM.
I tried using SoL (Serial over LAN), but I can't get bsd.rd to
use com0 since GRUB cannot pass arguments to the kernel.
Has anyone had the same problem?
Do you have any idea to get the output or know if at least bsd.rd
is launched?
https://man.openbsd.org/man8/amd64/boot.8
https://support.us.ovhcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007816120-How-to-use-the-IPMI-console-with-a-dedicated-server
