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5.1 Simple Mass Installation
IMPORTANT: Identical Hardware
This scenario assumes you are rolling out SUSE Linux Enterprise to a set of machines
with exactly the same hardware configuration.
To prepare for an AutoYaST mass installation, proceed as follows:
5.1.1 Creating an AutoYaST Profile
An AutoYaST profile tells AutoYaST what to install and how to configure the
installed system to get a completely ready-to-use system in the
end. It can be created in several different ways:
-
Clone a fresh installation from a reference machine to a set of identical
machines
-
Use the AutoYaST GUI to create and modify a profile to meet your requirements
-
Use an XML editor and create a profile from scratch
To clone a fresh reference installation, proceed as follows:
-
Perform a normal installation.
-
After you complete the hardware configuration and read the release
notes, check , if it is not
yet checked by default.
This creates a ready-to-use profile as
/root/autoyast.xml that can be used to create clones
of this particular installation.
To use the AutoYaST GUI to create a profile from an existing system
configuration and modify it to your needs, proceed as follows:
-
As root, start YaST.
-
Select to start the graphical
AutoYaST front-end.
-
Select to prepare AutoYaST
to mirror the current system configuration into an AutoYaST profile.
-
As well as the default resources, like boot loader, partitioning, and
software selection, you can add various other aspects of your
system to the profile by checking the items in the list
in .
-
Click to have YaST gather all the
system information and write it to a new profile.
-
To proceed, choose one of the following:
-
If the profile is complete and matches your requirements, select
and enter a filename for the profile, such as
autoyast.xml.
-
Modify the reference profile by selecting the appropriate
configuration aspects (such as Hardware/Printer )
from the tree view to the left and clicking
. The respective YaST module
starts but your settings are written to the AutoYaST
profile instead of applied to your system. When done,
select and enter a suitable name for
the profile.
-
Leave the AutoYaST module with .
5.1.2 Distributing the Profile and Determining the autoyast
Parameter
The AutoYaST profile can be distributed in several different ways.
Depending on the protocol used to distribute the profile data,
different AutoYaST parameters are used to make the profile location known
to the installation routines on the client. The location of the profile
is passed to the installation routines by means of the boot prompt
or an info file that is loaded upon boot. The
following options are available:
Replace the server and
path placeholders with values matching your
actual setup.
AutoYaST includes a feature that allows binding certain profiles to the
client's MAC address. Without having to alter the
autoyast= parameter, you can have the same setup install
several different instances using different profiles.
To use this, proceed as follows:
-
Create separate profiles with the MAC address of the client as the
filename and put them on the HTTP server that holds your AutoYaST
profiles.
-
Omit the exact path including the filename when creating
the autoyast= parameter, for
example:
autoyast=https://192.0.2.91/
-
Start the autoinstallation.
YaST tries to determine the location of the profile in the following way:
-
YaST
searches for the profile using its own IP address in uppercase
hexadecimal, for example, 192.0.2.91 is
C000025B.
-
If this file is not found, YaST removes one hex digit and tries again.
This action is repeated eight times until the file with the correct name
is found.
-
If that still fails, it tries looking for a file with the MAC address of
the clients as the filename. The MAC address of the example client is
0080C8F6484C.
-
If the MAC address–named file cannot be found, YaST searches for
a file named default (in lowercase). An example
sequence of addresses where
YaST searches for the AutoYaST profile looks as follows:
C000025B
C000025
C00002
C0000
C000
C00
C0
C
0080C8F6484C
default
5.1.3 Providing the Installation Data
The installation data can be provided by means of the product CDs or
DVDs or using a network installation source. If the product CDs are
used as the installation source, physical access to the client to install
is needed, because the boot process needs to be initiated manually
and the CDs need to be changed.
To provide the installation sources over the network, set up a network
installation server (HTTP, NFS, FTP) as described in Section 4.2.1,
Setting Up an Installation Server Using YaST. Use an
info file to pass the server's
location to the installation routines.
5.1.4 Setting Up the Boot Scenario
The client can be booted in several different ways:
- Network Boot
-
As for a normal remote installation, autoinstallation can be
initiated with Wake on LAN and PXE, the boot image and control
file can be pulled in via TFTP, and the installation sources from
any network installation server.
- Bootable CD-ROM
-
You can use the original SUSE Linux Enterprise media to boot the system for
autoinstallation and pull in the control file from a network
location or a floppy. Alternatively, create your own custom
CD-ROM holding both the installation sources and the AutoYaST
profile.
The following sections provide a basic outline of the procedures for
network boot or boot from CD-ROM.
Preparing for Network Boot
Network booting with Wake on LAN, PXE, and TFTP is
discussed in
Section 4.1.3,
Remote Installation via VNC—PXE Boot and
Wake on LAN. To make the
setup introduced there work for autoinstallation, modify the featured
PXE Linux configuration file
(/srv/tftp/pxelinux.cfg/default) to contain
the autoyast parameter pointing to the location of
the AutoYaST profile. An example entry for a standard installation
looks like this:
default linux
# default label linux
kernel linux append initrd=initrd ramdisk_size=65536 insmod=e100 \
install=https://192.168.0.22/install/suse-enterprise/
The same example for autoinstallation looks like this:
default linux
# default label linux
kernel linux append initrd=initrd ramdisk_size=65536 insmod=e100 \
install=https://192.168.0.22/install/suse-enterprise/ \
autoyast=nfs://192.168.0.23/profiles/autoyast.xml
Replace the example IP addresses and paths with the data used in
your setup.
Preparing to Boot from CD-ROM
There are several ways in which booting from CD-ROM can come into
play in AutoYaST installations. Choose from the following scenarios:
- Boot from SUSE Linux Enterprise Media, Get the Profile over the Network
-
Use this approach if a totally network-based scenario is not
possible (for example, if your hardware does not support PXE) and you
have physical access to system to install during most of the
process.
You need:
- Boot and Install from SUSE Linux Enterprise Media, Get the Profile from a
Floppy
-
Use this approach if an entirely network-based installation
scenario would not work. It requires physical access to the system to
install for turning on the target machine, or, in the second case, to
enter the profile's location at the boot prompt. In both cases, you
may also need to change media depending on the scope of
installation.
You need:
-
The SUSE Linux Enterprise media
-
A floppy holding both the profile and the
info file
or
Access to the boot prompt of the target to enter the
autoyast= parameter
- Boot and Install from Custom Media, Get the Profile from the
Media
-
If you just need to install a limited number of software
packages and the number of targets is relatively low, creating
your own custom CD holding both the installation data and the
profile itself might prove a good idea, especially if no network
is available in your setup.
5.1.5 Creating the info File
The installation routines at the target need to be made aware of
all the different components of the AutoYaST framework. This is done by
creating a command line containing all the parameters needed to locate
the AutoYaST components, installation sources, and the parameters needed to
control the installation process.
Do this by manually passing these parameters at the
boot prompt of the installation or by providing a file called
info that is read by the installation routines
(linuxrc). The former requires physical access to any client to
install, which makes this approach unsuitable for large
deployments. The latter enables you to provide the
info file on some media that is prepared and
inserted into the clients' drives prior to the autoinstallation.
Alternatively, use PXE boot and include the linuxrc parameters in the
pxelinux.cfg/default file as shown in
Preparing for Network Boot.
The following parameters are commonly used for linuxrc. For more
information, refer to the AutoYaST package documentation under
/usr/share/doc/packages/autoyast.
IMPORTANT: Separating Parameters and Values
When passing parameters to linuxrc at the boot prompt, use
= to separate parameter and value. When using an
info file, separate parameter and value with
:.
If your autoinstallation scenario involves client configuration via
DCHP and a network installation source and you want to monitor the
installation process using VNC, your info would
look like this:
autoyast:profile_source install:install_source vnc:1 vncpassword:some_password
If you prefer a static network setup at installation time, your
info file would look like the following:
autoyast:profile_source \
install:install_source \
hostip:some_ip \
netmask:some_netmask \
gateway:some_gateway
The \ indicate that the line breaks have only
been added for the sake of readability. All options must be entered
as one continuous string.
The info data can be made available to linuxrc in
various different ways:
-
As a file in the root directory of a floppy that is in the client's
floppy drive at installation time.
-
As a file in the root directory of the initial RAM disk used for
booting the system provided either from custom installation
media or via PXE boot.
-
As part of the AutoYaST profile. In this case, the AutoYaST file needs to
be called info to enable linuxrc to parse
it. An example for this approach is given below.
linuxrc looks for a string (start_linuxrc_conf) in
the profile that represents the beginning of the file. If it is
found, it parses the content starting from that string and
finishes when the string end_linuxrc_conf is found. The
options are stored in the profile as follows:
....
<install>
....
<init>
<info_file>
<![CDATA[
#
# Don't remove the following line:
# start_linuxrc_conf
#
install: nfs:server/path
vnc: 1
vncpassword: test
autoyast: file:///info
# end_linuxrc_conf
# Do not remove the above comment
#
]]>
</info_file>
</init>
......
</install>
....
linuxrc loads the profile containing the boot parameters instead
of the traditional info file. The
install: parameter points to the location of the
installation sources. vnc and
vncpassword indicate the use of VNC for installation
monitoring. The autoyast parameter tells linuxrc
to treat info as an AutoYaST profile.
5.1.6 Initiating and Monitoring the Autoinstallation
After you have provided all the infrastructure mentioned above
(profile, installation source, and info file), you
can go ahead and start the autoinstallation. Depending on the scenario
chosen for booting and monitoring the process, physical
interaction with the client may be needed:
-
If the client system boots from any kind of physical media,
either product media or custom CDs, you need to insert these into
the client's drives.
-
If the client is not switched on via Wake on LAN, you need to at
least switch on the client machine.
-
If you have not opted for remote controlled autoinstallation, the
graphical feedback from AutoYaST is sent to the client's attached
monitor or, if you use a headless client, to a serial console.
To enable remote controlled autoinstallation, use the VNC or SSH
parameters described in Section 5.1.5,
Creating the info File and connect to the
client from another machine as described in Section 4.5,
Monitoring the Installation Process.
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