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Install from the disk image (img.gz)

The recommended way to install Nexwall is the installer ISO, see Install with the ISO. Use the disk image only when the ISO does not fit your case, for example when you copy the same image to many disks in a factory, or when you import the system into a platform that can only use disk files.

The image is a complete disk: partition table, partitions and boot loader. It starts in UEFI mode only; it does not boot on legacy BIOS.

Where to download the image​

  1. Open the release notes, releasenotes.nexwall.com.br, and open the page of the version you want to install.
  2. Go to the Downloads section at the end of the page. It lists the files of the version with their size and SHA-256 checksum.
  3. Download the file named nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz. It is about 1 GB.

Always verify the download against the checksum of the table:

sha256sum nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz

On Windows, in PowerShell: Get-FileHash .\nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz -Algorithm SHA256.

Copy the image to a disk​

  1. Uncompress the image and write it to the target disk. On Linux, replace /dev/sdX with the correct disk. Double check the name, because this erases the disk:

    gunzip -k nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz
    sudo dd if=nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync

    On Windows, use a disk writing tool such as Rufus or balenaEtcher with the uncompressed image.

  2. If the disk is larger than the image, the free space is used for data.

  3. Boot the machine with UEFI. In the firmware setup make sure the boot order starts with the new disk and that Secure Boot is disabled.

  4. Connect the LAN cable to the interface that will be the LAN and continue with the Quick start.

Use the image in VMware​

VMware cannot boot a raw image directly, so convert it to a VMDK disk first. On any Linux machine with qemu-utils:

gunzip -k nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img.gz
qemu-img resize -f raw nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img 32G
qemu-img convert -f raw -O vmdk -o subformat=monolithicSparse \
  nexwall-<version>-x86-64-generic-squashfs-combined-efi.img nexwall.vmdk

The resize step gives the unit a 32 GB disk. Without it the disk would be only as large as the image.

Create the virtual machine:

  1. Choose a custom configuration, Linux, version Other Linux 6.x kernel 64-bit.
  2. Give it 2 CPUs and 4 GB of memory.
  3. When asked for a disk, choose Use an existing virtual disk and select nexwall.vmdk. Use a SATA controller.
  4. Add two network adapters: the first is the LAN, the second is the WAN.
  5. Before the first boot, set the firmware type to UEFI and turn Secure Boot off.

On ESXi, upload the VMDK to a datastore, convert it with vmkfstools -i nexwall.vmdk nexwall-esx.vmdk -d thin, and attach the converted disk to a VM with UEFI firmware.

Use the image in KVM, libvirt or Proxmox​

These platforms use raw or qcow2 disks directly:

  1. Uncompress the image and, if you want more space, resize it: qemu-img resize -f raw <image> 32G.
  2. Create a VM with UEFI (OVMF) firmware, two or more vCPUs and 4 GB of memory.
  3. Import the image as the VM disk (qm importdisk on Proxmox, or point the libvirt disk to the file).
  4. Add two network devices and set the boot order to the imported disk.

After the first boot​

The unit is reachable on 192.168.1.1 from the LAN and the console shows a login prompt. If the web interface does not answer, see Troubleshooting.