Re: cobbler Digest, Vol 43, Issue 24
by Matt Solnit
On Jan 21, 2012, at 12:39 AM, <cobbler-request(a)lists.fedorahosted.org>
wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 11:48 PM, Matt Solnit <msolnit(a)soasta.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone. I'm using Cobbler 2.0.11 (from the EPEL repository), and
>> trying to build
>> a complete standalone ISO for distributing our custom Linux setup to
>> customers. The
>> ISO will be used to create DVD's that we will ship to them. The problem
>> is that the
>> "standalone" ISO seems to only contain the original install tree, not any
>> of the updates
>> I've mirrored onto my machine.
>>
>>
> That's indeed not implemented yet, but sounds like a nice to have feature.
> It would be useful for me aswell ;-). Could you file a ticket and mark it
> as a request for enhancement?
>
Done.
https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/issues/52
Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to mark it as a request for enhancement (maybe
I need some kind of special privilege?), so for now it's "uncategorized".
-- Matt
12 years, 3 months
About cobbler
by Javier Domingo
Hi,
I have been trying to use cobbler, and didn't succeed, so I am coming here.
My main idea was to develop a system, that having a central computer, was
able to leave blank with all the packages installed when needed.
I started searching about all the stuff I could use, and the most similar
thing I found to what I was planning to create, was cobbler. I must say
that I am going to use cobbler in Ubuntu, to deploy Ubuntu. I installed the
cobbler package, and for me was all messy, I started to read docs, and were
all about importing systems, configuring proxys, etc.
I know it is a server deployment feature system, and that importing systems
could be usefull etc. But I didn't find how to get pxe-s in the system. I
might be easy, but I don't get the right way. I also wanted to use that
DHCP management, but I don't understand how it works, or if it works
without it.
Also the same thing about mirroring and tftpd.
So my questions are,
1) Is it possible to use cobbler to just manage a bootptab file, and the
tftpd-dir with all the images I want to use?
2) Does cobbler do some of those things about PXE? I mean, does it have the
tftpd, and the DHCP servers included?
3) Isn't there any easy way to configure the repos with apt-cacher-ng?
(Don't actually like squid)
4) Is it possible to use all that great configuration interface cobbler-web
has, with profiles management, systems, etc. But changing the bellow apps?
I hope this isn't too newbie,
Javier Domingo
12 years, 3 months
Can I build a standalone ISO with update (repo) RPM's included?
by Matt Solnit
Hi everyone. I'm using Cobbler 2.0.11 (from the EPEL repository), and trying to build
a complete standalone ISO for distributing our custom Linux setup to customers. The
ISO will be used to create DVD's that we will ship to them. The problem is that the
"standalone" ISO seems to only contain the original install tree, not any of the updates
I've mirrored onto my machine.
Here's the basic process I'm using:
1. Mount a CentOS DVD.
2. cobbler import --path=/mnt/dvd --arch=x86_64 --name=centos5.7-x86_64
3. cobbler repo add --name=centos5.7-x86_64-updates --mirror=http://linux.mirrors.es.net/centos/5.7/updates/x86_64/
4. cobbler reposync
5. cobbler profile add --name=centos5.7-x86_64-uptodate --distro=centos5.7-x86_64 --repos="centos5.7-x86_64-updates"
6. cobbler buildiso --standalone --distro=centos5.7-x86_64
When I examine the resulting ISO, I can see that the install tree is there, but none of the
updates. I know I can use "$yum_config_stanza" to create a Yum repository pointing
back at Cobbler, but that doesn't work for us because the ISO's will be distributed outside
of our network.
Am I missing anything? I tried to search around online, and it looks like including repo
contents was a "to do" back when standalone was first added:
https://fedorahosted.org/pipermail/cobbler/2009-February/002730.html
I appreciate any help you can offer.
-- Matt
12 years, 3 months
Snippet not working with per_system confiugration
by Mueller, Roland
Hi
I'm trying to use a sepearte Partition configuration for each system with the seed file.
It works if its in /var/cobbler/snippets/partition_layout but if I put it into /var/cobbler/snippets/per_system/partition_layout/hostname then it just appears $SNIPPET('partition_layout') when I open the webpage with the seed file.
I'm using Ubuntu 11.10 with cobbler 2.1.
When Cobbler uses the normal Snippet the seed file looks like:
...
d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string \
boot-root :: \
256 256 512 ext4 \
... $primary{ } $bootable{ } \
If I enter host specific file it looks like:
...
d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string \
$SNIPPET('partition_layout')
...
Any suggestions?
Kind Regards
Roland
12 years, 3 months
distro add not working
by Siddharth Deshpande
Hi,
I'm having trouble adding a distro to cobbler. I'm trying to add Centos
6.2. I've tried both the 'cobbler distro add' as well as the 'cobbler
import' routes. Both the commands seem to succeed, but when i run a
'cobbler sync' after that, i get the following exception:
copying files for distro: CentOS-6.2-x86_64
Exception occured: exceptions.AttributeError
Exception value: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'lower'
Exception Info:
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cobbler/remote.py", line 95,
in run
rc = self._run(self)
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cobbler/remote.py", line 184,
in runner
return
self.remote.api.sync(self.options.get("verbose",False),logger=self.logger)
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cobbler/api.py", line 611, in
sync
return sync.run()
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cobbler/action_sync.py", line
116, in run
self.pxegen.copy_distros()
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cobbler/pxegen.py", line 144,
in copy_distros
self.copy_single_distro_files(d)
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cobbler/pxegen.py", line 173,
in copy_single_distro_files
if utils.file_is_remote(kernel):
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cobbler/utils.py", line 506,
in file_is_remote
file_loc_lc = file_location.lower()
!!! TASK FAILED !!!
# cobbler distro report --name=CentOS-6.2-x86_64
Name : CentOS-6.2-x86_64
Architecture : x86_64
Breed : redhat
Comment : CentOS 6.2
Initrd :
/var/www/cobbler/images/CentOS-6.2-x86_64/initrd.img
Kernel :
/var/www/cobbler/images/CentOS-6.2-x86_64/vmlinuz
Kernel Options : {}
Kernel Options (Post Install) : {}
Kickstart Metadata : {'tree':
'http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6/os/x86_64/'}
Management Classes : []
OS Version : rhel6
Owners : ['admin']
Red Hat Management Key : <<inherit>>
Red Hat Management Server : <<inherit>>
Template Files : {}
The kernel and initrd files reported above are actually missing:
# ls /var/www/cobbler/images/CentOS-6.2-x86_64/initrd.img
ls: /var/www/cobbler/images/CentOS-6.2-x86_64/initrd.img: No such file
or directory
I even tried placing these files there manually when i was doing a
'distro add', but 'cobbler sync' seems to delete them from there!
/var/log/cobbler/cobbler.log doesn't say much apart from the above
exception. I'm running Cobbler 2.0.11.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
--
TIA,
siddharth.
12 years, 3 months
issue with file
by Lassi Pölönen
Hi,
I'm running cobbler cobbler-2.2.1-1.el6.noarch from epel-testing on RHEL
6. I decided to try Cobbler's "files" as a replacement for snippets to
create static files on post-install. Didn't start too well:
first I tried:
cobbler file add --name=nagios-nrpe-xinetd-conf
--path=/var/lib/cobbler/files/xinetd.d/nrpe
and got no output. At this point cobbler file report didn't list
anything... also /var/lib/cobbler/config/files.d/ is empty.
cobbler's log wrote these lines:
-----
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | get_item; ['file',
'nagios-nrpe-xinetd-conf']
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | done with get_item; ['file',
'nagios-nrpe-xinetd-conf']
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | Exception occured: <class
'cobbler.cexceptions.CX'>
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | Exception value: 'internal error,
unknown file name nagios-nrpe-xinetd-conf'
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | Exception Info:
File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cobbler/remote.py", line 866,
in xapi_object_edit
handle = self.get_item_handle(object_type, object_name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cobbler/remote.py", line 659,
in get_item_handle
raise CX("internal error, unknown %s name %s" % (what,name))
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | REMOTE new_item(file); user(<DIRECT>)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | REMOTE CLI Authorized; user(?)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | REMOTE modify_item(file);
user(<DIRECT>);
object_id(___NEW___file::tcYwwbmv31Tw+dByGLJCTtp+JyYqoLWcLQ==);
attribute(in_place)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | REMOTE CLI Authorized; user(?)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | REMOTE modify_item(file);
user(<DIRECT>);
object_id(___NEW___file::tcYwwbmv31Tw+dByGLJCTtp+JyYqoLWcLQ==);
attribute(name)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | REMOTE CLI Authorized; user(?)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | REMOTE modify_item(file);
user(<DIRECT>);
object_id(___NEW___file::tcYwwbmv31Tw+dByGLJCTtp+JyYqoLWcLQ==);
attribute(path)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | REMOTE CLI Authorized; user(?)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | REMOTE save_item(file);
user(<DIRECT>);
object_id(___NEW___file::tcYwwbmv31Tw+dByGLJCTtp+JyYqoLWcLQ==)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | REMOTE CLI Authorized; user(?)
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - INFO | add_item(file);
['nagios-nrpe-xinetd-conf']
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | get_items; ['file']
Tue Jan 17 17:32:00 2012 - DEBUG | done with get_items; ['file']
----
I tried cobbler sync, didn't help either. Then I though I'll restart
cobblerd and try again, but it doesn't start anymore. Instead I get:
Starting cobbler daemon: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/cobblerd", line 76, in main
api = cobbler_api.BootAPI(is_cobblerd=True)
File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cobbler/api.py", line 130, in
__init__
self.deserialize()
File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cobbler/api.py", line 795, in
deserialize
return self._config.deserialize()
File "/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/cobbler/config.py", line 266,
in deserialize
raise CX("serializer: error loading collection %s. Check
/etc/cobbler/modules.conf" % item.collection_type())
CX: 'serializer: error loading collection file. Check
/etc/cobbler/modules.conf'
the only changes I've made to modules.conf are authentication and tftpd
and the config has been working for quite a while. SElinux is disabled.
I've tried reinstalling cobbler with yum to make sure no library files
are changed, but no help there.
12 years, 3 months
httpd does not appear to be running and proxying cobbler
by Emyr James
Hi,
I've got cobbler up and running on Scientific Linux 6.1. It was working
fine when I had the cobbler settings in my port 80 virtual host.
I cut the cobbler settings out of the port 80 virtual host for apache
and put them in to the port 443 virtual host (https) and now it doesn't
work. I get ...
httpd does not appear to be running and proxying cobbler
Is it possible to get cobbler_web working under https only ? Ideally I
want to have a rewrite rule in my port 80 virtual host so that anything
that hits it gets redirected to https. I notice that
/etc/cobbler/settings has the following line...
http_port: 80
I'd like to get this working via https only as I don't want the
cobbler_web username & password being passed plaintext by the browser as
this is open to attack by packet sniffing.
Regards,
Emyr
12 years, 3 months
Cobbler PXE with HP firmware dvd 9.30
by Daniel Kang
Hi,
I'm trying to get cobbler to provision an HP firmware dvd. I've seen the
example shown on the github wiki but if it is possible to use NFS to do a
PXE boot to the share how much it is not possible to 'cobbler import' on a
loopback mounted iso of the dvd? or add the iso with 'cobbler image'.
Thanks in advance. Also asking around I've found that the kernel the HP
dvd is based off of is SLES 11.
--
Daniel S Kang
Gawker Media
m: (646)783-8835
im: kang(a)gawker.com
aim: fookkoof
12 years, 3 months
Re: Anyone got some cheese to go with this whine ? :) Build-ISO problems in search of a solution
by Dan White
Absolutely.
However, this opens up another problem:
I have a variety of machines I have to deal with. Some have main drives that show up as /dev/hda1 while others show up as /dev/sda1. On the first, I would expect my USB flash drive to show up as /dev/sda1 while I would expect it to be /dev/sdb1 on the second one.
Any suggestions on a way to have kickstart tell the difference ?
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
Bill Waterson (Calvin & Hobbes)
----- David Lee <David.Lee(a)ecmwf.int> wrote:
> While you do it, could you take notes of the things you had to do, and
> consider writing them up into a "How to" article for the wiki?
>
> -- David Lee
>
>
>
> Dan White wrote:
> > This looks hopeful.
> > I will try it and let you know !
> >
> > On Jan 16, 2012, at 6:27 AM, Stuart Sears wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Dan,
> >>
> >> responses below...
> >>
> >> On 13/01/12 21:20, Dan White wrote:
> >> [...]
> >>> It asks me to pick the NIC to run from. These servers have 4 built-in
> >>> ethernet ports. I found that a bit surprising as I defined only one
> >>> port (eth0) in the cobbler system. I would hope it would take that
> >>> and run with it. Had I defined more than one, I could understand the
> >>> query.
> >> You need a --ksdevice=eth0 argument to the kernel
> >> add it to your 'kernel-options' for the system record.
> >>
> >> Cobbler doesn't actually do the installation, it just creates a
> >> kickstart file, which is processed by anaconda. Anaconda has no idea
> >> which of the 4 devices you have you would like to install through.
> >> This has been an 'interesting' point of discussion for a long time now,
> >> as I recall.
> >>
> >>> After that, the kickstart ran as expected, up to and including the
> >>> reboot.
> >>>
> >>> During reboot, I removed the USB thumb, expecting its job finished.
> >>> When the machine comes back up, it fails to load the operating
> >>> system. I did not record the exact screen messages, but it indicated
> >>> (to me) a corrupted OS load.
> >>>
> >>> I found a cause for this, but not a solution: The contents of the
> >>> USB flash drive had been overwritten during the OS installation
> >>> process ! I have write-protectable USB flash drives from
> >>> RiData/RiTek (product name: Twister), but did not have one handy to
> >>> try.
> >>>
> >>> The ISO I put onto this USB thumb (at least twice) totally failed to
> >>> load my server as expected.
> >> Does it boot with the usb key in afterwards? (see my bootloader comment
> >> below)
> >>
> >>> On a happy note, the same ISO burned onto a CD-ROM and re-attempted
> >>> with a CD drive ran like a champ. I do not have the luxury to do a
> >>> lot of pounding on this, but I will try it once more with a
> >>> write-protectable USB flash drive to see what happens.
> >> This is a kickstart default, not a cobbler problem.
> >> check the rendered kickstart for a line like this:
> >>
> >> clearpart --all
> >>
> >> This is probably what is doing that.
> >> It may well be installing the bootloader on the usb stick for all I
> >> know. If you know the names of the internal disks then you can put
> >>
> >> clearpart --all --drives=sda (for example)
> >>
> >> Alternatively anaconda/kickstart has an 'ignoredisk' option you can use
> >> to avoid this.
> >>
> >> ignoredisk --onlyuse sda
> >>
> >> (or possibly /dev/sda. Can't remember right now)
> >>
> >>> At this point, I'd advise folks to waste the CD's than fuss with a
> >>> USB thumb.
> >>>
> >>> I have an alternate workflow to suggest for this, but I will post it
> >>> separately
> >>>
> >>> Finally, would you consider this a "bug" ? If so, I will report it
> >>> that way as well.
> >> No. not in cobbler at any rate.
> >>
> >> Stuart
> >> --
> >> Stuart Sears RHCA etc.
> >> "It's today!" said Piglet.
> >> "My favourite day," said Pooh.
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> cobbler-devel mailing list
> >> cobbler-devel(a)lists.fedorahosted.org
> >> https://fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/cobbler-devel
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > cobbler-devel mailing list
> > cobbler-devel(a)lists.fedorahosted.org
> > https://fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/cobbler-devel
> _______________________________________________
> cobbler-devel mailing list
> cobbler-devel(a)lists.fedorahosted.org
> https://fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/cobbler-devel
12 years, 3 months
Anyone got some cheese to go with this whine ? :) Build-ISO problems in search of a solution
by Dan White
First, I have something to contribute before I start whining --
I found a workflow for RHEL 5 to get a cobbler generated build ISO onto a USB flash drive
Install LiveCD-Tools ( yum install livecd-tools )
Partition the USB thumb with : fdisk /dev/sdb
Delete all partitions and then make one that covers the whold device.
Format it with: mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb1
I made the ISO with: cobbler buildiso --systems=mynewservername.foo.bar
mynewservername.foo.bar having been previously defined in cobbler with profile, etc.
Then the magic: /usr/bin/livecd-iso-to-disk /path/to/cobbler/build-iso/generated.iso /dev/sdb1
This boots up my machine and gives me the menu to select from.
I selected the system name (mynewservername.foo.bar) and started it.
It asks me to pick the NIC to run from.
These servers have 4 built-in ethernet ports.
I found that a bit surprising as I defined only one port (eth0) in the cobbler system.
I would hope it would take that and run with it.
Had I defined more than one, I could understand the query.
After that, the kickstart ran as expected, up to and including the reboot.
During reboot, I removed the USB thumb, expecting its job finished.
When the machine comes back up, it fails to load the operating system.
I did not record the exact screen messages, but it indicated (to me) a corrupted OS load.
I found a cause for this, but not a solution: The contents of the USB flash drive had been overwritten during the OS installation process ! I have write-protectable USB flash drives from RiData/RiTek (product name: Twister), but did not have one handy to try.
The ISO I put onto this USB thumb (at least twice) totally failed to load my server as expected.
On a happy note, the same ISO burned onto a CD-ROM and re-attempted with a CD drive ran like a champ.
I do not have the luxury to do a lot of pounding on this, but I will try it once more with a write-protectable USB flash drive to see what happens.
At this point, I'd advise folks to waste the CD's than fuss with a USB thumb.
I have an alternate workflow to suggest for this, but I will post it separately
Finally, would you consider this a "bug" ? If so, I will report it that way as well.
Thanks for listening. The cheese was great(ed).
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
Bill Waterson (Calvin & Hobbes)
12 years, 3 months