System Configuration Profiles
Are you tired already of typing in hostname, IP address, root and user passwords every time you do a system installation? I am! We can solve this problem by using System Configuration Profiles. We can specify all those parameters in another XML file (or several files) and use them during AI installation. This way the system will be usable right after installation and we won't have that interactive stage at the first boot.
We start with a simple profile and use the same configuration parameters that we used during interactive configuration.
root@solarislab:~# sysconfig create-profile -o ai-client
You will see the familiar configuration screens. Use the same parameters (hostname, IP address, router address, user and root passwords, etc.) that you used before. After you are finished with the tool, you'll see the following message:
SC profile successfully generated as:
./ai-client/sc_profile.xml
Exiting System Configuration Tool. Log is available at:
/system/volatile/sysconfig/sysconfig.log.26544
You see that the tool has created a directory named ai-client and
placed the sc_profile.xml file there. We will need this location in
the next command. You can take a look at the resulting XML file to see
its structure and content. Most of things in it are self-explanatory.
Now we have to add this profile to the install service and specify again
the criteria when it should be used. Here is the command for that:
root@solarislab:~# installadm create-profile -n default-sparc -p ai-client -c hostname=ai-client -f ./ai-client/sc_profile.xml Created Profile: 'ai-client' root@solarislab:~# installadm list -p Service Name Profile Name Environment Criteria ------------ ------------ ----------- -------- default-sparc ai-client system hostname = ai-client
Now try to install again our client (init 0, boot net - install). You
will see that the installation will run the same way, but after reboot
you won't get the configuration screen. You system will get its hostname
and network parameters automatically and you'll see the console prompt:
ai-client console login:. That means your system was installed
completely without intervention from your side.
Now you may say: "Well, should I create a separate profile for each and every system I want to install? They all have different IPs and hostnames!". You are right—all system have different identities. Oracle Solaris engineers know about that and they feel your pain. So they created a system of templates that you can use to avoid creating thousands of separate profiles. Let's learn about them.
Take a look at the following file:
root@solarislab:~# cat /usr/share/auto_install/sc_profiles/template_var # # Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. # # # This file provides a list of supported profile template variables and # sample values for current version of Solaris. # AI_ARCH=i86pc AI_CPU=i386 AI_HOSTNAME=solaris AI_IPV4=192.168.56.2 AI_IPV4_PREFIXLEN=24 AI_MAC=01:01:01:01:01:01 AI_MEM=2048 AI_NETWORK=10.0.0.0 AI_NETLINK_DEVICE=e1000g0 AI_NETLINK_VANITY=net0 AI_ROUTER=10.0.0.1 AI_SERVICE=default-i386 AI_ZONENAME=testzone
These are the variables that you can use in system configuration
profiles: IP address, hostname and others. It's very important to notice
that those are system parameters at the time it boots with the AI
image. In case of SPARC systems those parameters as set in OpenBoot
with setenv network-boot-parameters command. Usually (but not
necessarily) those are parameters you want to see in your system after
installation. That's why we can use them in SC profiles and get what we
expected.
Let's copy the SC profile XML file that we just created with the interactive tool and edit it.
root@solarislab:~# cp ai-client/sc_profile.xml ./sc_template.xml root@solarislab:~# vi ./sc_template.xml
Instead of giving you step by step instructions on what to change, it
seems to be easier to provide you with the output of diff(1) command.
It's pretty easy to figure out the changes that were made.
root@solarislab:~# diff ai-client/sc_profile.xml sc_template.xml
8c8
< <propval type="astring" name="nodename" value="ai-client"/>
---
> <propval type="astring" name="nodename" value="{{AI_HOSTNAME}}"/>
21c21
< <propval type="net_address_v4" name="static_address" value="10.80.10.92/23"/>
---
> <propval type="net_address_v4" name="static_address" value="{{AI_IPV4}}/{{AI_IPV4_PREFIXLEN}}"/>
24c24
< <propval type="net_address_v4" name="default_route" value="10.80.11.254"/>
---
> <propval type="net_address_v4" name="default_route" value="{{AI_ROUTER}}"/>
After you are done with editing, install this profile in the install service and remove the old one. Note that this time we don't specify any criteria, which means that this profile will be applied to all clients.
root@solarislab:~# installadm create-profile -n default-sparc -p sc-template -f ./sc_template.xml Created Profile: 'sc-template' root@solarislab:~# installadm list -p Service Name Profile Name Environment Criteria ------------ ------------ ----------- -------- default-sparc ai-client system hostname = ai-client sc-template system none root@solarislab:~# installadm delete-profile -n default-sparc -p ai-client Deleted Profile: 'ai-client' root@solarislab:~# installadm list -p Service Name Profile Name Environment Criteria ------------ ------------ ----------- -------- default-sparc sc-template system none
And now it's time to test this profile. First, try to install your
client system with the current settings. If it works OK, then change the
settings with setenv network-boot-parameters to a different hostname
and IP and test again. Here is the example. Your instructor will give
you the necessary information about available IP addresses (please,
don't "invent" them yourself, we have very strict rules in the
laboratory!).
{0} ok printenv network-boot-arguments
network-boot-arguments = hostname=ai-client,host-ip=10.80.10.92,router-ip=10.80.11.254,subnet-mask=255.255.254.0,file=http://10.80.11.34:5555/cgi-bin/wanboot-cgi
{0} ok setenv network-boot-arguments hostname=ai-client1,host-ip=10.80.10.91,router-ip=10.80.11.254,subnet-mask=255.255.254.0,file=http://10.80.11.34:5555/cgi-bin/wanboot-cgi
network-boot-arguments = hostname=ai-client1,host-ip=10.80.10.91,router-ip=10.80.11.254,subnet-mask=255.255.254.0,file=http://10.80.11.34:5555/cgi-bin/wanboot-cgi
{0} ok
After the installation reboot the system and check if it set the parameters you expected.
ai-client1 console login: lab Password: Oracle Corporation SunOS 5.11 11.2 August 2015 lab@ai-client1:~$ ipadm NAME CLASS/TYPE STATE UNDER ADDR lo0 loopback ok -- -- lo0/v4 static ok -- 127.0.0.1/8 lo0/v6 static ok -- ::1/128 net0 ip ok -- -- net0/v4 static ok -- 10.80.10.91/23 net0/v6 addrconf ok -- fe80::214:4fff:fef8:5f6/10 net0/v6 addrconf ok -- 2606:b400:410:831:214:4fff:fef8:5f6/64
Success! Again, let's summarize what we have learned in this exercise.
- System parameters which we usually set at the first boot, can be configured and set via System Configuration Profiles (SC profiles).
- SC profiles can be created using interactive SC tool
(
sysconfig(1M)) or by copying and editing XML files. - You can use variables in profiles to install systems with different hostnames, IP addresses, etc.