aims2

NOTE

This documentation is outdated and has been moved to an updated version on https://linux.web.cern.ch/installation/aims/ for end users and https://linuxops.web.cern.ch/aims2/aims2/ for the Linux team documentation .

Whatever you may find here is kept for historical purposes, but these docs are no longer relevant for many reasons after the service evolution and improvements .

Short Introduction

AIMS2 is the new Linux Automated Installations Management Systems serviced provided for CERN by Linux Support.

AIMS2 allows the user to perform remote PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) installations, minimising human intervention. Multiple systems can be installed in parallel and the configuration can be easily tailored for specific settings. The system is based, and extends, the Kickstart software from the RedHat distribution.

The previous incarnation of AIMS failed to meet the new modern requirements of IT/FIO and other Linux users at CERN and has prompted a rethink of what Linux Support is providing as a remote installation service. AIMS2 tries to provide viable and effective solutions to some of the short comings of previous versions of AIMS, as expressed by its users and maintainers, whilst trying to minimise the changes to existing individual or group workflows. Some of the new features of AIMS2 include arbitrary PXE boot media management, removal of AFS dependencies, better host/device install tracking, traceability, device authorisation, Kerberos authentication and more.

If you would like more information on AIMS2 please contact either the developer (Dan Dengate) or the Linux team (Linux and AFS).

Documentation Quick Links

The following sections are organised so that you can hopefully quickly get to the information you need.

Short How-To

If time is precious to you and you simply would like to know the quickest/simplest way to enable your hosts/devices for installation, please take a look at the aims2how2 guide. It will guide you step-by-step through the installation procedure, using clear and simple examples.

Client Software

For a more comprehensive guide to the features available with aims2 please refer to the aims2client documentation.

PrepareInstall

PrepareInstall has been configured to work with aims2. For more detailed information please refer to the aims2prepare documentation.

Installation Servers

For more information on how an aims2 server is configured and how the service works please refer to the aims2server documentation. This documentation is mainly intended for those within Linux Support.

aims2 Presentation

On Wednesday 1st October 2008 a presentation titled "Introduction to AIMS2" was presented to FIO members. You can see the slides used during the presentation here.

Developments

This page is more just a ToDo list than anything meaningful/useful for users. Feel free to take a look at aims2dev for more information on what's coming, what's broken and were there is still some work needed.