Foreman and PXE less environments

Foreman (and Satellite 6) has many options when it comes to provisioning in PXE-less (or DHCP-less) environments.

Option 1: Bootdisk plugin - iPXE

Foreman Bootdisk plugin enables Foreman users to download Host based or Generic host images. These are small ISO images pre-loaded with SYSLINUX which chainloads iPXE. This kind of firmware is able to load kernels via http, but hardware driver in iPXE must exist for this to work. Unfortunately, there are many issues with various hardware and even virtualization technologies (VMWare, Microsoft).

The host image embeds network credentials (IP, gateway, netmask, DNS) therefore DHCP is not requred but the host is bound to the host it was generated for. On the other hand, Generic image initializes network via DHCP and can be used with any host. Recent version of Foreman will add Subnet image, which is a Generic image but proxies the http calls via Smart Proxy (Templates plugin must be enabled).

Option 2: Bootdisk plugin - SYSLINUX

There is a special kind of image: Full host image. This one is host-based (not generic) image that requires DHCP. It contains SYSLINUX loader, configuration rendered from PXELinux template kind associated with the host and embedded Linux kernel and init RAM disk of the associated OS installer. The image is slightly bigger, but it works on most platforms as the initial network configuration is done by the OS installer (e.g. Anaconda from RHEL).

Although this image type requires DHCP, there is a trick to get it working with static configuration. Create the following PXELinux kind template and associate it with the OS/Host, then download the image:

<%
  mac = @host.primary_interface.mac
  bootif = '00-' + mac.gsub(':', '-') if mac
  ip = @host.primary_interface.ip
  mask = @host.primary_interface.subnet.mask
  gw = @host.primary_interface.subnet.gateway
  dns = @host.primary_interface.subnet.dns_primary
-%>
DEFAULT linux
LABEL linux
KERNEL <%= @kernel %>
<% if (@host.operatingsystem.name == 'Fedora' and @host.operatingsystem.major.to_i > 16) or
    (@host.operatingsystem.name != 'Fedora' and @host.operatingsystem.major.to_i >= 7) -%>
APPEND initrd=<%= @initrd %> ks=<%= foreman_url('provision') + "&static=yes" %> inst.ks.sendmac <%= "ip=#{ip}::#{gw}:#{mask}:::none nameserver=#{dns} ksdevice=bootif BOOTIF=#{bootif}" %>
<% else -%>
APPEND initrd=<%= @initrd %> ks=<%= foreman_url('provision') + "&static=yes" %> kssendmac <%= "ip=#{ip} netmask=#{mask} gateway=#{gw} dns=#{dns} ksdevice=#{mac} BOOTIF=#{bootif}" %>
<% end -%>

For Foreman 1.6 or older (or Satellite 6.0-6.1) use this one:

<%
  mac = @host.mac
  bootif = '00-' + mac.gsub(':', '-') if mac
  ip = @host.ip
  mask = @host.subnet.mask
  gw = @host.subnet.gateway
  dns = @host.subnet.dns_primary
-%>
DEFAULT linux
LABEL linux
KERNEL <%= @kernel %>
<% if (@host.operatingsystem.name == 'Fedora' and @host.operatingsystem.major.to_i > 16) or
    (@host.operatingsystem.name != 'Fedora' and @host.operatingsystem.major.to_i >= 7) -%>
APPEND initrd=<%= @initrd %> ks=<%= foreman_url('provision') + "&static=yes" %> inst.ks.sendmac <%= "ip=#{ip}::#{gw}:#{mask}:::none nameserver=#{dns} ksdevice=bootif BOOTIF=#{bootif}" %>
<% else -%>
APPEND initrd=<%= @initrd %> ks=<%= foreman_url('provision') + "&static=yes" %> kssendmac <%= "ip=#{ip} netmask=#{mask} gateway=#{gw} dns=#{dns} ksdevice=#{mac} BOOTIF=#{bootif}" %>
<% end -%>

The template passes network credentials from Foreman Host via SYSLINUX configuration file into Anaconda. This is an example for Red Hat or Fedora systems. Keep in mind that provisioning token is embedded in the image, so Host record must be present (the image is not generic).

For more info visit Foreman Bootdisk

Option 3: Discovery ISO

In Foreman 1.10, Discovery image (version 3.0.1+) together with Foreman Discovery plugin 4.1.1+ can be used to discover systems via CD/DVD-ROM or USB stick. In this workflow, discovered hosts are either manually or automatically (via Discovery Rules) provisioned and kernel is replaced with installer using kexec technology.

It works in both DHCP or DHCP-less environments as the ISO image can be “remastered” with a script providing network credentials via SYSLINUX configuration similarly as in Full host image.

For more info visit Foreman Discovery documentation

Documentation for this feature is currently being finished. The draft is available here.