Can I install Linux onto a server SSD using another computer?

If the SSD doesn’t boot after being moved, check the firmware boot settings and confirm that the system is using the same BIOS or UEFI mode used during installation. With UEFI, the boot entry may not be registered on the old computer. You may need to select the EFI boot file manually or reinstall the bootloader onto the SSD’s EFI system partition.

Yes, this can work. Connect the target SSD to your working computer, boot the Linux installer from some installation media, and select the SSD as the install destination. This is especially useful when the server has no graphics output or you can’t easily connect a monitor. Just be extremely careful to choose the correct drive, since the installer can erase it completely.

The installed system may not be perfectly portable between machines. Make sure both computers use the same boot mode, preferably UEFI, and be aware that network configuration can change when the drive is moved. Server-focused systems that configure networking during installation may retain the old computer’s interface name or settings, so you might need to fix the network configuration on the target machine.

You still need something containing the installer itself. That could be a USB drive, another disk, a DVD, or even a virtual machine with the installer image passed through to the physical SSD. A small USB drive is usually the simplest and cheapest option, and you can keep it inside the server case afterward so it doesn’t get misplaced.