Provisioning Unsupported Operating Systems |
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Provisioning Unsupported Operating Systems |
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Provisioning Unsupported Operating Systems
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Provisioning Unsupported Operating Systems |
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Provisioning Unsupported Operating Systems |
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This topic page is provided as a convenience for our customers: consulting services to facilitate the provisioning of unsupported are also available.
Customers may provision Operating Systems/Linux distros that aren't presently supported but that are based on a supported OS. The process involves:
| • | Loading the OS/distro ISO media |
| • | Copying two existing Template files and editing the copies ";;distro_" variables to reflect new names/paths/etc. (after you have done this, the GUI functions will be enabled) |
| • | Editing the newly created Template files to reflect functional changes you may wish. |
While the concepts apply to various operating systems, the example below will reference Red Hat Enterprise Linux (provisioning RHEL 6.1 x86-64).
To load the ISO media, place the ISO file in the proper directory under /home/tftpboot/ISOs/ (e.g. /home/tftpboot/ISOs/linux/), then run the media script (e.g., loadlinux.pl) and “trick” it into extracting the ISO to a supported directory that you don't use. For example, if you want to provision RHEL 6.1, in loadlinux.pl select RHEL 5.1 and designate the RHEL 6.1 ISO file to be loaded so that the RHEL 6.1 media gets extracted to the RHEL 5.1 directory in pub/.
Copy the contents of /home/tftpboot/pub/rhel5_1_x86_64/ to /home/tftpboot/pub/rhel6_1_x86_64 which you create.
Alternatively, you may create a new directory in /home/tftpboot/pub/ for the new OS, and extract the ISO media from the command line. |
General Comments on Control Files and Templates
Due to the wide range of control file (e.g., kickstart, preseed, YaST, unattended.xml) options that are unique to specific hardware and networking environments, we are unable to support all possible and potential variations beyond what we have QAed and packaged as "Templates". If you make changes to the control file Template from what was included in the product as delivered, we can offer support on a paid-for consulting basis.
Template files are modified and stored in the database and/or other locations. This varies between MAC-Independent and MAC-Specific provisioning. Any changes to files in /home/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/ and /home/tftpboot/controlfiles/ are subject to being replaced when GUI access to roles are edited and committed. |
Enabling GUI and API functions for an Unsupported Operating System
Edit the 2 Template files needed to enable both the GUI and API functions:
1) Edit /home/tftpboot/pub/rhel6_1_x86_64/rhel5_1_x86_64.cfg - change all "# ;;distro_" variables to replace references from 5.1 to 6.1. Do not make any other changes at this time. - save it as rhel6_1_x86_64.cfg
2) Edit /home/tftpboot/templates/rhel5_1_x86_64ks.tmpl /rhel6_1_x86_64ks.tmpl - change all "# ;;distro_" variables to replace references from 5.1 to 6.1 Do not make any other changes at this time. - save it as rhel6_1_x86_64ks.tmpl
GUI and API functions are now enabled. Use the GUI to create a MAC-Spec Provisioning Role Template and to create a MAC-Independent Role. Your new OS will appear the relevant drop down menus. |
MAC-Specific Provisioning of Unsupported Operating Systems
To make functional (provisioning functionality, not GUI functionality) changes for MAC-Specific provisioning, edit /home/tftpboot/templates/rhel6_1_x86_64ks.tmpl but never change ";;_distro_" or :$value" variables.
Changes made to this file will be in effect for any new MAC-Specific Provisioning Template you create. Further changes can be made in the GUI when you create a MAC-Spec Template. |
MAC-Independent Provisioning of Unsupported Operating Systems
To make functional (provisioning functionality, not GUI functionality) changes for MAC-Specific provisioning, edit /home/tftpboot/pub/rhel6_1_x86_64/rhel5_1_x86_64.cfg but never change ";;_distro_" or :$value" variables.
Changes made to this file will be in effect for any new MAC-Independent Provisioning Role you create. |