This is a new image building approach for OpenStack.
It is a command line tool that builds working OpenStack images by running Anaconda or other native installers within Nova. In its simplest form it requires only a kickstart or preseed file as input. All of the heavy lifting is done inside of OpenStack instances.
Early discussion of this approach can be found here:
https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/NovaImageBuilding
It has been developed and tested on RHEL6 against Folsom, Havana and Icehouse OpenStack releases. However, it should work with newer host OSes and newer OpenStack releases.
You can either source your keystonerc file or manually set your OpenStack environment variables.
To try it out install the requirements listed below then run commands like this:
You can either source your keystonerc file or provide your OpenStack environment variables on command line.
export OS_TENANT_NAME=admin;export OS_USERNAME=admin;export OS_PASSWORD=admin;
export OS_AUTH_URL=http://10.10.10.10:5000/v2.0/;export OS_AUTH_STRATEGY=keystone-h, --help show this help message and exit
--os OS The shortid of an OS. Required for both installation
types.
--os_list Show the OS list available for image building.
--install_iso INSTALL_ISO
Location of the installation media ISO.
--install_tree INSTALL_TREE
Location of an installation file tree.
--install_script INSTALL_SCRIPT
Custom install script file to use instead of
generating one.
--admin_pw ADMIN_PW The password to set for the admin user in the image.
--license_key LICENSE_KEY
License/product key to use if needed.
--arch ARCH The architecture the image is built for. (default:
x86_64)
--disk_size DISK_SIZE
Size of the image root disk in gigabytes. (default:
10)
--instance_flavor INSTANCE_FLAVOR
The type of instance to use for building the image.
(default: vanilla)
--name NAME A name to assign to the built image.
--image_storage {glance,cinder,both}
Where to store the final image: glance, cinder, both
(default: glance)
--debug Print debugging output to the logfile. (default:
False)
--direct_boot Provide kernel command line at launch of instance.
Instead of building a syslinux image. (default: False)./nova-install --name fedora19-image --os fedora19 --install_tree http://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/releases/19/Fedora/x86_64/os/ --install_script ./fedora19.ks./nova-install --name fedora19-syslinux-from-dvd --os fedora19 --install_iso http://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/releases/19/Fedora/x86_64/iso/Fedora-19-x86_64-DVD.iso --install_script ./fedora19-DVD.ks./nova-install --name ubuntu-demo-image --os ubuntu12.04 --install_tree http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/ --install_script ./ubuntu12.04.preseed./nova-install --name ubuntu-syslinux-from-dvd --os ubuntu12.04 --install_iso http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/12.04/ubuntu-12.04.4-server-amd64.iso --install_script ./ubuntu12.04.preseed./nova-install --direct_boot --name fedora19-image --os fedora19 --install_tree http://download.devel.redhat.com/released/F-19/GOLD/Fedora/x86_64/os/ --install_script ./fedora19.ks./nova-install --direct_boot --name fedora19-syslinux-from-dvd --os fedora19 --install_iso ihttp://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/releases/19/Fedora/x86_64/iso/Fedora-19-x86_64-DVD.iso --install_script ./fedora19-DVD.ks./nova-install --direct_boot --name ubuntu-demo-image --os ubuntu12.04 --install_tree http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/ --install_script ./ubuntu12.04.preseed./nova-install --direct_boot --name ubuntu-from-dvd --os ubuntu12.04 --install_iso http://mirrors.xmission.com/ubuntu-cd/12.04/ubuntu-12.04.4-server-amd64.iso --install_script ./ubuntu12.04.preseedThe commands executed against Folsom and Havana OpenStack releases generate a small syslinux-based bootable image that is used to start unattended Anaconda or Ubuntu installations. It contains only the initrd and vmlinuz from the install source and a syslinux.cfg file. The installer then writes over this minimal image.
The kickstart/preseed files are passed to the installers via OpenStack user-data and the appropriate kernel command line parameters in the syslinux configuration file.
The tool uploads this bootstrapping image to glance, launches it, and waits for it to shut down. If shutdown occurs within the timeout period we assume that the installer has finished and take a snapshot of the current instance state, which is the completed install.
You can monitor progress via the Horizon dashboard. The console should display an automated install happening.
Icehouse release added the ability to specify the kernel command line as a property of a glance image. So when --directi_boot parameter is specified, three images are uploaded into Glance: initrd, vlinuz, and a blank qcow2 image. The blank image has 3 extra properties: ramdisk_id, kernel_id, and os_command_line. An instance is then started using the blank image. Once the instance boots, it starts the automated install.
Fedora 17, Fedora 18, Fedora 19, Fedora 20.
RHEL 6.5, RHEL 6.4, RHEL 5.9
Ubuntu 12.10, 12.04 and 10.04
This approach should work as far back as Fedora 10 and RHEL 4 U8 and on other Linux variants including SLES.
When --install_iso parameter is present, the tool downloads the ISO, extracts the kernel and ramdisk and then uploads the ISO to Cinder while ramdisk and kernel are uploaded to Glance. Once an instance is started the ISO volume is attached as a CDROM to the instance. For Fedora and RHEL, the kickstart file needs to specify that install should take place from cdrom. Ubuntu installer seems to recognize this without any changes to preseed file.
This script has been tested with the following OpenStack client packages:
Add sample kickstart and preseed files
Add instructions on how to do Windows image builds