My basic goal is to distribute a generic VM (VirtualBox) and during the
first boot ask some questions.
Depending on the answers I want create a new host in the Foreman and
provision from there the requested OS.
Because I want to do some fancy stuff for the unknown hosts (like ask the
desired hostname) I'm going for iPXE based booting with the associated
scripting.
A MAC-specific PXE file is written (OS-specific installer template)
Known to Foreman and not in Build mode
A MAC-specific PXE file is written (Global PXE Localboot template)
Unknown to Foreman
The global default PXE file is used (PXE Default File template)
Essentially I want to have the '3 state boot' option for iPXE.
So far I have not yet been able to find out how to send a "global default
iPXE" in case of an unknown host from the Foreman.
Is this currently possible?
If not yet possible; Do you think this would make sense as a generic
enhancement? If so, I'll put in a feature request.
> Essentially I want to have the '3 state boot' option for iPXE.
> So far I have not yet been able to find out how to send a "global default
> iPXE" in case of an unknown host from the Foreman.
>
> Is this currently possible?
You don't need another template to get iPXE work, just configure your
DHCP server to fetch a default file over HTTP or whatever and you are
good to go. This can happen without Foreman involved.
Now, I havent tested this, but it is theoretically possible to configure
iPXE to get the initial script from TFTP. You could leverage the default
PXE file (pxelinux.cfg/default) to do your iPXE booting. Then you can
use the default template and deploy facilities in Foreman to be able to
edit your file via our templating system.
> If not yet possible; Do you think this would make sense as a generic
> enhancement? If so, I'll put in a feature request.
It makes sense to create one. Please describe what you would expect (new
global template available under http). Maybe we can add a more generic
feature - Global generic template (for all hosts).
Unfortunately I'm in a context where the is already a corporate DHCP + PXE
installation that I cannot modify.
So the direction I'm aiming at is giving people a ipxe.iso file with a
script that essentially says "chain <script from foreman> || boot localdisk"
From there I want to feed a default script that boots the registration
process.
If it is a known system (i.e. after registration) then it will boot the
regular Kickstart/Puppet Foreman controlled installation.
After that it will simply be a known system that boots from localdisk
(controlled via ipxe/foreman).
Niels
···
Op vrijdag 27 juni 2014 11:07:31 UTC+2 schreef Lukas Zapletal:
>
> Hello,
>
> > Essentially I want to have the '3 state boot' option for iPXE.
> > So far I have not yet been able to find out how to send a "global
> default
> > iPXE" in case of an unknown host from the Foreman.
> >
> > Is this currently possible?
>
> You don't need another template to get iPXE work, just configure your
> DHCP server to fetch a default file over HTTP or whatever and you are
> good to go. This can happen without Foreman involved.
>
> Now, I havent tested this, but it is theoretically possible to configure
> iPXE to get the initial script from TFTP. You could leverage the default
> PXE file (pxelinux.cfg/default) to do your iPXE booting. Then you can
> use the default template and deploy facilities in Foreman to be able to
> edit your file via our templating system.
>
> http://ipxe.org/cfg
>
> Would that work for you?
>
> > If not yet possible; Do you think this would make sense as a generic
> > enhancement? If so, I'll put in a feature request.
>
> It makes sense to create one. Please describe what you would expect (new
> global template available under http). Maybe we can add a more generic
> feature - Global generic template (for all hosts).
>
> --
> Later,
>
> Lukas "lzap" Zapletal
> irc: lzap #theforeman
>
Well, for that we already have our own officially supported plugin
called foreman_bootdisk that does the same technique. You can generate
those ISO files using a button in Foreman easily.
Check it out.
LZ
···
On Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 04:44:19AM -0700, Niels Basjes wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Unfortunately I'm in a context where the is already a corporate DHCP + PXE
> installation that I cannot modify.
> So the direction I'm aiming at is giving people a ipxe.iso file with a
> script that essentially says "chain || boot localdisk"
> From there I want to feed a default script that boots the registration
> process.
> If it is a known system (i.e. after registration) then it will boot the
> regular Kickstart/Puppet Foreman controlled installation.
> After that it will simply be a known system that boots from localdisk
> (controlled via ipxe/foreman).
>
> Niels
>
> Op vrijdag 27 juni 2014 11:07:31 UTC+2 schreef Lukas Zapletal:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > > Essentially I want to have the '3 state boot' option for iPXE.
> > > So far I have not yet been able to find out how to send a "global
> > default
> > > iPXE" in case of an unknown host from the Foreman.
> > >
> > > Is this currently possible?
> >
> > You don't need another template to get iPXE work, just configure your
> > DHCP server to fetch a default file over HTTP or whatever and you are
> > good to go. This can happen without Foreman involved.
> >
> > Now, I havent tested this, but it is theoretically possible to configure
> > iPXE to get the initial script from TFTP. You could leverage the default
> > PXE file (pxelinux.cfg/default) to do your iPXE booting. Then you can
> > use the default template and deploy facilities in Foreman to be able to
> > edit your file via our templating system.
> >
> > http://ipxe.org/cfg
> >
> > Would that work for you?
> >
> > > If not yet possible; Do you think this would make sense as a generic
> > > enhancement? If so, I'll put in a feature request.
> >
> > It makes sense to create one. Please describe what you would expect (new
> > global template available under http). Maybe we can add a more generic
> > feature - Global generic template (for all hosts).
> >
> > --
> > Later,
> >
> > Lukas "lzap" Zapletal
> > irc: lzap #theforeman
> >
