aims2 & PrepareInstall

Introduction to PrepareInstall

PrepareInstall is a script used by the Quattor/Elfms community at CERN to assist in the installation of Elfms-managed devices in the Cern Computer Center.

The script takes care of the generation of kickstart files from the data available in CDB, communication with SINDES for the generation of GPG keys and the opening of necessary time windows and the registration of devices with the aims pxe infrastructure.

Prerequisites

User privileges

Executing certain steps with PrepareInstall requires certain privileges. More information can be gained by contacting project-elfms@cernNOSPAMPLEASE.ch

NEXT_SERVER

If you have no already done so, please refer to Configuring your hosts NEXT_SERVER.

Using PrepareInstall with aims2

Example usage:

/usr/bin/PrepareInstall [--verbose] [-mail address] [-rep dirname] [-wipe-disks] [-rootpw] [-crypt-rootpw rootpw] [--noks] 
[--nosindes] [--hostcertificate] [--hc-username service-account] [--aimsversion] [--noaims] [--mac address] 
[--aimsgroup] hostname [hostname] [hostname] [hostname]

The current version of PrepareInstall has support for both old and new versions of aims. By default, PrepareInstall will use the old version of aims (currently still production) for installing devices. Using the --aimsversion=2 option, you can override this behavior and use aims2, as per the following example.

[lxplus236] /afs/cern.ch/user/d/dengate > /usr/bin/PrepareInstall --aimsversion 2 lxplus[204-209]

Your kickstart file will still be stored in the appropriate directory /afs/cern.ch/project/linux/redhat/kickstart/cfg/ by default.

Experiencing Problems

Nothing is ever perfect and problems do occur. If you do experience a problem, it can be useful if you can begin to debug the problem before screaming to support and getting stuck in a ticket queue.

Basic debugging includes going down to the computer center and using shared console cable in the back. What do you see, movement, or has the installation got stuck on a particular screen? Is this a screen that the kickstart should have dealt with, or a screen that the anaconda options passed should have given?

For more information on how to trace/debug/audit your installation, please see missinglink

Known issues

Permission Denied

If you see something similar to this:

Uncaught exception from user code:
cannot open "/afs/cern.ch/project/linux/redhat/kickstart/cfg/fio-is/lxfake1234.ks": Permission denied at /usr/bin/PrepareInstall line 585. 
at /usr/bin/PrepareInstall line 585

You should contact Linux.Support@CERNNOSPAMPLEASE.CH with a request for permission to access these kickstart directories.

Failure at %POST kickstart

If you are the person who registered the device and it fails with a fatal error during the %POST configuration of the kickstart, you will be most likely receive an email with a subject similar to:

install failed on lxb1234...

This is not an error with the PXE installation. This is an error with the %POST kickstart configuration. Debug the kickstart first.

Getting help

If you have questions about PrepareInstall it is suggested you contact project-elfms@cernNOSPAMPLEASE.ch, the scripts author, for more information.