Installing Your School Manager 30D or 40D Appliance

This article discusses the installation and first time connection process for a School Manager appliance, and provides the information needed to install the appliance in a bridged network configuration. The initial School Manager configuration is completed by a Linewize Deployment Engineer before the appliance is shipped to the school. This reduces the need for you to make configuration changes during the first time connection, but you will still need to physically install the device with the assistance of a Linewize Deployment Engineer. 

Before you begin:

Before you start the installation process, you should:

• Check that you’ve received all of your components
• School Manager 30D or 40D Appliance
• Appliance power cable
• Appliance mounting instructions
• Port configuration sheet

To complete the installation, you will need:

• At least one hour to install the appliance and complete the cutover
• 1U rack space
• Access to your upstream firewall and downstream core switch
• 3 x CAT6 network cables (or better)
• A computer on the same network as the installation, like: 
  • VGA cable, monitor, and keyboard to access the command line; or
  • TeamViewer installed onto a PC connected to the same network to provide Secure Shell (SSH) access; or
  • Plug in a network cable into the IPMI port of the appliance and the other end to your core switch (You will need to inform the Deployment Engineer of the IP address)

Step 1: Book Your Deployment Call

Book a time outside of school hours with a Linewize Deployment Engineer. Contact Linewize Support to verify the installation and perform cutover.

Step 2: Install the School Manager Appliance

1. Before joining your call with the Linewize Deployment Engineer, mount the appliance right-side up in your server rack using the supplied mounting instructions.
2. If available, connect the VGA cable, monitor, and keyboard to the appliance or plug in a network cable into the IPMI port of the appliance and the other end to your core switch (remember to inform the Deployment Engineer the IP address).
3. Connect the appliance to power using the supplied power cable and ensure the appliance powers up. LEDs will light up, and the fans will power on. If you’ve connected a monitor, you will see the appliance will boot up.

4. Using the supplied port configuration sheet, connect the designated port to your upstream firewall. This provides the connection to the internet.
5. Using the supplied port configuration sheet, connect the designated port to your downstream core switch. This completes the connection to the school network.

Step 3: Join the call with the Linewize Deployment Engineer

1. Join your call with the Linewize Deployment Engineer.
2. When instructed by the Linewize Deployment Engineer, on your computer, go to cloud.linewize.net and log into School Manager with your credentials provided by the Linewize Deployment Engineer.
3. Go to Configuration > Networking > Interfaces. 

If the interfaces have appeared, this means the appliance is connected to the internet. Confirm  bridge connectivity by checking that devices on the network have their internet connection restored. 

If you don’t see the interfaces, you will need to troubleshoot the issue with the Deployment Engineer. Follow their instructions on the call.

The image is an example, your interfaces may be different depending on your configuration.