Install
the 42box

The 42box is an appliance that collects test data and streams it, encrypted, to the 42clue cloud.

All remote access and cloud connectivity runs over an outbound-only tunnel. You never need to open inbound ports on your firewall.

Hardware requirements

• CPU: x86-64, 2 cores minimum (4 recommended)
• RAM: 2 GB minimum (4 GB recommended)
• Internal storage: 2 GiB minimum, non-removable (SSD preferred)
• Boot mode: BIOS / legacy / CSM. UEFI-only machines without a CSM fallback are not supported.
• Console: VGA/HDMI/DP with a keyboard, or a serial console on ttyS0 at 115200 8N1.
• USB port: one free port for the install stick during the 3–5 min install window.

Virtual machine requirements

• 2 vCPU (4 recommended), 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)
• 2 GiB disk minimum. Larger is fine; the appliance grows its filesystem to fill whatever you give it.
• Virtual disk on SCSI, SATA, or virtio-blk (any BIOS-bootable bus)
• One network adapter on a VLAN or bridge with DHCP

Tested on Proxmox VE. Also runs on VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V.

Network

• DHCP must be available on the network. Static IP is not supported.
• No inbound firewall rules are required. Connectivity is outbound-only.
• Open the three outbound rules below before installing so the appliance can register on first boot.

Firewall rules

Allow outbound traffic from the subnet where the 42box will be installed. Whitelist destination by FQDN, not by IP. Destinations resolve to dynamic cloud IP ranges that rotate without notice.

No other firewall changes are needed. OS updates, telemetry, time sync, DNS, and webhooks all exit through the tunnel and do not cross your firewall.

Step 1 · Flash the USB stick

1. Download the latest 42box-<version>.img.xz from the Releases page.
2. Download 42box-<version>.img.xz.sha256 and verify the checksum (recommended).
3. Open balenaEtcher (Windows, macOS, Linux).
4. Flash from file → select the .img.xz. Etcher decompresses on-the-fly; you do not need to extract it.
5. Select target → pick your USB stick. Everything on it will be overwritten. Double-check the disk.
6. Click Flash. Wait for “Flash Complete”, then eject.

Any USB stick of 2 GiB or larger works; the appliance only uses the first 2 GiB.

Step 2 · Boot and install

1. Plug the USB stick into the target machine.
2. Power on. Enter the BIOS/firmware setup (typically F2 / Del / Esc at boot).
3. Set the USB stick as the first boot device, or use the one-shot boot menu (often F12 / F10 / Esc).
4. Enable legacy / CSM boot. The appliance does not boot in pure UEFI mode.
   UEFI-only hardware

   Machines without a CSM fallback will not boot. Contact support if you are not sure about your hardware.

5. Save and exit the BIOS. The machine boots from the USB stick.
6. The installer banner appears within ~30 seconds. A 15-second countdown runs before the copy starts. To abort, power off during the countdown.
7. The copy takes 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on disk speed. On completion, the banner confirms the install and it is safe to remove the stick. A 10-second countdown then reboots the machine.
8. You can remove the USB stick any time during that countdown. The machine reboots normally either way.
9. If after reboot the screen stays blank, power-cycle briefly. Some BIOSes do not reboot cleanly via software; this only affects the first reboot.

Continue at 05 Activation.

Proxmox VE

Run the commands below on the Proxmox host. Replace <VMID> with the VM ID you are creating (for example 705).

1. Upload 42box-<version>.img.xz to the Proxmox host (e.g. scp into /root/).
2. Decompress:
   xz -d 42box-<version>.img.xz # yields 42box-<version>.img
3. Create an empty VM: BIOS boot, 4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, one VirtIO NIC on a DHCP bridge. Do not attach a disk yet.
4. Import the image as the VM’s boot disk:
   qm importdisk <VMID> 42box-<version>.img local-lvm qm set <VMID> --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-<VMID>-disk-0 qm set <VMID> --boot order=scsi0
5. (Optional) Grow the boot disk beyond 2 GiB:
   qm set <VMID> --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-<VMID>-disk-0,size=20G
   The appliance grows its filesystem to fill the disk on the next boot.
6. Start the VM:
   qm start <VMID>
7. Watch the console with qm terminal <VMID>. The appliance boots, registers with the 42clue cloud, and brings up its interface.

VMware ESXi / Workstation, Microsoft Hyper-V, others

1. Create a BIOS-boot VM: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, one NIC on a DHCP network.
2. Convert the .img to the hypervisor’s disk format (vmdk for VMware, vhdx for Hyper-V) with qemu-img or the hypervisor’s import tool:
   qemu-img convert -f raw -O vmdk 42box-<version>.img 42box.vmdk qemu-img convert -f raw -O vhdx 42box-<version>.img 42box.vhdx
3. Attach the converted disk on any BIOS-bootable bus (IDE, SATA, or SCSI).
4. Power on.
5. Watch the console. The appliance boots, registers with the 42clue cloud, and brings up its interface.

Continue at 05 Activation.

On first boot the appliance:

• assigns itself a unique name via DHCP,
• synchronizes its clock from public time servers,
• registers with the 42clue cloud over the outbound tunnel,
• starts the 42box interface on the main console.

Total elapsed time: 30–90 seconds. The interface then shows a status block and an activation key input field.

1. The 42clue team provides your activation key (by email, ticket, or phone).
2. Enter the key in the field on the console.
3. Status turns GREEN when the key is accepted. The appliance then begins normal operation.

On serial-only hardware, contact support below. 42clue can apply your activation key for you.

After installation

If the status does not turn GREEN within five minutes, verify the three outbound firewall rules in 02 are open and contact support.

For install issues, connectivity problems, or activation questions: