Before you begin

• For safety, environmental, and regulatory information, see Safety and Compliance Information for Server, Storage, Power, Networking, and Rack Products on the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website.
• Select an installation site that meets the detailed installation site requirements described in the server user guide.
• Unpack the server shipping carton, and locate the materials and documentation necessary for installing the server.
• Verify operating system support—For information about operating systems supported by ProLiant servers, see the operating system support matrices.

For more pre-installation information, see the HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9 Server User Guide.

Component identification

Front panel components

• Four LFF drive model

  

  Item	Description
  1	Optical drive (optional)
  2	Serial label pull tab*
  3	USB 2.0 connector
  4	LFF drives

  *The serial number/iLO information pull tab is double-sided. The top side shows the server serial number and the customer asset tag label. The reverse side shows the default iLO account information and QR code linking to product documentation resources. The serial number/iLO information is also printed on labels attached to the chassis.

• Eight SFF drive model

  

  Item	Description
  1	SFF drives
  2	Optical drive (optional)
  3	Serial label pull tab*
  4	USB 2.0 connector

*The serial number/iLO information pull tab is double-sided. The top side shows the server serial number and the customer asset tag label. The reverse side shows the default iLO account information and QR code linking to product documentation resources. The serial number/iLO information is also printed on labels attached to the chassis.

Front panel LEDs and buttons

• Four LFF drive model

  

  Item	Description	Status
  1	UID button/LED	Solid blue = Activated Flashing blue: 1 flash per second = Remote management or firmware upgrade in progress 4 flashes per second = iLO manual reboot sequence initiated 8 flashes per second = iLO manual reboot sequence in progress   Off = Deactivated
  2	Health LED	Solid green = Normal Flashing green (1 flash per second) = iLO is rebooting Flashing amber = System degraded Flashing red (1 flash per second) = System critical   If the health LED indicates a degraded or critical state, review the system IML or use iLO to review the system health status.
  3	NIC status LED	Solid green = Link to network Flashing green (1 flash per second) = Network active Off = No network activity
  4	Power On/Standby button and system power LED	Solid green = System on Flashing green (1 flash per second) = Performing power on sequence Solid amber = System in standby Off = No power present   If the system power LED is off, verify the following conditions: Facility power is present. The power supply is installed and is working correctly. The power cord is attached and is connected to a power source. The front I/O cable is connected. When all four LEDs described in this table flash simultaneously, a power fault has occurred. For more information, see the "Front panel LED power fault codes" section in the HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9 Server User Guide.

• Eight SFF drive model

  

  Item	Description	Status
  1	Power On/Standby button and system power LED	Solid green = System on Flashing green (1 flash per second) = Performing power on sequence Solid amber = System in standby Off = No power present   If the system power LED is off, verify the following conditions: Facility power is present. The power supply is installed and is working correctly. The power cord is attached and is connected to a power source. The front I/O cable is connected.
  2	Health LED	Solid green = Normal Flashing green (1 flash per second) = iLO is rebooting Flashing amber = System degraded Flashing red (1 flash per second) = System critical   If the health LED indicates a degraded or critical state, review the system IML or use iLO to review the system health status.
  3	NIC status LED	Solid green = Link to network Flashing green (1 flash per second) = Network active Off = No network activity
  4	UID button/LED	Solid blue = Activated Flashing blue: 1 flash per second = Remote management or firmware upgrade in progress 4 flashes per second = iLO manual reboot sequence initiated 8 flashes per second = iLO manual reboot sequence in progress   Off = Deactivated

When all four LEDs described in this table flash simultaneously, a power fault has occurred. For more information, see the "Front panel LED power fault codes" section in the HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9 Server User Guide.

Rear panel components

Item	Description
1	Slot 3 PCIe3 x8 (8, 4, 1)*
2	Slot 2 PCIe3 x8 (8, 4, 1)
3	Slot 1 PCIe3 x16 (16, 8, 4, 1)
4	Non-hot-plug power supply
5	Power supply blank (bay 2 of optional redundant power supply module)
6	Hot-plug power supply (bay 1 of optional redundant power supply module)
7	NIC connector 2
8	NIC connector 1/iLO connector
9	Video connector
10	USB 3.0 connectors

* Slot 3 supports PCIe x16 (16, 8, 4, 1) if the GPU riser cage is installed.

Rear panel LEDs and buttons

Item	Description	Status
1	UID LED	Solid blue = Activated Flashing blue: 1 flash per second = Remote management or firmware upgrade in progress 4 flashes per second = iLO manual reboot sequence initiated 8 flashes per second = iLO manual reboot sequence in progress   Off = Deactivated
2	NIC link LED	Green = Network link Off = No network link
3	NIC activity LED	Solid green = Link to network Flashing green = Network active Off = No network activity
4	Power supply LED	Solid green = Normal Off = One or more of the following conditions exists: Power is unavailable Power supply failed Power supply is in standby mode Power supply error

Install hardware options

Install any hardware options before initializing the server. For options installation information, see the documentation that ships with the option. For server specific information, see the HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9 Server User Guide.

Install the server in the rack

Install the server and cable management into the rack. Before you begin installation, be sure to review the warnings and cautions, as well as the installation instructions that ships with the HPE 1U Easy Install Rail Kit

Before installing the server, be sure that you understand the following warnings and cautions.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of personal injury or damage to the equipment, be sure that: The leveling jacks are extended to the floor. The full weight of the rack rests on the leveling jacks. The stabilizing feet are attached to the rack if it is a single-rack installation. The racks are coupled together in multiple-rack installations. Only one component is extended at a time. A rack may become unstable if more than one component is extended for any reason.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of personal injury or equipment damage when unloading a rack: At least two people are needed to safely unload the rack from the pallet. An empty 42U rack can weigh as much as 115 kg (253 lb), can stand more than 2.1 m (7 ft) tall, and might become unstable when being moved on its casters. Never stand in front of the rack when it is rolling down the ramp from the pallet. Always handle the rack from both sides.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of personal injury or damage to the equipment, adequately stabilize the rack before extending a component outside the rack. Extend only one component at a time. A rack may become unstable if more than one component is extended.

WARNING: When installing a server in a telco rack, be sure that the rack frame is adequately secured at the top and bottom to the building structure.

WARNING: This server is very heavy. To reduce the risk of personal injury or damage to the equipment: Observe local occupational health and safety requirements and guidelines for manual material handling. Get help to lift and stabilize the product during installation or removal, especially when the product is not fastened to the rails. Hewlett Packard Enterprise recommends that a minimum of two people are required for all rack server installations. A third person may be required to help align the server if the server is installed higher than chest level. Use caution when installing the server in or removing the server from the rack; it is unstable when not fastened to the rails.

CAUTION: Protect the server from power fluctuations and temporary interruptions with a regulating uninterruptible power supply. This device protects the hardware from damage caused by power surges and voltage spikes and keeps the system in operation during a power failure.

CAUTION: Do not operate the server for long periods with the access panel open or removed. Operating the server in this manner results in improper airflow and improper cooling that can lead to thermal damage.

Connect cabling and power cords

1. Connect the iLO management cabling.

   

2. Connect the network cabling.

   

3. Connect the power cord to the power supply.

   

   WARNING: To reduce the risk of electric shock or damage to the equipment: Do not disable the power cord grounding plug. The grounding plug is an important safety feature. Plug the power cord into a grounded (earthed) electrical outlet that is easily accessible at all times. Unplug the power cord from the power supply to disconnect power to the equipment. Do not route the power cord where it can be walked on or pinched by items placed against it. Pay particular attention to the plug, electrical outlet, and the point where the cord extends from the server.

For more information about cabling the system, see the HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9 Server User Guide.

Power up and select boot options

On servers operating in UEFI Boot Mode, the boot controller and boot order are set automatically.

1. Press the Power On/Standby button.
2. During the initial boot:
   • To modify the server configuration ROM default settings, press the F9 key in the ProLiant POST screen to enter the UEFI System Utilities screen. By default, the System Utilities menus are in the English language.
   • If you do not need to modify the server configuration and are ready to install the system software, press the F10 key to access Intelligent Provisioning.

For more information on automatic configuration, see the UEFI documentation on the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website.

Install the system software

This ProLiant server does not ship with provisioning media. Everything needed to manage and install the system software and firmware is preloaded on the server.

To operate properly, the server must have a supported operating system. Attempting to run an unsupported operating system can cause serious and unpredictable results. For the latest information on operating system support, see the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website.

Failure to observe UEFI requirements for ProLiant Gen9 servers can result in errors installing the operating system, failure to recognize boot media, and other boot failures. For more information on these requirements, see the HPE UEFI Requirements on the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website.

To install an operating system on the server, use one of the following methods:

• Intelligent Provisioning—For single-server deployment, updating, and provisioning capabilities.

  To install an operating system on the server with Intelligent Provisioning (local or remote):

  1. Connect the Ethernet cable between the network connector on the server and a network jack.
  2. Press the Power On/Standby button.
  3. During server POST, press F10.
  4. Complete the initial Preferences and Registration portion of Intelligent Provisioning.
  5. At the 1 Start screen, click Configure and Install.
  6. To finish the installation, follow the onscreen prompts. An Internet connection is required to update the firmware and systems software.
• Insight Control server provisioning—For multi-server remote OS deployment, use Insight Control server provisioning for an automated solution. For more information, see the Insight Control documentation on the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website.

For additional system software and firmware updates, download the Service Pack for ProLiant from the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website. Software and firmware must be updated before using the server for the first time, unless any installed software or components require an older version.

Register the server

To experience quicker service and more efficient support, register the product at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Product Registration website.

Additional information

For more information, see the ProLiant DL120 Gen9 documentation in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Information Library.