Hi there, thanks for the response.
> 0. Do you use ISC DHCP server, or the dnsmasq? Does
cobbler manage it?
There is no DHCP server on the subnet in question (the
network eth0 is plugged in to). There _is_ a DHCP server on the
eth1 subnet (the net the system is supposed to boot from and use
for install). This server is managed by Cobbler.
That's OK. When you do PXE network install, a DHCP server is a
mandatory component. Once installed, the system can use a different
network interface for production. This is fine.
> 1. Have you used cobbler system getks --name=... to
check your rendered kickstart file? Do you see the desired IP
in the rendered version?
Everything looks fine in here. I see static network
configurations being >'d in to sysconfig/network-scripts files.
OK.
> 2. Have you used cobbler cobbler system dumpvars
--name=... to examine all variables?
The only thing that looks weird in here is "owner_eth*" and
"hostname_eth*" are set to the hostname of the copied system,
rather than the system I'm installing. I don't know what these
variables do or how to set them so I'm not sure if it's a problem.
Not having the same environment, I am afraid that I can't be of much
help here. But...
> 3. Have you checked your installation log and see what
> the actions have been taken for your installation?
I haven't gotten through the install process. It stops
and prompts for an address at the very first step. I've tried
looking at the other consoles but there isn't much there. It is
just setting up network cards and trying DHCP.
If your kickstart template has provided all necessary information,
then anaconda shouldn't prompt you for anything. There are two ways
that you can do:
0. Use the kickstart logging option to log everything to a remote
logging server
1. In /etc/cobbler/settings, turn on anamon, and use the anamon
snippets in the /var/lib/cobbler/snippets to help you get the
installation log
Granted, the above logs won't appear until anaconda is started. So,
in case like this, I would use tcpdump to figure out what's going on.
> Typically, after the above four steps, and assuming for
> 0, you have *really* acquainted yourself with the respective man
> page of the two DHCP servers, you should be able to make a static
> IP assignment for Red Hat alike systems without a hitch.
I'm not sure what you mean. I shouldn't _need_ a DHCP
server, right?
During PXE installation, you do. After installation, if your nodes
use static IP addresses, then the DHCP server is out of the
picture.
> Worst comes to the worst, you have the cobbler built-in
> configuration management features come to your rescue. I have
> found that the 'Template Files' attribute for both profile and
> system objects, together with the bundled download snippet, as
> the last, but very reliable, resort.
I'm happy to look in to this as an option, but I'm not sure
where to start.
Any advice?
I would suggest you to get the PXE network install going without being
prompted for manual input first. After that, if somehow your nodes
are still dependent on DHCP, then use the above suggestion.
Reference:
http://cobbler.github.com/manuals/2.2.3/5/3/1_-_Built-In_Configuration_Ma...
HTH
-- Zack