All 1 entries tagged Ips
No other Warwick Blogs use the tag Ips on entries | View entries tagged Ips at Technorati | There are no images tagged Ips on this blog
January 25, 2011
Automated Installer 'How To'
This article will take you through the steps I followed recently to create my own Automated Installer for Solaris 11 Express. The new IPS packaging system and the Automated Installer are central features of Solaris 11 express that are destined to replace both Jumpstart and SVR4 packaging found in Solaris 10. Knowing this technology is a must for all Solaris 11 would-be System Admins.
Each Automated Installer client needs access to a repository (where all the software is kept and catalogued), an AI boot image and manifests which describe the client configuration and a DHCP server to begin the boot process.
Creating a local repository
Actually, this is optional, it is possible to simply use the default Oracle repository at http://pkg.oracle.com/solaris/release . In the real world, though, most organisations will want to keep their own local repository for performance or security reasons.
First, you need to create a ZFS filesystem to hold the spooled repository;
root@sol-esx01:~# zpool create repopool c8t1d0s2
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs set mountpoint=/repo repopoolThe following 2 commands are optional – they enable ZFS deduplication and compression on the new pool;
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs set dedup=on repopool
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs set compression=on repopoolNext, create a lofi device from the .iso (you need to download Solaris 11 Express Repository Image from here ) and mount it in a convenient location:
root@sol-esx01:~# lofiadm -a /var/spool/pkg/sol-11-exp-201011-repo-full.iso
root@sol-esx01:~# mount -F hsfs /dev/lofi/1 /repocdYou can use rsync, as suggested in the AI documentation to copy the contents of this DVD to your local repository filesystem;
root@sol-esx01:~# rsync -aP /repocd/ /repoNext, setup the parameters for your service and enable it;
root@sol-esx01:~# svccfg -s application/pkg/server setprop pkg/inst_root=/repo/repo
root@sol-esx01:~# svccfg -s application/pkg/server setprop pkg/readonly=true
root@sol-esx01:~# svcadm refresh application/pkg/server
root@sol-esx01:~# svcadm enable application/pkg/serverSet your publisher to the local host;
root@sol-esx01:~# pkg set-publisher -O http://localhost solarisYou will need to index/refresh the repository if you want the search to work….
root@sol-esx01:~# pkgrepo refresh -s /repo/repoAfter that completes, search (and install) should work;
root@sol-esx01:~# pkg search xclock
INDEX ACTION VALUE PACKAGE
basename file usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XClock pkg:/x11/xclock@1.0.4-0.151
basename file usr/bin/xclock pkg:/x11/xclock@1.0.4-0.151
basename link usr/X11/bin/xclock pkg:/x11/xclock@1.0.4-0.151
pkg.description set xclock is the classic X Window Syst.. pkg:/x11/xclock@1.0.4-0.151
pkg.fmri set solaris/x11/xclock pkg:/x11/xclock@1.0.4-0.151
pkg.summary set xclock - analog / digital clock for X pkg:/x11/xclock@1.0.4-0.151
root@sol-esx01:~# pkg install xclock
Packages to install: 1
Create boot environment: No
DOWNLOAD PKGS FILES XFER (MB)
Completed 1/1 6/6 0.0/0.0
PHASE ACTIONS
Install Phase 43/43
PHASE ITEMS
Package State Update Phase 1/1
Image State Update Phase 2/2
root@sol-esx01:~#By default the publisher will listen on port 80;
root@sol-esx01:~# netstat -an| grep '\.80'
*.80 *.* 0 0 128000 0 LISTEN
root@sol-esx01:~# You should be able to check your work with ‘pkg publisher’
root@sol-esx01:~# pkg publisher
PUBLISHER TYPE STATUS URI
solaris (preferred) origin online http://localhost/That’s it, you are now running your own local publisher from your own local pkg server repository. Now onto the configuration of the automated installer.
Setting up the AI installer
This section moves step by step through the configuration of the Automated Installer.
First, create a zfs filesystem for the AI storage area;
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs create repopool/aiIf desired, turn on dedup, compression (again, both optional) and set your mountpoint;
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs get -r dedup repopool
NAME PROPERTY VALUE SOURCE
repopool dedup on local
repopool/ai dedup on inherited from repopool
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs get -r compression repopool
NAME PROPERTY VALUE SOURCE
repopool compression on local
repopool/ai compression on inherited from repopool
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs get mountpoint repopool/ai
NAME PROPERTY VALUE SOURCE
repopool/ai mountpoint /repo/ai inherited from repopool
root@sol-esx01:~# zfs set mountpoint=/ai repopool/aiCopy the AI .iso into this filesystem, do not unpack it, the installadm command will do that for you.
root@sol-esx01:~# cp /var/spool/pkg/sol-11-exp-201011-ai-x86.iso /ai/
root@sol-esx01:~# ls /ai
sol-11-exp-201011-ai-x86.isoCheck your netmasks file contains the necessary, this is for DHCP to operate properly.
root@sol-esx01:~# vi /etc/netmasks
root@sol-esx01:~# tail -2 /etc/netmasks
#
192.168.100.0 255.255.255.0The DNS multicast service is apparently required, although to be honest, I’ve never tried without it – so make sure this is enabled;
root@sol-esx01:~# svcs -a|grep dns
disabled 16:34:08 svc:/network/dns/install:default
disabled 16:34:10 svc:/network/dns/multicast:default
disabled 16:34:11 svc:/network/dns/server:default
online 16:34:20 svc:/network/dns/client:default
root@sol-esx01:~# svcadm enable dns/multicast
root@sol-esx01:~# svcs -a|grep dns
disabled 16:34:08 svc:/network/dns/install:default
disabled 16:34:11 svc:/network/dns/server:default
online 16:34:20 svc:/network/dns/client:default
online 21:26:48 svc:/network/dns/multicast:defaultRunning installadm
You can now run installadm to create your install service. Installadm has a really nice feature in that it will create the DHCP service for you if you want it to. It is possible to use a replacement DHCP service on the same server, or even a local DHCP service somewhere else on the subnet. The -i option tells installadm the starting address for your DHCP addresses and the -c option tells installadm how many addresses will be available for lease. The following example will offer addresses in the range 192.168.100.10 – 192.168.100.20.
root@sol-esx01:~# installadm create-service -n sol-11-exp-x86 -i 192.168.100.10 -c 10 \
-s /ai/sol-11-exp-201011-ai-x86.iso /ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target
Setting up the target image at /ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target ...
Registering the service sol-11-exp-x86._OSInstall._tcp.local
Creating DHCP Server
Created DHCP configuration file.
Created dhcptab.
Added "Locale" macro to dhcptab.
Added server macro to dhcptab - sol-esx01.
DHCP server started.
Unable to determine the proper default router
or gateway for the 192.168.100.0 subnet. The default
router or gateway for this subnet will need to
be provided later using the following command:
/usr/sbin/dhtadm -M -m 192.168.100.0 -e Router=<address> -g
Added network macro to dhcptab - 192.168.100.0.
Created network table.
adding tftp to /etc/inetd.conf
Converting /etc/inetd.conf
copying boot file to /tftpboot/pxegrub.I86PC.Solaris-1
Service discovery fallback mechanism set up
Service discovery fallback mechanism set upI forgot the default router in this example, but the router can easily be added as recommended in the output above;
root@sol-esx01:~# /usr/sbin/dhtadm -M -m 192.168.100.0 -e Router=192.168.100.1 -gCheck the results;
root@sol-esx01:~# installadm list
Service Name Status Arch Port Image Path
------------ ------ ---- ---- ----------
sol-11-exp-x86 on x86 46501 /ai/sol-11-exp-x86-targetCheck DHCP too; I really like the fact that installadm setups up DHCP for you, sooo much pain saved.
root@sol-esx01:~# pntadm -P 192.168.100.0
Client ID Flags Client IP Server IP Lease Expiration Macro Comment
00 00 192.168.100.19 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.18 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.17 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.16 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.15 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.14 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.13 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.12 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.11 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.10 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86 Creating a client
Creating a client is also achieved using the installadm command;
root@sol-esx01:~# installadm create-client -e 00:0c:29:05:31:75 -n sol-11-exp-x86
Service discovery fallback mechanism set up
Service discovery fallback mechanism set up
root@sol-esx01:~# installadm list
Service Name Status Arch Port Image Path
------------ ------ ---- ---- ----------
sol-11-exp-x86 on x86 46501 /ai/sol-11-exp-x86-targetThe -c option will list the client details;
root@sol-esx01:~# installadm list -c
Service Name Client Address Arch Image Path
------------ -------------- ---- ----------
sol-11-exp-x86 00:0C:29:05:31:75 x86 /ai/sol-11-exp-x86-targetThe installadm service comes with a default.xml that will serve any client that attempts to boot / install from this server. It is likely, of course that you will want to change this. There is also an example ‘static_network.xml’ in net_install_image_path/auto_install/sc_profiles that suggests a starting point for statically addressed clients and this can be copied and change as required. I copied this to sc_manifest1.xml (as described in the AI admin guide) and which is sourced as a follow up from ai.xml.
root@sol-esx01:/ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target/auto_install/sc_profiles# ls -lrth
total 7.0K
-r--r--r-- 1 root sys 4.7K 2010-11-05 14:13 static_network.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 788 2011-01-14 14:02 ai.xml
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4.7K 2011-01-14 14:25 sc_manifest1.xmlBelow is a summary of the changes I made, there are not really that many, I changed the default non-root user (because I don’t know jack, but I do recall that root is a role in Solaris 11 express, so you can’t login if you don’t), I took password hashes from an existing system to store as the root passwords, changed the hostname, network details and that was about it.
You should now create similar XML files for your clients, making sure you change the parameters as required. Below are the differences between my attempts and the default;
root@sol-esx01:/ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target/auto_install/sc_profiles# diff sc_manifest1.xml static_network.xml29,31c29,31
< <propval name="login" type="astring" value="cuspdx"/>
< <propval name="password" type="astring" value="$5$4X$wATzoqQD8pAxPErqESs3z0r9ypHkHeVsprsBgjmR3sD"/>
< <propval name="description" type="astring" value="Paul Eggleton"/>
---
> <propval name="login" type="astring" value="jack"/>
> <propval name="password" type="astring" value="9Nd/cwBcNWFZg"/>
> <propval name="description" type="astring" value="default_user"/>
40c40
< <propval name="password" type="astring" value="$5$Z7$GdeY1gSCF........jcuFI4"/>
---
> <propval name="password" type="astring" value="$5$VgppCOxA$ycFmY.......niNCouC"/>
46c46
< <propval name="hostname" type="astring" value="sol-esx02"/>
---
> <propval name="hostname" type="astring" value="solaris"/>
73c73
< <propval name='name' type='astring' value='e1000g0/v4'/>
---
> <propval name='name' type='astring' value='net0/v4'/>
75,76c75,76
< <propval name='static_address' type='net_address_v4' value='192.168.100.5/24'/>
< <propval name='default_route' type='net_address_v4' value='192.168.100.1'/>
---
> <propval name='static_address' type='net_address_v4' value='x.x.x.x/n'/>
> <propval name='default_route' type='net_address_v4' value='x.x.x.x'/>
80c80
< <propval name='name' type='astring' value='e1000g0/v6'/>
---
> <propval name='name' type='astring' value='net0/v6'/>
89c89
< <instance name='default' enabled='false'>
---
> <instance name='default' enabled='true'>
93c93
< <value_node value='192.168.100.1'/>
---
> <value_node value='x.x.x.x'/>Following this, create the initial ai.xml. This specifies the boot device, a target name and publisher details (uses the local repository, not the Oracle one). Finally, it sources the sc_manifest1.xml mentioned above;
root@sol-esx01:/ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target/auto_install/sc_profiles# more ai.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE auto_install SYSTEM "file:///usr/share/auto_install/ai.dtd">
<auto_install>
<ai_instance name="sol-esx02">
<target>
<target_device>
<disk>
<disk_keyword key="boot_disk"/>
</disk>
</target_device>
</target>
<software>
<source>
<publisher name="solaris">
<origin name="http://192.168.100.1"/>
</publisher>
</source>
<software_data action="install" type="IPS">
<name>pkg:/server_install</name>
</software_data>
<software_data action="uninstall" type="IPS">
<name>pkg:/server_install</name>
</software_data>
</software>
<add_drivers>
<search_all/>
</add_drivers>
<sc_manifest_file name="AI" URI="./sc_manifest1.xml"/>
</ai_instance>
</auto_install>To add a new manifest file, use installadm add-manifest as shown below. The -n specifies the service name and the -c allows you to specify criteria for matching clients that should use this manifest. Any clients that do not match the criteria are still catered for by the default.xml manifest which resides in net_install_image_path/auto_install/default.xml, in this case: /ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target/auto_install/default.xml
root@sol-esx01:~# installadm add-manifest -m ai.xml -n sol-11-exp-x86 -c MAC="00:0C:29:05:31:75"The criteria above uses the client mac address, but there are other valid criteria with which to distinguish your clients. Criteria options include in addition to MAC address, the platform type (as per the platform type delivered from uname -i), the IPv4 address, the CPU architecture (such as ARCH=i86pc, think uname -p), or even system memory range values (think particular, cut-down installs for low memory machines). There is also -C option which expects an xml file containing the description of the criteria.
Example;
# installadm add-manifest -m ai.xml -n sol-11-exp-x86 -C /tmp/criteria.xmlWhere criteria.xml may contain:
<ai_criteria_manifest>
<ai_criteria name=MAC>
<value>00:0C:29:05:31:75</value>
</ai_criteria>
</ai_criteria_manifest>The current criteria and manifests can be seen using installadm list -c and -m:
root@sol-esx01:/ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target/auto_install/sc_profiles# installadm list -c -m
Service Name Client Address Arch Image Path
------------ -------------- ---- ----------
sol-11-exp-x86 00:0C:29:05:31:75 x86 /ai/sol-11-exp-x86-target
Service Name Manifest
------------ --------
sol-11-exp-x86 target1.xmlClient boot
You should now be good to go, you can attempt a network boot from your client. Out of interest, the contents of the intended client grub menu will (should) be viewable in /tftpboot/menu.lst.
example;
root@sol-esx01:~# more /tftpboot/menu.lst.sol-11-exp-x86
default=0
timeout=30
min_mem64=1000
title Oracle Solaris 11 Express snv_151a boot image
kernel$ /I86PC.Solaris-1/platform/i86pc/kernel/$ISADIR/unix -B install_media=http://192.168.100.1:5555/ai/sol-11-exp-x86-
target,install_service=sol-11-exp-x86,install_svc_address=192.168.100.1:46501
module$ /I86PC.Solaris-1/platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/boot_archive
title Oracle Solaris 11 Express snv_151a Automated Install
kernel$ /I86PC.Solaris-1/platform/i86pc/kernel/$ISADIR/unix -B install=true,install_media=http://192.168.100.1:5555/ai/so
l-11-exp-x86-target,install_service=sol-11-exp-x86,install_svc_address=192.168.100.1:46501
module$ /I86PC.Solaris-1/platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/boot_archive
root@sol-esx01:~# The client should fairly quickly receive a PXE boot offer and display the grub boot menu with an option for Automated Install. The client managed to transfer and boot the miniroot.
The lease / DHCP details can be viewed with pntadm to confirm the address offered and the lease duration;
root@sol-esx01:~# pntadm -P 192.168.100.0
Client ID Flags Client IP Server IP Lease Expiration Macro Comment
01000C29053175 00 192.168.100.19 192.168.100.1 01/15/2011 dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.18 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.17 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.16 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.15 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.14 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.13 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.12 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.11 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86
00 00 192.168.100.10 192.168.100.1 Zero dhcp_macro_sol-11-exp-x86 Choose the Automated Install option when you see the grub menu. You should see the client dhcp boot, download the miniroot boot image and begin installing. Snoop will, of course show you the HTTP traffic during install.
root@sol-esx01:~# snoop -d e1000g1
Using device e1000g1 (promiscuous mode)
sol-esx01 -> 192.168.100.19 HTTP HTTP/1.1 200 OK
sol-esx01 -> 192.168.100.19 HTTP (body)
sol-esx01 -> 192.168.100.19 HTTP (body)
192.168.100.19 -> sol-esx01 HTTP C port=54454
sol-esx01 -> 192.168.100.19 HTTP HTTP/1.1 200 OKAfter a fairly short period of time, and ZERO interaction, you should have your newly installed client available to use
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$ hostname
sol-esx02
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$ uname -a
SunOS sol-esx02 5.11 snv_151a i86pc i386 i86pc Solaris
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$ uptime
22:11pm up 5:02, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$
cuspdx@sol-esx02:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
rpool/ROOT/solaris 17G 2.6G 14G 17% /
swap 1.4G 396K 1.4G 1% /etc/svc/volatile
/usr/lib/libc/libc_hwcap1.so.1
17G 2.6G 14G 17% /lib/libc.so.1
swap 1.4G 4.0K 1.4G 1% /tmp
swap 1.4G 40K 1.4G 1% /var/run
rpool/export 14G 32K 14G 1% /export
rpool/export/home 14G 32K 14G 1% /export/home
rpool/export/home/cuspdx
14G 34K 14G 1% /export/home/cuspdx
rpool 14G 93K 14G 1% /rpoolSomething that is worthy of note, is the fact that the software distribution is far from the burgeoning megapack that was included in Solaris 10. For example, the SUNWCXall distribution set for Solaris 10 update 9 consisted of around 6gb of software when installed.
-bash-3.00$ df -h
Filesystem size used avail capacity Mounted on
rpool/ROOT/s10u9 134G 6.0G 72G 8% /Whereas the Solaris 11 Express install contains just 2.6gb
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
rpool/ROOT/solaris 17G 2.6G 14G 17% /This is a good thing, because the majority of software installed under Solaris 10 would have never been used, and is simply there because of the coarse grained package distribution model offered by the installer. Minimisation in Solaris 10 with SVR4 packaging was difficult to achieve or to implement with confidence knowing that everything will work as expected and be patchable with expected results. Less software means less scope for security vulnerabilities to be introduced. Less software is also likely to mean fewer unnecessary daemons running, less memory consumed and better overall performance. In addition, a dataset this size will be much easier to maintain, backup and replicate, consuming both less space and time.
In addition, if you find you need some of the missing software, you can simply use the pkg framework to search the repository and install the software you need AND any required dependencies in one fell swoop. For example, gcc3 can be installed and a couple of prerequisite packages such as lint by simply typing ‘pkg install gcc-3’ ;
root@sol-esx01:~# pkg install gcc-3 Packages to install: 3
Create boot environment: No
DOWNLOAD PKGS FILES XFER (MB)
Completed 3/3 779/779 30.1/30.1
PHASE ACTIONS
Install Phase 1214/1214
PHASE ITEMS
Package State Update Phase 3/3
Image State Update Phase 2/2
root@sol-esx01:~#
In summary then, AI is not all that difficult to configure, it is incredibly easy to use once setup and the benefits for package and system management are huge. In this article I’ve shown you how to
- Create your own local repository area (standard ZFS commands)
- Create a spool of the repo media (lofiadm) and set up the pkg/server SMF service (using svcadm and svccfg properties).
- Set the default publisher to use this repository (pkg set-publisher)
- Create a ZFS area for the auto installer (standard ZFS commands)
- Create an install service (installadm create-service)
- Creat a manifest and apply the XML manifest (installadm add-manifest) to a client
- Install that client in a hands-off, automated but custom manner straight out of the box.
- Described some of the benefits over SVR4 of the IPS / AI model
The real power and flexibility will come in the customisation of clients using multiple xml manifests, and matching these in pretty much any way you please to clients within your environment. I think it is fair to say though, it is easy to see the features and benefits that Auto Install and the new IPS repository based packaging tools will bring to Solaris 11. What we all need to work on in the short term, to get the most out of this technology is the transition from Solaris 10, Jet, Jumpstart, flash archives and other familiar technologies to IPS and AI.
I hope you found this useful, comments welcome.
Paul.
25 Jan 2011 21:43
| 
Tags: 11 AI Automated Express Installer Ips Solaris
| 
Comments (1)
| 
Report a problem
Please wait - comments are loading
Loading…
