Provisioning hosts

You create a host and select a domain and subnet. Foreman requests an available IP address from the DHCP Smart Proxy server that is associated with the subnet or from the PostgreSQL database in Foreman. Foreman loads this IP address into the IP address field in the Create Host window. When you complete all the options for the new host, submit the new host request.

Depending on the configuration specifications of the host and its domain and subnet, Foreman creates the following settings:

The host is configured to boot from the network as the first device and HDD as the second device.

The new host requests a DHCP reservation from the DHCP server.

The DHCP server responds to the reservation request and returns TFTP next-server and filename options.

The host requests the boot loader and menu from the TFTP server according to the PXELoader setting.

A boot loader is returned over TFTP.

The boot loader fetches configuration for the host through its provisioning interface MAC address.

The boot loader fetches the operating system installer kernel, init RAM disk, and boot parameters.

The installer requests the provisioning template from Foreman.

Foreman renders the provision template and returns the result to the host.

The installer performs installation of the operating system.

The PXE configuration files revert to a local boot template.

The host reboots.

The new host requests a DHCP reservation from the DHCP server.

The DHCP server responds to the reservation request and returns TFTP next-server and filename options.

The host requests the boot loader and menu from the TFTP server according to the PXELoader setting.

A boot loader is returned over TFTP.

The boot loader fetches the configuration for the host through its provision interface MAC address.

The boot loader initiates boot from the local drive.

If you configured the host to use Puppet classes, the host uses the modules to configure itself.

The host is configured to boot from the network as the first device and HDD as the second device.

The new host requests a DHCP reservation from the DHCP server.

The DHCP server responds to the reservation request and returns TFTP next-server and filename options.

The host requests the boot loader and menu from the TFTP server according to the PXELoader setting.

A boot loader is returned over TFTP.

The boot loader fetches the configuration settings for the host through its provisioning interface MAC address.

For BIOS hosts:

For EFI hosts:

If the host is unknown to Foreman, a default boot loader configuration is provided. When Discovery service is enabled, it boots into discovery, otherwise it boots from HDD.

Click Any Organization and select the organization.

Click Any Location and select the location to use.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Operating systems and click New Operating system.

In the Name field, enter a name to represent the operating system entry.

In the Major field, enter the number that corresponds to the major version of the operating system.

In the Minor field, enter the number that corresponds to the minor version of the operating system.

In the Description field, enter a description of the operating system.

From the Family list, select the operating system’s family.

From the Root Password Hash list, select the encoding method for the root password.

From the Architectures list, select the architectures that the operating system uses.

Click the Partition table tab and select the possible partition tables that apply to this operating system.

Click the Installation Media tab and enter the information for the installation media source. For more information, see Adding Installation Media to Foreman.

Click the Templates tab and select a PXELinux template, a Provisioning template, and a Finish template for your operating system to use. You can select other templates, for example an iPXE template, if you plan to use iPXE for provisioning.

Click Submit to save your provisioning template.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Click Create Operating System to create an operating system entry for Debian.

Enter Debian 12 as Name for the operating system. Choose a name as reported by Ansible, Puppet, or Salt as fact.

Set the Major Version to 12.

Leave the Minor Version field empty.

Set the Release Name to bookworm for Debian 12.

On the Partition Table tab, select the Preseed partition table.

On the Templates tab, select the Preseed Finish template as Finish template, the Preseed template as Provisioning Template, and the Preseed PXELinux template as PXELinux template.

Click Submit to save the operating system entry for Debian.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Click Create Operating System to create an operating system entry for Debian.

Enter Debian 11 as Name for the operating system. Choose a name as reported by Ansible, Puppet, or Salt as fact.

Set the Major Version to 11.

Leave the Minor Version field empty.

Set the Release Name to bullseye for Debian 11.

On the Partition Table tab, select the Preseed partition table.

On the Templates tab, select the Preseed Finish template as Finish template, the Preseed template as Provisioning Template, and the Preseed PXELinux template as PXELinux template.

Click Submit to save the operating system entry for Debian.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Click Create Operating System to create an operating system entry for Ubuntu.

Enter Ubuntu 24.04 as Name for the operating system. Choose a name as reported by Ansible, Puppet, or Salt as fact.

Set the Major Version to 24.04.

Leave the Minor Version field empty.

Set the Release Name to noble for Ubuntu 24.04.

On the Partition Table tab, select the Preseed partition table.

On the Templates tab, select the Preseed Finish template as Finish template, the Preseed template as Provisioning Template, and the Preseed PXELinux template as PXELinux template.

Click Submit to save the operating system entry for Ubuntu.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Click Create Operating System to create an operating system entry for Ubuntu.

Enter Ubuntu 22.04 as Name for the operating system. Choose a name as reported by Ansible, Puppet, or Salt as fact.

Set the Major Version to 22.04.

Leave the Minor Version field empty.

Set the Release Name to jammy for Ubuntu 22.04.

On the Partition Table tab, select the Preseed partition table.

On the Templates tab, select the Preseed Finish template as Finish template, the Preseed template as Provisioning Template, and the Preseed PXELinux template as PXELinux template.

Click Submit to save the operating system entry for Ubuntu.

On Foreman server, run the following Bash script:

PARTID=$(hammer --csv partition-table list | grep "Kickstart default," | cut -d, -f1)
PXEID=$(hammer --csv template list --per-page=1000 | grep "Kickstart default PXELinux" | cut -d, -f1)
FOREMAN_ID=$(hammer --csv template list --per-page=1000 | grep "provision" | grep ",Kickstart default" | cut -d, -f1)

for i in $(hammer --no-headers --csv os list | awk -F, {'print $1'})
do
   hammer partition-table add-operatingsystem --id="${PARTID}" --operatingsystem-id="${i}"
   hammer template add-operatingsystem --id="${PXEID}" --operatingsystem-id="${i}"
   hammer os set-default-template --id="${i}" --config-template-id=${PXEID}
   hammer os add-config-template --id="${i}" --config-template-id=${FOREMAN_ID}
   hammer os set-default-template --id="${i}" --config-template-id=${FOREMAN_ID}
done

Display information about the updated operating system to verify that the operating system is updated correctly:

# hammer os info --id 1

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Architectures.

Click Create Architecture.

In the Name field, enter a name for the architecture.

From the Operating Systems list, select an operating system. If none are available, you can create and assign them under Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Click Submit.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Hardware Models.

Click Create Model.

In the Name field, enter a name for the hardware model.

Optionally, in the Hardware Model and Vendor Class fields, you can enter corresponding information for your system.

In the Info field, enter a description of the hardware model.

Click Submit to save your hardware model.

Add the synchronized Kickstart repository that you want to use to the existing content view, or create a new content view and add the Kickstart repository.

Publish a new version of the content view where the Kickstart repository is added and promote it to a required lifecycle environment. For more information, see Managing content views in Managing content.

When you create a host, in the Operating System tab, for Media Selection, select the Synced Content checkbox.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Installation Media.

Click Create Medium.

In the Name field, enter a name to represent the installation media entry.

In the Path enter the URL that contains the installation tree. You can use following variables in the path to represent multiple different system architectures and versions:

From the Operating system family list, select the distribution or family of the installation medium. For example, CentOS and Fedora are in the Red Hat family. Debian and Ubuntu belong to the Debian family.

Click the Organizations and Locations tabs, to change the provisioning context. Foreman server adds the installation medium to the set provisioning context.

Click Submit to save your installation medium.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Installation Media.

Click Create Medium to create an installation medium entry.

Enter a Name for the installation medium.

Set the Path to the upstream URL http://deb.debian.org/debian/.

Set the Operating System Family to Debian.

Click Submit to save the installation medium to Foreman.

Connect to your Foreman server using SSH:

# ssh root@foreman.example.com

Download the ISO image:

# cd /tmp/
# wget https://releases.ubuntu.com/22.04/ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso

Mount the ISO image:

# mount ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso /mnt

Provide the ISO image and the extracted directory under foreman.example.com/pub:

# mkdir -p /var/www/html/pub/installation_media/ubuntu/22.04-x86_64/
# cp ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso /var/www/html/pub/installation_media/ubuntu/22.04-x86_64.iso
# cp -a /mnt/* /var/www/html/pub/installation_media/ubuntu/22.04-x86_64/

Unmount and delete the ISO image:

# umount /mnt/
# rm -f ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso

Provide the extracted ISO and ISO image itself on each Smart Proxy server. For more information, see Creating an installation medium for Ubuntu 22.04.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Installation Media.

Create an installation medium. Set the Path to the extracted ISO image on your Smart Proxy server.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Assign the installation medium to your operating system entry for Ubuntu 22.04.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Configure > Host Groups.

Select the host group that you use to deploy Ubuntu 22.04 through a Smart Proxy server and set the installation medium entry accordingly.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Partition Tables.

Click Create Partition Table.

In the Name field, enter a name for the partition table.

Select the Default checkbox if you want to set the template to automatically associate with new organizations or locations.

Select the Snippet checkbox if you want to identify the template as a reusable snippet for other partition tables.

From the Operating System Family list, select the distribution or family of the partitioning layout. For example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Fedora are in the Red Hat family.

In the Template editor field, enter the layout for the disk partition.

zerombr
clearpart --all --initlabel
autopart

In the Audit Comment field, add a summary of changes to the partition layout.

Click the Organizations and Locations tabs to add any other provisioning contexts that you want to associate with the partition table. Foreman adds the partition table to the current provisioning context.

Click Submit to save your partition table.

Create a plain text file, such as ~/My_Partition_Table, that contains the partition layout.

zerombr
clearpart --all --initlabel
autopart

Create the installation medium using the hammer partition-table create command:

# hammer partition-table create \
--file "~/My_Partition_Table" \
--locations "My_Location" \
--name "My_Partition_Table" \
--organizations "My_Organization" \
--os-family "Redhat" \
--snippet false

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Select your Enterprise Linux entry.

On the Partition Table tab, associate Kickstart default encrypted with your operating system entry.

Create a host group that uses the Kickstart default encrypted partition table. For more information, see Creating a host group in Managing hosts.

Decrypt the disk of your host during boot time by using one of the following options:

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates and click Create Template.

In the Name field, enter a name for the provisioning template.

Fill in the rest of the fields as required. The Help tab provides information about the template syntax and details the available functions, variables, and methods that can be called on different types of objects within the template.

Before you create a template with the CLI, create a plain text file that contains the template. This example uses the ~/my-template file.

Create the template using the hammer template create command and specify the type with the --type option:

# hammer template create \
--file ~/my-template \
--locations "My_Location" \
--name "My_Provisioning_Template" \
--organizations "My_Organization" \
--type provision

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates.

Find the template that you want to use.

Click Clone to duplicate the template.

In the Name field, enter a name for the provisioning template.

Select the Default checkbox to set the template to associate automatically with new organizations or locations.

In the Template editor field, enter the body of the provisioning template. You can also use the Template file browser to upload a template file.

In the Audit Comment field, enter a summary of changes to the provisioning template for auditing purposes.

Click the Type tab and if your template is a snippet, select the Snippet checkbox. A snippet is not a standalone provisioning template, but a part of a provisioning template that can be inserted into other provisioning templates.

From the Type list, select the type of the template. For example, Provisioning template.

Click the Association tab and from the Applicable Operating Systems list, select the names of the operating systems that you want to associate with the provisioning template.

Optionally, click Add combination and select a host group from the Host Group list or an environment from the Environment list to associate provisioning template with the host groups and environments.

Click the Organizations and Locations tabs to add any additional contexts to the template.

Click Submit to save your provisioning template.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates and click Create Template.

In the Name field, enter a name for your custom provisioning snippet. The name must start with the name of a provisioning template that supports including custom provisioning snippets:

On the Type tab, select Snippet.

Click Submit to create your custom provisioning snippet.

Create a plain text file that contains your custom snippet.

Create the template using hammer:

# hammer template create \
--file "/path/to/My_Snippet" \
--locations "My_Location" \
--name "My_Template_Name_custom_pre" \
--organizations "_My_Organization" \
--type snippet

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates.

Select a provisioning template.

On the Association tab, select all applicable operating systems.

Click Submit to save your changes.

Optional: View all templates:

# hammer template list

Optional: View all operating systems:

# hammer os list

Associate a template with an operating system:

# hammer template add-operatingsystem \
--id My_Template_ID \
--operatingsystem-id My_Operating_System_ID

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Profiles and click Create Compute Profile.

In the Name field, enter a name for the profile.

Click Submit. A new window opens with the name of the compute profile.

In the new window, click the name of each compute resource and edit the attributes you want to set for this compute profile.

Create a new compute profile:

# hammer compute-profile create --name "My_Compute_Profile"

Set attributes for the compute profile:

# hammer compute-profile values create \
--compute-attributes "flavor=m1.small,cpus=2,memory=4GB,cpu_mode=default \
--compute-resource "My_Compute_Resource" \
--compute-profile "My_Compute_Profile" \
--volume size=40GB

Optional: To update the attributes of a compute profile, specify the attributes you want to change. For example, to change the number of CPUs and memory size:

# hammer compute-profile values update \
--compute-resource "My_Compute_Resource" \
--compute-profile "My_Compute_Profile" \
--attributes "cpus=2,memory=4GB" \
--interface "type=network,bridge=br1,index=1" \
--volume "size=40GB"

Optional: To change the name of the compute profile, use the --new-name attribute:

# hammer compute-profile update \
--name "My_Compute_Profile" \
--new-name "My_New_Compute_Profile"

Generate an encrypted password:

$ python3 -c 'import crypt,getpass;pw=getpass.getpass(); print(crypt.crypt(pw)) if (pw==getpass.getpass("Confirm: ")) else exit()'

Copy the password for later use.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Administer > Settings.

On the Settings page, select the Provisioning tab.

In the Name column, navigate to Root password, and click Click to edit.

Paste the encrypted password, and click Save.

On your Foreman server, configure the firewall to allow VNC service on ports 5900 to 5930.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources and select the name of a compute resource.

In the Virtual Machines tab, select the name of your virtual machine. Ensure the machine is powered on and then select Console.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Administer > Settings > Provisioning.

Change the value of the Destroy associated VM on host delete setting to Yes.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Administer > Settings and select the Facts tab.

To filter out all interfaces starting with specific names, for example, blu, add blu* to the Ignore interfaces with matching identifier option.

To prevent databases from storing facts related to interfaces starting with specific names, for example, blu, add blu* to the Exclude pattern for facts stored in Foreman option.

To remove facts from the database, enter the following command:

# foreman-rake facts:clean

To remove interfaces from the database, enter the following command:

# foreman-rake interfaces:clean

To preview the DHCP records that are going to be added to the DHCP server, enter the following command:

# foreman-rake orchestration:dhcp:add_missing subnet_name=NAME

If you are satisfied by the preview changes in the previous step, apply them by entering the above command with the perform=1 argument:

# foreman-rake orchestration:dhcp:add_missing subnet_name=NAME perform=1

To keep DHCP records in Foreman and in the DHCP server synchronized, you can remove unwanted DHCP records from the DHCP server. Note that Foreman assumes that all managed DHCP servers do not contain third-party records, therefore, this step might delete those unexpected records. To preview what records are going to be removed from the DHCP server, enter the following command:

# foreman-rake orchestration:dhcp:remove_offending subnet_name=NAME

If you are satisfied by the preview changes in the previous step, apply them by entering the above command with the perform=1 argument:

# foreman-rake orchestration:dhcp:remove_offending subnet_name=NAME perform=1

Enter the foreman-installer command to configure the required network services:

# foreman-installer --foreman-proxy-dhcp true \
--foreman-proxy-dhcp-gateway "192.168.140.1" \
--foreman-proxy-dhcp-managed true \
--foreman-proxy-dhcp-nameservers "192.168.140.2" \
--foreman-proxy-dhcp-range "192.168.140.10 192.168.140.110" \
--foreman-proxy-dhcp-server "192.168.140.2" \
--foreman-proxy-dns true \
--foreman-proxy-dns-forwarders "8.8.8.8" \
--foreman-proxy-dns-forwarders "8.8.4.4" \
--foreman-proxy-dns-managed true \
--foreman-proxy-dns-reverse "140.168.192.in-addr.arpa" \
--foreman-proxy-dns-server "127.0.0.1" \
--foreman-proxy-dns-zone "example.com" \
--foreman-proxy-tftp true \
--foreman-proxy-tftp-managed true

Find Smart Proxy server that you configure:

# hammer proxy list

Refresh features of Smart Proxy server to view the changes:

# hammer proxy refresh-features --name "foreman.example.com"

Verify the services configured on Smart Proxy server:

# hammer proxy info --name "foreman.example.com"

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Domains and click Create Domain.

In the DNS Domain field, enter the full DNS domain name.

In the Fullname field, enter the plain text name of the domain.

Click the Parameters tab and configure any domain level parameters to apply to hosts attached to this domain. For example, user defined Boolean or string parameters to use in templates.

Click Add Parameter and fill in the Name and Value fields.

Click the Locations tab, and add the location where the domain resides.

Click the Organizations tab, and add the organization that the domain belongs to.

Click Submit to save the changes.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Subnets, and in the Subnets window, click Create Subnet.

In the Name field, enter a name for the subnet.

In the Description field, enter a description for the subnet.

In the Network address field, enter the network address for the subnet.

In the Network prefix field, enter the network prefix for the subnet.

In the Network mask field, enter the network mask for the subnet.

In the Gateway address field, enter the external gateway for the subnet.

In the Primary DNS server field, enter a primary DNS for the subnet.

In the Secondary DNS server, enter a secondary DNS for the subnet.

From the IPAM list, select the method that you want to use for IP address management (IPAM). For more information about IPAM, see Configuring networking.

Enter the information for the IPAM method that you select.

If you use the remote execution plugin, click the Remote Execution tab and select the Smart Proxy that controls the remote execution.

Click the Domains tab and select the domains that apply to this subnet.

Click the Smart Proxies tab and select the Smart Proxy that applies to each service in the subnet, including DHCP, TFTP, and reverse DNS services.

Click the Parameters tab and configure any subnet level parameters to apply to hosts attached to this subnet. For example, user defined Boolean or string parameters to use in templates.

Click the Locations tab and select the locations that use this Smart Proxy.

Click the Organizations tab and select the organizations that use this Smart Proxy.

Click Submit to save the subnet information.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Administer > Settings, and click the Provisioning tab.

Find the Token duration option and click the edit icon and edit the duration, or enter 0 to disable token generation. If token generation is disabled, an attacker can spoof client IP address and download OS installer recipe from Foreman server, including the encrypted root password.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

Click the Operating System tab, and verify that all fields contain values. Confirm each aspect of the operating system.

Optional: Click Resolve in Provisioning template to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click Submit to save the host details.

Create the host with the hammer host create command:

# hammer host create \
--build true \
--enabled true \
--hostgroup "My_Host_Group" \
--location "My_Location" \
--mac "My_MAC_Address" \
--managed true \
--name "My_Host_Name" \
--organization "My_Organization"

Ensure the network interface options are set using the hammer host interface update command:

# hammer host interface update \
--host "_My_Host_Name_" \
--managed true \
--primary true \
--provision true

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

Click the Operating System tab, and verify that all fields contain values. Confirm each aspect of the operating system.

Click Resolve in Provisioning Templates to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click Submit to save the host details. This creates a host entry and the host details page appears.

Download the boot disk from Foreman server.

Write the ISO to a USB storage device using the dd utility or livecd-tools if required.

When you start the host and boot from the ISO or the USB storage device, the host connects to Foreman server and starts installing operating system from its Kickstart tree.

Create the host using the hammer host create command.

# hammer host create \
--build true \
--enabled true \
--hostgroup "My_Host_Group" \
--location "My_Location" \
--mac "My_MAC_Address" \
--managed true \
--name "My_Host_Name" \
--organization "My_Organization"

Ensure that your network interface options are set using the hammer host interface update command.

# hammer host interface update \
--host "My_Host_Name" \
--managed true \
--primary true \
--provision true

Download the boot disk from Foreman server using the hammer bootdisk command:

Write the ISO to a USB storage device using the dd utility or livecd-tools if required.

When you start the physical host and boot from the ISO or the USB storage device, the host connects to Foreman server and starts installing operating system from its Kickstart tree.

Enable foreman-proxy-http, foreman-proxy-httpboot, and foreman-proxy-tftp features.

# foreman-installer \
--foreman-proxy-http true \
--foreman-proxy-httpboot true \
--foreman-proxy-tftp true

Ensure that the Smart Proxy has TFTP and HTTPBoot features recognized. In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Smart Proxies and click on Smart Proxy to see the list of recognized features. Click Refresh Features if any of the features are missing.

Ensure that Smart Proxy is associated with the provisioning subnet. In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Subnets > Edit Subnet > Smart Proxies and select the Smart Proxy for both TFTP and HTTPBoot options.

Click OK to save.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

Click the Operating System tab, and verify that all fields contain values. Confirm each aspect of the operating system.

From the PXE Loader list, select Grub2 UEFI HTTP.

Optional: Click Resolve in Provisioning template to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click Submit to save the host details.

Set the host to boot in UEFI mode from network.

Start the host.

From the boot menu, select Kickstart default PXEGrub2.

Enable foreman-proxy-http, foreman-proxy-httpboot, and foreman-proxy-tftp true features:

# foreman-installer \
--foreman-proxy-http true \
--foreman-proxy-httpboot true \
--foreman-proxy-tftp true

Create the host with the hammer host create command.

# hammer host create \
--build true \
--enabled true \
--hostgroup "My_Host_Group" \
--location "My_Location" \
--mac "My_MAC_Address" \
--managed true \
--name "My_Host_Name" \
--organization "My_Organization" \
--pxe-loader "Grub2 UEFI HTTP"

Ensure the network interface options are set using the hammer host interface update command:

# hammer host interface update \
--host "My_Host_Name" \
--managed true \
--primary true \
--provision true

Set the host to boot in UEFI mode from network.

Start the host.

From the boot menu, select Kickstart default PXEGrub2.

Set the path for the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# BOOTLOADER_PATH="/var/lib/tftpboot/bootloader-universe/pxegrub2/My_Operating_System_In_Lowercase/default/x86_64"

Create the directory to store the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# install -o foreman-proxy -g foreman-proxy -d $BOOTLOADER_PATH

Download the shim and GRUB2 packages for the operating system of your host:

# wget -O /tmp/grub2-efi-x64.rpm https://server.example.com/grub2-efi-x64.rpm
# wget -O /tmp/shim-x64.rpm https://server.example.com/shim-x64.rpm

Extract the shim and GRUB2 binaries:

# rpm2cpio /tmp/grub2-efi-x64.rpm | cpio -idv --directory /tmp
# rpm2cpio /tmp/shim-x64.rpm | cpio -idv --directory /tmp

Make the shim and GRUB2 binaries available for host provisioning:

# cp /tmp/boot/efi/EFI/almalinux/grubx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# cp /tmp/boot/efi/EFI/almalinux/shimx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot-sb.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi

Set the path for the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# BOOTLOADER_PATH="/var/lib/tftpboot/bootloader-universe/pxegrub2/My_Operating_System_In_Lowercase/default/x86_64"

Create the directory to store the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# install -o foreman-proxy -g foreman-proxy -d $BOOTLOADER_PATH

Download the shim and GRUB2 packages for the operating system of your host:

# wget -O /tmp/grub-efi-amd64-signed.deb https://server.example.com/grub-efi-amd64-signed.deb
# wget -O /tmp/shim-signed.deb https://server.example.com/shim-signed.deb

Extract the shim and GRUB2 binaries:

# cd /tmp && ar x /tmp/grub-efi-amd64-signed.deb && tar -xf data.tar.xz && cd -
# cd /tmp && ar x /tmp/shim-signed.deb && tar -xf data.tar.xz && cd -

Make the shim and GRUB2 binaries available for host provisioning:

# cp /tmp/usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi-signed/grubnetx64.efi.signed $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# cp /tmp/usr/lib/shim/shimx64.efi.signed $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot-sb.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi

Link the grub.cfg file from the TFTP servers grub2 folder to the legacy grub folder:

# ln --relative --symbolic /var/lib/tftpboot/grub2/grub.cfg /var/lib/tftpboot/grub/grub.cfg

Set the path for the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# BOOTLOADER_PATH="/var/lib/tftpboot/bootloader-universe/pxegrub2/My_Operating_System_In_Lowercase/default/x86_64"

Create the directory to store the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# install -o foreman-proxy -g foreman-proxy -d $BOOTLOADER_PATH

Download the shim and GRUB2 packages for the operating system of your host:

# wget -O /tmp/grub2-efi-x64.rpm https://server.example.com/grub2-efi-x64.rpm
# wget -O /tmp/shim-x64.rpm https://server.example.com/shim-x64.rpm

Extract the shim and GRUB2 binaries:

# rpm2cpio /tmp/grub2-efi-x64.rpm | cpio -idv --directory /tmp
# rpm2cpio /tmp/shim-x64.rpm | cpio -idv --directory /tmp

Make the shim and GRUB2 binaries available for host provisioning:

# cp /tmp/boot/efi/EFI/rocky/grubx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# cp /tmp/boot/efi/EFI/rocky/shimx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot-sb.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi

Set the path for the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# BOOTLOADER_PATH="/var/lib/tftpboot/bootloader-universe/pxegrub2/My_Operating_System_In_Lowercase/default/x86_64"

Create the directory to store the shim and GRUB2 binaries for the operating system of your host:

# install -o foreman-proxy -g foreman-proxy -d $BOOTLOADER_PATH

Download the shim and GRUB2 packages for the operating system of your host:

# wget -O /tmp/grub-efi-amd64-signed.deb https://server.example.com/grub-efi-amd64-signed.deb
# wget -O /tmp/shim-signed.deb https://server.example.com/shim-signed.deb

Extract the shim and GRUB2 binaries:

# cd /tmp && ar x /tmp/grub-efi-amd64-signed.deb && tar --use-compress-program=unzstd -xf data.tar.zst && cd -
# cd /tmp && ar x /tmp/shim-signed.deb && tar -xf data.tar.xz && cd -

Make the shim and GRUB2 binaries available for host provisioning:

# cp /tmp/usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi-signed/grubnetx64.efi.signed $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# cp /tmp/usr/lib/shim/shimx64.efi.signed.latest $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot.efi
# ln -sr $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi $BOOTLOADER_PATH/boot-sb.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/grubx64.efi
# chmod 644 $BOOTLOADER_PATH/shimx64.efi

Link the grub.cfg file from the TFTP servers grub2 folder to the legacy grub folder:

# ln --relative --symbolic /var/lib/tftpboot/grub2/grub.cfg /var/lib/tftpboot/grub/grub.cfg

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates.

Create a provisioning template, or clone and edit an existing template. For more information, see Creating provisioning templates.

In the template, click the Template tab.

In the Template editor field, add the create_users snippet to the %post section:

<%= snippet('create_users') %>

Select the Default checkbox.

Click the Association tab.

From the Application Operating Systems list, select an operating system.

Click Submit to save the provisioning template.

Create a host that is associated with the provisioning template or rebuild a host using the operating system associated with the modified template. For more information, see Creating a Host in Managing hosts.

Enable the TFTP and HTTPboot services on your Smart Proxy:

# foreman-installer \
--foreman-proxy-httpboot true \
--foreman-proxy-tftp true

Install the ipxe package on your Smart Proxy:

# apt install ipxe

Copy iPXE firmware to the TFTP directory.

Set the HTTP URL.

Virtual machine starts.

iPXE retrieves the network credentials, including an HTTP URL, by using DHCP.

iPXE loads the iPXE bootstrap template from Smart Proxy.

iPXE loads the iPXE template with MAC as a URL parameter from Smart Proxy.

iPXE loads the kernel and initial RAM disk of the installer.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates.

Search for the required template:

Click the name of the template.

Click the Association tab and select the operating systems that your host uses.

Click the Locations tab and add the location where the host resides.

Click the Organizations tab and add the organization that the host belongs to.

Click Submit to save the changes.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Operating systems and select the operating system of your host.

Click the Templates tab.

From the iPXE template list, select the required template:

Click Submit to save the changes.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > All Hosts.

In the Hosts page, select the host that you want to use.

Select the Operating System tab.

Set PXE Loader to iPXE Embedded.

Select the Templates tab.

In Provisioning Templates, click Resolve and verify that the iPXE template resolves to the required template.

Click Submit to save host settings.

Host powers on.

PXE driver retrieves the network credentials by using DHCP.

PXE driver retrieves the PXELinux firmware pxelinux.0 by using TFTP.

PXELinux searches for the configuration file on the TFTP server.

PXELinux chainloads iPXE ipxe.lkrn or undionly-ipxe.0.

iPXE retrieves the network credentials, including an HTTP URL, by using DHCP again.

iPXE chainloads the iPXE template from your Templates Smart Proxy.

iPXE loads the kernel and initial RAM disk of the installer.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates.

Search for the required PXELinux template:

Click the name of the template you want to use.

Click the Association tab and select the operating systems that your host uses.

Click the Locations tab and add the location where the host resides.

Click the Organizations tab and add the organization that the host belongs to.

Click Submit to save the changes.

On the Provisioning Templates page, search for the required template:

Click the name of the template.

Click the Association tab and associate the template with the operating system that your host uses.

Click the Locations tab and add the location where the host resides.

Click the Organizations tab and add the organization that the host belongs to.

Click Submit to save the changes.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Operating systems and select the operating system of your host.

Click the Templates tab.

From the PXELinux template list, select the template you want to use.

From the iPXE template list, select the required template:

Click Submit to save the changes.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Configure > Host Groups, and select the host group you want to configure.

Select the Operating System tab.

Select the Architecture and Operating system.

Set the PXE Loader:

Install the Discovery plugin on Foreman server:

# foreman-installer \
--enable-foreman-plugin-discovery \
--enable-foreman-proxy-plugin-discovery \
--foreman-proxy-plugin-discovery-install-images=true

--foreman-proxy-plugin-discovery-source-url=https://downloads.theforeman.org/discovery/releases/x.y/

If you want to use Smart Proxy server, install the Discovery plugin on Smart Proxy server:

# foreman-installer \
--enable-foreman-proxy-plugin-discovery \
--foreman-proxy-plugin-discovery-install-images=true

--foreman-proxy-plugin-discovery-source-url=https://downloads.theforeman.org/discovery/releases/x.y/

Configure the Discovery Smart Proxy for the subnet with discoverable hosts:

If a discovered host uses a subnet defined in Foreman, the host uses the first organization and location associated with the subnet.

If the default location and organization is configured in global settings, the discovered hosts are placed in this organization and location. To configure these settings, navigate to Administer > Settings > Discovery and select values for the Discovery organization and Discovery location settings. Ensure that the subnet of discovered host also belongs to the selected organization and location, otherwise Foreman refuses to set it for security reasons.

If none of the previous conditions is met, Foreman assigns the first organization and location ordered by name.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Discovered hosts.

Select the host you want to provision and click Provision to the right of the list.

Select one of the following options:

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Ensure that Foreman server automatically selects the Managed, Primary, and Provision options for the first interface on the host. If not, select them.

Click the Operating System tab, and verify that all fields contain values. Confirm each aspect of the operating system.

In Provisioning templates, click Resolve to check if the new host can identify the correct provisioning templates.

Click Submit to save the host details.

Identify the discovered host to provision:

# hammer discovery list

Select the host and provision it by using a host group. Set a new host name with the --new-name option:

# hammer discovery provision \
--build true \
--enabled true \
--hostgroup "My_Host_Group" \
--location "My_Location" \
--managed true \
--name "My_Host_Name" \
--new-name "My_New_Host_Name" \
--organization "My_Organization"

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Configure > Discovery rules, and select Create Rule.

In the Name field, enter a name for the rule.

In the Search field, enter the rules to determine whether to provision a host. This field provides suggestions for values you enter and allows operators for multiple rules. For example: cpu_count > 8.

From the Host Group list, select the host group to use as a template for this host.

In the Hostname field, enter the pattern to determine host names for multiple hosts. This uses the same ERB syntax that provisioning templates use. The host name can use the @host attribute for host-specific values and the rand macro for a random number or the sequence_hostgroup_param_next macro for incrementing the value. For more information about provisioning templates, see Provisioning templates and the API documentation.

In the Hosts limit field, enter the maximum number of hosts that you can provision with the rule. Enter 0 for unlimited.

In the Priority field, enter a number to set the precedence the rule has over other rules. Rules with lower values have a higher priority.

From the Enabled list, select whether you want to enable the rule.

To set a different provisioning context for the rule, click the Organizations and Locations tabs and select the contexts you want to use.

Click Submit to save your rule.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Discovered Host and select one of the following two options:

Create the rule by using Hammer:

# hammer discovery-rule create \
--enabled true \
--hostgroup "My_Host_Group" \
--hostname "hypervisor-<%= rand(99999) %>" \
--hosts-limit 5 \
--name "My_Hypervisor" \
--priority 5 \
--search "cpu_count  > 8"

Automatically provision a host with the hammer discovery auto-provision command:

# hammer discovery auto-provision --name "macabcdef123456"

Create the following directory structure:

.
├── autostart.d
│   └── 01_zip.sh
├── bin
│   └── ntpdate
├── facts
│   └── test.rb
└── lib
    ├── libcrypto.so.1.0.0
    └── ruby
        └── test.rb

After creating the directory structure, create a .zip file archive with the following command:

# zip -r my_extension.zip .

Inform the Discovery kernel of the extensions it must use. Place your zip files on your TFTP server with the Discovery image and customize the Discovery PXE boot with the fdi.zips parameter where the paths are relative to the TFTP root.

fdi.zips=zip1.zip,boot/zip2.zip

Replace the contents of the 00-repos-centos8.ks file with the following:

url --mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=8&arch=$basearch&repo=baseos
repo --name="AppStream" --mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=8&arch=$basearch&repo=appstream
repo --name="foreman-el8" --baseurl=http://yum.theforeman.org/releases/nightly/el8/$basearch/
repo --name="foreman-plugins-el8" --baseurl=http://yum.theforeman.org/plugins/nightly/el8/$basearch/
module --name=ruby --stream=2.7
module --name=postgresql --stream=12
module --name=foreman --stream=el8

Prepare the Kickstart file:

$ ./build-livecd fdi-centos8.ks

Build the ISO image:

$ sudo ./build-livecd-root custom ./result "nomodeset nokaslr"

$ sudo ./build-livecd-root custom ./result \
"nomodeset nokaslr \
fdi.pxip=192.168.140.20/24 fdi.pxgw=192.168.140.1 \
fdi.pxdns=192.168.140.2 proxy.url=https://foreman.example.com:8443 \
proxy.type=foreman fdi.pxmac=52:54:00:be:8e:8c fdi.pxauto=1"

Verify that your ./result/fdi-custom-XXXXXXX.iso file is created:

$ ls -h ./result/*.iso

Convert the .iso file to an .iso hybrid file for local booting:

# isohybrid --partok fdi.iso

# isohybrid --partok --uefi fdi.iso

Add md5 checksum to the .iso file so that it can pass installation media validation tests in Foreman:

# implantisomd5 fdi.iso

On Foreman server, switch to the foreman user:

# su foreman -s /bin/bash

Generate the key pair:

$ ssh-keygen

Copy the public key to the KVM server:

$ ssh-copy-id root@kvm.example.com

Exit the bash shell for the foreman user:

$ exit

Install the libvirt-client package:

# apt install libvirt-client

Use the following command to test the connection to the KVM server:

# su foreman -s /bin/bash -c 'virsh -c qemu+ssh://root@kvm.example.com/system list'

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources and click Create Compute Resource.

In the Name field, enter a name for the new compute resource.

From the Provider list, select Libvirt.

In the Description field, enter a description for the compute resource.

In the URL field, enter the connection URL to the KVM server. For example:

 qemu+ssh://root@kvm.example.com/system

From the Display type list, select either VNC or Spice.

Optional: To secure console access for new hosts with a randomly generated password, select the Set a randomly generated password on the display connection checkbox. You can retrieve the password for the VNC console to access the guest virtual machine console from the output of the following command executed on the KVM server:

# virsh edit your_VM_name
<graphics type='vnc' port='-1' autoport='yes' listen='0.0.0.0' passwd='your_randomly_generated_password'>

Click Test Connection to ensure that Foreman server connects to the KVM server without fault.

Verify that the Locations and Organizations tabs are automatically set to your current context. If you want, add additional contexts to these tabs.

Click Submit to save the KVM connection.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources and click the name of the KVM connection.

Click Create Image.

In the Name field, enter a name for the image.

From the Operating System list, select the base operating system of the image.

From the Architecture list, select the operating system architecture.

In the Username field, enter the SSH user name for image access. This is normally the root user.

In the Password field, enter the SSH password for image access.

In the Image path field, enter the full path that points to the image on the KVM server. For example:

 /var/lib/libvirt/images/TestImage.qcow2

Optional: Select the User Data checkbox if the image supports user data input, such as cloud-init data.

Click Submit to save the image details.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Profiles.

In the Compute Profiles window, click the name of an existing compute profile, or click Create Compute Profile, enter a Name, and click Submit.

Click the name of the KVM compute resource.

In the CPUs field, enter the number of CPUs to allocate to the new host.

In the Memory field, enter the amount of memory to allocate to the new host.

From the Image list, select the image to use if performing image-based provisioning.

From the Network Interfaces list, select the network parameters for the host’s network interface. You can create multiple network interfaces. However, at least one interface must point to a Smart Proxy-managed network.

In the Storage area, enter the storage parameters for the host. You can create multiple volumes for the host.

Click Submit to save the settings to the compute profile.

To create a compute profile, enter the following command:

# hammer compute-profile create --name "Libvirt CP"

To add the values for the compute profile, enter the following command:

# hammer compute-profile values create --compute-profile "Libvirt CP" \
--compute-resource "My_KVM_Server" \
--interface "compute_type=network,compute_model=virtio,compute_network=examplenetwork" \
--volume "pool_name=default,capacity=20G,format_type=qcow2" \
--compute-attributes "cpus=1,memory=1073741824"

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

From the Deploy on list, select the KVM connection.

From the Compute Profile list, select a profile to use to automatically populate virtual machine settings. The KVM-specific fields are populated with settings from your compute profile. Modify these settings if required.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

Click the Operating System tab, and confirm that all fields automatically contain values.

Select the Provisioning Method that you want to use:

Click Resolve in Provisioning templates to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click the Virtual Machine tab and confirm that these settings are populated with details from the host group and compute profile. Modify these settings to suit your needs.

Click Submit to save the host entry.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources and click Create Compute Resource.

In the Name field, enter a name for the new compute resource.

From the Provider list, select oVirt.

In the Description field, enter a description for the compute resource.

In the URL field, enter the connection URL for the oVirt Engine’s API in the following form: https://ovirt.example.com/ovirt-engine/api/v4.

In the User field, enter the name of a user with permissions to access oVirt Engine’s resources.

In the Password field, enter the password of the user.

Click Load Datacenters to populate the Datacenter list with data centers from your oVirt environment.

From the Datacenter list, select a data center.

From the Quota ID list, select a quota to limit resources available to Foreman.

In the X509 Certification Authorities field, enter the certificate authority for SSL/TLS access. Alternatively, if you leave the field blank, a self-signed certificate is generated on the first API request by the server.

Click the Locations tab and select the location you want to use.

Click the Organizations tab and select the organization you want to use.

Click Submit to save the compute resource.

In oVirt, create a virtual machine to use for image-based provisioning in Foreman.

On the virtual machine, install cloud-init:

To the /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg file, add the following information:

datasource_list: ["NoCloud", "ConfigDrive"]

In oVirt, create an image from this virtual machine.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources and click the name of the oVirt connection.

Click Create Image.

In the Name field, enter a name for the image.

From the Operating System list, select the base operating system of the image.

From the Architecture list, select the operating system architecture.

In the Username field, enter the SSH user name for image access. This is normally the root user.

In the Password field, enter the SSH password for image access.

From the Image list, select an image from the oVirt compute resource.

Optional: Select the User Data checkbox if the image supports user data input, such as cloud-init data.

Click Submit to save the image details.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates, and click Create Template.

In the Name field, enter a name for the template.

In the Editor field, enter the following template details:

<%#
kind: user_data
name: Cloud-init
-%>
#cloud-config
hostname: <%= @host.shortname %>

<%# Allow user to specify additional SSH key as host parameter -%>
<% if @host.params['sshkey'].present? || @host.params['remote_execution_ssh_keys'].present? -%>
ssh_authorized_keys:
<% if @host.params['sshkey'].present? -%>
  - <%= @host.params['sshkey'] %>
<% end -%>
<% if @host.params['remote_execution_ssh_keys'].present? -%>
<% @host.params['remote_execution_ssh_keys'].each do |key| -%>
  - <%= key %>
<% end -%>
<% end -%>
<% end -%>
runcmd:
  - |
    #!/bin/bash
<%= indent 4 do
    snippet 'subscription_manager_registration'
end %>
<% if @host.info['parameters']['realm'] && @host.realm && @host.realm.realm_type == 'Red Hat Identity Management' -%>
  <%= indent 4 do
    snippet 'freeipa_register'
  end %>
<% end -%>
<% unless @host.operatingsystem.atomic? -%>
    # update all the base packages from the updates repository
    yum -t -y -e 0 update
<% end -%>
<%
    # safemode renderer does not support unary negation
    non_atomic = @host.operatingsystem.atomic? ? false : true
    pm_set = @host.puppetmaster.empty? ? false : true
    puppet_enabled = non_atomic && (pm_set || @host.params['force-puppet'])
%>
<% if puppet_enabled %>
    yum install -y puppet
    cat > /etc/puppet/puppet.conf << EOF
  <%= indent 4 do
    snippet 'puppet.conf'
  end %>
    EOF
    # Setup puppet to run on system reboot
    /sbin/chkconfig --level 345 puppet on

    /usr/bin/puppet agent --config /etc/puppet/puppet.conf --onetime --tags no_such_tag <%= @host.puppetmaster.blank? ? '' : "--server #{@host.puppetmaster}" %> --no-daemonize
    /sbin/service puppet start
<% end -%>
phone_home:
 url: <%= foreman_url('built') %>
 post: []
 tries: 10pp

Click the Type tab and from the Type list, select User data template.

Click the Association tab, and from the Applicable Operating Systems list, select the operating system that you want associate with the template.

Click the Locations tab, and from the Locations list, select the location that you want to associate with the template.

Click the Organizations tab, and from the Organization list, select the organization that you want to associate with the template.

Click Submit.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Select the operating system you want to associate with the template.

Click the Templates tab, and from the User data template list, select the name of the new template.

Click Submit.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Profiles.

In the Compute Profiles window, click the name of an existing compute profile, or click Create Compute Profile, enter a Name, and click Submit.

Click the name of the oVirt compute resource.

From the Cluster list, select the target host cluster in the oVirt environment.

From the Template list, select the oVirt template to use for the Cores and Memory settings.

In the Cores field, enter the number of CPU cores to allocate to the new host.

In the Memory field, enter the amount of memory to allocate to the new host.

From the Image list, select image to use for image-based provisioning.

In the Network Interfaces area, enter the network parameters for the host’s network interface. You can create multiple network interfaces. However, at least one interface must point to a Smart Proxy-managed network. For each network interface, enter the following details:

In the Storage area, enter the storage parameters for the host. You can create multiple volumes for the host. For each volume, enter the following details:

Click Submit to save the compute profile.

To create a compute profile, enter the following command:

# hammer compute-profile create --name "oVirt CP"

To set the values for the compute profile, enter the following command:

# hammer compute-profile values create --compute-profile "oVirt CP" \
--compute-resource "My_oVirt" \
--interface "compute_interface=Interface_Type,compute_name=eth0,compute_network=satnetwork" \
--volume "size_gb=20G,storage_domain=Data,bootable=true" \
--compute-attributes "cluster=Default,cores=1,memory=1073741824,start=true""

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

From the Deploy on list, select the oVirt connection.

From the Compute Profile list, select a profile to use to automatically populate virtual machine settings. The oVirt-specific fields are populated with settings from your compute profile. Modify these settings if required.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

Click the Operating System tab, and confirm that all fields automatically contain values.

Select the Provisioning Method that you want to use:

Click Resolve in Provisioning templates to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click the Virtual Machine tab and confirm that these settings are populated with details from the host group and compute profile. Modify these settings to suit your needs.

Click Submit to save the host entry.

Install the VMware compute resource provider on your Foreman server:

# foreman-installer --enable-foreman-compute-vmware

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Administer > About.

On the System Status card, select the Available Providers tab to verify that the VMware provider is installed.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources, and in the Compute Resources window, click Create Compute Resource.

In the Name field, enter a name for the resource.

From the Provider list, select VMware.

In the Description field, enter a description for the resource.

In the VCenter/Server field, enter the IP address or host name of the vCenter server.

In the User field, enter the user name with permission to access the vCenter’s resources.

In the Password field, enter the password for the user.

Click Load Datacenters to populate the list of data centers from your VMware vSphere environment.

From the Datacenter list, select a specific data center to manage from this list.

In the Fingerprint field, ensure that this field is populated with the fingerprint from the data center.

From the Display Type list, select a console type, for example, VNC or VMRC. Note that VNC consoles are unsupported on VMware ESXi 6.5 and later.

Optional: In the VNC Console Passwords field, select the Set a randomly generated password on the display connection checkbox to secure console access for new hosts with a randomly generated password. You can retrieve the password for the VNC console to access guest virtual machine console from the libvirtd host from the output of the following command:

# virsh edit your_VM_name
<graphics type='vnc' port='-1' autoport='yes' listen='0.0.0.0' passwd='your_randomly_generated_password'>

From the Enable Caching list, you can select whether to enable caching of compute resources. For more information, see Caching of compute resources.

Click the Locations and Organizations tabs and verify that the values are automatically set to your current context. You can also add additional contexts.

Click Submit to save the connection.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Select your VMware compute resource.

Click Create Image.

In the Name field, enter a name for the image.

From the Operating System list, select the base operating system of the image.

From the Architecture list, select the operating system architecture.

In the Username field, enter the SSH user name for image access. By default, this is set to root.

If your image supports user data input such as cloud-init data, click the User data checkbox.

Optional: In the Password field, enter the SSH password to access the image.

From the Image list, select an image from VMware.

Click Submit to save the image details.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Profiles.

Select a compute profile.

Select a VMware compute resource.

In the CPUs field, enter the number of CPUs to allocate to the host.

In the Cores per socket field, enter the number of cores to allocate to each CPU.

In the Memory field, enter the amount of memory in MiB to allocate to the host.

In the Firmware checkbox, select either BIOS or UEFI as firmware for the host. By default, this is set to automatic.

In the Cluster list, select the name of the target host cluster on the VMware environment.

From the Resource pool list, select an available resource allocations for the host.

In the Folder list, select the folder to organize the host.

From the Guest OS list, select the operating system you want to use in VMware vSphere.

From the Virtual H/W version list, select the underlying VMware hardware abstraction to use for virtual machines.

If you want to add more memory while the virtual machine is powered on, select the Memory hot add checkbox.

If you want to add more CPUs while the virtual machine is powered on, select the CPU hot add checkbox.

If you want to add a CD-ROM drive, select the CD-ROM drive checkbox.

From the Boot order list, define the order in which the virtual machines tried to boot.

Optional: In the Annotation Notes field, enter an arbitrary description.

If you use image-based provisioning, select the image from the Image list.

From the SCSI controller list, select the disk access method for the host.

If you want to use eager zero thick provisioning, select the Eager zero checkbox. By default, the disk uses lazy zero thick provisioning.

From the Network Interfaces list, select the network parameters for the host’s network interface. At least one interface must point to a Smart Proxy-managed network.

Optional: Click Add Interface to create another network interfaces.

Click Submit to save the compute profile.

Create a compute profile:

# hammer compute-profile create --name "My_Compute_Profile"

Set VMware details to a compute profile:

# hammer compute-profile values create \
--compute-attributes "cpus=1,corespersocket=2,memory_mb=1024,cluster=MyCluster,path=MyVMs,start=true" \
--compute-profile "My_Compute_Profile" \
--compute-resource "My_VMware" \
--interface "compute_type=VirtualE1000,compute_network=mynetwork \
--volume "size_gb=20G,datastore=Data,name=myharddisk,thin=true"

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

From the Deploy on list, select the VMware vSphere connection.

From the Compute Profile list, select a profile to use to automatically populate virtual machine-based settings.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

In the interface window, review the VMware-specific fields that are populated with settings from our compute profile. Modify these settings to suit your needs.

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

Click the Operating System tab, and confirm that all fields automatically contain values.

Select the Provisioning Method that you want:

Click Resolve in Provisioning templates to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click the Virtual Machine tab and confirm that these settings are populated with details from the host group and compute profile. Modify these settings to suit your requirements.

Click Submit to provision your host on VMware.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates.

Search for the CloudInit default template and click its name.

Click the Association tab.

Select all operating systems to which the template applies and click Submit.

Repeat the steps above for the UserData open-vm-tools template.

Navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Setup > Operating Systems.

Select the operating system that you want to use for provisioning.

Click the Templates tab.

From the Cloud-init template list, select CloudInit default.

From the User data template list, select UserData open-vm-tools.

Click Submit to save the changes.

On the virtual machine that you use to create the image, install the required packages:

# dnf install cloud-init open-vm-tools perl-interpreter perl-File-Temp

Disable network configuration by cloud-init:

# cat << EOM > /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/01_network.cfg
network:
  config: disabled
EOM

Configure cloud-init to fetch data from Foreman:

# cat << EOM > /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/10_datasource.cfg
datasource_list: [NoCloud]
datasource:
  NoCloud:
    seedfrom: https://foreman.example.com/userdata/
EOM

Configure modules to use in cloud-init:

# cat << EOM > /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg
cloud_init_modules:
 - bootcmd
 - ssh

cloud_config_modules:
 - runcmd

cloud_final_modules:
 - scripts-per-once
 - scripts-per-boot
 - scripts-per-instance
 - scripts-user
 - phone-home

system_info:
  distro: rhel
  paths:
    cloud_dir: /var/lib/cloud
    templates_dir: /etc/cloud/templates
  ssh_svcname: sshd
EOM

Enable the CA certificates for the image:

# update-ca-trust enable

Copy the CA certificate from the Apache configuration to /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors/cloud-init-ca.crt.

Update the record of certificates:

# update-ca-trust extract

Clean the image:

# systemctl stop rsyslog
# systemctl stop auditd
# package-cleanup --oldkernels --count=1
# dnf clean all

Reduce logspace, remove old logs, and truncate logs:

# logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.conf
# rm -f /var/log/*-???????? /var/log/*.gz
# rm -f /var/log/dmesg.old
# rm -rf /var/log/anaconda
# cat /dev/null > /var/log/audit/audit.log
# cat /dev/null > /var/log/wtmp
# cat /dev/null > /var/log/lastlog
# cat /dev/null > /var/log/grubby

Remove udev hardware rules:

# rm -f /etc/udev/rules.d/70*

Remove the ifcfg scripts related to existing network configurations:

# rm -f /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens*
# rm -f /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth*

Remove the SSH host keys:

# rm -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*

Remove root user’s SSH history:

# rm -rf ~root/.ssh/known_hosts

Remove root user’s shell history:

# rm -f ~root/.bash_history
# unset HISTFILE

Create an image from this virtual machine.

Add your image to Foreman.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Select your VMware provider.

On the Virtual Machines tab, click Delete from the Actions menu. This deletes the virtual machine from the VMware compute resource while retaining any associated hosts within Foreman. If you want to delete the orphaned host, navigate to Hosts > All Hosts and delete the host manually.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Select your VMware compute resource.

On the Virtual Machines tab, click Import as managed Host or Import as unmanaged Host from the Actions menu. The following page looks identical to creating a host with the compute resource being already selected. For more information, see Creating a host in Foreman in Managing hosts.

Click Submit to import the virtual machine into Foreman.

Install the Proxmox plugin on your Foreman server:

# foreman-installer --enable-foreman-plugin-proxmox

Optional: In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Administer > About and select the Compute Resources tab to verify the installation of the Proxmox plugin.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Click Create Compute Resource.

In the Name field, enter a name for the compute resource.

From the Provider list, select Proxmox.

Optional: In the Description field, enter a description for the compute resource.

Optional: In the Authentication method list, select User token if you do not want to use access tickets to authenticate on Proxmox.

In the Url field, enter the IP address or host name of your Proxmox node. Ensure to specify its port and add /api2/json to its path.

In the Username field, enter the user name to access Proxmox.

In the Password field, enter the password for the user.

Optional: Select the SSL verify peer checkbox to verify the certificate used for the encrypted connection from Foreman to Proxmox.

In the X509 Certificate Authorities field, enter a certificate authority or a correctly ordered chain of certificate authorities.

Optional: Click Test Connection to verify the URL and its corresponding credentials.

Click Submit to save the connection.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Select your Proxmox compute resource.

Click Create Image.

In the Name field, enter a name for the image.

From the Operating System list, select the base operating system of the image.

From the Architecture list, select the operating system architecture.

In the Username field, enter the SSH user name for image access. By default, this is set to root. This is only necessary if the image has an inbuilt user account.

From the User data list, select whether you want the images to support user data input, such as cloud-init data.

In the Password field, enter the SSH password for image access.

In the Image field, enter the relative path and name of the template on the Proxmox environment. Do not include the data center in the relative path.

Click Submit to save the image details.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Profiles.

Select a compute profile.

Select a Proxmox compute resource.

From the Type list, select a virtualization option:

Click the General tab.

From the Node list, select a Proxmox node.

From the Image list, select an image that is available on your Proxmox compute resource.

From the Pool list, select a resource allocation pool.

Optional: Click Advanced Options, Hardware, Network Interfaces, or Storage to configure compute profile settings.

On the Storage tab, Foreman community recommends to use either SCSI or VirtIO Block in the Controller field as the type of the disk controller of your host in Proxmox.

On the Storage tab, Foreman community does not recommend caching.

Click Submit to save the compute profile.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

From the Deploy on list, select your Proxmox compute resource.

From the Compute Profile list, select a profile to use to automatically populate virtual machine-based settings.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

On the Operating System tab, confirm that all fields automatically contain values.

Select the Provisioning Method that you want:

Click Resolve in Provisioning templates to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click the Virtual Machine tab and confirm that these settings are populated with details from the host group and compute profile. Modify these settings to suit your requirements.

Click Submit to provision your host on Proxmox.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Select your Proxmox compute resource.

On the Virtual Machines tab, click Delete from the Actions menu. This deletes the virtual machine from your Proxmox compute resource while retaining any associated hosts within Foreman.

Optional: If you want to delete the orphaned host, navigate to Hosts > All Hosts and delete the host manually.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Select your Proxmox compute resource.

On the Virtual Machines tab, click Import as managed Host or Import as unmanaged Host from the Actions menu. The following page looks identical to creating a host with the compute resource being already selected. For more information, see Creating a host in Foreman in Managing hosts.

Click Submit to import the virtual machine into Foreman.

On your Proxmox, open the required port for VNC:

# firewall-cmd --add-port=My_Port/tcp --permanent

Reload the firewall configuration:

# firewall-cmd --reload

On your Proxmox, enable VNC for your host in /etc/pve/nodes/My_Proxmox_Instance/qemu-server/My_VMID.conf:

args: -vnc 0.0.0.0:_My_VMID_

Restart your host on Proxmox.

Optional: Verify that the required port for VNC is open:

# netstat -ltunp

Enter the following foreman-installer command to enable the KubeVirt plugin for Foreman:

# foreman-installer --enable-foreman-plugin-kubevirt

Obtain a token to use for HTTP and HTTPs authentication:

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources, and click Create Compute Resource.

In the Name field, enter a name for the new compute resource.

From the Provider list, select KubeVirt.

In the Description field, enter a description for the compute resource.

In the Hostname field, enter the FQDN, hostname, or IP address of the Kubernetes cluster.

In the API Port field, enter the port number that you want to use for provisioning requests from Foreman to KubeVirt.

In the Namespace field, enter the user name of the Kubernetes cluster.

In the Token field, enter the bearer token for HTTP and HTTPs authentication.

Optional: In the X509 Certification Authorities field, enter a certificate to enable client certificate authentication for API server calls.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources.

Click Create Compute Resource.

In the Name field, enter a name for the new compute resource.

From the Provider list, select RHEL OpenStack Platform.

Optional: In the Description field, enter a description for the compute resource.

In the URL field, enter the URL for the OpenStack Authentication keystone service’s API at the tokens resource, such as http://openstack.example.com:5000/v2.0/tokens or http://openstack.example.com:5000/v3/auth/tokens.

In the Username and Password fields, enter the user authentication for Foreman to access the environment.

Optional: In the Project (Tenant) name field, enter the name of your tenant (v2) or project (v3) for Foreman server to manage.

In the User domain field, enter the user domain for v3 authentication.

In the Project domain name field, enter the project domain name for v3 authentication.

In the Project domain ID field, enter the project domain ID for v3 authentication.

Optional: Select Allow external network as main network to use external networks as primary networks for hosts.

Optional: Click Test Connection to verify that Foreman can connect to your compute resource.

Click the Locations and Organizations tabs and verify that the location and organization that you want to use are set to your current context. Add any additional contexts that you want to these tabs.

Click Submit to save the OpenStack connection.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources and click the name of the OpenStack connection.

Click Create Image.

In the Name field, enter a name for the image.

From the Operating System list, select the base operating system of the image.

From the Architecture list, select the operating system architecture.

In the Username field, enter the SSH user name for image access. This is normally the root user.

In the Password field, enter the SSH password for image access.

From the Image list, select an image from the OpenStack compute resource.

Optional: Select the User Data checkbox if the image supports user data input, such as cloud-init data.

Click Submit to save the image details.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Profiles.

In the Compute Profiles window, click the name of an existing compute profile, or click Create Compute Profile, enter a Name, and click Submit.

Click the name of the OpenStack compute resource.

From the Flavor list, select the hardware profile on OpenStack to use for the host.

From the Availability zone list, select the target cluster to use within the OpenStack environment.

From the Image list, select the image to use for image-based provisioning.

From the Tenant list, select the tenant or project for the OpenStack instance.

From the Security Group list, select the cloud-based access rules for ports and IP addresses.

From the Internal network, select the private networks for the host to join.

From the Floating IP network, select the external networks for the host to join and assign a floating IP address.

From the Boot from volume, select whether a volume is created from the image. If not selected, the instance boots the image directly.

In the New boot volume size (GB) field, enter the size, in GB, of the new boot volume.

Click Submit to save the compute profile.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.

In the Name field, enter a name for the host.

Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.

Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.

From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.

From the Deploy on list, select the OpenStack connection.

From the Compute Profile list, select a profile to use to automatically populate virtual machine settings.

From the Lifecycle Environment list, select the environment.

Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

Click the Operating System tab, and confirm that all fields automatically contain values.

If you want to change the image that populates automatically from your compute profile, from the Images list, select a different image to base the new host’s root volume on.

Click Resolve in Provisioning templates to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

Click the Virtual Machine tab and confirm that these settings are populated with details from the host group and compute profile. Modify these settings to suit your needs.

Click Submit to save the host entry.

Install the EC2 compute resource provider on your Foreman server:

# foreman-installer --enable-foreman-compute-ec2

Optional: In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Administer > About and select the compute resources tab to verify the installation of the Amazon EC2 plugin.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources and in the Compute Resources window, click Create Compute Resource.

In the Name field, enter a name to identify the Amazon EC2 compute resource.

From the Provider list, select EC2.

In the Description field, enter information that helps distinguish the resource for future use.

Optional: From the HTTP proxy list, select an HTTP proxy to connect to external API services. You must add HTTP proxies to Foreman before you can select a proxy from this list. For more information, see Using an HTTP proxy with compute resources.

In the Access Key and Secret Key fields, enter the access keys for your Amazon EC2 account. For more information, see Managing Access Keys for your AWS Account on the Amazon documentation website.

Optional: Click Load Regions to populate the Regions list.

From the Region list, select the Amazon EC2 region or data center to use.

Click the Locations tab and ensure that the location you want to use is selected, or add a different location.

Click the Organizations tab and ensure that the organization you want to use is selected, or add a different organization.

Click Submit to save the Amazon EC2 connection.

Select the new compute resource and then click the SSH keys tab, and click Download to save a copy of the SSH keys to use for SSH authentication. Until BZ1793138 is resolved, you can download a copy of the SSH keys only immediately after creating the Amazon EC2 compute resource. If you require SSH keys at a later stage, follow the procedure in Connecting to an Amazon EC2 instance using SSH.

In the Foreman web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > HTTP Proxies, and select New HTTP Proxy.