HP Insight Cluster Management Utility v7.1 User Guide

4.2 Autoinstall
The HP Insight CMU kickstart functionality is renamed autoinstall. HP Insight CMU autoinstall
provides the following improvements:
• Adds support for SLES and Debian
• Enables automated compute node installations from software distribution repositories available
on the HP Insight CMU administration node
4.2.1 Autoinstall requirements
• Autoinstall repository—The operating system distribution repository must be copied to the HP
Insight CMU management node and NFS exported. When you create an HP Insight CMU
autoinstall logical group, you are prompted for the path of this autoinstall repository.
• Autoinstall template file—The HP Insight CMU autoinstall utility requires an HP Insight CMU
autoinstall template file. The layout of the autoinstall template file depends on the software
being installed.
◦ Red Hat—A classic Red Hat kickstart file
◦ SLES—An autoyast xml file
◦ Debian—A preseed file
• Autoinstall logical group—After the autoinstall repository and the autoinstall template file are
available, you must create an autoinstall logical group before autoinstalling a compute node.
4.2.2 Autoinstall templates
Autoinstall templates must be configured as a normal automated install outside the HP Insight CMU
environment. This depends on the software distribution being installed. However, HP Insight CMU
provides features to facilitate installation. For example, the Red Hat kickstart file includes a line to
specify the autoinstall NFS server and the autoinstall repository:
nfs --server=16.16.184.115 --dir=/data/repositories/rh5u4_x86_64
HP Insight CMU provides variables to use for host addresses, directory paths, and so forth. The
line above can be replaced by the following:
nfs --server=CMU_MGT_IP --dir=CMU_REPOSITORY_PATH
HP Insight CMU locates the correct values for these variables and makes the substitutions. In the
above example, HP Insight CMU retrieves the IP address of the management node to substitute for
CMU_MGT_IP. CMU_REPOSITORY_PATH is replaced with the value provided when the autoinstall
logical group is created. For more information about creating an autoinstall logical group, see
“Creating an autoinstall logical group” (page 44).
For a full list of variables HP Insight CMU can substitute, edit /opt/cmu/etc/cmuserver.conf
and search for the autoinstall section.
4.2.3 Autoinstall calling methods
Autoinstall commands for creating an autoinstall logical group and autoinstalling a compute node
are available from the GUI window and from the CLI interface. You can choose to autoinstall any
number of nodes registered in HP Insight CMU. There is no limit to the number of nodes that can
be autoinstalled simultaneously.
4.2 Autoinstall 43