[CentOS] best practice: how to setup a central "network installation server"?

[Ausmus, Matt]

If you want to invest a little extra time you can install Spacewalk (the
open source version of Red Hat's Satellite) which has Cobbler built into
it plus it provides centralized management of your devices both for
monitoring services as well as being able to deploy config files,
updates , etc.  It provides a nice clean interface for Cobbler and it is
fully integrated into it.

Installing just Cobbler is definitely the quick way to get this going
but taking the time to deploy Spacewalk (especially if you manage lots
of servers) is worth the effort.  We've been running it for less than a
year and we're very happy with it.

____________________________
Matt Ausmus
Network Administrator
Chapman University
635 West Palm Street
Orange, CA  92868
(714)628-2738
mausmus at chapman.edu
 
"What the gods get away with, the cows don't."
-THE AQUINAS AXIOM
-----Original Message-----
From: Fernando Gleiser [mailto:fergleiser at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 11:13 AM
To: CentOS mailing list
Subject: Re: [CentOS] best practice: how to setup a central "network
installation server"?

----- Original Message ----

> From: Marcelo M. Garcia <marcelo.maia.garcia at googlemail.com>
> To: CentOS mailing list <centos at centos.org>
> Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 7:16:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [CentOS] best practice: how to setup a central "network
installation server"?
> 
> Rudi Ahlers wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >     kickstart file, if you are familiar with text based
configurations?
> > 
> > Is kickstart REALLY the only way? 
> > 
> > How do I configure the server so that the client can use network
boot, 
> > without a CD?
> 
> Hi
> 
> You can use PXE. You have to set up a tftp and a DHCP server.
Sometimes 
> you have to enable PXE in the BIOS - I always to do this with Dell
machines.


Install cobbler, it makes building a netinstall server as easy as 1 2 3

cobbler handles pxe, dhcp, http repo setup, kickstart  and such. 

I've used it many times, it takes less than 15 minutes from "yum install
cobbler"  to the start of the network installs of the client machines.

Once you set it up, just power on the client machine and watch it
install automagically 


Fer