Need help or have questions about installing Vyatta software? Check the videos, instructions and examples on this page and if you are still looking for help visit the Vyatta Install forum

Vyatta University Training

Video: Vyatta Software Installation

Running the Live CD

After download either the Vyatta Core or the Vyatta Subscription Edition .iso image, burn to a CD-ROM using your favorite CD burning software.

All Vyatta ISOs are live CDs, which means that you can evaluate the system simply by booting the CD. The system will run without destroying any data on your local harddrive. This makes for an ideal way to evaluate the system without having to find spare hardware. When you're done experimenting, you can simply remove the CD-ROM and reboot. Vyatta also works quite well in virtualized environments, including VMware and Xen. When you're done with your evaluation and want to create a more permanent environment, you can install Vyatta to hard disk using the instructions below.

Once you have booted the CD, you can login as either vyatta or root. Both accounts use a default password of vyatta.

In VC1 through VC3, logging in as vyatta takes you to the Vyatta shell. This is a networking-specific shell that has a look and feel similar to other common routers and network appliances. If you login as root, you'll be placed in the standard Linux Bash shell, where you can execute all standard Linux commands. If you want to enter the Vyatta shell from the root account, execute the xorpsh command.

Starting with VC4, Vyatta has introduced the FusionCLI™ management interface. With the FusionCLI, the Linux and network environments are unified. There is a single shell from which users can access both Vyatta commands and standard Linux commands. When you login as the vyatta user, however, you'll have more limited permissions and some Linux commands may not be available to you. Logging in as root gives the user access to the full suite of Vyatta and Linux commands with no restrictions. The FusionCLI also supports multiple user roles with different levels of permission; see the fully VC4 documentation for more information.

Installing to Hard Disk

If you're going to run Vyatta in any sort of long-term trial or production, we strongly recommend installing it to hard disk. Executing from CD can be annoying in a production environment. For instance, you may experience pauses interacting with the CLI or web interfaces while the system spins up the CD to read some data. Further, when running from CD, configurations must be saved to floppy disk, otherwise they are lost when the system reboots.

You can install the system to a local hard disk using the installation program. To install the system:

Login: root

Password: vyatta

# install-system

Follow the prompts to install the system to a local partition on your hard drive.

Vyatta Knowledge Base Articles

Vyatta Subscription Edition customers can consult a number of Knowledge Base articles that may help with certain aspects of installation.

HOW TO Create a Bootable LiveCD using Mac OS

HOW TO Create a Bootable LiveCD using Linux

HOW TO Create a Bootable LiveCD using Windows

HOW TO Create a Bootable router Image on a USB Memory Key

Don’t Forget to Check for Updates:
Once you have installed the Vyatta system, you'll probably want to check for updates. If you're a Vyatta support subscription customer, you'll want to also consult more detailed instructions in the support knowledge base. If you're using the Vyatta Core, please see How to Update