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Deployment
Linux systems are generally deployed using PXE and Kickstart. We use iPXE, which can retrieve its configuration via HTTP(S) and therefore gives us a lot of flexibility, because the iPXE configuration can be generated on the fly with the specific settings needed by the booting client. In the same way the Kickstart configuration for the RHEL installer is auto-generated.
The information used for generating the iPXE and Kickstart configurations is stored in the sysdb (see below). The sysdb is accessible through a web api, and a command line client is available.
When PXE boot is not an option, e.g. in restricted networks, it is possible to start iPXE from a USB stick or other media.
The general process for a deployment/installation is:
- Register the system with sysdb (only for new systems).
- Tell sysdb to perform an installation on the next boot.
- Reboot the system and trigger a PXE boot (usually by pressing F12 during POST).
The easiest way to interact with sysdb is to use bob, a command-line client, set up ready to use on lxsup.psi.ch.
Alternatively it is possible to use the web API directly.
First, add the new node:
bob node add $FQDN $ENV netboot
To be able to PXE boot we need to configure at least one MAC address for the new node:
bob node add-mac $FQDN 00:50:56:aa:fe:9b
Finally we need to configure the installer to use, and the Puppet-related parameters:
bob node set-attr $FQDN ipxe_installer=rhel8install
bob node set-attr $FQDN puppet_role=role::server
and optional:
bob node set-attr $FQDN puppet_group=cluster
bob node set-attr $FQDN puppet_subgroup=compute
bob node set-attr $FQDN network=static
bob node set-attr $FQDN puppet_env=prod
Redeployment
After the initial installation the boot mode has been reset from netboot to local so it will then always boot from the local disk. For a redeployment the netboot needs to be set anew (on UEFI based systems netboot also needs to be always selected by the UEFI menu)):
bob node netboot $FQDN