Installing a new server

Remote Hands Install (Equinix)

Get the tracking number from the shipping company
Via the Equinix portal create a ticket of type: Smart Hands → Install Equipment ticket, option Where is this equipment currently? : I need to create an Inbound Shipment Ticket and use the Guided Form "wizard" for the install instructions.
Guided Form: Use next suitable slot per DB4-Rack or AM6-Rack as applicable.
Guided Form: Front (Cold Aisle) orientation
Guided Form: Patch devices: Spare cables are available in rack shelf box. Ethernet port 1 using Black Cable to next available port on left of Switch 1. Ethernet port 2 using Blue Cable to next available port on left of Switch 2. Management/iLO ethernet using white/grey/beige Cable to next available port on right of Switch 1 or Switch 2 (alternating). NOTE: HP 561FLR-T X540-T2 (2 port) that port 1 is on right and port 2 is on the left. The 4x ethernet ports on HPE DL360 Gen10 should NOT be used if 10GbE like the 561FLR-T are installed.
Guided Form: Power on yes.
Guided Form: Specific instructions: HPE DL360: Please take a photos of BOTH sides of the pull-out server identification, 1 of the sides has the default management password. Supermicro: Please take a photo of the default management password pull out tag.
Guided Form: Scheduling Flexible is preferable if time is not urgent. Normally done in ~ 5 days. Standard is normally done in ~ 2 days.

Once you have received the confirmation the server is up and have a copy of the iLO/management password. Proceed as follows.

Reset BIOS to default if unsure. !!! Be very careful if doing this on a Supermicro or other server as you may need to set the PCI-E bifurcation mode !!!
BIOS: Set: redundant power supply mode to High Efficiency Mode (Auto)
BIOS: Set: automatic power-on state: Always Power On
BIOS: Set NUMA Group Size Clustered
BIOS: If Amsterdam, Dublin or OSUOSL set PXE (IPv4) on required NIC as first UEFI boot option. This will allow the server to boot netboot.xyz which provider Ubuntu + Debian as installer options.
If the server failed to boot from PXE, it could be that ethernet port 1 and port 2 cables are the wrong way around, LACP force-up is only enabled on Switch 1. See config change for temporary flipping this on the switches. (private repo). Make sure to fix the cables like https://github.com/openstreetmap/operations/issues/960

Enable LACP at install time. Amsterdam and Dublin use LACP (IEEE 802.3ad) with hash layer3+4.
Use manual partitioning. Use GPT label. "Use as boot device" on primary disk, "User as another boot device" on secondary disk. Only create a partition on primary and secondary disks using 100% of free space. Create RAID md0, md0 format as ext4 use as / (root). No swap partition.
First user becomes UID 1000. "grant"
Enable SSH with password.

Switch to using optimal LBA sectors for NVMe
Install latest NVMe firmware
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash tomh; sudo usermod -a -G adm,cdrom,sudo,dip,plugdev,lxd tomh; sudo passwd tomh
Hand over for Chef
if HPE DL360 Gen10 set