Getting Started

Important

Start Here — New to Karios? Use this onboarding order:

  1. Complete Quick Start Checklist first.

  2. Use Getting Started (this page) for context, terminology, and prerequisites.

  3. Continue to ISO Install for the combined graphical install and integrated Bootstrap workflow.

  4. After the installer completes and the node reboots, open Control Center, the Karios web UI, at the final HTTPS URL shown on the console.

This page does not replace the checklist. It explains the terms and platform context used in that first-step readiness check.

For shared term definitions, see Glossary or section 3.2 Key Terminology below.

1. Welcome to Karios

Welcome to Karios. This guide helps new users understand what the platform does and how to begin in the correct order.

2. What is Karios?

Karios is a unified infrastructure operating system that simplifies how organizations build and manage modern IT infrastructure. It brings together compute, virtualization, Kubernetes orchestration, security, observability, and power intelligence into a single hardware-agnostic platform, enabling teams to provision, operate, and optimize infrastructure across datacenters, edge environments, and hybrid deployments.

2.1. Platform Scope at a Glance

Karios is not only a hypervisor layer. It covers the full infrastructure workflow:

  • Karios OS + graphical installer for base host provisioning

  • Integrated Bootstrap for first-time control plane setup during installation

  • Control Center UI for day-to-day infrastructure operations after the installer completes and the node reboots

  • Karios Forge for bare-metal host lifecycle and hardware operations

  • Karios DFS for distributed storage operations (Dashboard, Storage, Block Storage, Object Storage, Infrastructure, Monitoring, Advanced)

  • Infrastructure, Compute, Network, Storage, Compute Policies, Observability, Kubernetes, and Security modules in one operational plane

3. What You’ll Learn

After this section, you should understand:

  • The end-to-end onboarding path

  • Minimum prerequisites before each phase

  • Where to go next in the docs

3.1. Full Documentation End-State

After completing the full documentation flow, a new operator should be able to:

  • Install Karios and complete Bootstrap on supported hardware

  • Configure users, roles, infrastructure, storage, networking, and compute policies

  • Provision and operate VMs and Kubernetes clusters

  • Run security scans, interpret diagnostics, and triage operational alerts

  • Execute support escalation with complete evidence and clear impact context

3.2. Key Terminology

Terms used throughout this guide:

Term

Technical Meaning

Plain English

Zone

Top-level infrastructure boundary

A datacenter location or site

Pod

Network segment inside a zone

A group of servers on the same network block

Cluster

Logical group of hosts

Multiple physical servers operating together

Host

Physical compute node

An actual machine with CPU/RAM

BMC

Baseboard Management Controller

Remote power/console control interface

BMO

Bare Metal Operations

Service/workflow that drives host lifecycle actions through BMC

Instance Profile

VM compute sizing template

VM size definition

VM Template

Prebuilt virtual machine image

Ready-to-use operating system image

Boot Image

Bootable installation media

Installer disk image

CIDR

IP range notation

Network block format like 192.168.1.0/24

Virtual Router

Software router for isolated guest networks

Auto-created network gateway for VM traffic

Compute Policy

Reusable resource policy object

Predefined profile used when creating or operating resources

Volume Profile

VM disk performance/capacity profile

Storage tier template for VM volumes

4. Platform Overview

4.1. Key Features

  • Zero-touch provisioning across virtually any hardware

  • Unified virtualization and Kubernetes orchestration

  • Integrated security, observability, and automation

  • One platform, one operational model

4.2. Beyond Virtualization

Traditional infrastructure stacks are fragmented, expensive, and operationally brittle. Karios is built to remove those constraints and simplify operations across the full infrastructure lifecycle.

Whether you are modernizing legacy infrastructure or deploying at the edge for the first time, Karios reduces complexity, lowers cost, and improves visibility and control.

4.3. Core Philosophy

Karios follows three core principles:

  • Simplicity: Make complex infrastructure operations predictable.

  • Integrity: Keep infrastructure behavior consistent and defensible.

  • Agility: Allow fast, controlled iteration as requirements evolve.

Operational model:

  • Hardware-agnostic lifecycle workflows reduce vendor lock-in complexity.

  • Unified operations reduce tool sprawl and handoff friction.

  • Security and observability are treated as core operations, not add-ons.

Who Karios is built for:

  • Enterprises modernizing virtualization and Kubernetes

  • Organizations constrained by power, space, or cost

  • Edge, telecom, and distributed infrastructure deployments

  • Government, utilities, finance, healthcare, education, and smart-city environments

  • Teams that want fewer tools and better outcomes

5. Infrastructure Deployment: Network and Hardware Requirements

Use this section to validate deployment prerequisites before onboarding infrastructure.

Important

For the full onboarding flow in this documentation (combined graphical install, integrated Bootstrap, and Control Center setup), satisfy the 5.1 Network Requirements and 5.2 Hardware Requirements gates first, then use at least the 5.3 Minimum Requirements baseline.

5.1. Network Requirements

5.1.1. VLANs - 5 Required

Network

Purpose

Notes

Management

Platform services, DNS

Required

Storage

Storage traffic

Required

Public

Public network

Required

Guest

VM tenant traffic

Required

BMC / OOB

Out-of-band management

Required, DHCP disabled

5.1.2. VLAN Rules

  • All 5 VLANs must be unique with no duplicates.

  • No CIDR overlaps are allowed between any networks.

  • All IPs must be within their respective declared CIDR range.

5.1.3. Management Network

  • Usable IP range must be greater than 20 IPs because 20 IPs are reserved for VIPs.

  • Minimum IP range is enforced at validation time.

5.1.4. Storage Network

  • Usable IP range must be greater than 20 IPs because 15 VIPs and 5 IPs are reserved.

  • Storage IP range must be greater than or equal to the management IP range. It can exceed it, but it cannot be smaller.

5.2. Hardware Requirements

5.2.1. Supported Manufacturers

  • Supermicro

  • Dell

  • HP

5.2.2. Node Specifications

Component

Management Server

Agent / Compute Node

CPU Cores

16+ cores

16+ cores

RAM

16 GB minimum

16 GB minimum

Disks

2+

3+ (excluding OS disk)

BMC (IPMI/iDRAC/iLO)

Required

Required

EFI Bootloader

Required

Required

KVM Acceleration

Not required

Required

5.2.3. Agent / Compute Node Disk Requirements

  • OS installation disk: Tier 1 or Tier 2, at the user’s choice.

  • Remaining disks: 3 or more disks, excluding the OS disk.

  • The remaining disks must include at least one Tier 1 disk, one Tier 2 disk, and one Tier 3 disk.

5.2.4. Disk Tier Classification

Tier

DWPD Range

Classification

Tier 1

10+

High endurance (NVMe/enterprise SSD)

Tier 2

3 - 10

Mid endurance

Tier 3

1 - 3

Standard endurance

Choose the profile that matches your environment after the deployment prerequisites above are satisfied.

5.3. Minimum Requirements

  • Management Server: CPU: 16+ cores, Disks: 2+

  • Agent Server: Disks: 3+ excluding OS disk

  • BMC (IPMI/iDRAC/iLO)

  • EFI bootloader required

  • KVM virtualization enabled in BIOS

  • Management Server RAM: 16 GB minimum

  • Agent / Compute Node RAM: 16 GB minimum

5.5. Ideal Requirements

  • Management Server: CPU: 32+ cores, Disks: 2+ enterprise NVMe (mirrored layout recommended)

  • Agent Server: Disks: 6+ for resilient storage layouts

  • BMC (IPMI/iDRAC/iLO) on dedicated management network

  • KVM virtualization enabled in BIOS

  • RAM: 128 GB+ ECC memory recommended

5.6. Environment Sizing Calculator (Example)

Example workload target: 20 VMs (10 small, 8 medium, 2 large)

VM demand model:

  • Small VM: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 50 GB disk

  • Medium VM: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB disk

  • Large VM: 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 200 GB disk

Calculated total VM demand:

  • CPU (vCPU): (10x2) + (8x4) + (2x8) = 68 vCPU

  • RAM: (10x4) + (8x8) + (2x16) = 136 GB

  • Storage: (10x50) + (8x100) + (2x200) = 1700 GB

Add platform/HA overhead:

  • CPU (vCPU): 68 x 1.3 = 89 vCPU

  • RAM: 136 x 1.3 = 177 GB

  • Storage: 1700 x 1.5 = 2550 GB (snapshots/growth buffer)

Example physical allocation (target outcome):

  • Option A: 3 hosts x 32 cores (96 total cores)

  • Option B: 4 hosts x 24 cores (96 total cores)

  • RAM: 3 hosts x 64 GB = 192 GB

  • Storage: 3 hosts x 1 TB NVMe = 3 TB raw (layout dependent usable)

Tip

For HA planning, ensure the environment can tolerate one-host failure while still meeting critical workload demand.

5.7. Hypervisor VM Prep (Lab/Nested Only)

Use this section only for lab or nested testing environments.

Warning

Supported production deployments should run on bare metal. Hypervisor-based deployments are for limited lab experimentation.

Why these settings matter:

  • They reduce common virtualization compatibility issues during install and first boot.

  • They avoid known performance bottlenecks from unsupported virtual controllers and NIC models.

  • They provide a consistent baseline before troubleshooting cluster behavior.

5.7.1. ESXi 7.0 U2 or Greater

Setting

Value

Guest Family

Karios-compatible Linux family

Guest OS Version

Linux 6.x / Debian 12 compatible (64-bit)

Expose Hardware Assisted Virtualization to Guest OS

Yes

CPU

16 cores

Memory

Minimum 16 GB

Hard Disk Provisioning

Thin Provision

Disk Mode

Dependent

Controller

VMware Paravirtual SCSI controller. Do not use LSI Logic SAS.

Network Adapter

VMXNET3. Do not use E1000e because it is not 10GB capable.

VM Options

Firmware EFI and Secure Boot unchecked.

5.7.2. Proxmox VE 8 and 9

Area

Setting

OS

OS Type: Linux; Version: Linux 6.x compatible

System

Machine: Q35; BIOS: OVMF; Add EFI Disk: Checked; Pre-Enroll Keys: Unchecked; QEMU Agent: Checked

Disks

Bus/Device: VirtIO Block; Storage: Select the storage pool; Format: RAW (do not use Qcow2); Cache: No Cache; Discard: Checked; Async IO: io_uring or threads

CPU

Type: Host (16 cores)

Network

Model: VirtIO

5.7.3. Hyper-V

Area

Setting

Generation

Generation 2 only

Memory

Startup Memory: 16 GB; Use Dynamic Memory: Unchecked

Network

Connection: Gen 2 synthetic

Disks

Format: .vhdx; Type: Fixed

Post Creation - Security

Secure Boot: Unchecked

Post Creation - Network Adapter

Enable MAC Address Spoofing: Checked

Post Creation - Integration Services

Ensure all services are checked

Processor

4-16 vCPU (test for minimums)

5.8. Obtaining Installation Media

Alternative Download Methods

For environments with restricted internet access:

  • Contact sales@karios.com for offline media delivery

  • Request access to mirror sites for your region

Creating Bootable Media

Download Size and Network Requirements

  • ISO size: ~2-4 GB (version dependent)

  • Minimum download speed: 10 Mbps recommended

  • Estimated download time: 5-30 minutes (depending on connection)

Version Selection Guidance

  • Latest stable release: Recommended for new deployments

  • Version-pinned release from the archive index: use when change-control requires fixed versioning

Tip

Bookmark the downloads page: https://downloads.karios.com/iso/

6. Before You Begin

Confirm the following before starting the installation:

  • Hardware meets baseline requirements

  • Installation media is ready

  • Management network is reachable

  • You have console access to target hardware

7. Platform User Flow

This is a suggested flow to help you get started. You are free to follow your own order based on your deployment needs. The actual flow will vary depending on your objective.

After installation, review the Control Center Dashboard and Infrastructure to confirm the environment is healthy, then go to User Management to create users and assign roles before proceeding further.

If you have purchased a license, go to User Management → License to review the license overview and complete the activation flow before creating users. See 10. License.

For example, if your immediate objective is to launch a VM, you can go directly to Compute – Virtual Machines after reviewing Infrastructure. The flow is entirely driven by your objective.

ISO Install + Bootstrap
→ Control Center Dashboard
→ Infrastructure  (Zone → Pods → Clusters → Hosts)
→ User Management  (License activation → Create users and assign roles)
→ Karios Forge  (Add Node → Provision Node)
→ Network
→ Storage
→ Compute – Virtual Machines  (Create VM → Manage VM)
→ Nodes  (Review / Add Hosts)
→ Compute Policies
→ Observability
→ K-Shield  (Security)
→ Kubernetes
→ Karios DFS
→ Release Management  |  Settings

8. Karios DFS Entry Point

Use the Karios DFS section when you begin storage-cluster operations.

Recommended DFS entry order:

  1. Karios DFS Overview (roles, dependency chain, dashboard health check)

  2. Storage (Pools, File System, NFS Shares)

  3. Block Storage (Block Images; iSCSI and Mirroring are in beta)

  4. Object Storage (Users, Gateway, Buckets)

  5. Infrastructure, Monitoring, and Advanced as needed

Note

In Karios DFS terminology, use NFS Shares for the Storage NFS page and Manager Modules for Advanced > Extensions.

9. Getting Help & Support

If you are blocked, use one of these paths:

Include in every request:

  • Exact error text

  • Timestamp

  • Doc section and step

  • Current impact

Note

Full support workflow and ticketing details are documented in Karios Support.

10. Success Checkpoint

After completing Getting Started, you should be able to:

  • Explain the first-time onboarding path

  • Identify minimum hardware and network prerequisites

  • Choose the correct support escalation path and required evidence

  • Proceed directly to ISO installation with clear expectations