Profile based installation (not based on MAC address or hostname)
(Sorry in advance if this question is completely basic and I should have found out myself... I didn't find a solution in the documentation.) I need to set up a FAI server that provides a - what I believe - rather flexible installation service based on profiles, not on host names, or MAC addresses. 1. The system administrator should plug in a virgin PC an let it boot from the network; 2. While the PC broadcasts its MAC address the administrator would open a web interface on the FAI server which lists the MAC address of the PC requesting installation; 3. The administrator selects the MAC address, and specifies what to install on this PC: an installation profile (e.g. "DEVELOPMENT", "TERMINAL", "CALCNODE", etc.), an IP address, a hostname. With my current knowledge of FAI I would solve the installation task on the FAI server side as follows, for every single installation request: i. Create an entry in the /etc/.../dhcpd.conf (maybe /srv/... may be a better place in future as the file will grow in size) adding an entry for the MAC address and the specified IP address and host name; ii. Use fai-chboot to create a network boot configuration profile for the client to-be-installed, specifying the requested installation profile; iii. When the client boots FAI will install, and at the end of the successful installation the FAI server removes the reference to the bootloader file from the host specification in /etc/.../dhcpd.conf for the installed client, and removes the previously created network boot configuration profile. Is this the recommended way to go? If not, what do you suggest? Sorry again *if* this topic *is* covered by the documentation. (In this case please let me know where to find it.) Thanks for your help and suggestions, Peter
Re: Profile based installation (not based on MAC address or hostname)
Hi Peter, > i. Create an entry in the /etc/.../dhcpd.conf (maybe /srv/... may be a > better place in future as the file will grow in size) adding an entry > for the MAC address and the specified IP address and host name; > ii. Use fai-chboot to create a network boot configuration profile for > the client to-be-installed, specifying the requested installation > profile; > iii. When the client boots FAI will install, and at the end of the > successful installation the FAI server removes the reference to the > bootloader file from the host specification in /etc/.../dhcpd.conf for > the installed client, and removes the previously created network boot > configuration profile. Sure, this is one way to do it, though I don't see why your hostnames should be so random that FAI cannot parse them to figure out what classes it ought to install. Another way would be to simply have a script in your class/ directory which asks for the installation profile interactively. Regards, Michael
Re: Profile based installation (not based on MAC address or hostname)
hiya Peter Bittner schrieb: > (Sorry in advance if this question is completely basic and I should have > found out myself... I didn't find a solution in the documentation.) > > I need to set up a FAI server that provides a - what I believe - rather > flexible installation service based on profiles, not on host names, or > MAC addresses. > > 1. The system administrator should plug in a virgin PC an let it boot > from the network; > 2. While the PC broadcasts its MAC address the administrator would > open a web interface on the FAI server which lists the MAC address of > the PC requesting installation; > 3. The administrator selects the MAC address, and specifies what to > install on this PC: an installation profile (e.g. "DEVELOPMENT", > "TERMINAL", "CALCNODE", etc.), an IP address, a hostname. I think that's doable, but you're operating in a limited timeframe. So far i haven't seen a pxe-bootclient that doesn't timeout. Somebody on this list implemented a python tftp-server which does some rewriting. Maybe that's a better solution. Defaultboot every netboot-client into tftp and let the server decide what to do - e.g. boot from local disc or wait for administrator interaction via webgui. (I'm not sure if there's another timeout.) If you've got that far, then the rest is easy. Just let the tftpserver supply an additional parameter (like "FAI_PROFILE=DESKTOP") and use this parameter in a class/ script to define the according classes. I guessed the point is to have no interaction with the installclient except from pushing the power-button. Else other options are available. tschüß thomas
