h1. Autoyast based unattended installation

h1. Attention ! 

h3. Currently there is a problem with the correct display of SLES versions in foreman. No matter what SP level is installed foreman will always only show the major version. There are two tickets, one created by me, raised regarding this problem. It is not affecting deployment at all but it will hopefully be fixed soon.

h2. Tickets

http://theforeman.org/issues/1379

http://theforeman.org/issues/1176

h2. Media notes

Installation media can be accessed via nfs,ftp or http. The easiest way to setup installation sources for SLES is to use the module in Yast.

Yast -> Miscellaneous -> Installation Server

The path to the installation media differs from SLES9 and SLES10/11. So you have to create two separate installation media entries in foreman.

h3. SLES9

ftp://server/SLES/$major.$minor_$arch

Foreman will try to find initrd in @mediapath/boot/$arch/loader. This is a problem since SLES9 keeps the initrd in a different directory. A simple workaround is to copy the folder to the correct location for Foreman to pick it up.

e.g.

Foreman tries to copy initrd of SLES 9.4 64Bit:

<pre>ftp://Server/SLES/9.4_x86_64/boot/x86_64/loader/initrd</pre>

So we have to copy and create the directory structure:

<pre>

mkdir boot/x86_64/loader

cp SUSE-SLES-9-Service-Pack-4/CD1/boot/loader/initrd boot/x86_64/loader

</pre>

Now Foreman will find the initrd. You can verfiy this by enabling debugging for foreman proxy and checking the logs or checking the file size on the files created in the tftp directory.

h2. Autoyast files

The Yast2 provisioning templates provided by foreman are working fine for OpenSUSE but not really for SLES. Below is a complete provisioning template tested on SLES 11.1.

h2. Puppet Version

The included version of puppet is way to old, even on SLES 11.1. One way to install a more recent version is to download a patch from Novell's website. The patch can be put on a additional installation source and included in the installation process.

h3. SLES 11

Download the patch from Novell's website. Please note that you need a valid support contract to download the patch. Create a minimal installation source that can be added during the installation process. This will ensure that a later version of puppet is installed during deployment with foreman. You can find very good instructions on how to create an installation source here:

http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Creating_YaST_installation_sources#repomd.2Frpm_md.2FYUM_sources

Once you have the install source ready, create a new provision template in forman:

Name: YaST2 SLES 11.1 Updates

Snippet: YES

<pre>

    <listentry>

      <media_url>ftp://server/SLES/11.1_Updates/</media_url>

      <product>Updates</product>

      <product_dir>/</product_dir>

    </listentry>

</pre>

h2. Additional installation sources e.g. SDK

Many important packages are not included in the default installation media. In case you would like to add the SDK (Software Development Kit) install sources create another provision template.

Name: YaST2 SLES 11.1 SDK

Snippet: YES

<pre>

    <listentry>

      <media_url>ftp://server/SLES/11.1_SDK/</media_url>

      <product>SDK</product>

      <product_dir>/</product_dir>

    </listentry>

</pre>

h2. Software Packages

If you don't specify any software packages autoyast will assume a minimal installation. This means no GUI but a very small footprint on the installed system. In case you want a default Installation with GUI and so on, create one more provisioning template to hold the package definitions.

Name: Yast SLES 11.1 Packages

Snippet: YES

<pre>

<base>default</base>

    <packages config:type="list">

      <package>ConsoleKit-32bit</package>

      <package>Mesa-32bit</package>

      <package>PolicyKit-32bit</package>

      <package>PolicyKit-gnome-libs-32bit</package>

      <package>aspell-32bit</package>

      <package>at-spi-32bit</package>

      <package>audiofile-32bit</package>

      <package>audit-libs-32bit</package>

      <package>bind-libs-32bit</package>

      <package>cpufrequtils-32bit</package>

      <package>cracklib-32bit</package>

      <package>cryptconfig-32bit</package>

      <package>cyrus-sasl-32bit</package>

      <package>cyrus-sasl-gssapi-32bit</package>

      <package>cyrus-sasl-plain-32bit</package>

      <package>dbus-1-32bit</package>

      <package>dbus-1-glib-32bit</package>

      <package>device-mapper-32bit</package>

      <package>evolution-data-server-32bit</package>

      <package>fam-32bit</package>

      <package>file-32bit</package>

      <package>freeglut-32bit</package>

      <package>freetype-32bit</package>

      <package>fribidi-32bit</package>

      <package>gconf2-32bit</package>

      <package>gdbm-32bit</package>

      <package>gettext-runtime-32bit</package>

      <package>giflib-32bit</package>

      <package>glibc-locale-32bit</package>

      <package>gnome-keyring-32bit</package>

      <package>gnome-panel-32bit</package>

      <package>gnome-vfs2-32bit</package>

      <package>gpm-32bit</package>

      <package>hal-32bit</package>

      <package>hunspell-32bit</package>

      <package>libFLAC8-32bit</package>

      <package>libHX13-32bit</package>

      <package>libacl-32bit</package>

      <package>libaio-32bit</package>

      <package>libart_lgpl-32bit</package>

      <package>libattr-32bit</package>

      <package>libavahi-client3-32bit</package>

      <package>libavahi-common3-32bit</package>

      <package>libavahi-glib1-32bit</package>

      <package>libbonobo-32bit</package>

      <package>libbonoboui-32bit</package>

      <package>libbz2-1-32bit</package>

      <package>libcanberra-gtk-32bit</package>

      <package>libcanberra-gtk0-32bit</package>

      <package>libcanberra0-32bit</package>

      <package>libcap2-32bit</package>

      <package>libcroco-0_6-3-32bit</package>

      <package>libcurl4-32bit</package>

      <package>libdb-4_5-32bit</package>

      <package>libdrm-32bit</package>

      <package>libesd0-32bit</package>

      <package>libfreebl3-32bit</package>

      <package>libgcrypt11-32bit</package>

      <package>libglade2-32bit</package>

      <package>libgnome-32bit</package>

      <package>libgnome-desktop-2-11-32bit</package>

      <package>libgnomecanvas-32bit</package>

      <package>libgnutls26-32bit</package>

      <package>libgpg-error0-32bit</package>

      <package>libgsf-1-114-32bit</package>

      <package>libgstreamer-0_10-0-32bit</package>

      <package>libgthread-2_0-0-32bit</package>

      <package>libgweather1-32bit</package>

      <package>libical0-32bit</package>

      <package>libidl-32bit</package>

      <package>libidn-32bit</package>

      <package>liblcms1-32bit</package>

      <package>libldap-2_4-2-32bit</package>

      <package>libltdl7-32bit</package>

      <package>libmng-32bit</package>

      <package>libnetpbm10-32bit</package>

      <package>libnscd-32bit</package>

      <package>libnsssharedhelper0-32bit</package>

      <package>libogg0-32bit</package>

      <package>libopenct1-32bit</package>

      <package>libopensc2-32bit</package>

      <package>libproxy0-32bit</package>

      <package>libproxy0-config-gnome</package>

      <package>libpulse0-32bit</package>

      <package>libqt4-32bit</package>

      <package>libqt4-qt3support-32bit</package>

      <package>libqt4-sql-32bit</package>

      <package>libqt4-x11-32bit</package>

      <package>libreiserfs-32bit</package>

      <package>librsvg-32bit</package>

      <package>libsepol1-32bit</package>

      <package>libsmbclient0-32bit</package>

      <package>libsmbios2-32bit</package>

      <package>libsndfile-32bit</package>

      <package>libsoup-2_4-1-32bit</package>

      <package>libsqlite3-0-32bit</package>

      <package>libstdc++33-32bit</package>

      <package>libtalloc1-32bit</package>

      <package>libtasn1-3-32bit</package>

      <package>libtdb1-32bit</package>

      <package>libtool-32bit</package>

      <package>libvorbis-32bit</package>

      <package>libwbclient0-32bit</package>

      <package>libwnck-1-22-32bit</package>

      <package>libxcrypt-32bit</package>

      <package>libxml2-32bit</package>

      <package>libxslt-32bit</package>

      <package>mozilla-nspr-32bit</package>

      <package>mozilla-nss-32bit</package>

      <package>mozilla-xulrunner191-32bit</package>

      <package>nautilus-32bit</package>

      <package>nautilus-cd-burner-32bit</package>

      <package>opensc-32bit</package>

      <package>openslp-32bit</package>

      <package>opie-32bit</package>

      <package>orbit2-32bit</package>

      <package>pam-32bit</package>

      <package>pam-modules-32bit</package>

      <package>pam_mount-32bit</package>

      <package>parted-32bit</package>

      <package>pciutils-32bit</package>

      <package>pcsc-lite-32bit</package>

      <package>perl-32bit</package>

      <package>popt-32bit</package>

      <package>qt3-32bit</package>

      <package>rpm-32bit</package>

      <package>samba-32bit</package>

      <package>samba-client-32bit</package>

      <package>startup-notification-32bit</package>

      <package>strace-32bit</package>

      <package>sysfsutils-32bit</package>

      <package>tcl-32bit</package>

      <package>tcpd-32bit</package>

      <package>tk-32bit</package>

      <package>utempter-32bit</package>

      <package>xaw3d-32bit</package>

      <package>xorg-x11-driver-video-radeonhd</package>

      <package>yast2-trans-en_GB</package>

         </packages>

 <patterns config:type="list">

      <pattern>Minimal</pattern>

      <pattern>WBEM</pattern>

      <pattern>apparmor</pattern>

      <pattern>base</pattern>

      <pattern>documentation</pattern>

      <pattern>gnome</pattern>

      <pattern>print_server</pattern>

      <pattern>x11</pattern>

    </patterns>

</pre>

This is the default package selection of a fresh installed SLES 11.1 system. I'm not sure but maybe just defining the patterns is enough.

h2. Provisioning template

And finally a good and minimal provisioning template, tested on SLES 11.1:

<pre>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE profile>

<profile xmlns="http://www.suse.com/1.0/yast2ns" xmlns:config="http://www.suse.com/1.0/configns">

  <general>

    <mode>

      <confirm config:type="boolean">false</confirm>

      <final_reboot config:type="boolean">true</final_reboot>

    </mode>

  <%25= snippets "YaST2 Signature-Handling" -%25>

  </general>

  <networking>

    <dns>

      <hostname><%25= @host.name %25></hostname>

      <resolv_conf_policy>auto</resolv_conf_policy>

    </dns>

    <interfaces config:type="list">

      <interface>

        <bootproto>dhcp</bootproto>

        <device>eth0</device>

        <startmode>auto</startmode>

        <usercontrol>no</usercontrol>

      </interface>

    </interfaces>

  </networking>

  <ntp-client>

    <configure_dhcp config:type="boolean">false</configure_dhcp>

    <peers config:type="list">

      <peer>

        <address>ntp</address>

        <initial_sync config:type="boolean">true</initial_sync>

        <options></options>

        <type>server</type>

      </peer>

    </peers>

    <start_at_boot config:type="boolean">true</start_at_boot>

    <start_in_chroot config:type="boolean">true</start_in_chroot>

  </ntp-client>

  <%25= @host.diskLayout %25>

  <runlevel>

    <default>5</default>

  </runlevel>

  <add-on>

    <add_on_products config:type="list">

  <%25= snippets "YaST2 SLES 11.1 SDK" -%25>

  <%25= snippets "YaST2 SLES 11.1 Updates" -%25>

  </add_on_products>

  </add-on>

  <software>

  <%25= snippets "YaST2 SLES 11.1 Packages" -%25>

  </software>

 <x11>

    <color_depth config:type="integer">16</color_depth>

    <display_manager>gdm</display_manager>

    <enable_3d config:type="boolean">false</enable_3d>

    <enable_xgl config:type="boolean">false</enable_xgl>

    <resolution>1280x1024 (SXGA)</resolution>

    <window_manager>gnome</window_manager>

  </x11>

  <users config:type="list">

    <user>

      <username>root</username>

      <encrypted config:type="boolean">true</encrypted>

      <fullname>root</fullname>

      <gid>0</gid>

      <home>/root</home>

      <shell>/bin/bash</shell>

      <uid>0</uid>

      <user_password><%25= root_pass %25></user_password>

    </user>

  </users>

  <scripts>

    <post-scripts config:type="list">

      <script>

        <filename>post.sh</filename>

        <interpreter>shell</interpreter>

        <network_needed config:type="boolean">true</network_needed>

        <notification>Setting up Puppet / Foreman ...</notification>

        <debug config:type="boolean">true</debug>

        <source><![CDATA[

          cat > /etc/puppet/puppet.conf << EOF

<%25= snippets "puppet.conf" -%25>

EOF

/usr/sbin/puppetd --config /etc/puppet/puppet.conf -o --tags no_such_tag --server puppet  --no-daemonize

/usr/bin/wget -q -O /dev/null --no-check-certificate <%25= foreman_url %25>

/sbin/chkconfig puppet on -f

]]>

        </source>

      </script>

    </post-scripts>

  </scripts>

</profile>

</pre>