13 ## Files

    14 

    15 The debian installer source image (i.e. what you download from debian.org) goes into:

    16     

    17     iso/debian-X.Y.Z-ARCH-netinst.iso

    18 

    19     XXX: hardcoded as `$INSTALLER_NAME` in pvklm-create

    20 

    21 The installer image is unpacked to:

    22 

    23     images/debian-X.Y.Z-ARCH

    24 

    25 From where it is copied to:

    26 

    27     image/debian-X.Y.Z-ARCH_HOSTNAME

    28 

    29 Then the preseed data is processed/copied/templated/etc from:

    30 

    31     preseed/... -> image/debian-X.Y.Z-ARCH_HOSTNAME/...

    32 

    33     (varies based on chosen options. This also configures scripts to be executed/files to be copied after install)

    34 

    35 And finally, the resulting customized host-specific ISO image is created at:

    36 

    37     iso/debian-X.Y.Z-ARCH_HOSTNAME.iso

    38 

    39 ## Operation

    40 

    41 Booting from the .iso loads the syslinux bootloader (isolinux/isolinux.bin, isolinux/boot.cat), which then looks for

    42 

    43     isolinux/isolinux.cfg

    44 

    45 Our isolinux.cfg (generated from preseed/isolinux.cfg) loads the kernel/initrd from /install[.amd], and supplies the

    46 relevant kernel command-line arguments, which are processed by debian-installer:

    47 

    48     auto=true priority=critical preseed/file=${PRESEED_MOUNT}/${PRESEED_NAME} preseed/file/checksum=${PRESEED_CHECKSUM} --                      ${INSTALL_BOOT_CONSOLE} quiet

    49 

    50 This loads our preseed.cfg (generated from preseed/preseed.cfg). The preseed.cfg then contains answers to all the d-i interactive

    51 questions. The preseed.cfg takes care of automating the installer itself.

    52 

    53 The preseed.cfg contains many templated variables, which are subsituted for variables defined in pvklm-create at ISO-creation time.

    54 

    55 The preseed.cfg also loads additional preseed files (generated from preseed/*.cfg), e.g.:

    56 

    57     passwords.cfg       - crypted passwords; not under version control

    58     host.cfg            - configure additional software installed on the host (exim)

    59 

    60 The preseed.cfg can also specify additional packages to install:

    61 

    62     $PRESEED_PACKAGES

    63 

    64     (defined within pkvlm-create)

    65 

    66 After the main installation process is complete, the installer can also execute arbitrary script commands from our preseed.cfg

    67 We use this to copy over configuration files from "$IMAGE/preseed-files" inside the ISO (generated from various files

    68 in preseed/files and preseed/.../files (e.g. puppet)) to the target system. These are used for more advanced customizations than the debconf

    69 preseeding lets us do:

    70 

    71     - configure serial console (/etc/default/grub, update-grub, modify /etc/inittab)

    72     - configure puppet (/etc/puppet/puppet.cfg, pre-install ssl certs to /etc/puppet/ssl)

    73 

    74 Once the installer is complete, it will reboot, and the newly installed/bootstrapped Debian Linux system will start up for the first time.

    75 

    76 If puppet was bootstrapped, the puppet agent will start its first run immediately (in the background via /etc/init.d/puppet, as normal).

    77 

    78 ## Usage

    79 

    80 Some things are hardcoded in preseed/*

    81 Some things are hardcoded in pklvm-create (the shell script)

    82 Some things can be specified via `foo=...` options on the command line:

    83 

    84     ./pkvlm-create [options] <name> [name=[value] [...]]

    85     ./pkvlm-create asdf domain=test.pvl puppet_master=puppet-testing.paivola.fi

    86 

    87 These options are defind in pkvlm-create. Not all variables in preseed/... are configureable via options.

    88 

    89 The only required argument is the machine's name. It is given as the first non-option argument. 

    90 

    91 ## Puppet

    92 

    93 Supports configuring the host as a puppet agent. Pass a puppet=yes opt:

    94 

    95     ./pkvlm-create asdf puppet=yes

    96 

    97 The puppet server can be configured via `puppet_master=...`. It defaults to 'puppet' (i.e. match puppet's default behaviour to resolve a host called

    98 'puppet').

    99 

   100 ### SSL

   101 

   102 Supports pre-installing Puppet's SSL certificates from:

   103 

   104     preseed/puppet/ssl

   105 

   106 If the puppetmaster's CA cert is present in preseed/puppet/ssl/certs/ca.pem, it is included in the preseed-files. 

   107 

   108 You can also pre-generate a cert+pkey pair for the machine on the puppetmaster:

   109 

   110     puppet cert --generate ...

   111     scp $ssldir/{certs,private_keys}/...pem ...

   112 

   113 These will be copied from "preseed/puppet/ssl/{certs,private_keys}/${FQDN}.pem" to the preseed-files, and the agent

   114 will use them to connect to the puppetmaster.

   115