Let’s say that you need to use Phoenix on a node, how do you know which ISO is best for you? the minimal or a bundle of Phoenix & AOS?

How do you create the bundle?  

The short answer for both questions is, it depends.

What is Phoenix?

Phoenix is an ISO-based installer that you can use to perform installation tasks on bare-metal hardware one node at a time.

Tasks that performed by Phoenix:

1.  Configuring Hypervisor settings, virtual switches and more (no need for AOS in this case)
2. Installing the Controller VM which runs the AOS.
3. Installing the Hypervisor on a new or replacement node. 
4. Repairing the CVM. 
5. If you don’t have access to the CVM and you want to check the data drives’ health, you will be able to see the drives from the Phoenix shell.

How do you obtain the correct Phoenix? 

Looking at the scenarios above, we can see that for each case you might need a different approach and ISO, but all scenarios require the minimal Phoenix ISO. 

You can download the minimal Phoenix ISO from Nutanix portal at https://portal.nutanix.com/#/page/Phoenix.

1. For configuring a Hypervisor that is already installed on the bootdrive, it’s enough to download the minimal Phoenix ISO from our portal and mounting it via the IPMI to configure the host.

Shut the node down, open the IPMI Java Console, mount the ISO and power on the node.

1. To install a CVM on a host with a Hypervisor already installed, you will have to generate a bundle that includes Phoenix ISO with AOS and then mount it via the IPMI.

You can generate this bundle from another CVM on the cluster.

If this is a stand-alone node and you don’t have other CVMs/nodes with AOS, you can generate the bundle via the Foundation VM. 

Both scenarios and their commands are documented in KB-3523

1. To install the hypervisor on a new or a replacement node, mount the Hypervisor ISO via the IPMI and install it (similar to the fist scenario) and then configure it using the minimal Phoenix from our portal.
2. To repair a CVM, you will need to generate a bundle of Phoenix + AOS similar to scenario 2, but when booting from Phoenix, choose “Repair CVM”. 
3. If you don’t have access to the CVM and you want to check the data drives, you need only the minimal ISO from our portal, you will be able to see the drives when booting into Phoenix.