## Purpose
If you want to deploy the FOG Project software in your homelab environment to remotely image devices via PXE boot, follow the instructions below to get through the process.

!!! info "assumptions"
    It is assumed that you are deploying FOG Project in [Ubuntu Server 26.04](https://releases.ubuntu.com/26.04/ubuntu-26.04-live-server-amd64.iso) or newer.  This documentation does not account for distro-specific issues in other operating systems.

    It is also assumed that you allocate at least 4-cores and 8GB of RAM with at least 256GB of storage for the OS and FOG images.

!!! warning "Potential Netplan Misconfiguration"
    If the FOG server cannot resolve DNS names or reach external networks, verify that the Netplan configuration includes both:

    - `nameservers` pointing to valid DNS servers
    - a default route pointing to the network gateway

    Check the Netplan configuration:

    ```sh
    cd /etc/netplan
    ls
    sudo nano <netplan file>
    ```

    Ensure it looks similar to this:

    ```yaml
    network:
      version: 2
      ethernets:
        ens18:
          addresses:
            - 192.168.3.9/24
          routes:
            - to: default
              via: 192.168.3.1
          match:
            macaddress: bc:24:11:5c:eb:c9
          nameservers:
            addresses:
              - 192.168.3.25
              - 192.168.3.26
            search: []
          set-name: ens18
    ```

    Apply the configuration safely and temporarily with `sudo netplan try` and if connectivity still works, accept the changes permanently by running `sudo netplan apply`. Otherwise, Netplan will roll back the changes automatically.

### Update & Snapshot the GuestVM
Before we take a checkpoint/snapshot and install FOG Project, we want to ensure that the GuestVM is fully updated.  After the updates are complete, shutdown the GuestVM, take a snapshot, and boot it back up.

```sh
sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove
sudo poweroff
```

### Download FOG Project Tarball
Download the most recent FOG Project tarball from the [official website](https://fogproject.org/download.php) then extract it.

```sh
curl -L https://api.github.com/repos/FOGProject/fogproject/tarball/1.5.10.1826 -o FOGProject-fogproject-1.5.10.1826-0-g2309704.tar.gz
tar -xzvf FOGProject-fogproject-1.5.10.1826-0-g2309704.tar.gz
cd FOGProject-fogproject-2309704/bin
sudo ./installfog.sh
```

### Install FOG Project (External DHCP Server)
The steps below will guide you on a high-level through the external DHCP-server based deployment of FOG Project.  Steps will be different if you want FOG itself handing out DHCP addresses and DNS records itself, which I do not recommend.

#### Install Steps
- What version of Linux would you like to run the installation for? > `2)`