Licensed Operating Systems¶

You can deploy the following licensed Operating Systems on various standard server plans and workload optimized plans on Equinix Metal.

To check whether an operating system is currently available on a specific server plan, use the Operating System Compatibility page.

When you provision a server using one of our images, you get the most recent image we have published. Changelogs can be found in the equinixmetal-images/changelog repository. Once you have provisioned your server, we no longer have access to the system; it is your responsibility to keep the operating system up to date.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Equinix Metal¶

Equinix Metal offers Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.

Licensing charges for Red Hat Enterprise Linux are a fixed rate of $0.15/hr regardless of server type, core count, or socket count. Fees are added to your invoice on the 1st of each month.

Default user: root

Windows Server on Equinix Metal¶

Equinix Metal offers Windows Server 2022. End user terms regarding the use of Microsoft Software.

Equinix Metal charges a flat $0.01/hr per core on single-socket systems and $0.02/hr per core on dual-socket systems for all the versions of Windows Server. Fees are added to your invoice on the 1st of each month. Since servers have a different number of cores based upon their processor(s), the licensing costs will vary.

Default user: Admin

Note: The default user login for our Windows image is for a local administrator, not a domain login or administrator.

For an example Windows environment, see the Setting Up a Windows Server guide.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Access¶

You can access your Windows Server using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services at its assigned public IPv4 address. Our Windows image utilizes the default RDP port 3389. The credentials are visible on the server's Overview page for the first 24 hours after provisioning the server. After the first 24 hours, the root password will no longer be visible for security reasons. You need to save or change the password to maintain access to your server.

Using User Data with Windows¶

PowerShell is a supported executable target for cloud-init, allowing you to configure a host at provisioning time. More about User Data on Equinix Metal can be found here.

VyOS¶

Equinix Metal offers a licensed LTS VyOS image.

Licensing charges are a fixed rate of $1.00/hr for compatible servers regardless of server type, core count, or socket count. Fees are added to your invoice on the 1st of each month.

Default user: vyos

Nutanix Cloud Platform on Equinix Metal¶

Equinix Metal offers the ability to provision Nutanix products on select workload optimized servers.

In order to provision and use Nutanix products on Equinix Metal, you will need to bring your own Nutanix license. More information is available on the Nutanix Ecosystem Partners page and in the solution brief.

Default user: root

For an example environment, see the Deploying a multi-node Nutanix cluster on Metal guide.

Nutanix Networking Configuration¶

Nutanix does not support public IP addresses at provision.

curl -X POST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Auth-Token: <API_TOKEN>" \
"https://api.equinix.com/metal/v1/projects/{id}/devices" \
-d '{
    "metro": "<metro_code>",
    "plan": "<server_type>",
    "operating_system": "nutanix_lts_6_5",
    "ip_addresses": [
        {  
            "address_family": 4,
            "public": false
        }
    ]
}'

When provisioning is complete, the server is only assigned a /31 private IP block with one useable IP address. This IP address is assigned to the Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV). The Controller VM (CVM) will use a link-local address.

Accessing Your Nutanix Server¶

Since your Nutanix server is deployed without public IP addresses it is not possible to access it by SSH from a remote host. Use the SOS/OOB Console to access your Nutanix server for initial AHV configuration and further setup.

VMware on Equinix Metal¶

Equinix Metal offers VMware Cloud Foundation on select Workload Optimized servers.

Default user: root

ESXi 7 and 8 are available only to users with preexisting deployments for recovery, re-installation, and migration. You are responsible for bringing your own valid VMware license(s) and you must comply with all applicable VMware EULA and product terms.

Default user: root

Alternative VMware Options¶

There are several managed services companies that are part of the VMware Cloud Provider Program (VCPP) that can offer managed VMware on Equinix Metal, including Equinix Managed Services.