Diskless image configuration - manual setup

This article explains how to setup MANUALLY a netboot image.

Instead of manual operations you can use some config managers such as Puppet or Chef.

Get distribution's content

Debian 7.x

cd /nfs/wheezy
debootstrap wheezy /nfs/wheezy

Ubuntu 14.04

cd /nfs/trusty
debootstrap trusty /nfs/trusty

Access distribution

This will "mount" the system:

# Debian 7.x
chroot /nfs/wheezy/

# Ubuntu 14.04
chroot /nfs/trusty/

From here you can perform operation as if you were on a separate machine.

Only the current distribution (= the client one) will be affected.

Setup

Adjust default login/password

First of all, you have to create / adjust the default user.

# Add new user
adduser <username>
# Add user to sudoers group
usermod -a -G sudo <username>

Now you can use that user:

su <username>
sudo -s

You can check that you really are in the "Virtual machine" by checking "/srv/". It should be empty !

- Note -

On Debian distribution you have to install "sudo" manually. It's not in the defaults packages.

Update sources.list and install key packages

Your client need to have some key packages in order to work. Without these package even the NetBoot will fail !!

First of all: edit your sources.list

apt-get install vim
vim /etc/apt/sources.list

Put the following:

### Custom repositories list
#
# May 2014 - Guillaume Diaz
# This is an ajdustement of the default "debootstrap" sources.list
# This is required to provided update, security and advanced tools to all our clients
#


#########################
# Debian 7.x [Wheezy]
#########################
deb http://ftp.se.debian.org/debian stable main contrib
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-updates main contrib
deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib



#########################
# Ubuntu 14.04 LTS [Trusty]
#########################
# Official repositories
deb http://se.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://se.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse

# Official updates 
deb http://se.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports main restricted universe multiverse

# Canonical partners
#deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu trusty partner

# Community partners
#deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty main

Update your package list:

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

Now, you can install the basic programs:

# NFS client. This is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY ! That's the only way to mount the /root
apt-get install nfs-common
apt-get install initramfs-tools

# NFS is a bit low, and if you're using many client it might result in time faults. 
# You must install NTP to overcome this !!
apt-get install ntp ntpdate

# Basic set of utilities
apt-get install unzip zip
apt-get install make autoconf automake cpp gcc build-essential
apt-get install htop
apt-get install python3

# Advanced APT manager (require to add repository from command line)
apt-get install software-properties-common python-software-properties


# JAVA (that is required for my application)
# Depending on your target usage you might not need it.


##### Ubuntu repository
add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java 

##### Debian repository
echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/java/ubuntu trusty main" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys EEA14886

##### Installation
apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
apt-get install oracle-java7-installer oracle-jdk7-installer

Adjust bash and vim configuration

Edit your VIM configuration:

vim /etc/vim/vimrc

Enable dark background + set nu + set ruler

Edit your bash configuration files to adjust the alias and enable auto-completion:

vim /etc/bash.bashrc
vim /home/<username>/.bashrc
vim /root/.bashrc

Edit mount points (/etc/fstab)

You must edit the mount points to get the client working!

vim /etc/fstab

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/nfs       /               nfs    defaults          1       1
none            /tmp            tmpfs   defaults        0       0
none            /var/run        tmpfs   defaults        0       0
none            /var/lock       tmpfs   defaults        0       0
none            /var/tmp        tmpfs   defaults        0       0

- Note -

• Notice the "none" + "tmpfs" for all mount point except the root "/" and "proc"

Exit client distro

Exit until your reach your starting point.

exit