Spoof by MAC address?

Support
1

Hi,

I'm trying to setup a foreman/puppet setup with which I want to bootstrap
and install computers (virtuals) for which I do no know the IP address.

What I have sofar is that I created an ipxe bootable iso image with an
embedded script.
My idea is that if I know the MAC of the system I have enough information
to retrieve the relevant info for the host; foreman already enforces unique
mac addresses.

My question is simply: Can I retrieve the boot info by specifying just the
MAC address (the IP is dynamic) similar to what the ?spoof= does for the ip
address?

Niels Basjes

2

Note that spoofing by hostname would also be useful in the "I don't know
the IP address" scenario.

··· On Wednesday, September 25, 2013 4:15:21 PM UTC+2, Niels Basjes wrote: > > Hi, > > I'm trying to setup a foreman/puppet setup with which I want to bootstrap > and install computers (virtuals) for which I do no know the IP address. > > What I have sofar is that I created an ipxe bootable iso image with an > embedded script. > My idea is that if I know the MAC of the system I have enough information > to retrieve the relevant info for the host; foreman already enforces unique > mac addresses. > > My question is simply: Can I retrieve the boot info by specifying just the > MAC address (the IP is dynamic) similar to what the ?spoof= does for the ip > address? > > Niels Basjes >
3

First things first. the ?spoof=<ip> url is only for humans to check that
templates render. Don't use it in a template or a script, as spoofing
causes orchestration actions to be skipped. Use /unattended/provision for
your scripts.

With that in mind, you have a few options. Firstly, and probably best in
your case, Foreman will use the MAC if it's present as a Header in the web
request. Try setting:

HTTP_X_RHN_PROVISIONING_MAC_0 = <mac>

when you download /unattended/provision, and it should work.

Failing that, I'd look at the brand-new foreman_bootiso plugin, in
combination with token-based provisioning, to create a bootable ISO to
build a host direct from Foreman. You can find out more about
foreman_bootiso at

As a final fallback, you can always use the API - search for hosts by MAC,
then update the IP in foreman with whatever DHCP gave you, and then GET
/unattended/provision

HTH,
Greg

··· On 25 September 2013 15:49, Niels Basjes wrote:

Note that spoofing by hostname would also be useful in the “I don’t know
the IP address” scenario.

4

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the input. This boot disk iso looks very promising.
I created a quick local patch that allows for a ?mac= parameter and
locates the host using that.
I combined that with a ipxe.iso that contains the embedded script:
#!ipxe
:retry_dhcp
echo Trying DHCP
dhcp || goto retry_dhcp
chain http://foreman.basjes.lan/unattended/gPXE?mac=${net0/mac} ||
sanboot --no-describe --drive 0x80
boot

I currently have the problem that somehow a new host is created the
first time puppet runs.
This host has a different hostname compared to the configured
hostname, but it does have the same MAC adress.

Q: Where does the code path start that adds this hostname?

Niels

··· On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 4:58 PM, Greg Sutcliffe wrote: > On 25 September 2013 15:49, Niels Basjes wrote: >> >> Note that spoofing by hostname would also be useful in the "I don't know >> the IP address" scenario. > > > First things first. the ?spoof= url is only for humans to check that > templates render. Don't use it in a template or a script, as spoofing causes > orchestration actions to be skipped. Use /unattended/provision for your > scripts. > > With that in mind, you have a few options. Firstly, and probably best in > your case, Foreman will use the MAC if it's present as a Header in the web > request. Try setting: > > HTTP_X_RHN_PROVISIONING_MAC_0 = > > when you download /unattended/provision, and it should work. > > Failing that, I'd look at the brand-new foreman_bootiso plugin, in > combination with token-based provisioning, to create a bootable ISO to build > a host direct from Foreman. You can find out more about foreman_bootiso at > http://blog.theforeman.org/2013/09/foreman-community-newsletter-september.html > > As a final fallback, you can always use the API - search for hosts by MAC, > then update the IP in foreman with whatever DHCP gave you, and then GET > /unattended/provision > > HTH, > Greg > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "Foreman users" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/foreman-users/FepJimPBvcY/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > foreman-users+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to foreman-users@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/foreman-users. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

–
Best regards / Met vriendelijke groeten,

Niels Basjes