[pve-devel] [PATCH v3 00/30] add automated/unattended installation
Christoph Heiss
c.heiss at proxmox.com
Tue Apr 2 16:43:00 CEST 2024
Rebuild an (PVE) ISO to contain the new auto-installer with an
appropriate GRUB entry setting `proxauto` on the kernel commandline.
What I've tried:
- Using a few different values for `global` options
- Install on ext4, xfs, Btrfs RAID1 and ZFS RAID1
(with different values in multiple runs)
- Using DHCP and static IP
- Fetching answer from a HTTP source, getting the URL from DHCP
- Trying out the `proxmox-autoinst-helper` tool for assembling udev
rules and validating files.
- Using the `post_command` to create some files in the newly installed
system.
I didn't play around all that extensively the udev filters.
Some notes:
- When using ext4 or xfs as filesystem, `disk_list` happily takes
multiple disks (but really only installs on the first disk, of
course). Should probably be another sanity check there.
- As for the `proxmox-autoinst-helper answer` command, might `validate`
or `validate-answer` be a better name?
`answer` alone seems a bit confusing at first, as if e.g. the tool
would give me an answer file or similar.
- `{pre,post}_command` in the answer file should be spelled plural, as
it is an array of commands after all.
- While trying out different configurations, I wondered if for the
network something like this would be better for static IPs:
[network.manual]
cidr = ".."
dns = ".."
[..]
.. keeping the `network.use_dhcp` option as before. Would simplify
some checks now and provide good future-proofing for any new options
that might get added.
Thereby basically modelling
`proxmox_auto_installer::answer::NetworkSettings` enum nearly 1:1 to
the TOML config.
Nitpicking at this point, I know, but changing the answer format
afterwards would be a quite a PITA :^)
Overall very nice! and
Tested-by: Christoph Heiss <c.heiss at proxmox.com>
in any case.
On Thu, Mar 28, 2024 at 02:49:58PM +0100, Aaron Lauterer wrote:
> This patch series adds the possibility to do an automated / unattended
> installation of Proxmox VE.
>
> The overall idea is that we will have a dedicated ISO for the unattended
> installation. It should be configured in such a way that it will start
> the installation without any user interaction.
> Though the integration in the installation environmend isn't part of
> this patch series.
>
> The information for the installer that is usually gathered interactively
> from the user is provided via an `answer.toml` file.
>
> The answer file allows to select disks and the network card via filters.
>
> The installer also allows to run custom commands pre and post
> installation. This should give users plenty of possibilities to either
> further customize/prepare the installation or integrate it into a larger
> automated installation setup.
> For example, one could issue HTTP requests to signal the status and
> progress of the installation.
>
> When the installer is called with 'proxauto' in the kernel cmdline, the
> 'proxmox-fetch-answer' binary is called. It tries to find the answer
> file and once found, will start the 'proxmox-auto-installer' binary and
> pass the contents to it via stdin.
>
> The auto-installer then parses the answer file and determines what
> parameters need to be passed to the low-level installer. For example,
> which disks and NIC to use, network IP settings and so forth.
>
> The current status reporting of the actual installation is kept rather
> simple.
>
> Both binaries log into the tmp directory.
>
> There is a third binary, the 'proxmox-autoinst-helper'. It provides a
> few subcommands, from the help:
> answer Validate if an answer file is formatted correctly
> device-match Test which devices the given filter matches against
> device-info Show device information that can be used for filters
> identifiers Show identifiers for the current machine. This information is part of the POST request to fetch an answer file
>
> The fetch-answer binary is trying to get an answer file. It does so by
> first searching for a partition/FS labeled `proxmoxinst`, or all upper
> case, and an `answer.toml` in there. This could be provided by another
> USB flash drive.
> If that is not successful, the next step is to send an HTTP POST request
> to a URL to get the TOML contents in return. A POST request was chosen
> because we also send information to identify the host in JSON format.
>
> The question then is, where to get that URL from. Right now, there are
> two options implemented. The first is looking for a custom DHCP option
> and the second is querying for a TXT record in the `proxmoxinst`
> subdomain of the search domain.
>
> It is possible to provide a SHA256 fingerprint of the SSL cert used by
> the answer server. The safest option is to place a
> `cert_fingerprint.txt` file in the same `proxmoxinst` partition as where
> you alternatively would place the `answer.toml`.
> If that is not found, then it can be provided by a second custom DHCP
> option or placed as TXT record in the subdomain `proxmoxinst-fp`.
>
> This patch series now also separates the 3 binaries into their own
> crate. The 'proxmox-fetch-answer' to keep the OpenSSL dependency as
> localized as possible, and the 'proxmox-autoinst-helper' to make it easy
> to compile just that binary.
>
> The new `proxmox-chroot` utility helps to prepare everything to chroot
> into a fresh installation and clean it up once done.
> This will be useful in the post commands when further customizing the
> installation.
>
>
> Other plans / ideas for the future:
>
> * add option to define remote SSH access (password and,or public key).
> This could make remote debugging in case of problems easier
>
>
> Regarding the patch series itself:
> 01-03 are needed to move some code into the common crate and
> make structs/functions already in the common crate accessible.
>
> I did split up the individual parts of the auto installer into their own
> patches as much as possible, and (hopefully) in the order they depend on
> each other.
>
> Patches after the `unconfigured` one (16), switch the pattern matching
> to the glob crate, add the helper tool and the fetching via HTTP.
>
> Patch 25 factors our the binaries into their own crates.
>
> Patches 26-30 are for the 'proxmox-chroot' utility and preparations for
> it to work.
>
> Areas that can be improved/extended:
> * Testing possibility integrated in the Makefile
>
> I did test it with all 3 installers, PVE, PMG and PBS and it worked.
>
> WIP: writing documentation for it. Currently intended for the Wiki
> as it can be used for all 3 products.
>
> Changes since v2:
> * don't use 'dmidecode' but check in the source locations directly for
> identifiers
> * fixed makefile to get builds working every time
> * reworked filesystem and raid level layout in the answer file
> definition
> * factor out binaries into their own crates
> * add 'proxmox-chroot' helper tool
>
> Changes since v1:
> * incorporated feedback (thx @cheiss)
> * the proxmox-installer-filter tool got renamed and extended to the
> proxmox-autoinst-helper
> * added HTTP fetch functionality
> * moved the fetch_plugins/utils.rs into its own subdirectory as it grew
> quite a bit
> * added builddeps
>
> [0] https://lists.proxmox.com/pipermail/pve-devel/2023-September/059020.html
>
>
>
> Aaron Lauterer (30):
> tui: common: move InstallConfig struct to common crate
> common: make InstallZfsOption members public
> common: tui: use BTreeMap for predictable ordering
> common: utils: add deserializer for CidrAddress
> common: options: add Deserialize trait
> low-level: add dump-udev command
> add auto-installer crate
> auto-installer: add dependencies
> auto-installer: add answer file definition
> auto-installer: add struct to hold udev info
> auto-installer: add utils
> auto-installer: add simple logging
> auto-installer: add tests for answer file parsing
> auto-installer: add auto-installer binary
> auto-installer: add fetch answer binary
> unconfigured: add proxauto as option to start auto installer
> auto-installer: use glob crate for pattern matching
> auto-installer: utils: make get_udev_index functions public
> auto-installer: add proxmox-autoinst-helper tool
> auto-installer: fetch: add gathering of system identifiers and
> restructure code
> auto-installer: helper: add subcommand to view indentifiers
> auto-installer: fetch: add http post utility module
> auto-installer: fetch: add http plugin to fetch answer
> control: update build depends for auto installer
> auto installer: factor out fetch-answer and autoinst-helper
> low-level: write low level config to /tmp
> common: add deserializer for FsType
> common: skip target_hd when deserializing InstallConfig
> common: add Display trait to ProxmoxProduct
> add proxmox-chroot utility
>
> Cargo.toml | 4 +
> Makefile | 19 +-
> Proxmox/Makefile | 1 +
> Proxmox/Sys/Udev.pm | 54 +++
> debian/control | 10 +
> proxmox-auto-installer/Cargo.toml | 20 +
> proxmox-auto-installer/src/answer.rs | 257 +++++++++++
> .../src/bin/proxmox-auto-installer.rs | 193 ++++++++
> proxmox-auto-installer/src/lib.rs | 5 +
> proxmox-auto-installer/src/log.rs | 38 ++
> proxmox-auto-installer/src/sysinfo.rs | 81 ++++
> proxmox-auto-installer/src/udevinfo.rs | 9 +
> proxmox-auto-installer/src/utils.rs | 430 ++++++++++++++++++
> proxmox-auto-installer/tests/parse-answer.rs | 102 +++++
> .../tests/resources/iso-info.json | 1 +
> .../tests/resources/locales.json | 1 +
> .../resources/parse_answer/disk_match.json | 29 ++
> .../resources/parse_answer/disk_match.toml | 17 +
> .../parse_answer/disk_match_all.json | 26 ++
> .../parse_answer/disk_match_all.toml | 17 +
> .../parse_answer/disk_match_any.json | 33 ++
> .../parse_answer/disk_match_any.toml | 17 +
> .../tests/resources/parse_answer/minimal.json | 17 +
> .../tests/resources/parse_answer/minimal.toml | 14 +
> .../resources/parse_answer/nic_matching.json | 17 +
> .../resources/parse_answer/nic_matching.toml | 19 +
> .../tests/resources/parse_answer/readme | 4 +
> .../resources/parse_answer/specific_nic.json | 17 +
> .../resources/parse_answer/specific_nic.toml | 19 +
> .../tests/resources/parse_answer/zfs.json | 27 ++
> .../tests/resources/parse_answer/zfs.toml | 20 +
> .../tests/resources/run-env-info.json | 1 +
> .../tests/resources/run-env-udev.json | 1 +
> proxmox-autoinst-helper/Cargo.toml | 21 +
> proxmox-autoinst-helper/src/main.rs | 337 ++++++++++++++
> proxmox-chroot/Cargo.toml | 16 +
> proxmox-chroot/src/main.rs | 353 ++++++++++++++
> proxmox-fetch-answer/Cargo.toml | 22 +
> .../src/fetch_plugins/http.rs | 191 ++++++++
> proxmox-fetch-answer/src/fetch_plugins/mod.rs | 3 +
> .../src/fetch_plugins/partition.rs | 32 ++
> .../src/fetch_plugins/utils/mod.rs | 86 ++++
> .../src/fetch_plugins/utils/post.rs | 94 ++++
> proxmox-fetch-answer/src/main.rs | 76 ++++
> proxmox-installer-common/Cargo.toml | 1 +
> proxmox-installer-common/src/options.rs | 21 +-
> proxmox-installer-common/src/setup.rs | 154 ++++++-
> proxmox-installer-common/src/utils.rs | 11 +
> proxmox-low-level-installer | 14 +
> proxmox-tui-installer/src/options.rs | 4 +-
> proxmox-tui-installer/src/setup.rs | 100 +---
> .../src/views/install_progress.rs | 4 +-
> unconfigured.sh | 17 +
> 53 files changed, 2959 insertions(+), 118 deletions(-)
> create mode 100644 Proxmox/Sys/Udev.pm
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/Cargo.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/src/answer.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/src/bin/proxmox-auto-installer.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/src/lib.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/src/log.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/src/sysinfo.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/src/udevinfo.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/src/utils.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/parse-answer.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/iso-info.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/locales.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/disk_match.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/disk_match.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/disk_match_all.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/disk_match_all.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/disk_match_any.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/disk_match_any.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/minimal.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/minimal.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/nic_matching.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/nic_matching.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/readme
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/specific_nic.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/specific_nic.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/zfs.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/parse_answer/zfs.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/run-env-info.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-auto-installer/tests/resources/run-env-udev.json
> create mode 100644 proxmox-autoinst-helper/Cargo.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-autoinst-helper/src/main.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-chroot/Cargo.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-chroot/src/main.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-fetch-answer/Cargo.toml
> create mode 100644 proxmox-fetch-answer/src/fetch_plugins/http.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-fetch-answer/src/fetch_plugins/mod.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-fetch-answer/src/fetch_plugins/partition.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-fetch-answer/src/fetch_plugins/utils/mod.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-fetch-answer/src/fetch_plugins/utils/post.rs
> create mode 100644 proxmox-fetch-answer/src/main.rs
>
> --
> 2.39.2
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> pve-devel mailing list
> pve-devel at lists.proxmox.com
> https://lists.proxmox.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pve-devel
>
>
More information about the pve-devel
mailing list