Installing Linux using Kickstart and Kobbler

Using Kickstart server
Setup a Kickstart server
Setup Kickstart using Kobbler

Red Hat Linux operating system installations can be done via a network connection using a Kickstart server. It is frequently much faster than using CDs and the process can be automated.

 Example Kickstart 
 Get the kickstart cfg from http server and start the install
   boot: linux ks=http://server.com/path/to/kickstart/file

 Get the kickstart cfg from nfs server and start the install
   boot: linux ks=nfs:server:/path/to/kickstart/file

 Serving the Kickstart file from nfs server through dhcp /etc/dhcpd.conf
   next-server 10.10.10.100;
   filename "/pxelinux.0";

Setup a Kickstart Server

01. Install and configure the DHCPD server

02. Install tftp server and enable TFTP service

    a. yum install tftp-server
    b. Enable TFTP server. 
       vi /etc/xinetd.d/tftp and change disable to 'no'
    c. service xinetd restart

03. Install syslinux if not already installed

    a. yum install syslinux

04. Copy needed files from syslinux to the tftpboot directory

    cp /usr/lib/syslinux/pxelinux.0 /tftpboot
    cp /usr/lib/syslinux/menu.c32 /tftpboot
    cp /usr/lib/syslinux/memdisk /tftpboot
    cp /usr/lib/syslinux/mboot.c32 /tftpboot
    cp /usr/lib/syslinux/chain.c32 /tftpboot

04. Create the directory for your PXE menus

    mkdir /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg

05. For each "Release" and "ARCH" Copy vmlinuz and initrd.img from /images/pxeboot/ directory on "disc 1" of that $Release/$ARCH to /tftpboot/images/RHEL/$ARCH/$RELEASE

    mkdir -p /tftpboot/images/RHEL/i386/4.3
    mkdir -p /tftpboot/images/RHEL/i386/5.5
    mkdir -p /tftpboot/images/RHEL/x86_64/4.3
    mkdir -p /tftpboot/images/RHEL/x86_64/5.5

For RHEL 5.5 x86_64, do the following

    mount /dev/cdrom /cdrom
    cd /cdrom/images/pxeboot
    cp vmlinuz initrd.img /tftpboot/images/RHEL/x86_64/5.5

Do the above for all releases and ARCH you want to kickstart from this server.

06. Add this to your existing or new /etc/dhcpd.conf.
Note: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of your PXE server

    allow booting;
    allow bootp;
    option option-128 code 128 = string;
    option option-129 code 129 = text;
    next-server xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx; 
    filename "/pxelinux.0";

07. Restart DHCP service

    # service dhcpd restart

08. Create Simple or Multilevel PIXIE menu. Create a file called "default" in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg directory. A Sample file named "isolinux.cfg" is found on the boot installation media in "isolinux" directory. Copy this file as default and edit this file as per requirement. A sample default file is given bellow.

default menu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 300
ONTIMEOUT local

MENU TITLE PXE Menu

LABEL Pmajic
        MENU LABEL Pmajic
        kernel images/pmagic/bzImage
        append noapic initrd=images/pmagic/initrd.gz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc ramdisk_size=100000

label Dos Bootdisk
        MENU LABEL ^Dos bootdisk
        kernel memdisk
        append initrd=images/622c.img

LABEL RHEL 5 x86 eth0
        MENU LABEL RHEL 5 x86 eth0
        KERNEL images/RHEL/x86/5.5/vmlinuz
        APPEND initrd=images/RHEL/x86_64/5.5/initrd.img ramdisk_size=10000 
               ks=nfs:xx.xx.xx.xxx:/<path _to_jumpstart_config_file> ksdevice=eth1

LABEL RHEL 5 x86_64  eth0
        MENU LABEL RHEL 5 x86_64  eth0
        KERNEL images/RHEL/x86_64/5.5/vmlinuz
        APPEND initrd=images/RHEL/x86_64/5.5/initrd.img ramdisk_size=10000 
               ks=nfs:xx.xx.xx.xxx:/<path _to_jumpstart_config_file> ksdevice=eth1

09. Install the kickstart Configurator tool. This tool will be helpful to create the kickstart configuration file.

     yum install system-config-kickstart

10. Create the kickstart config file. This file can be created using kickstart Configuration Tool. A Sample file anaconda-ks.cfg based on current installation of a system is placed in /root directory. We can also use this /root/anaconda-ks-cfg as the configuration file. Copy this file to the location specified in the default file. Make sure the directory is NFS exported if you are using NFS for installing the OS.

11. Modify the kickstart configuration file as per requirement. If you are using NFS for installation, Make sure to copy the ISO images of Linux disks to any NFS server and NFS export the directory. This server/directory details need to be specified in the jumpstart configuration file.

12. After creating the KS configuration files and copying the ISO images, the installation can be started.

Sample Kickstart configuration file can be found here

http://www.datadisk.co.uk/html_docs/redhat/rh_pxe.html
http://esther.ilionet.com/programs/kickstart.php
http://pxe.dev.aboveaverageurl.com/index.php/PXE_Booting
http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/PXE/PXE_Setup

Kickstart using Cobbler

Installing from RPM
The latest stable releases of Cobbler and Koan are included in Extras Packages.

  yum install cobbler # on the boot server
  yum install cobbler-web # on the boot server (optional)
  yum install koan # on target systems (optional)

On the cobbler server:

# Review the procedure below.  The command arguments "--foo=bar" will need to vary locally.

# Install cobbler. The command below assumes a Redhat-like OS.
yum install cobbler

# Show what aspects might need attention
cobbler check

# Act on the 'check' above, then re-check until satisfactory.

# Import a client OS from a DVD.  This automatically sets up a "distro" and names it.

cobbler import --path=/mnt --name=rhel5 --arch=x86_64

# Create a profile (e.g. "rhel5_workstation") and associate it with that distro
cobbler profile add --name=rhel5_workstation --distro=rhel5

# Set up a kickstart file.

# Associate a kickstart file with this profile
cobbler profile edit --name=rhel5_workstation --kickstart=/path/to/kick.ks

# Register a client machine (e.g. "workstation1") and its network details
# and associate it with a profile
cobbler system add --name=workstation1 \
  --mac=AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF --ip=III.JJJ.KKK.LLL \
  --profile=rhel5_workstation \
  --netboot-enabled=true 

# Get a detailed report of everything in cobbler
cobbler report

# Get cobbler to act on all the above (set up DHCP, etc.)
cobbler sync

Importing options

Cobbler import uses rsync to mirror the content to the disk. By default, the rsync operations will exclude content of certain architectures, debug RPMs, and ISO images -- to change what is excluded during an import, see /etc/cobbler/rsync.exclude.
Mirrored content is saved automatically in /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror.

Import from inserted DVD

  cobbler import --path=/media/dvd --name=centos6

..OR... import from the mounted ISO example

  cobbler import --path=/somedir --name=centos6

To mirror from a public rsync server

  cobbler import --path=rsync://servergoeshere/path/to/distro --name=centos6

Setup from existing filesystem

  cobbler import --path=/path/where/filer/is/mounted --name=centos6   --available-as=nfs://nfsserver:/is/mounted/here

Once imported, run a "cobbler list" or "cobbler report" to see what you've added.

 # cobbler list
 distros:
    Centos62-x86_64

 profiles:
    Centos62-x86_64

 systems:
    centos03

 repos:

 images:

Reinstallation

If you want to install Fedora 12 on (instead of whatever it is running now), right now, you can do this:

On the client,

   yum install koan
   koan --server=bootserver.example.com --list=profiles
   koan --replace-self --server=bootserver.example.com --profile=F12-i386
   /sbin/reboot

The system will install the new operating system after rebooting, hands off, no interaction required.
Notice in the above example "F12-i386" is just one of the boring default profiles cobbler created for you. You can also create your own, for instance "F12-webservers" or "F12-appserver" -- whatever you would like to automate.

Snippet

Kickstart Snippets

Manage yum repos

Yum Repos

Koan

https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/wiki/Koan

Official Cobbler Docs
Cobbler Web Interface
Setup network boot server in 10 minutes
Setup YUM Repo for provisioning
Cobbler on CentOS 6