Ubuntu 24.04 image available to the public (and how to make images)

[knikolla]

The current MOC ESI environment has a ubuntu 22.04 image available, but not a 24.04 one.

The disk image builder documentation discourages using partition images, which is what the guide for creating the 22.04 image used.

Based on the guide it also seems possible that the cloud image distributed by Ubuntu might just work (since it should support EFI booting).

Link to slack thread

[skanthed]

@tzumainn @knikolla

I chose partitioning for Ubuntu 22.04 because the existing Ubuntu images and other images in our environment were also partition images. Partitioning provides several advantages, such as greater flexibility in deployment, especially in environments where network booting (like PXE) is used, I thought we were using systems that might require different configurations. This approach aligns with the setup that was already there.

I have created the whole disk image too for centos9-stream - https://github.com/CCI-MOC/esi/issues/564 If you want I can also create whole disk image for 24.04 or lay down the steps for doing it.

[knikolla]

@skanthed I think it's worth documenting the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches as they apply to our environment and the steps for doing either. For example, what is different about network booting with whole disk vs partition images? When would a user want to create or use one image versus the other? This information is scarce in upstream Ironic too.

Also, testing if the stock whole disk Ubuntu image distributed by Ubuntu works on our environment.

[knikolla]

(By documentation I mean updating esi.readthedocs.io)

[joachimweyl]

@skanthed please update this issue with the current status.

[skanthed]

I began testing Ubuntu 24.04 yesterday with both cloud-init and without it to evaluate the functionalities and behavior of the image. I will provide feedback as soon as the tests are completed.