Licensed Operating Systems¶
You can deploy the following licensed Operating Systems on various standard server plans and workload optimized plans on Equinix Metal.
If you would like to check whether an operating system is currently available on a specific standard or legacy server plan, use the Operating System Compatibility page.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Equinix Metal¶
Equinix Metal offers Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
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.
| Operating System | Slug |
|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | rhel_8 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | rhel_7 |
Windows Server on Equinix Metal¶
Equinix Metal offers Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022.
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 additional licensing costs will vary.
| Operating System | Slug |
|---|---|
| Windows 2022 Standard | windows_2022 |
| Windows 2019 Standard | windows_2019 |
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 24hrs after the server is provisioned. After the first 24 hrs, the root password will no longer be visible for security reasons, so save it or change it 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.
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 and make a hardware reservation for the servers. More information is available on the Nutanix Ecosystem Partners page and in the solution brief.
| Operating System | Slug |
|---|---|
| Nutanix LTS 5.20 | nutanix_lts_5_20 |
VMware ESXi¶
Equinix Metal does not offer licensing for ESXi at this time.
In order to provision and run a server with ESXi or any other VMware product, you are responsible for bringing your own valid VMware license(s), and for complying with all of VMware’s and any other vendor’s appropriate and applicable licensing and product terms.
| Operating System | Slug |
|---|---|
| VMware ESXi 7.0U2a | vmware_esxi_7_0U2a |
| VMware ESXi 7.0 | vmware_esxi_7_0 |
| VMware ESXi 6.7 | vmware_esxi_6_7 |
| VMware ESXi 6.5 | vmware_esxi_6_5 |
| VMware NSX 3.0.0 | vmware_nsx_3_0_0 |
| VMware NSX 2.5.0 | vmware_nsx_2_5_0 |
Equinix Metal also offers Workload Optimized server plans that are built in compliance with VMware’s HCL, and that when paired with enterprise storage solutions, like Dell PowerStore or Pure Storage, have the technical capability to run VMware products.
Alternative VMware Options¶
If you are looking for a 100% supported option for running VMware with vSAN, Equinix Metal offers Dell VxRail appliances.
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.