build_debian_iso

Code to build a debian seapath ISO file using FAI Project

On a linux machine with docker and docker-compose, building the iso file should be possible by simply running

<path_to_build_debian_iso>/build_iso.sh

from the directory where you want the .iso file stored. Note that this iso is only to be used on UEFI systems. Legacy BIOS is not supported on SEAPATH.

However please checkout the Customization section first. There are some things that must be done before building.

Customization

Some customization you will want to make before building. For that you can add all the files you need in the build_debian_iso/usercustomization hierarchy, using the USERCUSTOMIZATION class name:

• add your variables in the build_debian_iso/usercustomization/class/USERCUSTOMIZATION.var file
• add your debconf parameters to build_debian_iso/usercustomization/debconf/USERCUSTOMIZATION file
• add your disk config to build_debian_iso/usercustomization/disk_config/USERCUSTOMIZATION file
• add your files to build_debian_iso/usercustomization/files/ hierarchy using USERCUSTOMIZATION as the class name (for example build_debian_iso/usercustomization/files/etc/motd/USERCUSTOMIZATION)
• add your hooks to build_debian_iso/usercustomization/hooks/ using USERCUSTOMIZATION as the class name (for example build_debian_iso/usercustomization/hooks/install.USERCUSTOMIZATION)
• add your package_config to build_debian_iso/usercustomization/package_config/USERCUSTOMIZATION file
• add your scripts to build_debian_iso/usercustomization/scripts using USERCUSTOMIZATION as the class name (for example build_debian_iso/usercustomization/scripts/USERCUSTOMIZATION/88-myscript)

Both folders "build_debian_iso/usercustomization and build_debian_iso/srv_fai_config will be merged into build_debian_iso/build_tmp when building).

Mandatory

change the authorized_keys files (user and root) with your own

• update the file build_debian_iso/usercustomization/class/USERCUSTOMIZATION.var and replace "myrootkey", "myuserkey" and "ansiblekey" by yours

Optional

changes in the the unprivileged user name and passwd, as well as the root passwd for the deployed server

• update the file build_debian_iso/usercustomization/class/USERCUSTOMIZATION.var (right now all passwords are "toto") more information about password hash : https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-hash-passwords-on-linux

keyboard Layout:

• HOST: by default the keyboard will be US. You can use the FRENCH of GERMAN classes to change this. For any other layout, you can create your own debconf in build_debian_iso/usercustomization/debconf/USERCUSTOMIZATION (or create your own class, see "User-defined classes" below)
• VM: by default the build_qcow2 script will import the FRENCH class, you can override the keyboard layout by creating your own debco nf in build_debian_iso/usercustomization/debconf/USERCUSTOMIZATION.

other changes in build_debian_iso/usercustomization/class/USERCUSTOMIZATION.var

• TIMEZONE, KEYMAP, apt_cdn: feel free to set you regionalized settings, it's all too french by default :)
• APTPROXY: in case your deployed host will need some proxy to access the debian mirror
• REMOTENIC, REMOTEADDR, REMOTEGW: if you want networking to be available right after deployement set ip/gateway to a specified niv (ie: ens0, enp0s1...)
• SERVER, LOGUSER: if you want the installation logs to be uploaded, using SCP, to a server, for which the login username will be LOGUSER and the password "fai"

more info: https://fai-project.org/fai-guide

Classes and Flags Customization:

Running ./build_debian_iso/build_iso.sh with the "--custom" option will allow a user:

• to customize the packages downloaded and stored in the local mirror of the .iso file
• to customize the grub menu items, allowing to a unique iso file for multiple installation type.

Running ./build_debian_iso.sh without custom flag will do : all classes downloaded, and only one grub option with clustermode/lvmraid/english/no_debug/no_kerberos/no_cockpit

Classes Customization:

Packages are organized in several classes:

• SEAPATH_COMMON: packages for all SEAPATH installations (host or guest)
• SEAPATH_HOST: packages for all HOST installations (Cluster mode or standalone)
• SEAPATH_CLUSTER: packages for HOST in Cluster Mode
• SEAPATH_DBG: packages for debug purposes
• SEAPATH_KERBEROS: packages if you need you host to be able to join a kerberos realm / activedirectory domain
• SEAPATH_COCKPIT: packages for cockpit administration

The SEAPATH_COMMON is mandatory, and the SEAPATH_HOST is mandatory for build_iso.sh. The other 4 classes can be enabled/disabled.

The possibles flags to create a grub menu item are:

• french: enables the FRENCH class to set the french keyboard layout. Without this flag, the keyboard is by default (qwerty)
• dbg: enables the SEAPATH_DBG class (installs the debug packages)
• raid: enables the SEAPATH_RAID that will create a disk partitioning with RAID1 (lvmraid): it requires 2 disks.
• cockpit: enables the SEAPATH_COCKPIT class
• kerberos: enables the SEAPATH_KERBEROS class
• cluster: enables the SEAPATH_CLUSTER class. Uncheck this for a standalone installation.

If you want an "english, no debug, no raid, no cockpit, no kerberos, standalone" installation, then you need to uncheck everything, which will result in a fake "noflag" grub menu item being added. This is normal.

User-defined classes:

The user can manage his own classes by:

• copying the template file user_classes.conf.example to user_classes.conf
• adding the class in the user_classes.conf file (this is for the mirror creation)
• dealing with a numbered script in usercustomization/class/ folder (for example usercustomization/class/99-custom, chmod 755) to use the class (see srv_fai_config/class/99-seapath script for reference)
• adding all the files related to the classes in the usercustomization hierarchy (for example usercustomization/package_config/USERCLASS1)

Build a Virtual Machine image

To build a basic VM for the SEAPATH project, simply launch the script build_qcow2.sh from the directory where you want the .qcow2 file to be stored (the build host must use UEFI).

Note that the lvm2 package must be installed on your build host.

Please refer to the configuration section above. To customize the Virtual Machine properly, the file SEAPATH_COMMON.var must be filled.