SF-Foundries@Linux.com:: With Linux Clusters - Image is Everything!

Unique IP Addresses and Hostnames

Another nice feature of SystemImager is that the ImageServer can assign unique IP addresses and hostnames to the autoinstall clients by using DHCP or a configuration file placed on the clients autoinstall media. I prefer using DHCP, so I ran makedhcpserver on my ImageServer, which walked me through configuring my DHCP server software. The potentially tricky process of creating a dhcpd.conf file is made easy by SystemImager's makedhcpserver command.

Here's how it goes:

[root@imageserver]# makedhcpserver

Welcome to the SystemImager "makedhcpserver" command.  This command
will prepare this computer to be a DHCP server by creating the 
following file:

 /etc/dhcpd.conf

If there is an existing file, it will be backed up as:

 /etc/dhcpd.conf.beforesystemimager

Continue? (y/[n]): y


Type your response or hit <Enter> to accept [defaults].  If you don't
have a response, such as no first or second DNS server, just hit 
<Enter> and none will be used.


What is your domain name? [localdomain.domain]: mydomain.com
What is your network number? [192.168.1.0]: 
What is your netmask? [255.255.255.0]: 
What is the starting IP address for your dhcp range? [192.168.1.1]: 
What is the ending IP address for your dhcp range? [192.168.1.100]: 192.168.1.99
What is the IP address of your first DNS server? []: 192.168.1.200
What is the IP address of your second DNS server? []: 192.168.1.201
What is the IP address of your third DNS server? []: 
What is the IP address of your default gateway? [192.168.1.254]: 
What is the IP address of imageserver? [192.168.1.254]: 192.168.1.203

Will your clients be installed over SSH? (y/[n]): 

What is the air speed velocity of the common swallow? []: 

Ahh, but seriously folks...
Here are the values you have chosen:

################################################################
DNS Domain Name:                          mydomain.com
network number:                           192.168.1.0
netmask:                                  255.255.255.0
starting IP address for your dhcp range:  192.168.1.1
ending IP address for your dhcp range:    192.168.1.99
first DNS server:                         192.168.1.200
second DNS server:                        192.168.1.201
third DNS server:                         
default gateway:                          192.168.1.254
imageserver:                              192.168.1.203
ssh URL:
################################################################

Are you satisfied? (y/[n]): y


The dhcp server configuration file (/etc/dhcpd.conf) file has been 
created for you.  Please verify it for accuracy.

If this file does not look satisfactory, you can run this command again
to re-create it: "makedhcpserver"

WARNING!:  If you have multiple physical network interfaces, be sure to 
edit the init script that starts dhcpd to specify the interface that 
is connected to your DHCP clients.  Here's an example:

 Change "/usr/sbin/dhcpd" to "/usr/sbin/dhcpd eth1".

Also, be sure to start or restart your dhcpd daemon.  This can usually
be done with a command like "/etc/init.d/dhcpd restart" or similar.

Next, select a machine to be your GoldenClient. This machine's image is the one you'll be storing on the ImageServer and replicating to your other machines. Now let's download the SystemImager client software and install it on your GoldenClient. Once it's installed, simply run the prepareclient command. Prepareclient gets your GoldenClient ready to have its image pulled to the ImageServer.