User:Solar/Networkinstall

Network Installation Proposal

• Ok, so what do we want?
  • Lights out re-installs. The only thing we need is for someone to physically reboot the thing. (And with IPMI, even that is not necessary)
  • Installs easy for me! :)
  • Consistent system images.
  • Automatic per-server configuration

• How do we get there? I propose we do this:
  • Have an "Installation vlan." This is for a few reasons. If we want these servers to be simple to reinstall, we have to isolate the installation from existing servers. (We don't want a machine to reinstall itself just because we put in a reboot request, and it net-booted)
  • We want our machines to have netboot first in their bios. That way if we it will automatically pickup the install, and not boot into the existing, perhaps corrupt/defunct/old OS.
  • An installation vlan would allow us to choose which server we want to reinstall, switch vlans, reboot, auto-install, switch-back the vlan, and reboot. (The switch back could be automatic with the kickstart, as well as the final reboot)

So, the steps:

1. Installation vlan, server is rebooted.
2. dhcp + tfpt (It only shows up on this vlan, if it were on a normal vlan the netboot would timeout)
3. Kickstart!
   1. This is the magic: linux ks="http://bart/ks.php?mac=xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx"
   2. The kickstart is a php script that pulls specific server settings from a mysql database. Something we all know and love!
   3. All mac specific information is in the database, no custom dhcpd.confs, tpfpboot.cgs, nothing tedious.
4. The ks is complete, and contains all the information necissary. It does grabs the current rpm's necessary for that particular server's function, adds a serial port login, a permanent root shell on one of the vt's :) smartd, nfs, anything we want!
   1. Option: We could make the post install kickstart log into the switch and switch the vlan back to what it was supposed to be. (What is in the database)
   2. Or we could perhaps send an irc message that says: "Install finished on $SERVER, I will reboot in 1 minute, please change my vlan back to $VLAN on my port $PORT so that I don't reboot and do another install!"
5. Done! The server reboots and does what it does best, the initial netboot times out (It is no longer on that vlan) and it goes.

Additional Ideas:
It would be nice for me to have a cat5 that is say, RED that is always on that vlan. That way I could reinstall any server I wanted by plugging in the red cat5, rebooting, and have it beep, or eject or something to let me know it was done, then replug the original cat5. Easy!
With the mysql database, we can create an easy web frontend to it, allowing lookups of all types of server configurations. Structured documentation.