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Self Install on Intel NUC7

HomeDrive N7 runs on an Intel NUC7CJYH or NUC7CJYHN device. While you can buy our preinstalled NUC7 hardware at our website, you can also buy the same (or compatible) hardware and install HomeDrive software all by yourself for free.

Preparation

  • A Intel NUC7 box with at least 2GB memory and 16GB storage installed.
  • A USB drive of at least 250MB, for use as the installation media.
  • An Ethernet cable network that provides Internet connectivity. This is normally by connecting the cable to your home router.
  • A monitor with HDMI input, and a keyboard.

BIOS Configuration

Intel NUC7 comes with UEFI secure boot enabled by default, and to boot with secure boot enabled, the bootloader and operating system must be signed by Microsoft. HomeDrive uses Burmilla OS: a custom and small Linux distribution that is not yet signed to boot on UEFI hardware. As a result, the UEFI needs to be disabled manually first. In addition to secure boot, we will also configure some other BIOS settings here to make the Intel NUC7 more suitable as a small server:

Here are the steps for BIOS configuration:

  1. Connect the box with a monitor and a keyboard, then power it up.
  2. Upon boot up, press F2 to enter the Intel Visual BIOS.
  3. Enter "Advanced"
  4. In "Boot" tab, "Secure Boot" sub tab, uncheck "Secure Boot". HomeDrive uses Burmilla OS, which is a small Linux distro that has not yet got signed for UEFI secure boot.
  5. In "Power" tab, change "After power fails" to "Last state". This makes sure that the device auto comes back up after temporary power failures.
  6. (Optional) in "Cooling" tab, change "Fan Control Mode" to "Quiet".
  7. Press F10 to save and exit, and "Yes" to confirm.

Installation

To install HomeDrive:

  1. Create an endpoint on HomeDrive website. This endpoint account will be used for fetching future HomeDrive software updates, and also for establishing the end-to-end encrypted proxy tunnel so that you can visit your HomeDrive from the Internet. The endpoint account name is a sub domain label.
  2. Download the image here and flash it to an USB drive. You can use a tool like Balena Etcher.
  3. Connect your Intel NUC7 to the Internet via an Ethernet cable.
  4. Plug the USB drive into your Intel NUC7.
  5. Reboot your Intel NUC7.
  6. Boot into the USB drive. You will see a grub boot menu entry that says "Install HomeDrive". If it does not boot into the USB drive, you can press F10 to select the boot media manually.
  7. Wait until you see the burmilla$ prompt on the console. The boot procedure might take about 5 minute.
  8. Run sudo /opt/homedrv/install.
  9. When prompt for the endpoint's name, enter the endpoint name that you created.
  10. It will then ask you for the one-time installation code. You can find the code on the endpoint's page. If the code has expired or about to expire, you can click the button on the endpoint's page to receate a new one.
  11. After filling in the endpoint's name and the one-time installation code, it will install Burmilla OS to the storage device and reboot.
  12. When it reboots, make sure it boots into the storage device rather than the USB drive this time. You can select manually the boot media by pressing F10 on boot time, or you can also just pull off the USB drive when it is booting.
  13. When it boots into the storage device for the first time, it wil install HomeDrive with Nextcloud. Depending on the performance of the storage and the network, it might take 5 to 30 minutes to complete the full installation.

You can track the installation progress after the reboot with this command: docker logs --follow core.homedrv (and press Ctrl-C to exit following at any time).

After HomeDrive is successfully installed, you can visit it at domain your-endpoint.homedrv.com (or your-endpoint.homedrv.eu for ones in the Europe region). The installation generates a password with random characters, and you can find the password on the endpoint's page. The username is admin.

After installation, please change your Nextcloud password and set up some form of 2-factor authentication. Since your Nextcloud is exposed to the Internet, setting up 2-factor authentication is very important to keep your service and data secure.

The keyboard and the monitor will be no longer needed after the installation.

If you need help, feel free to chat with us using the chat bottom on the bottom right corner, or send us an email at support@homedrive.io .

If you still find these steps too complicated to follow, you can buy a preinstalled HomeDrive device.

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