RE: bare metal provisioning

You sound like an AIX admin splitting hairs here, but if you're using intel h/w with a remote mgmt card (or some newer models w/o) you should be able to initiate the reboot/power-on of the node from the Satellite server using something like ipmish.

 

Frank LaMon

 

 

________________________________

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Barrett
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 9:21 AM
To: Discussions about Red Hat Network (rhn.redhat.com)
Subject: Re: [rhn-users] bare metal provisioning

 

On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 4:09 PM, Máirín Duffy <[email protected]> wrote:

	Hi Michael,
	
	Michael Barrett wrote:

	> All of that just talks about PXE boot and kickstart.  To say something
	> does bare metal provisioning implies that the software can remotely
	> trigger a boot on the hardware without an OS installed with the intent
	> to install an operating system.

	The product can absolutely do that, and it uses PXE and kickstart in
	order to do so. You can align specific ip addresses or ranges to
	particular kickstart profiles for ip-based customization, and use a
	customized bootcd or PXE to point all booting baremetal systems to one
	single Satellite address that then determines which kickstart file to
	provide to the system base on Satellite-side configuration.

	
	> That it has service processor
	> knowledge.  (ie) it logs into the service process and issues the correct
	> boot command when the user in the application (RHN satellite) selects
	> that target (the service processor) and issues an OS provisioning job.

	What do you mean by service processor? Is this something specific to
	your hardware?

	
	> Does RHN Satellite do any of that?  Or does it expect me to remotely
	> trigger the PXE boot via the service processor outside of it?

	I'm not quite sure I understand what you're asking enough to answer the
	question.


There is a difference between remote OS provisioning and bare metal provisioning.  It seems to me RHN Satellite can do remote OS provisioning but cannot facilitate bare metal provisioning.  Bare metal provisioning implies RHN Satellite can (1) remotely boot a box causing it to search for a kickstart server without an OS installed and (2) trigger a OS provisioning task over the network.  I have not seen where is does #1.  I see where it does #2.  To achieve #1 people use the service processor native to the hardware or impose terminal server networks with expect scripts.  To say RHN Satellite can do number #1 means it has commands the user can select that will interact with these things (service processors or terminal server networks).  To date in order to achieve bare metal provisioning with RHN I have to setup the provisioning task and then leave the application and do something (ie boot the box so that it PXE boots)  at the host.  That's not bare metal OS provisioning...that's remote OS provisioning.
 

	
	
	~m
	
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