Showing posts with label kickstart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kickstart. Show all posts

Wednesday, 9 March 2016

Non-Interactive, Non-GUI VM build using KVM/libvirtd/kickstart

Introduction:
We will build a VM using KVM/Qemu hypervisor. But we will manage this VM using libvirtd. This VM build will use a kickstart file. This kickstart file will be embedded into VM during install process.

Environment/Tools used:
Host OS is Debian Jessie (Debian-8). We will build CentOS-7.0 VM on this Debian Host. We will use
CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso image stored in Host machine to build VM. 

libvirtd networking:
Please see following link for details.
http://spareslant.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/libvirtd-netwroking.html

Activate libvirtd "default" network:
# virsh net-list --all

If above output shows that "default" network is inactive then run following command to activate it.

# virsh net-start default
Activate DHCP in "default" network.
# virsh net-update default add ip-dhcp-range '<range start="192.168.122.100" end="192.168.122.254" />' --live
Create storage file.
# qemu-img create -f qcow2 /home/testuser/Downloads/KVM_IMAGES/centos-7.qcow2 5G
Note: I created above storage file because I am using non-standard location. Above step is not required if using libvirtd defaults.

Install Virtual Machine.
# virt-install \
--name centos-vm1 \
--memory 1024 \
--cpu=host \
--vcpus 1 \
--os-type=linux \
--graphics none \
--disk path=/home/testuser/Downloads/KVM_IMAGES/centos-7.qcow2 \
--initrd-inject=/tmp/ks.cfg \
--console pty,target_type=serial \
--extra-args='ks=file:/ks.cfg console=ttyS0,115200n8 serial' \
--network=default \
--location /home/testuser/Downloads/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso
Note:
1) Please note --graphics none parameter. This is required for non-gui installation.
2) Please note "--initrd-inject=/tmp/ks.cfg" parameter. we are injecting ks.cfg file dynamically. No need of external HTTP/FTP/NFS to host ks.cfg.
3) Above command will start installation of VM non-interactively and non-GUI mode.
4) Above setup uses Virtual Private network.
5) VMs setup in this manner however can access external world. But external world cannot access them.
6) VMs setup in this manner can communicate with each other and with HOST machine as well.
7) In this setup HOST machine will have two IPs. One IP on eth0 (as usual) and other IP on virb0 bridge. Both are in different network. Hence isolating VMs network.
8) If we want HOST machine and VMs to be on same network then BRIDGE networking needs to be used.

Following is the ks.cfg file:
#version=DEVEL
# System authorization information
auth --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512
# Use CDROM installation media
cdrom
# Use text mode install
text
# Run the Setup Agent on first boot
firstboot --disable
# Keyboard layouts
keyboard --vckeymap=uk --xlayouts='uk'
# System language
lang en_GB.UTF-8

# Network information
#network  --bootproto=static --device=eth0 --gateway=192.168.0.1 --ip=192.168.0.61 --nameserver=8.8.8.8 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --ipv6=auto --activate --hostname=centosvm1
network --bootproto=dhcp --onboot=yes

# Root password
rootpw --iscrypted $6$pDcoINZetTlq2e2S$Tjz7tBv14Mrw41paKN0O57o.7m7HNWOmIguqdLO6YAA1yrxUcl1mypt5bBKqjVuOqnlNOOoeQH9zJud6FfXcz1
# Do not configure the X Window System
skipx
# System timezone
timezone Europe/London --isUtc
user --name=ocean1 --password=$6$wTphTlXg/5nlzaNK$YoezS.sO80koCnVgyC.kOxF.t3jo0dzk9ey6ENiAPpWme9dfKTFX7ziC.oONjtAh1hDnlLLLq1j4N5YWUlcrK0 --iscrypted
# System bootloader configuration
bootloader --append=" crashkernel=auto console=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty console=ttyS0" --location=mbr
autopart --type=plain
# Partition clearing information
clearpart --all --initlabel

%packages
@core
kexec-tools

%end

%addon com_redhat_kdump --enable --reserve-mb='auto'

%end

%post --interpreter /usr/bin/python --log=/root/post-log
import os
entirefile=open('/etc/default/grub').read()
entirefile=entirefile.replace('rhgb', '')
entirefile=entirefile.replace('quiet', '')
open('/etc/default/grub', 'w').write(entirefile)
os.system("grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg")

%end

Note: Please note "text" parameter used in ks.cfg file. This is for non-GUI text installation.

Build Virtual Machine Using KVM/Qemu and Kickstart

Introduction:
We will build a VM using KVM/Qemu hypervisor. This VM build will use a kickstart file. This kickstart file will be served from a web server. Instead of building a full blown web server like apache or nginx, we will build a simple HTTP server using Golang, that will serve our kickstart file.

Environment/Tools used:
Host OS is Debian Jessie (Debian-8). We will build CentOS-7.0 VM on this Debian Host. We will use
CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso image stored in Host machine to build VM. Make sure Go compiler is installed.

Create Web Server:
mkdir GO_HTTP_SERVER
Create following two files inside GO_HTTP_SERVER directory
$ ls
ks.cfg serve_ks.go
serve_ks.go file:
package main
import (
  "net/http"
)

func main() {
  http.ListenAndServe(":8080", http.FileServer(http.Dir("./")))
}
ks.cfg file
#version=DEVEL
# System authorization information
auth --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512
# Use CDROM installation media
cdrom
# Use text mode install
text
# Run the Setup Agent on first boot
firstboot --disable
# Keyboard layouts
keyboard --vckeymap=uk --xlayouts='uk'
# System language
lang en_GB.UTF-8

# Network information
#network  --bootproto=static --device=eth0 --gateway=192.168.0.1 --ip=192.168.0.61 --nameserver=8.8.8.8 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --ipv6=auto --activate --hostname=centosvm1

# Root password
rootpw --iscrypted $6$pDcoINZetTlq2e2S$Tjz7tBv14Mrw41paKN0O57o.7m7HNWOmIguqdLO6YAA1yrxUcl1mypt5bBKqjVuOqnlNOOoeQH9zJud6FfXcz1
# Do not configure the X Window System
skipx
# System timezone
timezone Europe/London --isUtc
user --name=ocean1 --password=$6$wTphTlXg/5nlzaNK$YoezS.sO80koCnVgyC.kOxF.t3jo0dzk9ey6ENiAPpWme9dfKTFX7ziC.oONjtAh1hDnlLLLq1j4N5YWUlcrK0 --iscrypted
# System bootloader configuration
bootloader --append=" crashkernel=auto console=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty console=ttyS0" --location=mbr
autopart --type=plain
# Partition clearing information
clearpart --all --initlabel

%packages
@core
kexec-tools

%end

%addon com_redhat_kdump --enable --reserve-mb='auto'

%end

%post --interpreter /usr/bin/python --log=/root/post-log
import os
entirefile=open('/etc/default/grub').read()
entirefile=entirefile.replace('rhgb', '')
entirefile=entirefile.replace('quiet', '')
open('/etc/default/grub', 'w').write(entirefile)
os.system("grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg")

%end
Note:
1) CentOS-7.0 minimal ISO image does not have perl packages. Therefore I have to use python for post installation task in ks.cfg file.
2) Change your encrypted password.
3) Post installation section in ks.cfg will disable "quiet" boot. That means all boot information will be displayed on console.
4) ks.cfg has kernel boot parameters so that console can be redirected.
5) It uses default network configuration provided by QEMU/KVM. (using default DHCP embedded in qemu).

Run HTTP server
$ cd GO_HTTP_SERVER
$ go run serve_ks.go

verify that webserver is running. Run following command on another terminal.
$ curl http://IPADDRESS_OF_HOSTMACHINE:8080/ks.cfg

You should see output.
Note:
1) Web server is started on port 8080
2) Use machine IP address not localhost or 127.0.0.1 because , VM will communicate with host machine for installation and it cannot communicate with host machine on 127.0.0.1.
3) When you start webserver using "go run serve_ks.go" command, it prints nothing on screen. You can stop web server just by pressing Ctrl-c.

Build VM
Create Storage File
# qemu-img create -f qcow2 centos-7.qcow2 5G
Start VM in user networking mode
# qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -cpu host -m 1024 -cdrom /home/testuser/Downloads/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso -hda /home/testuser/Downloads/KVM_IMAGES/centos-7.qcow2  -boot d
A new window will pop up with boot options. Press TAB. Some options will be visible. Append following to those options.
ks=http://IPADDRESS_OF_HOSTMACHINE:8080/ks.cfg
Once system installation is complete, run VM using following command.
Please note the omission of "-boot d".
# screen -S centos qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -cpu host -m 1024 -cdrom /home/testuser/Downloads/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso -hda /home/testuser/Downloads/KVM_IMAGES/centos-7.qcow2
Update kernel boot parameters so that console can be redirected to terminal where qemu command is fired. then run following command. (note -nographic) (attached ks.cfg has this functionality). So you do not need to manually update kernel boot parameters.
# screen -S centos qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -cpu host -m 1024 -cdrom /home/testuser/Downloads/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1511.iso -hda /home/testuser/Downloads/KVM_IMAGES/centos-7.qcow2  -nographic
Note: Please note that We started VM in a screen session so that VM console can be attached or detached easily.
We do not need to do this when VMs are build using libvirtd. libvirtd provides many functionalities .

Friday, 6 August 2010

OS Remastering CentOS 5.5 using Kickstart

Introduction

This document will describe How to Create a Linux LiveCD using kickstart method. This is the very fast and convenient method of producing LiveCDs. This method can be used only on RedHat based distribution only e.g. Fedora, CentOS. The Method of producing LiveCDs based on Debian distribution is different and is not described here. A manual procedure of modifying a LiveCD is described in the following link.
OS Remastering CentOS 5.5 using Manual Method

Objective

We will be creating a highly customized CentOS 5.5 Based LiveCD which will have some external third party rpm packages as well.

Software Requirement

1) CentOS 5.5 DVD
This can be downloaded from below link
http://mirror.as29550.net/mirror.centos.org/5.5/isos/i386/CentOS-5.5-i386-bin-DVD.iso
2) Third Party RPM package which is to be installed in Live CD. In this case we are using NTFSProgs package which is not available in CentOS repositories.
http://packages.sw.be/ntfsprogs/ntfsprogs-1.13.1-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm

Procedure Overview

First we will install a regular CentOS 5.5 on a system. This can be done on a VM as well. In this installed machine we will build our LiveCD.

Install the Base System

We installed the CentOS 5.5 using CentOS 5.5 DVD in a VM. We used KVM for this purpose.

First create the Virtual Harddisk using following command. and then run VM and finish OS installation
qemu-img create -f qcow2 /VIRTUAL/QEmu/CentOS/CentOS-5.5-i386.img 10G

kvm -smp 4 -m 2048 -hda /VIRTUAL/QEmu/CentOS/CentOS-5.5-i386.img -cdrom /DATA/Install/ISO/CentOS/CentOS-5.5-i386-bin-DVD.iso -usb -usbdevice tablet -vnc :40 -net nic,macaddr=00:00:00:00:00:01 -net tap,script=
I installed the system with minimum utilities. Only Base and Administration Utilities.

Configure the Base system.
Add a repository for LiveCD tools.
Create a file /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-LiveCD.repo with following contents.
# Name: CentOS LiveCD repository
[livecd]
name = CentOS $releasever - LiveCD
baseurl = http://www.nanotechnologies.qc.ca/propos/linux/centos-live/$basearch/live
enabled=1
protect=0
gpgkey = http://www.nanotechnologies.qc.ca/propos/linux/RPM-GPG-KEY-PGuay
Install LiveCD tools.
Run the following command to install the LiveCD tools.
yum install livecd-tools syslinux
This is our full blown running OS on a harddisk. We will be creating the LiveCD in this system. All the following commands henceforth will be carried out in this machine only. Mount cdrom
Run the following command to mount the cdrom.
mkdir /mnt/cdrom
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Prepare the directory containing third party tools.
mkdir /root/livecdkickstart_files
Place the files in this above directory which you want to include in your customized LiveCD. In this case we had included following files.
BackupRestore.sh 
command.txt 
isolinux.cfg 
kick.ks 
ntfsprogs-1.13.1-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm 
pcbackup_keys 
README 
root_ssh_config 
ssh 
WindowsPCBackup.sh
In the above listed files kick.ks is the kickstart file which will contain all the instructions for the customization of LIveCD. kick.ks is given at the end of this article.

Following are the contents of isolinux.cfg file
default menu.c32
timeout 100
menu title Welcome to BackupRestore CD ver 1.0 !
menu color border 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color sel 7 #ffffffff #ff000000
menu color title 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color tabmsg 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color unsel 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color hotsel 0 #ff000000 #ffffffff
menu color hotkey 7 #ffffffff #ff000000
menu color timeout_msg 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color timeout 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color cmdline 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu hidden
menu hiddenrow 5
label linux0
menu label Backup This System
kernel vmlinuz0
append initrd=initrd0.img root=CDLABEL=LiveBackupRestoreCD rootfstype=iso9660 ro liveimg mode=Backup vga=0x314
label linux1
menu label Restore This System
kernel vmlinuz0
append initrd=initrd0.img root=CDLABEL=LiveBackupRestoreCD rootfstype=iso9660 ro liveimg mode=Restore vga=0x314
Create the LiveCD
Once you have required files and kickstart file run the following command to create the LiveCD.
cd /root/livecdkickstart_files
livecd-creator --config=kick.ks --fslabel=LiveBackupRestoreCD
kick.ks file
#platform=x86, AMD64, or Intel EM64T
#version=DEVEL
# Firewall configuration
firewall --disabled
# Install OS instead of upgrade
install
# Use hard drive installation media
#harddrive --dir=/tmp/fedora --partition=sda8
repo --name=cdrom --baseurl=file:///tmp/fedora
# To compose against the current release tree, use the following "repo" (enabled by default)
repo --name=released --mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/mirrorlist?repo=fedora-13&arch=$basearch
# To include updates, use the following "repo" (enabled by default)
repo --name=updates --mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/mirrorlist?repo=updates-released-f13&arch=$basearch

# Root password
rootpw --iscrypted $1$x9PSyNru$RR5iKsKjlRpaMBgGrg3a81
# System authorization information
auth  --useshadow  --passalgo=md5
# Use text mode install
text
# System keyboard
keyboard uk
# System language
lang en_GB
# SELinux configuration
selinux --disabled
# Do not configure the X Window System
skipx
# Installation logging level
#logging --level=info
# Reboot after installation
reboot
# System timezone
timezone  Europe/London
# System bootloader configuration
bootloader --location=mbr
# Partition clearing information
clearpart --all  

%post
%end

%packages --nobase
@admin-tools
openssh-server
-PackageKit-yum-plugin
-coolkey
-fedora-release-notes
-finger
-fprintd-pam
-ftp
-gnupg2
-hunspell
-iptstate
-irda-utils
-jwhois
-krb5-workstation
-lftp
-mlocate
-mtr
-nc
-nss_db
-nss_ldap
-pam_krb5
-pam_pkcs11
-pam_smb
-perf
-rdate
-rdist
-rsh
-sos
-sssd
-talk
-tcp_wrappers
-telnet
-time
-tree
-vconfig
-words
-ypbind

%end