[et-mgmt-tools] Cobbler + %pre and %post in kickstart
Jim Wildman
jim at rossberry.com
Fri Aug 3 02:20:38 UTC 2007
On Thu, 2 Aug 2007, Michael DeHaan wrote:
>> http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&deviceid=4450&libid=36&releaseid=R158116&vercnt=4&formatcnt=0&SystemID=PWE_2950&servicetag=&os=LIN4&osl=en&catid=-1&impid=-1
>>
>> I haven't tried using the RAID tools just yet, but it does seem
>> feasible to shim it into kickstart. I assume other hardware vendors
>> have similar tools.
>>
>
> Ironically, I used to write hardware RAID configuration software in a
> previous life :)
>
> In theory, it should be possible to (a) retrieve the OEM command line tool in
> %pre (wget?) and configure hardware RAID with it there (in %pre), so you
> wouldn't have to rebuild the initrd just to add the raid tools. Either way,
> after running the RAID tool in %pre you will probably have to do something
> like scsi-add-single to get Anaconda to see the new drives prior to
> partitioning setup. Linux does not generally discover new logical drives
> without being told to look. Your driver/RAID tool might vary though.
>
> I haven't really tried this to see if it would work, but I don't see why it
> wouldn't.
>
> Obviously you are also going to need your drivers for the particular hardware
> installed first, so you'll probably want to look into the "driverdisk" option
> in kickstart if they
> are not enabled by default. Using the shell (Control-Alt-F2?) is probably a
> good idea to do this all manually the first time, to see what problems you
> might encounter. Possibly put a sleep in pre to give you some time to test
> your commands within the boot environment and then write down what you need
> to do.
>
> http://www.red-hat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/sysadmin-guide/s1-kickstart2-options.html
>
I can confirm it is possible to completely configure an HP Proliant (DL)
server including the RAID during a kickstart. I've seen it configured
and working, but for various reasons (politics, bah) we did not
implement it. As I recall, it took 2 boot cycles, one for the box
config, then reboot and do the install, so that would get around the
drive detection issue.
Much like Dell there is a Proliant Deployment pack with all kinds of
goodies in it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Wildman, CISSP, RHCE jim at rossberry.com http://www.rossberry.com
"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best
state, is a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
Thomas Paine
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