HP ILO VSP: CentOS 7/RHEL 7 Installation through Serial Console

Though it's feared or considered as outdated by some, command line tools (CLI) remain the right ones for many System Administration tasks. Among its countless advantages, there's tasks' automation through its Script-ability.

In this post, I'm willing to describe the Usage of HP ILO CLI utility for the Complete Installation of CentOS 7/RHEL 7 Distribution. Through this mean, one can complete a full System Installation from CLI. Such Installation are quite useful for many cases, like Remote Installation with low bandwidth, No need for  Advanced ILO license...

The Installation described below is a CentOS 7.1 System on Proliant G8 (using ILO4) and I'm leveraging on KickStart to automate its Install process. But, the same procedure can be easily adapted for other Linux Distributions.

Let's start by reviewing what is needed to complete that Installation:

1. Prerequisites:

• ILO Configured with Valid IP Addressing parameters and reachable through SSH

• Linux System (any distribution) with mkisofs installed

That Linux System will be used to build Custom CentOS/RHEL Image, in this case I'm using the System the same system to share the ISO mentioned below (Hostname: stivinstall; IP: 192.168.1.11)

• OS Distribution Media (ISO) available on the network and reachable from the ILO

As said above, I'm installing CentOS 7.1, so I shared the ISO on an http server (installed and configured on my Linux System) and checked that it's well available (http://192.168.1.11/mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01-text.iso)

• (Optional) KickStart File for automated Installation

I'm leveraging on Kickstart to fully automate this Installation. But that is obviously optional. In this case, I made Kickstart file available on the same System where I hosted the OS ISO (http://192.168.1.11/dladc2-infpup01.ks)

2.  Modify CentOS 7 boot image to get output on Serial Console

By default, the boot ISO of RHEL 7/CentOS 7 will redirect its output to Graphical Console, so that needs to be modified to have Output directed to the Serial Console (VSP).

Mount the CentOS ISO on my elected Installation System (stivinstall)

[root@stivinstall ~]# mount -o loop /mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01.iso /var/www/html/media_centos7u1/ mount: /dev/loop0 is write-protected, mounting read-only

The main directory we'll be modifying in this ISO is Isolinux, so Copy this directory under a temporarily writable directory.

[root@stivinstall ~]# cd /var/www/html/media_centos7u1/ [root@stivinstall media_centos7u1]# cp -a isolinux /tmp/ [root@stivinstall media_centos7u1]# cd /tmp/isolinux/

As we're aiming to have everything in Text (console) mode, we should first get rid of graphical feature, like image. So, in the boot.msg, remove the ^Xsplash.lss line and delete the boot.cat (will be re-created later)

[root@stivinstall isolinux]# cat boot.msg splash.lss - Press the 01<enter>07 key to begin the installation process. [root@stivinstall isolinux]# vim boot.msg [...] "boot.msg" 4L, 72C written [root@stivinstall isolinux]# cat boot.msg - Press the 01<enter>07 key to begin the installation process. [root@stivinstall isolinux]# rm boot.cat rm: remove regular file ‘boot.cat’? y

Now, the main and most important modifications are to add/edit two main configuration in the isolinux.cfg:

1. A new line with "serial 1 9600" which indicates to IsoLinux to redirect the output to the Serial Console
2. Append "console=ttyS1" to the Kernel Option (append initrd...). This is a kernel option that specifies what device to use as the primary console and its implies text as the Installation Mode.

Below, I've made use of diff between the modified and an unmodified isolinux.cfg to highlight that modifications. We can see that around Line 54 (this can obviously added as option in other place in the file), I added (the line starting with "#"is just a comment):

# Output to Serial Console ttyS1 - Stivesso
serial 1 9600


And for most of the append Kernel options (did this for Linux, Troubleshoot and Rescue Entries), I appended this at the end:
console=ttyS1

[root@stivinstall isolinux]# cp isolinux.cfg /tmp/ [root@stivinstall isolinux]# vim isolinux.cfg [...] "isolinux.cfg" 123L, 3135C written [root@stivinstall isolinux]# diff isolinux.cfg /tmp/isolinux.cfg 54,56d53 < # Output to Serial Console ttyS1 - Stivesso < serial 1 9600 < 67c64 < append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 quiet console=ttyS1 --- > append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 quiet 73c70 < append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 rd.live.check quiet console=ttyS1 --- > append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 rd.live.check quiet 99c96 < append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 rescue quiet console=ttyS1 --- > append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 rescue quiet

With that modification on isolinux.cfg completed, we can recreate the ISO. but first, we mount (with the --bind option) our modified directory under the isolinux directory of the mounted Image. Then, we can create the ISO using mkisofs.

Note that the volume ID (-V) of the ISO image must be the same as the inst.stage2= parameter in isolinux.cfg and replacing \x20 by a space (described in BZ#915563), Otherwise we'll be facing an Issue during the Installation and will be redirected to Dracut Emergency mode (... Warning: /dev/root does not exist, Entering emergency mode. Exit the shell to continue.)

[root@stivinstall isolinux]# mount --bind /tmp/isolinux /var/www/html/media_centos7u1/isolinux [root@stivinstall isolinux]# mkisofs -R -J -T -v -V "CentOS 7 x86_64" -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -o /mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01-text.iso /var/www/html/media_centos7u1 I: -input-charset not specified, using utf-8 (detected in locale settings) genisoimage 1.1.11 (Linux) [...] 99.78% done, estimate finish Sun Aug 30 09:34:35 2015 Total translation table size: 907346 Total rockridge attributes bytes: 400459 Total directory bytes: 606208 Path table size(bytes): 140 Done with: The File(s) Block(s) 2103975 Writing: Ending Padblock Start Block 2104510 Done with: Ending Padblock Block(s) 150 Max brk space used 3d2000 2104660 extents written (4110 MB) [root@stivinstall isolinux]# umount /var/www/html/media_centos7u1/isolinux

The following is just a way to check that the created ISO has the needed modification in isolinux.cfg.

[root@stivinstall isolinux]# mount -o loop /mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01-text.iso /mnt/tst mount: /dev/loop1 is write-protected, mounting read-only [root@stivinstall isolinux]# grep -i console /mnt/tst/isolinux/isolinux.cfg # Output to Serial Console ttyS1 - Steve ESSO append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 quiet console=ttyS1 append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 rd.live.check quiet console=ttyS1 append initrd=initrd.img inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=CentOS\x207\x20x86_64 rescue quiet console=ttyS1 [root@stivinstall isolinux]# umount /mnt/tst

3.  Use ILO CLI to insert a virtual media

Once we've met the prerequisites listed above and created our modified ISO Image, we can go to the ILO (ssh) and insert the OS Distribution ISO in the ILO Virtual Media. This is done using the vm command, to see a full description of vm command options and syntax, one can use "help vm" as seen below

</>hpiLO-> help vm status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 07:53:09 2015 VM : Virtual media commands. Usage: vm <device> insert <path> -- Inserts an image CLP COMMAND: set /map1/oemhp_vm1/<device> oemhp_image=<path> vm <device> eject -- Ejects an image CLP COMMAND: set /map1/oemhp_vm1/<device> oemhp_image=none vm device get -- Gets the status of the virtual media CLP COMMAND: show /map1/oemhp_vm1/<device> vm <device> set <options> -- Sets the status of the virtual media CLP COMMAND: set /map1/oemhp_vm1/<device> <property=value> Command Options: Device is floppy or cdrom CLP device is floppydr or cddr Path is the url to the media image Access option is write_protect or write_allow Boot option is boot_always, boot_once, no_boot, connect or disconnect CLP properties are : oemhp_connect, oemhp_boot, oemhp_wp

Get the Status of the CDROM Virtual Media,

</>hpiLO-> vm cdrom get status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 07:53:31 2015 Image Connected = No Image URL = None VM Applet = No Boot Option = NO_BOOT Write Protect = No

Insert our OS Distribution ISO Image,

</>hpiLO-> vm cdrom insert http://192.168.1.11/mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01-text.iso status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 07:54:25 2015 </>hpiLO-> vm cdrom get status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 07:54:28 2015 Image Connected = No Image URL = http://192.168.1.11/mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01-text.iso VM Applet = No Boot Option = NO_BOOT Write Protect = Yes

Connect the Inserted OS Image,

</>hpiLO-> vm cdrom set connect status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 08:02:31 2015 </>hpiLO-> vm cdrom get status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 08:02:35 2015 Image Connected = Yes Image URL = http://192.168.1.11/mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01-text.iso VM Applet = No Boot Option = BOOT_ALWAYS Write Protect = Yes

Set the system to boot on this image during the next reboot, for that we can either use boot_once to have it mounted and set as boot drive just during the next boot or boot_always to have it permanently mounted and set as boot drive.

</>hpiLO-> vm cdrom set boot_once status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 08:02:48 2015 </>hpiLO-> vm cdrom get status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sat Aug 29 08:02:50 2015 Image Connected = Yes Image URL = http://192.168.1.11/mnt/CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1503-01-text.iso VM Applet = No Boot Option = BOOT_ONCE Write Protect = Yes

4.  OS Installation:

Now that we have the media Inserted, we can proceed to the OS Installation by powering on the Server (or resetting if it was already running) and getting to VSP (Virtual Serial Port) to complete OS Installation.
I strongly advise to have the ILO SSH Console opened in max window size to make sure that the console output fit the size of the SSH console.

</>hpiLO-> power on status=0 status_tag=COMMAND COMPLETED Sun Aug 30 08:43:47 2015 Server powering on ....... </>hpiLO-> vsp Virtual Serial Port Active: COM2 Starting virtual serial port. Press 'ESC (' to return to the CLI Session. ProLiant System BIOS - P71 (11/01/2014) Copyright 1982, 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. 2 Processor(s) detected, 4 total cores enabled, Hyperthreading is enabled Proc 1: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2637 0 @ 3.00GHz Proc 2: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2637 0 @ 3.00GHz [...] ISOLINUX 4.05 0x54f93f16 Copyright (C) 1994-2011 H. Peter Anvin et al

We'll get to the following nice screen,

Press Up (to make sure it’s at “Install CentOS 7” entry) and Tab,

From here, you can either just press enter to proceed to an Interactive Install, or if you prefer to use KickStart (as I do :-) ), then just enter the appropriate options. In this case, I’m entering the following inst.ks=http://192.168.1.10/stix-1.ks ip=192.168.1.11::192.168.1.1:255.255.255.0::ens2f0:none (more details about RHEL7/CentOS7 Kickstart Install in this post)

My suggestion for entering the option, "don't copy-paste, better write..."

References:

http://blog.allot.fr/?p=85
https://rhinstaller.github.io/anaconda/boot-options.html (Anaconda Documentation)
http://hintshop.ludvig.co.nz/show/centos-text-cd/

Packstack Installation with Existing External Network / kickstart RHEL7 (CentOS7)

Interested in getting OpenStack up and running within few hours in the easiest possible way? Then Packstack is most probably your friend. Indeed, Packstack is a utility which leverages on Puppet modules to deploy various parts of OpenStack on multiple pre-installed servers over SSH automatically. I've been through a cycle of building/destroying my OpenStack Labs by using this tool and I'm willing to share below a Kickstart File which fully automate such type of Installation (OpenStack using PackStack with an Existing External Network). The initial process on which I built this KickStart Installation is well documented here. My main aim here is to be able to reference a Single Kickstart File during my RHEL/CentOS 7 Installation and have OpenStack Installed and partly configured without manual Intervention (except for a reboot that I preferred not to automate :-) ).

The same Kickstart File can also be used as a Template for RHEL7/CentOS7 (or any other Systemd-based's distribution), especially if there's a need to run some script (or any other program) during the first boot (after OS installation) of the System (see the %post section).
In fact, in this Kickstart File I've edited and created a Systemd service that will run only once after the first boot and delete itself.
I was used to do that on previous RHEL/CentOS (RHEL6...) by leveraging on /etc/rc.local. Though there’s still /etc/rc.local  on RHEL7,It is highly advisable to create own systemd services or udev rules to run scripts during boot instead of using that file.

Note that after the initial reboot, Packstack Configuration Progress can be followed using journalctl (journalctl -f -u pacstack_installation.service) 

Few Things that are specific to this Kickstart:
System Hostname: stiv-opsctr01
System IP: 192.168.0.21/24
System GW: 192.168.0.1 
DNS1 IP: 192.168.0.30
DNS2 IP: 192.168.0.31
PROXY and Install Server (I'm using proxy for Internet Access) : 192.168.0.33


My Kickstart File:

#version=RHEL7 # System authorization information auth --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512 # SELinux configuration selinux --disabled # Use URL to install installation media url --url=http://192.168.0.33/media_centos7u1/ # Use text install text # Run the Setup Agent on first boot firstboot --disable ignoredisk --only-use=sda # Keyboard layouts keyboard --vckeymap=us --xlayouts='us' # System language lang en_US.UTF-8 # Network information network --bootproto=static --device=eno49 --gateway=192.168.0.1 --ip=192.168.0.21 --nameserver=192.168.0.30,192.168.0.31 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --noipv6 --activate --hostname=stiv-opsctr01 network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eno50 --onboot=off --ipv6=auto network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eno51 --onboot=off --ipv6=auto network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eno52 --onboot=off --ipv6=auto # Root password rootpw --iscrypted $6$bimdfXrAP9SXO64e$QzN5e44MdaqVF79IW9DcGGTmAg.6SBp8ktGyw3q0ceu1zp.GBjdEEoU82y8NeEePK6WJpq3Omru.YigsUy. # System timezone timezone Africa/Douala --isUtc --nontp # System bootloader configuration bootloader --append=" crashkernel=auto" --location=mbr --boot-drive=sda # Partition clearing information clearpart --all --initlabel --drives=sda # Disk partitioning information part /boot --fstype="xfs" --ondisk=sda --size=500 part pv.26 --fstype="lvmpv" --ondisk=sda --size=163840 --grow --asprimary volgroup centos --pesize=4096 pv.26 logvol swap --fstype="swap" --size=51200 --name=swap --vgname=centos logvol /home --fstype="xfs" --size=20480 --name=home --vgname=centos logvol / --fstype="xfs" --size=51200 --name=root --vgname=centos --grow %packages @core kexec-tools %end %addon com_redhat_kdump --enable --reserve-mb='auto' %end # Start of the %post section with logging into /root/ks-post.log %post --log=/root/ks-post.log --interpreter=/usr/bin/bash exec < /dev/tty6 > /dev/tty6 chvt 6 clear echo "################################" echo "# Running Post Configuration #" echo "################################" set -x # Make sure no Interface uses NetworkManager and disable it for nic in $(grep -l NM_CONTROLLED.*yes /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-*) do cp $nic ${nic}.bak sed -i "s/NM_CONTROLLED=yes/NM_CONTROLLED=no/" $nic done systemctl disable NetworkManager # Disable IPv6 in sysctl and yum.conf / it was already disabled on Interface echo "net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1" >> /etc/sysctl.conf echo "net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1" >> /etc/sysctl.conf sysctl -p echo "ip_resolve=4" >> /etc/yum.conf # Set Proxy (only if needed) dynamically and in /etc/profile as well as yum.conf export http_proxy=http://"192.168.0.33":"3128"/ export https_proxy=http://"192.168.0.33":"3128"/ echo 'export http_proxy=http://"192.168.0.33":"3128"/' >> /etc/profile echo 'export https_proxy=http://"192.168.0.33":"3128"/' >> /etc/profile echo 'proxy=http://192.168.0.33:3128/' >> /etc/yum.conf # Populate hosts file cat <<eof >/etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4 ::1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6 # Public IP 192.168.0.21 stiv-opsctr01 stiv-opsctr01.stiv.local EOF # Install my dear vim yum install -y vim # Install Packstack yum install -y https://rdoproject.org/repos/rdo-release.rpm yum install -y openstack-packstack # Run Packstack after the reboot as a Systemd Service cat > /root/packstack_install.sh << EOFPACKSTACK #!/bin/bash set -x # Run Packstack and Configure packstack --allinone --provision-demo=n # Configure External Network cat <<EOF >/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-br-ex DEVICE=br-ex DEVICETYPE=ovs TYPE=OVSBridge BOOTPROTO=static IPADDR=192.168.0.21 NETMASK=255.255.255.0 GATEWAY=192.168.0.1 DNS1=192.168.0.30 DNS2=192.168.0.31 ONBOOT=yes EOF cat <<eof >/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eno49 TYPE=Ethernet NAME=eno49 DEVICE=eno49 ONBOOT=yes TYPE=OVSPort DEVICETYPE=ovs OVS_BRIDGE=br-ex EOF # Go to /root cd /root # Restart Network Service systemctl restart network # Define Logical Name for our physical L2 Segment (extnet) openstack-config --set /etc/neutron/plugins/openvswitch/ovs_neutron_plugin.ini ovs bridge_mappings extnet:br-ex # Overcome a packstack deployment bug where only vxlan is made available openstack-config --set /etc/neutron/plugin.ini ml2 type_drivers vxlan,flat,vlan # Restart Services /bin/systemctl restart network.service /bin/systemctl restart neutron-openvswitch-agent.service /bin/systemctl restart neutron-server.service # Create Neutron External Network / unset proxy as API is available on http and allocate Pool IP unset http_proxy unset https_proxy source /root/keystonerc_admin neutron net-create external_network --provider:network_type flat --provider:physical_network extnet --router:external --shared neutron subnet-create --name public_subnet --enable_dhcp=False --allocation-pool=start=192.168.0.200,end=192.168.0.230 --gateway=192.168.0.1 external_network 192.168.0.0/24 # Neutron / Create Router neutron router-create router1 neutron router-gateway-set router1 external_network # Neutron / Create Private Network neutron net-create private_network neutron subnet-create --name private_subnet private_network 192.168.100.0/24 # Neutron / Connect Private Network to Public through the Router neutron router-interface-add router1 private_subnet # Get a Cirrus VM Image that will be used for the test and create Glance Image export http_proxy=http://"192.168.0.33":"3128"/ export https_proxy=http://"192.168.0.33":"3128"/ yum install -y wget wget http://download.cirros-cloud.net/0.3.4/cirros-0.3.4-x86_64-disk.img unset http_proxy unset https_proxy glance image-create --name='cirros image' --is-public=true --container-format=bare --disk-format=qcow2 --file cirros-0.3.4-x86_64-disk.img # Disable packstack_installation service rm '/etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/pacstack_installation.service' mv -f /etc/systemd/system/pacstack_installation.service /root EOFPACKSTACK # Make /root/packstack_install.sh executable chmod ug+x /root/packstack_install.sh # Create Systemd Services cat > /etc/systemd/system/pacstack_installation.service << EOFSYSTEMD [Unit] Description=Packstack Automated Installation After=sshd.service [Service] Type=oneshot ExecStart=/root/packstack_install.sh > /root/packstack_install.log 2>&1 User=root Group=root [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target EOFSYSTEMD # Make sure that Systemd Service will be enabled during the next boot ln -s '/etc/systemd/system/pacstack_installation.service' '/etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/pacstack_installation.service' ###Go back to tty1## exec < /dev/tty1 > /dev/tty1 chvt 1 # End of the %post section %end

References:

https://www.rdoproject.org/Neutron_with_existing_external_network
http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/changing-roots
http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.service.html

Open Source Puppet Agent Installation / Local Yum Repository for RHEL and derivatives

I've been playing for a while with Open Source Puppet and faced few challenges during its deployment. Among these challenges, there's the installation of the puppet Open Source agent on some RHEL Systems. In fact, The process to install the RHEL Puppet Open Source agent isn’t as straightforward as on CentOS and other community forks because RHEL repositories are divided into many channels and to install Puppet on it, one of this channel (the “optional channel") needs to be enabled (more details here). Meaning that both an Internet Connectivity and a valid RHN subscription are needed to complete Puppet Open Source Agent Installation on RHEL System.

Anyway, the main idea I've to workaround this small challenge is to create a small Internal http-based repository which contains all the required Package for Open Source Puppet Agent (and facter) Installation. That repository will then be used for my RHEL/CentOS node that aren't connected to Internet for Puppet Open Agent Installation.
To achieve that, the very first thing is to download Open Source Puppet Agent RPM, Facter RPM and all their dependencies in the same directory. For that, repotrack is probably one of the best tool. Indeed, this tool helps to download a package and all its dependencies recursively in the same directory. 

Repotrack is using /etc/yum.conf as default Configuration file, meaning that it'll be downloading packages based on the current repository settings. That's why I'm using a CentOS System (instead of RHEL) to create that local repository (CentOS only needs its main repo & PuppetLabs repos to be able to solve all the dependency related to Puppet/Facter).
Although in this post I'm using a CentOS 7 Distribution to download puppet/facter agent RPMS for EL7, the same process applies to lower RHEL/CentOS version (<=6), the only difference being that RHEL7 is only 64-bit, and due to that,no 32 bits repository is needed.
Enough talk, let's move forward with the following steps to complete that Local Repository configuration for CentOS7/RHEL7. 

1. Overview of the environment for this Post

This is just a short description of the System that'll be configured in this post,

System Name	OS	Description
my_repo	CentOS 7	Http-based repository (Connected to Internet)
puppetmaster	CentOS 7	Puppet Server (Connected to Internet)
my_rhel_1	RHEL 7	Puppet Client ( No Internet Connectivity)

2. On the CentOS7 Repository System, add the PuppetLabs Repository

[root@my_repo ~]# rpm -ivh http://yum.puppetlabs.com/puppetlabs-release-el-7.noarch.rpm

3. Install Apache on this CentOS7 System and configure it accordingly (to make RPMS available using http)

I used my Puppet Master (and foreman) to complete this step, but a simple "yum install httpd" and httpd configuration will also be enough. The following is just for those who are interested in such Puppet configuration. If using a classic yum installation and normal httpd configuration, then you can move forward to Step 3.

On the Puppet Master Server, I'm installing Apache module

[root@puppetmaster ~]# puppet module install puppetlabs-apache Notice: Preparing to install into /etc/puppet/modules ... Notice: Downloading from https://forgeapi.puppetlabs.com ... Notice: Installing -- do not interrupt ... /etc/puppet/modules └─┬ puppetlabs-apache (v1.4.0) â”── puppetlabs-concat (v1.2.0) └── puppetlabs-stdlib (v4.5.1)


Under one of the Module Path, the module directory and the manifest folder are created.

[root@puppetmaster ~]# cd /usr/share/puppet/modules/ [root@puppetmaster modules]# mkdir stivrepo/manifests

I'm then editing a webconf manifest file to configure the Apache Module (with vhost).

[root@puppetmaster modules]# cat stivrepo/manifests/webconf.pp class stivrepo::webconf ( $document_root = '/var/www/html/stivrepo', $port = '80', ) { # Manage apache VirtualHost class { 'apache': default_vhost => false, } apache::vhost { 'stivrepo.stivameroon.net': port => $port, docroot => $document_root, } }

The init.pp for this small module is then created to include the defined webconf

[root@puppetmaster modules]# cat stivrepo/manifests/init.pp class stivrepo { include stivrepo::webconf }


As said above, I'm using Foreman to classify my Puppet Nodes, so all these classes have then been imported under foreman (configure --> Puppet Classes --> Import from...) and the server hosting this web repository (my_repo) have been then edited to include stivrepo Module.

4. Download the CentOS7 puppet/facter Packages with all their dependencies

As discussed above, the tool used for downloading the Packages and their dependencies here is repotrack, it's part of yum-utils Packages (So, if not done, Install yum-utils). Also, if 32 bits OS will use that repository (again, RHEL7 is 64 bits only, so this comment is mostly for version below  7), then create both i686 and x86_64 under the Packages directory and use the option --arch (repotrack --arch=i686) of repotrack to specify the architecture you're downloading Packages for.

[root@my_repo ~]# mkdir -p /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent/7/x86_64/Packages [root@my_repo ~]# cd /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent/7/x86_64/Packages [root@my_repo Packages]# repotrack puppet facter Downloading acl-2.2.51-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading audit-libs-2.4.1-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading audit-libs-2.4.1-5.el7.i686.rpm Downloading augeas-libs-1.1.0-17.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading augeas-libs-1.1.0-17.el7.i686.rpm Downloading basesystem-10.0-7.el7.centos.noarch.rpm Downloading bash-4.2.46-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading binutils-2.23.52.0.1-30.el7_1.1.x86_64.rpm Downloading bzip2-libs-1.0.6-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading bzip2-libs-1.0.6-12.el7.i686.rpm Downloading ca-certificates-2014.1.98-72.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading centos-release-7-1.1503.el7.centos.2.8.x86_64.rpm Downloading chkconfig-1.3.61-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading coreutils-8.22-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading cpio-2.11-22.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading cracklib-2.9.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading cracklib-2.9.0-11.el7.i686.rpm Downloading cracklib-dicts-2.9.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading cryptsetup-libs-1.6.6-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading curl-7.29.0-19.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading cyrus-sasl-lib-2.1.26-17.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading cyrus-sasl-lib-2.1.26-17.el7.i686.rpm Downloading dbus-1.6.12-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading dbus-libs-1.6.12-11.el7.i686.rpm Downloading dbus-libs-1.6.12-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading device-mapper-1.02.93-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading device-mapper-libs-1.02.93-3.el7.i686.rpm Downloading device-mapper-libs-1.02.93-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading dmidecode-2.12-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading elfutils-libelf-0.160-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading expat-2.1.0-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading facter-2.4.1-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading filesystem-3.2-18.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading fipscheck-1.4.1-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading fipscheck-lib-1.4.1-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading gawk-4.0.2-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading gdbm-1.10-8.el7.i686.rpm Downloading gdbm-1.10-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading glib2-2.40.0-4.el7.i686.rpm Downloading glib2-2.40.0-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading glibc-2.17-78.el7.i686.rpm Downloading glibc-2.17-78.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading glibc-common-2.17-78.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading gmp-6.0.0-11.el7.i686.rpm Downloading gmp-6.0.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading grep-2.20-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading gzip-1.5-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading hiera-1.3.4-1.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading hwdata-0.252-7.5.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading info-5.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading keyutils-libs-1.5.8-3.el7.i686.rpm Downloading keyutils-libs-1.5.8-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading kmod-14-10.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading kmod-libs-14-10.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading krb5-libs-1.12.2-14.el7.i686.rpm Downloading krb5-libs-1.12.2-14.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libacl-2.2.51-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libacl-2.2.51-12.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libattr-2.4.46-12.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libattr-2.4.46-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libblkid-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libblkid-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libcap-2.22-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libcap-2.22-8.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libcap-ng-0.7.3-5.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libcap-ng-0.7.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libcom_err-1.42.9-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libcom_err-1.42.9-7.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libcurl-7.29.0-19.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libcurl-7.29.0-19.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libdb-5.3.21-17.el7_0.1.i686.rpm Downloading libdb-5.3.21-17.el7_0.1.x86_64.rpm Downloading libdb-utils-5.3.21-17.el7_0.1.x86_64.rpm Downloading libffi-3.0.13-11.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libffi-3.0.13-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libgcc-4.8.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libgcc-4.8.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libgcrypt-1.5.3-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libgcrypt-1.5.3-12.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libgpg-error-1.12-3.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libgpg-error-1.12-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libidn-1.28-3.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libidn-1.28-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libmount-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libmount-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libpwquality-1.2.3-4.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libpwquality-1.2.3-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libselinux-2.2.2-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libselinux-2.2.2-6.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libselinux-ruby-2.2.2-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libselinux-utils-2.2.2-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libsemanage-2.1.10-16.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libsepol-2.1.9-3.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libsepol-2.1.9-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libssh2-1.4.3-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libssh2-1.4.3-8.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libstdc++-4.8.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libstdc++-4.8.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libtasn1-3.8-2.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libuser-0.60-5.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libuser-0.60-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libutempter-1.1.6-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libutempter-1.1.6-4.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libuuid-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libuuid-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libverto-0.2.5-4.el7.i686.rpm Downloading libverto-0.2.5-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading libxml2-2.9.1-5.el7_1.2.x86_64.rpm Downloading libxml2-2.9.1-5.el7_1.2.i686.rpm Downloading libyaml-0.1.4-11.el7_0.x86_64.rpm Downloading lua-5.1.4-14.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading ncurses-5.9-13.20130511.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading ncurses-base-5.9-13.20130511.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading ncurses-libs-5.9-13.20130511.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading ncurses-libs-5.9-13.20130511.el7.i686.rpm Downloading net-tools-2.0-0.17.20131004git.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading nspr-4.10.6-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading nspr-4.10.6-3.el7.i686.rpm Downloading nss-3.16.2.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading nss-3.16.2.3-5.el7.i686.rpm Downloading nss-softokn-3.16.2.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading nss-softokn-3.16.2.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Downloading nss-softokn-freebl-3.16.2.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Downloading nss-softokn-freebl-3.16.2.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading nss-sysinit-3.16.2.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading nss-tools-3.16.2.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading nss-util-3.16.2.3-2.el7.i686.rpm Downloading nss-util-3.16.2.3-2.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading openldap-2.4.39-6.el7.i686.rpm Downloading openldap-2.4.39-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading openssl-libs-1.0.1e-42.el7.4.x86_64.rpm Downloading openssl-libs-1.0.1e-42.el7.4.i686.rpm Downloading p11-kit-0.20.7-3.el7.i686.rpm Downloading p11-kit-0.20.7-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading p11-kit-trust-0.20.7-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading pam-1.1.8-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading pam-1.1.8-12.el7.i686.rpm Downloading pciutils-3.2.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading pciutils-libs-3.2.1-4.el7.i686.rpm Downloading pciutils-libs-3.2.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading pcre-8.32-14.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading pcre-8.32-14.el7.i686.rpm Downloading pkgconfig-0.27.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading pkgconfig-0.27.1-4.el7.i686.rpm Downloading popt-1.13-16.el7.i686.rpm Downloading popt-1.13-16.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading puppet-3.6.2-3.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading qrencode-libs-3.4.1-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading readline-6.2-9.el7.i686.rpm Downloading readline-6.2-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading rpm-4.11.1-25.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading rpm-libs-4.11.1-25.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading ruby-2.0.0.598-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading ruby-augeas-0.5.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading ruby-irb-2.0.0.598-24.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading ruby-libs-2.0.0.598-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading ruby-libs-2.0.0.598-24.el7.i686.rpm Downloading ruby-shadow-1.4.1-23.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading rubygem-bigdecimal-1.2.0-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading rubygem-io-console-0.4.2-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading rubygem-json-1.7.7-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading rubygem-psych-2.0.0-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading rubygem-rdoc-4.0.0-24.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading rubygem-rgen-0.6.6-2.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading rubygems-2.0.14-24.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading sed-4.2.2-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading setup-2.8.71-5.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading shadow-utils-4.1.5.1-18.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading shared-mime-info-1.1-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading sqlite-3.7.17-4.el7.i686.rpm Downloading sqlite-3.7.17-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading systemd-208-20.el7_1.2.x86_64.rpm Downloading systemd-libs-208-20.el7_1.2.x86_64.rpm Downloading systemd-libs-208-20.el7_1.2.i686.rpm Downloading tar-1.26-29.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading tcp_wrappers-libs-7.6-77.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading tzdata-2015b-1.el7.noarch.rpm Downloading ustr-1.0.4-16.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading util-linux-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Downloading util-linux-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading virt-what-1.13-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading which-2.20-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading xz-5.1.2-9alpha.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading xz-libs-5.1.2-9alpha.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading xz-libs-5.1.2-9alpha.el7.i686.rpm Downloading zlib-1.2.7-13.el7.x86_64.rpm Downloading zlib-1.2.7-13.el7.i686.rpm

5. Create and configure the repository

To create the repo, I'm using the classic createrepo with the appropriate option. It is  a program that creates a repomd (xml-based rpm metadata) repository from a set of rpms. If it isn't already installed, then install the Package.

[root@my_repo el7]# yum install createrepo

Create the repository Metadata [root@my_repo ~]# createrepo -v /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent/7/x86_64 Spawning worker 0 with 94 pkgs Spawning worker 1 with 93 pkgs Worker 0: reading Packages/acl-2.2.51-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/audit-libs-2.4.1-5.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/audit-libs-2.4.1-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/augeas-libs-1.1.0-17.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/augeas-libs-1.1.0-17.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/basesystem-10.0-7.el7.centos.noarch.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/bash-4.2.46-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/binutils-2.23.52.0.1-30.el7_1.1.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/bzip2-libs-1.0.6-12.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/bzip2-libs-1.0.6-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/ca-certificates-2014.1.98-72.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/centos-release-7-1.1503.el7.centos.2.8.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/chkconfig-1.3.61-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/coreutils-8.22-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/cpio-2.11-22.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/cracklib-2.9.0-11.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/cracklib-2.9.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/cracklib-dicts-2.9.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/cryptsetup-libs-1.6.6-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/curl-7.29.0-19.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/cyrus-sasl-lib-2.1.26-17.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/cyrus-sasl-lib-2.1.26-17.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/dbus-1.6.12-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/dbus-libs-1.6.12-11.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/dbus-libs-1.6.12-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/device-mapper-1.02.93-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/device-mapper-libs-1.02.93-3.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/device-mapper-libs-1.02.93-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/dmidecode-2.12-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/elfutils-libelf-0.160-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/expat-2.1.0-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/facter-2.4.1-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/filesystem-3.2-18.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/fipscheck-1.4.1-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/fipscheck-lib-1.4.1-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/gawk-4.0.2-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/gdbm-1.10-8.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/gdbm-1.10-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/glib2-2.40.0-4.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/glib2-2.40.0-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/glibc-2.17-78.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/glibc-2.17-78.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/glibc-common-2.17-78.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/gmp-6.0.0-11.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/gmp-6.0.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/grep-2.20-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/gzip-1.5-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/hiera-1.3.4-1.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/hwdata-0.252-7.5.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/info-5.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/keyutils-libs-1.5.8-3.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/keyutils-libs-1.5.8-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/kmod-14-10.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/kmod-libs-14-10.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/krb5-libs-1.12.2-14.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/krb5-libs-1.12.2-14.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libacl-2.2.51-12.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libacl-2.2.51-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libattr-2.4.46-12.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libattr-2.4.46-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libblkid-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libblkid-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libcap-2.22-8.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libcap-2.22-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libcap-ng-0.7.3-5.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libcap-ng-0.7.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libcom_err-1.42.9-7.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libcom_err-1.42.9-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libcurl-7.29.0-19.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libcurl-7.29.0-19.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libdb-5.3.21-17.el7_0.1.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libdb-5.3.21-17.el7_0.1.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libdb-utils-5.3.21-17.el7_0.1.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libffi-3.0.13-11.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libffi-3.0.13-11.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libgcc-4.8.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libgcc-4.8.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libgcrypt-1.5.3-12.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libgcrypt-1.5.3-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libgpg-error-1.12-3.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libgpg-error-1.12-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libidn-1.28-3.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libidn-1.28-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libmount-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libmount-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libpwquality-1.2.3-4.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libpwquality-1.2.3-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libselinux-2.2.2-6.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libselinux-2.2.2-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libselinux-ruby-2.2.2-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libselinux-utils-2.2.2-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libsemanage-2.1.10-16.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libsepol-2.1.9-3.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libsepol-2.1.9-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libssh2-1.4.3-8.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libssh2-1.4.3-8.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libstdc++-4.8.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libstdc++-4.8.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libtasn1-3.8-2.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libuser-0.60-5.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libuser-0.60-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libutempter-1.1.6-4.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libutempter-1.1.6-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libuuid-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libuuid-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libverto-0.2.5-4.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libverto-0.2.5-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libxml2-2.9.1-5.el7_1.2.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/libxml2-2.9.1-5.el7_1.2.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/libyaml-0.1.4-11.el7_0.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/lua-5.1.4-14.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/ncurses-5.9-13.20130511.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/ncurses-base-5.9-13.20130511.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/ncurses-libs-5.9-13.20130511.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/ncurses-libs-5.9-13.20130511.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/net-tools-2.0-0.17.20131004git.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/nspr-4.10.6-3.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/nspr-4.10.6-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/nss-3.16.2.3-5.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/nss-3.16.2.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/nss-softokn-3.16.2.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/nss-softokn-3.16.2.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/nss-softokn-freebl-3.16.2.3-9.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/nss-softokn-freebl-3.16.2.3-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/nss-sysinit-3.16.2.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/nss-tools-3.16.2.3-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/nss-util-3.16.2.3-2.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/nss-util-3.16.2.3-2.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/openldap-2.4.39-6.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/openldap-2.4.39-6.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/openssl-libs-1.0.1e-42.el7.4.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/openssl-libs-1.0.1e-42.el7.4.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/p11-kit-0.20.7-3.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/p11-kit-0.20.7-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/p11-kit-trust-0.20.7-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/pam-1.1.8-12.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/pam-1.1.8-12.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/pciutils-3.2.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/pciutils-libs-3.2.1-4.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/pciutils-libs-3.2.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/pcre-8.32-14.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/pcre-8.32-14.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/pkgconfig-0.27.1-4.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/pkgconfig-0.27.1-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/popt-1.13-16.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/popt-1.13-16.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/puppet-3.6.2-3.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/qrencode-libs-3.4.1-3.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/readline-6.2-9.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/readline-6.2-9.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/rpm-4.11.1-25.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/rpm-libs-4.11.1-25.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/ruby-2.0.0.598-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/ruby-augeas-0.5.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/ruby-irb-2.0.0.598-24.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/ruby-libs-2.0.0.598-24.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/ruby-libs-2.0.0.598-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/ruby-shadow-1.4.1-23.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/rubygem-bigdecimal-1.2.0-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/rubygem-io-console-0.4.2-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/rubygem-json-1.7.7-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/rubygem-psych-2.0.0-24.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/rubygem-rdoc-4.0.0-24.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/rubygem-rgen-0.6.6-2.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/rubygems-2.0.14-24.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/sed-4.2.2-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/setup-2.8.71-5.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/shadow-utils-4.1.5.1-18.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/shared-mime-info-1.1-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/sqlite-3.7.17-4.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/sqlite-3.7.17-4.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/systemd-208-20.el7_1.2.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/systemd-libs-208-20.el7_1.2.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/systemd-libs-208-20.el7_1.2.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/tar-1.26-29.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/tcp_wrappers-libs-7.6-77.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/tzdata-2015b-1.el7.noarch.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/ustr-1.0.4-16.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/util-linux-2.23.2-21.el7.i686.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/util-linux-2.23.2-21.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/virt-what-1.13-5.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/which-2.20-7.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/xz-5.1.2-9alpha.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/xz-libs-5.1.2-9alpha.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/xz-libs-5.1.2-9alpha.el7.x86_64.rpm Worker 1: reading Packages/zlib-1.2.7-13.el7.i686.rpm Worker 0: reading Packages/zlib-1.2.7-13.el7.x86_64.rpm Workers Finished Saving Primary metadata Saving file lists metadata Saving other metadata Generating sqlite DBs Starting other db creation: Sat Apr 4 08:35:21 2015 Ending other db creation: Sat Apr 4 08:35:21 2015 Starting filelists db creation: Sat Apr 4 08:35:21 2015 Ending filelists db creation: Sat Apr 4 08:35:21 2015 Starting primary db creation: Sat Apr 4 08:35:21 2015 Ending primary db creation: Sat Apr 4 08:35:22 2015 Sqlite DBs complete

Check our new repository data folder and files have been created,

[root@my_repo ~]# ls /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent/7/x86_64 Packages repodata [root@my_repo ~]# ls /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent/7/x86_64/repodata/ 050afb788621f03f400ced03398d22c6826f165be03f00c9c3f030af60924135-primary.xml.gz 090125093e7d847ca6d2b4d656e1b1921e13d7082e34b47a6bade8152bf8d921-filelists.xml.gz 20cd1fe35d8650cd89c97d5033b816f478478f77abc149df9e6d0cf84f30c9ea-other.xml.gz 4f2f2cb94947f77085a91c6521b7dd033c8b18b448451805dd3e7d9f59f0113c-primary.sqlite.bz2 7a67eb60dc1b5e88d2bffd7545d667a48e82fa35fee41eeb852458b4fb82d44d-filelists.sqlite.bz2 bf2fc8b8b2981e655d8e3e29065802d87ca225094625eea63f492a14863d8ab1-other.sqlite.bz2 repomd.xml

It is important to note that RHEL and CentOS have a different way to interpret the releasever value on yum client configuration. In fact, CentOS interprets the realeasever variable as "OS Major Version (like 7,6,5...)" while RHEL interprets it as "OS Major Version + OS Type (7Server, 6Server, 5Server)". To make sure that our repo will be reachable from both Distribution, we'll add a Symbolic Link to the main folder.

Yum variables can be checked with the following command : "python -c 'import yum, pprint; yb = yum.YumBase(); pprint.pprint(yb.conf.yumvar, width=1)' "

[root@my_repo ~]# cd /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent [root@my_repo puppet_os_agent]# ln -s 7 7Server [root@my_repo puppet_os_agent]# ls -lrth total 4.0K drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 19 Apr 4 08:30 7 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 Apr 4 10:47 7Server -> 7

At this stage, our repo is available and reachable using http URL http://stivrepo.stivameroon.net/puppet_os_agent/7/x86_64 (or http://stivrepo.stivameroon.net/puppet_os_agent/7Server/x86_64 for RHEL Server) , so the remaining is to make it available on the target System (the one without Internet Connectivity...)

6. Create a repository release RPM (optional):

The aim of this repository release RPM is just to make easy the configuration of yum on the target Systems. Indeed, we'll just have to run a normal rpm Installation to complete their yum configuration. The step is optional because one can still choose to complete manually that configuration.
To create this repository release RPM , I followed this excellent tutorial. Below is just the output of the whole process

[root@my_repo ~]# yum install -y rpm-build rpmdevtools [root@my_repo ~]# rpmdev-setuptree [root@my_repo ~]# ls anaconda-ks.cfg rpmbuild site.retry [root@my_repo ~]# cd rpmbuild/SOURCES/ [root@my_repo SOURCES]# mkdir -p stiv_puppet_repo-1/etc/yum.repos.d [root@my_repo SOURCES]# vim stiv_puppet_repo-1/etc/yum.repos.d/stiv_puppet.repo [root@my_repo SOURCES]# cat stiv_puppet_repo-1/etc/yum.repos.d/stiv_puppet.repo [stiv_puppet_repo] name=RHEL-$releasever - local Puppet Client packages for $basearch baseurl=http://stivrepo.stivameroon.net/puppet_os_agent/$releasever/$basearch enabled=1 gpgcheck=0 [root@my_repo SOURCES]# ls stiv_puppet_repo-1 [root@my_repo SOURCES]# tar zcvf stiv_puppet_repo-1.tar.gz stiv_puppet_repo-1/ stiv_puppet_repo-1/ stiv_puppet_repo-1/etc/ stiv_puppet_repo-1/etc/yum.repos.d/ stiv_puppet_repo-1/etc/yum.repos.d/stiv_puppet.repo [root@my_repo SOURCES]# cd ../SPECS/ [root@my_repo SPECS]# vim stiv_puppet_repo.spec [root@my_repo SPECS]# cat stiv_puppet_repo.spec Name: stiv_puppet_repo Version: 1 Release: 0 Summary: Repository for Puppet Agent and Facter and all dependencies Group: System Environment/Base License: GPL Source0: stiv_puppet_repo-1.tar.gz BuildArch: noarch BuildRoot: %{_tmppath}/%{name}-buildroot %description Creates YUM repository pointing local network Repository for Puppet Agent and Facter %prep %setup -q %install mkdir -p "$RPM_BUILD_ROOT" cp -R * "$RPM_BUILD_ROOT" %clean rm -rf "$RPM_BUILD_ROOT" %post echo .. echo "Adding repo" %files %defattr(-,root,root,-) /etc/yum.repos.d/stiv_puppet.repo [root@my_repo SPECS]# cd [root@my_repo ~]# rpmbuild -bb rpmbuild/SPECS/stiv_puppet_repo.spec Executing(%prep): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.7T5adc ... + exit 0 [root@my_repo ~]# ls -lrth rpmbuild/RPMS/noarch/ total 4.0K -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.3K Apr 4 09:39 stiv_puppet_repo-1-0.noarch.rpm


The final thing to do is make this rpm available in the right place

[root@my_repo ~]# cp rpmbuild/RPMS/noarch/stiv_puppet_repo-1-0.noarch.rpm /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent/

7. Configure Target Systems to use the new repository:

There are 02 ways to configure the target system to use this local repository for Puppet/Facter Installation. 

The first one is automatic and apply only if step 5 of this post wasn't skipped. It consists of just installing the repository release RPM we've created.

[root@my_rhel7_1 ~]# rpm -ivh http://stivrepo.stivameroon.net/puppet_os_agent/stiv_puppet_repo-1-0.noarch.rpm

The second one is manual and consists of adding the following file under /etc/yum.repos.d of the target System.

[root@my_rhel7_1 ~]# cat /etc/yum.repos.d/stiv_puppet.repo [stiv_puppet_repo] name=RHEL-$releasever - local Puppet Client packages for $basearch baseurl=http://stivrepo.stivameroon.net/puppet_os_agent/$releasever/$basearch enabled=1 gpgcheck=0

8. Install Puppet and Facter on the Target System:

Now, we can easily install Open Source Puppet Agent and facter by simply running the following:

[root@my_rhel7_1 ~]# yum install puppet facter

Just a final note, though all the dependencies for Puppet/Facter are well resolved with this method, it might happen that there's some installed packages on the target System which depend on a package that is being upgraded for Puppet/Facter.  For such case, we might have errors similar to the one below: 

Error: Package: libselinux-python-2.0.94-2.el6.x86_64 (@anaconda-RedHatEnterpriseLinux-201009221801.x86_64/6.0) Requires: libselinux = 2.0.94-2.el6 Removing: libselinux-2.0.94-2.el6.x86_64 (@anaconda-RedHatEnterpriseLinux-201009221801.x86_64/6.0) libselinux = 2.0.94-2.el6 Updated By: libselinux-2.0.94-5.8.el6.x86_64 (mtnc_puppet_repo) libselinux = 2.0.94-5.8.el6

In such case, the way to workaround is simply by repotrack the package that need upgrade (libselinux-python for this example) in the right directory and update the repository using createrepo as seen below:

[root@my_repo ~]# createrepo --update -v /var/www/html/stivrepo/puppet_os_agent/6/x86_64


References:
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-and-use-yum-repositories-on-a-centos-6-vps
http://sbr600blog.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-create-repository-release-rpm.html

HP ILO / RHEL7 Systemd Output to VSP console

During my last post, I described the redirection of Linux Output to Serial on an Upstart Distribution based (using RHEL6). The main aim of this post is to describe the same on Systemd Distribution based (RHEL7). Before I begin with the technical matters, I have to say that I've been quite impressed by how Systemd makes this configuration so easy (no pain at all! So cool!). This isn't to make a comparison between Systemd and Traditional Init or Upstart, but you can check these two previous posts to draw your own Conclusions:  VSP/Traditional Init, VSP/Upstart.

Let's now delve in the interesting matters. The whole procedure is just about setting Kernel Options and reboot, and if the reboot can't be performed right away, just start a systemd service.

1. Set the Kernel Options boot options: 

On RHEL7 with Grub2, add "console=ttyS1" to  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX in /etc/default/grub file (You might also remove rhgb quiet as rhgb is for RedHat Graphical Boot and quiet is meant to hide the majority of boot messages before rhgb starts)

[root@mynode ~]# grep "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX" /etc/default/grub GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="crashkernel=auto vconsole.font=latarcyrheb-sun16 rd.lvm.lv=el/swap rd.lvm.lv=el/root vconsole.keymap=us console=ttyS1"

Changes to /etc/default/grub require rebuilding the grub.cfg file. This file location's on BIOS based machine is /boot/grub2 and for UEFI based machine, it is /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/.

On BIOS Based Machine:

[root@mynode ~]# grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

On UEFI Based Machine:

[root@mynode ~]# grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/grub.cfg

2. Reboot or start a serial-getty service on ttyS1

Now we can either reboot the System to have the Kernel Loaded with the new parameter during the reboot , or (especially if we can't afford a downtime :-)) run the following to have a getty service started right away on the ttyS1.

[root@mynode ~]# systemctl start serial-getty@ttyS1.service

That's it! So simple! Go on the console, run vsp and there's a nice prompt...

Red Hat Linux Server 7.0 Kernel 3.8.13-35.3.1.el7uek.x86_64 on an x86_64 mynode login:


Reference:
http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/serial-console.html

Oracle/Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 Kickstart Installation / without DHCP

RHEL7/OEL7 is out for few months now, with a lot of new features (Revamped Anaconda, Systemd...). But before really starting to enjoy all these nice features, let's perform some basic Automated Kickstart Installation. In this short post, I'm willing to describe just that type of Installation without relying on a DHCP Server (using Static Network Parameters). I'm also using an Installation tree and Kickstart file located on httpd servers and reachable from the System I'm installing. Enough talk! let's detailed this Kickstart Installation in the following 4 steps:

1. Make Installation Tree available on an httpd server:

We've RHEL7/OEL7 ISO Files and an httpd server (192.168.0.10) configured (with DocumentRoot being the classic /var/www/html). Mounting the ISO as loop device in the DocumentRoot is enough to have the Installation Tree available over httpd.

# mkdir /var/www/html/media_oel7u0 # mount -o loop /home/stiv/Downloads/Oracle_Enterprise_Linux_7.0.iso /var/www/html/media_oel7u0

2. Create the Kickstart File and make it available on the httpd system:

For that, I used as template an anaconda-ks.cfg  from another installed node and created the following kickstart.

#version=RHEL7 # System authorization information auth --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512 # Use http tree for the installation url --url=http://192.168.0.10/media_oel7u0 # Run the Setup Agent on first boot firstboot --enable ignoredisk --only-use=sda # Keyboard layouts keyboard --vckeymap=us --xlayouts='us' # System language lang en_US.UTF-8 # Network information network --bootproto=static --device=eno49 --gateway=192.168.0.1 --hostname=olnode--ip=192.168.0.20 --nameserver=192.168.0.1 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --noipv6 --activate network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eno50 --onboot=off --ipv6=auto network --bootproto=static --device=eno51 --ip=192.168.50.22 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --onboot=off --ipv6=auto network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eno52 --onboot=off --ipv6=auto # Root password rootpw --iscrypted $6$v797wiKZv7W0MK58$4drw.ys34Z4cMoR7ECwkCIbhYuY7Aoc2A3dWs3wCTTyRTt1OovohA518vsdqpEfFCKwqwfU4weCcFK6VAmdv/1 # System timezone timezone Africa/Douala --isUtc --nontp # System bootloader configuration bootloader --location=mbr --boot-drive=sda # Partition clearing information clearpart --all --initlabel --drives=sda # Disk partitioning information part /boot --fstype="xfs" --ondisk=sda --size=500 part pv.26 --fstype="lvmpv" --ondisk=sda --size=254005 part /boot/efi --fstype="efi" --ondisk=sda --size=200 --fsoptions="umask=0077,shortname=winnt" volgroup ol --pesize=4096 pv.26 logvol /var/lib/mysql --fstype="xfs" --size=150000 --name=var_lib_mysql --vgname=ol logvol swap --fstype="swap" --size=64000 --name=swap --vgname=ol logvol /home --fstype="xfs" --size=20000 --name=home --vgname=ol logvol / --fstype="xfs" --size=10000 --name=root --vgname=ol logvol /var --fstype="xfs" --size=10000 --name=var --vgname=ol %packages @base @compat-libraries @core @development @file-server @hardware-monitoring @infiniband @large-systems @network-file-system-client @performance %end

Make this file available on http (copied under httpd DocumentRoot) and test to make sure it's reachable (i.e http://192.168.0.10/olnode.ks )

3. Start the Kickstart Installation

I'm using an UEFI system, so In order to provide the right Kickstart Parameters during the boot process, I'm selecting an installation option in the boot menu and then press either the E key ( For BIOS Systems, that'll be he Tab key). A prompt is displayed which enables to edit the boot options already defined and to add new options.  In this case, I'm adding the following: 

inst.ks=http://192.168.0.10/olnode.ks ip=192.168.0.20::192.168.0.1:255.255.255.0:olnode:eno49:none

inst.ks specifies the location of the kickstart file, and ip sets statics network parameters, it must be in this form: ip=ip::gateway:netmask:hostname:interface:none. Below are some screenshots taken to illustrate this process.
Note that parameters such as hostname and Interface could be empty

4. Enjoy the Automation:

Once that's done, the last step is to Press Ctrl-x (or enter on BIOS System) and enjoy the automation...

References:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E52668_01/E54695/html/ol7-install-boot-options.html