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MultiTaction Base Linux Image

MultiTaction Base Linux Image is the universal operating platform for current MultiTaction Hydra Appliances. It is distributed on a self-contained Installer USB that can install without network access.

MultiTaction Base Linux Image - Ubuntu 24.04 Noble (UEFI boot)

Engineering preview — not a qualified release. These builds use a development signing key and have not completed hardware qualification. Do not use them for production or customer deployments.

There is one Base Image for current H2, H4, H8, H12, and H16 Hydra Appliances. It includes Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, NVIDIA support, a minimal Xfce/X11 configuration and diagnostics environment, and Teleport remote-support capability. MT Applications and optional hardware drivers are installed later as Approved Packages; there are no Full and Slim variants.

Secure Boot is required for supported installations.

Download

Each build has its own writing instructions, because the dd command in them names that build's ISO. Use the instructions published alongside the image you download.

Current — build 2026-07-31 (golden image goldenV260731)

Previous — build 2026-07-30

Older — build 2026-07-29 v3

Use build 2026-07-31 for any new installation. Earlier builds are kept for comparison only.

Build 2026-07-31 adds, over 2026-07-30. This build is about what the image no longer contains: a golden image is captured from a real appliance, so anything that appliance accumulated while it was being qualified is otherwise copied into every machine built from it.

  • The capture appliance's display configuration is gone. The image had been carrying an xorg.conf naming one GPU bus ID and one connector, a screen.xml describing a single panel, and a Cornerstone config.txt naming a NetBridge on the build network. An appliance built from that came up configured for hardware it does not have, and the layout a technician then gave it appeared to be ignored. Choosing a wall layout is Deployment Configuration and is now left entirely to the technician on site.
  • Application state from qualification testing is gone: workspace databases, image and font caches, session logs and crash dumps belonging to MT Applications, which this image does not include. A Showcase server keypair and key-encryption key generated on the capture machine went with them, so appliances no longer share one server identity.
  • Fourteen packages inherited from the Ubuntu base metapackages are removed. None is used by an appliance and each is a service, a timer or a network client: crash reporting to Canonical, cloud provisioning, VMware guest tools, subscription and fleet-management agents, a login-time news fetcher, a second package daemon competing for the dpkg lock, cellular modem management, and a recovery menu for a machine that recovers by reinstalling.
  • Configuration left behind by packages that were removed rather than purged is gone, along with Ubuntu installer logs describing an installation that has nothing to do with how the appliance was installed.

Preview installation modes

This preview offers Factory Reset and a live diagnostics environment. Factory Reset erases the operating system and all Application Data, then creates a clean MT disk layout. The installer verifies the signed golden image byte for byte before writing the target.

Repair Installation is planned for the qualified Installer USB but is not available in this preview.

Install the Base Image

  1. Write the Installer USB image to an empty USB drive of at least 8 GB using the linked Rufus or Linux instructions. Writing the image erases the USB drive.
  2. Leave Secure Boot enabled and boot the Hydra Appliance from the USB in UEFI mode.
  3. Select Factory Reset from the boot menu. It starts automatically after 30 seconds if no option is selected.
  4. Select the target internal disk after checking its model, capacity, and serial number. Factory Reset erases all data on that disk.
  5. Set the customer-owned administrator password when prompted, or allow the 60-second timeout and set it later through Teleport.
  6. Wait for the installer to report completion. Do not power off or remove the USB while it is writing or verifying the target.
  7. Power off the appliance, remove the Installer USB, and boot from the internal disk.

The installed system auto-logs in as multi and opens the configuration and diagnostics environment. Connect the required network interfaces, complete Deployment Configuration, and install the required MT Applications as Approved Packages. Launcher becomes the normal appliance interface when its package is installed.

Everything a technician needs is under MultiTaction in the desktop menu:

  • Install Apps installs Showcase, Canvus and Launcher, in that order.
  • Update Software checks for and applies updates to the MT software already on the appliance.
  • Technician > Display Layout writes xorg.conf, screen.xml and config.txt together for a standard wall — single screen, 3x1 or 5x1 portrait, 3x2 or 3x3 landscape — assigning NetBridge addresses from 10.77.84.101 left to right then top to bottom. It restores the previous configuration automatically if the wall does not come back or the change is not confirmed.
  • Technician > Tools opens each product's configuration file and log directory.
  • Diagnostics exports a support bundle and shows service state and system logs.

The medium carries no network credentials. Join the appliance to its network at installation.

MultiTaction Base Linux Image - Ubuntu 18.04 (UEFI boot)

Old version, using legacy boot: