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Sun N1 Service Provisioning System User's Guide for OS Provisioning Plug-In 3.0

Chapter 4 Installing and Configuring the OS Provisioning Plug-In

From an operating system (OS) provisioning perspective, installation consists of three phases:

All three installation phases likely also have configuration steps.

This chapter includes the following information:

Installing the OS Provisioning Plug-In

Acquiring the OS Provisioning Plug-In

Acquiring the OS Provisioning Plug-In is a two-step process. First, you must add the package file that contains the OS Provisioning Plug-In JAR file to your system. Then you must import the OS Provisioning Plug-In JAR file. Perform the following steps to add the plug-in to your Master Server.

  1. Add the file containing the JAR file:

    The OS Provisioning Plug-In is packaged as a plug-in to the N1 Service Provisioning System software. The plug-in files for the OS Provisioning Plug-In are available from the N1 SPS 5.2 DVD or from the Sun Download Center.

    For instructions about how to add the plug-in package to your system, see the following procedures.

  2. Import the JAR file.

    Once the package file is added to your system, the OS Provisioning Plug-In is available for import from two different JAR files. Choose the correct file depending on your situation.

    • If you are importing the OS Provisioning Plug-In for the first time, acquire the n1-basedir/com.sun.n1osp/com.sun.n1osp_3.0.jar file.

    • If you have already imported the previous version of the OS Provisioning Plug-In, acquire the n1-basedir/com.sun.n1osp/Upgrade/com.sun.n1osp_2.0_3.0.jar file.

    For instructions about how to import the plug-in JAR file, see Adding the OS Provisioning Plug-In to N1 SPS.

Adding the OS Provisioning Plug-In for Solaris

The plug-in product name plug-in is contained in the SUNWspsosp package.

ProcedureTo Add the OS Provisioning Plug-In Package for Solaris

Steps

  1. In a terminal window, become superuser.

  2. Move to the directory containing the plug-in package.

  3. Type the following command and press Return.

    # pkgadd -d package_directory SUNWspsosp

    The standalone JAR file is in the /opt/SUNWn1sps/plugins/com.sun.n1osp/ directory. The upgrade JAR file is in the /opt/SUNWn1sps/plugins/com.sun.n1osp/Upgrade directory.

Adding the OS Provisioning Plug-In for Linux

The plug-in product name plug-in is contained in the sun-spsosp-3.0-1.noarch.rpm file.

ProcedureTo Add the OS Provisioning Plug-In Package for Linux

Steps

  1. In a terminal window, become superuser.

  2. Move to the directory containing the sun-spsosp-3.0-1.noarch.rpm file.

  3. Type the following command and press Return.

    # rpm -i package_directory sun-spsosp-3.0-1.noarch.rpm

    The standalone JAR file is in the /opt/sun/N1_Service_Provisioning_System/plugins/com.sun.n1osp/ directory. The upgrade JAR file is in the /opt/sun/N1_Service_Provisioning_System/plugins/com.sun.n1osp/Upgrade directory.

Adding the OS Provisioning Plug-In for Windows

The plug-in product name plug-in is contained in the sun-spsosp-3.0.msi Microsoft Installer (MSI) package file.

ProcedureTo Add the OS Provisioning Plug-In MSI File for Windows

Steps

  1. Move to the directory containing the sun-spsosp-3.0.msi file.

  2. Double-click the sun-spsosp-3.0.msi file.

    The Installer GUI starts. The JAR file is copied to the c:\Program Files\N1 Service Provisioning System\plugins\com.sun.n1osp directory.

Adding the OS Provisioning Plug-In to N1 SPS

To make a given plug-in known to the N1 SPS product, you need to import the plug-in. To import a plug-in, follow these steps as explained in detail in Chapter 5, Plug-In Administration, in Sun N1 Service Provisioning System 5.2 System Administration Guide.

  1. In the Administrative section of the N1 SPS browser interface main window, click Plug-ins.

  2. In the Action column of the Plug-ins page, click Import.

  3. Browse to the location of the JAR file.

  4. Click the Continue to Import button.

When the import completes successfully, a plug-in details page appears that shows you the objects that the plug-in provides.

You can also import a plug-in archive file from the command line.

ProcedureHow to Upgrade the OS Provisioning Plug-In

To upgrade the OS provisioning plug-in from version 2.0 to version 3.0, follow these steps:

Steps

  1. Upgrade the N1 SPS software to version 5.2, as explained in Chapter 10, Upgrading to the Sun N1 Service Provisioning System 5.2, in Sun N1 Service Provisioning System 5.2 Installation Guide.

  2. Acquire and import the com.sun.n1osp_2.0_3.0.jar file.

    For instructions about how to install the OS Provisioning Plug-In, see Installing the OS Provisioning Plug-In.

  3. Upgrade the OS provisioning (control) server.

    You must use the OS provisioning plug-in 3.0 software to recreate any existing OS provisioning servers. See Creating the OS Provisioning Server

  4. Upgrade the OS image servers in your environment.

    You must use the OS provisioning plug-in 3.0 software to recreate any existing OS image servers.

    Note –

    When you recreate the boot and install servers, you must use the value that you used previously for the installPath variable. If the previous installPath variable value is no longer valid, you must create a new boot and install server with the valid installPath variable value.

  5. Change the variable for the remote agent in any existing OS profiles.

    The product_version_spsra variable in the profile must reflect the current N1 SPS RA software version. Edit any existing profiles and change the value of the product_version_spsra variable to 5.2. For more information about this variable, see Component Variables for Solaris Remote Agents.

Troubleshooting

Using the OS Provisioning Plug-In 3.0 With the N1 SPS 5.1 Release

Starting with the release N1 SPS 5.2 release, the OS Provisioning Plug-In 3.0 uses default values for N1 SPS 5.2 paths. If you are using the N1 SPS 5.1 release, the OS Provisioning Plug-In, you must edit the sps_cli variable value in your plans to enable the OS Provisioning Plug-In 3.0. Edit this value in the following procedures.

ProcedureHow to Access Previous Versions of a Component

When you upgrade to a new version of a plug-in, the Common Tasks page for the plug-in is updated to provide links to components that are installed with the new plug-in version. This feature enables you to easily view components that contain the most current features and improvements. Components that rely on old functionality are not linked to from the Common Tasks page.

If you have trouble finding a component that you previously installed, the component was likely created from the previous version of the plug-in. Follow these steps to view or work with a previous version of the component:

Steps

  1. Click the appropriate component procedure on the Common Tasks page.

    The Component Detail page appears.

  2. On the Component Details page, click Version History.

    A list of components and versions appears.

  3. Click the appropriate link.

    • To perform a task with a component, click the version number or the Details link that applies to the component that you want to use.

    • To view where a component is installed, click Where Installed.

Creating the OS Provisioning Server

Although the OS provisioning plug-in has been imported, you cannot provision an operating system until you create and set up an OS provisioning server.

ProcedureHow to Create the OS Provisioning Server (Browser Interface)

At the end of this task, the OS provisioning software is installed on the OS provisioning server. In addition, the DHCP service is installed on the OS provisioning server.

Before You Begin
Steps

  1. In the Common Tasks section of the N1 SPS browser interface, select OS Provisioning.

  2. On the OS Provisioning Common Tasks page, click Create in the OSP Control Server section.

  3. On the Plans Details page, click Run.

  4. Choose variables to use for this plan.

    • To use an existing variables set, select a name from the drop-down menu in the Service component row of the Plan Parameters table.

    • To create a new variables set, click Select from List in the Service component row of the Plan Parameters table.

      1. Click Create Set.

      2. Type a name for the variables set.

      3. Change variables as needed.

        Variable Name 

        Description 

        installPath

        Base directory into which to install the OS provisioning software. 

        vhost_name

        Name of the virtual host that represents the OS provisioning server. 

        host_dir

        Path to directory in which target host files reside. 

        profile_dir

        Path to directory in which OS profile resides. 

        subnet_dir

        Path to directory in which subnet files reside. 

        logs_console_dir

        Path to directory in which logs and console files reside. 

        run_provisioniing_foreground

        Specifies whether to run the provisioning operation in the foreground. 

        If you set this variable value to true, all deployments are run in the foreground. You cannot reset this value for individual deployments.

        Note –

        To enable this feature, you must disable locking of physical hosts, which is an unsupported configuration. For more information about how to disable physical locking of hosts, see Running Deployment Jobs in the Foreground.

        java_bin

        Path to the Java binary. 

        dhcpd_bin

        Path to the DHCP daemon binary. 

        sps_cli

        Location of the N1 SPS command line interface (CLI) binaries. 

        Note –

        If you are using the OS Provisioning Plug-In 3.0 with the N1 SPS 5.1 release, you must edit this value to point to the location of the cr_cli directory in your environment. Do not accept the default value.

      4. Save the variables set.

      5. Select the variables set that you just saved from the drop-down menu in the Service component row of the Plan Parameters table.

  5. Select the host on which you want to create the OS provisioning server.

  6. Click Run Plan (includes preflight).

    This plan takes some time to run, usually approximately 15 minutes. While the installation is proceeding, click on the Details links in the Plan Run window to see progress.

  7. To verify that the OS provisioning server is created successfully, click the Hosts link in the left side of the provisioning server window.

    You should see the name of the virtual host appended with -osp. For example, if you installed on host masterserver, the virtual host is masterserver-osp.

See Also

In some environments, you might want to use your network's DHCP server rather than the ISC DHCP server that is created and started after you complete the previous procedure. If you want to disable the ISC DHCP server that is set up by the provisioning software, see Disabling the Plug-In Provided DHCP.

Troubleshooting

If your OS provisioning server is located on the same physical host as the boot and install server, you must configure the interfaces on the system before your provision any target hosts. The OS provisioning server does not automatically configure the interfaces of the boot and install server.

ProcedureHow to Create the OS Provisioning Server (Command-Line Interface)

Step

    To create the server from the command line, type a command similar to the following example:


    # cr_cli -cmd pe.p.run -u admin -p admin -PID "NM:/com/sun/n1osp/untyped/Service-create" \
-tar H:NM:masterserver,H:NM:bikickstart  -comp - -vs + -pto 30 -nto 10
    Note –

    The target should be the OS provisioning server. In the example, the N1 SPS Master Server is used as the OS provisioning server.

See Also

In some environments, you might want to use your network's DHCP server rather than the ISC DHCP server that is created and started after you complete the previous procedure. If you want to disable the ISC DHCP server that is set up by the provisioning software, see Disabling the Plug-In Provided DHCP.

Creating and Registering the Subnet

The OS provisioning server provides DHCP service. The DHCP service has to listen on all the subnets that will be used to provision the targets. In the N1 SPS interface, you need to identify the subnets to be used for provisioning targets so that the OS provisioning server can respond to DHCP requests. The OS provisioning service will create the interfaces with the required addresses on the provisioning server (if not already created) during the provisioning operation.

ProcedureHow to Identify the Subnet for the OS Provisioning Server (Browser Interface)

To manage the subnet from the browser interface, follow these steps.

Steps

  1. In the Common Tasks section of the N1 SPS browser interface, select OS Provisioning.

  2. On the OS Provisioning Common Tasks page, click Manage in the OSP Subnets section.

  3. On the Component Details page, click the Run action in the Create row.

  4. Choose variables to use for this plan.

    • To use an existing variables set, select a name from the drop-down menu in the Service component row of the Plan Parameters table.

    • To create a new variables set, click Select from List in the Service component row of the Plan Parameters table.

      1. Click Create Set.

      2. Type a name for the variables set.

      3. Change variables as needed.

        Variable 

        Description 

        Example 

        installPath

        Subnet address 

        10.42.42.0

        mask

        Subnet mask 

        255.255.255.0

        gateway

        Gateway for the subnet 

        10.42.42.1

        host_interface

        Interfaces on the OS provisioning server to be used for this subnet 

        hme0

        host_address

        Host address that is assigned to the host_interface

        10.42.42.1

        Note –

        The OS provisioning software creates the interfaces and assigns the addresses during provisioning operation, if those values are not set already.

      4. Save the variables set.

      5. Select the variables set that you just saved from the drop-down menu in the Service component row of the Plan Parameters table.

  5. Select the virtual host to which this subnet applies.

    Tip –

    The virtual host for the OS provisioning server ends in -osp.

  6. Click Run Plan (includes preflight).

ProcedureHow to Identify the Subnet for the OS Provisioning Server (Command-Line Interface)

To manage the subnet from the command line, follow these steps:

Steps

  1. Create the variables set.

    Type a command similar to the following example:


    # cr_cli -cmd cdb.vs.add -comp NM:/com/sun/n1osp/untyped/Subnet -name "subnet1" \
-u admin -p admin -vars "installPath=10.42.42.0;mask=255.255.255.0;gateway=10.42.42.1; \
host_interface=ce8000;host_address=10.42.42.1"

    For more information about the variables, see Step 4 in How to Identify the Subnet for the OS Provisioning Server (Browser Interface).

  2. Run the plan to create the subnet using the variables set created in the previous step.

    Type a command similar to the following example:


    # cr_cli -cmd pe.p.run -u admin -p admin -PID NM:/com/sun/n1osp/untyped/Subnet-create  \
-tar H:NM:masterserver-osp -comp - -vs subnet1 -pto 30 -nto 10

ProcedureHow to Add a New Provisioning Subnet

You can use several subnets to provision operating systems. The following steps explain how to add a new subnet to the OS provisioning server.

Before You Begin

Verify that the OS provisioning server, the boot and install server for the applicable operating system, and the target host are in the same IP network. Configure the network interfaces on your boot and install server.

Steps

  1. Create a new subnet component as described in How to Identify the Subnet for the OS Provisioning Server (Browser Interface).

    For IP connectivity, you have two options:

    • Create new IP addresses for the OS provisioning server .

    • Use existing IP addresses, but create a route for DHCP packets to reach from the target to the OS provisioning server.

  2. Create new interfaces on the boot and install servers for the new subnet or define routes so that the boot and install server can be reached by the target.

  3. Verify that the file system shares are updated to deliver the OS media in this new subnet.

  4. Verify that the targets are in this subnet.

  5. Edit the profile you want to provision for IP addresses to be in the new subnet.