Chapter 1. Embedding in a RHEL for Edge image using image builder

Procedure

1. Create the /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories directory by running the following command:

   $ sudo mkdir -p /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories

2. Copy the /usr/share/osbuild-composer/repositories/rhel-9.4.json file into the /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories directory by running the following command:

   $ sudo cp /usr/share/osbuild-composer/repositories/rhel-9.4.json /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories/rhel-9.4.json

3. Update the baseos source by modifying the /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories/rhel-9.4.json file with the following values:

   # ...
   "baseurl": "https://cdn.redhat.com/content/eus/rhel<9>/<9.4>//baseos/os",
   # ...

   Replace <9> with the major RHEL version you are using, and replace <9.4> with the <major.minor> version. Be certain that the RHEL version you choose is compatible with the MicroShift version you are using.

4. Optional. Apply the baseos update by running the following command:

   $ sudo sed -i "s,dist/rhel<9>/<9.4>/$(uname -m)/baseos/,eus/rhel<9>/<9.4>/$(uname -m)/baseos/,g" \
   /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories/rhel-<9.4>.json

   Replace <9> with the major RHEL version you are using, and replace <9.4> with the <major.minor> version. Be certain that the RHEL version you choose is compatible with the MicroShift version you are using.

5. Update the appstream source by modifying the /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories/rhel-<major.minor>.json file with the following values:

   # ...
   "baseurl": "https://cdn.redhat.com/content/eus/rhel<9>/<9.4>//appstream/os",
   # ...

   Replace <9> with the major RHEL version you are using, and replace <9.4> with the <major.minor> version. Be certain that the RHEL version you choose is compatible with the MicroShift version you are using.

6. Optional. Apply the appstream update by running the following command:

   $ sudo sed -i "s,dist/rhel<9>/<9.4>/$(uname -m)/appstream/,eus/rhel<9>/<9.4>/$(uname -m)/appstream/,g" \
   /etc/osbuild-composer/repositories/rhel-<9.4>.json

   Replace <9> with the major RHEL version you are using, and replace <9.4> with the <major.minor> version. Be certain that the RHEL version you choose is compatible with the MicroShift version you are using.

Verification

1. Verify the baseos source by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli sources info baseos | grep 'url ='

   Example output

   url = "https://cdn.redhat.com/content/eus/rhel9/9.4/x86_64/baseos/os"

2. Verify the appstream source by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli sources info appstream | grep 'url ='

   Example output

   url = "https://cdn.redhat.com/content/eus/rhel9/9.4/x86_64/appstream/os"

Procedure

1. Create an image builder configuration file for adding the rhocp-4.18 RPM repository source required to pull MicroShift RPMs by running the following command:

   cat > rhocp-4.18.toml <<EOF
   id = "rhocp-4.18"
   name = "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 for RHEL 9"
   type = "yum-baseurl"
   url = "https://cdn.redhat.com/content/dist/layered/rhel9/$(uname -m)/rhocp/4.18/os"
   check_gpg = true
   check_ssl = true
   system = false
   rhsm = true
   EOF

2. Create an image builder configuration file for adding the fast-datapath RPM repository by running the following command:

   cat > fast-datapath.toml <<EOF
   id = "fast-datapath"
   name = "Fast Datapath for RHEL 9"
   type = "yum-baseurl"
   url = "https://cdn.redhat.com/content/dist/layered/rhel9/$(uname -m)/fast-datapath/os"
   check_gpg = true
   check_ssl = true
   system = false
   rhsm = true
   EOF

3. Add the sources to the image builder by running the following commands:

   $ sudo composer-cli sources add rhocp-4.18.toml

   $ sudo composer-cli sources add fast-datapath.toml

Procedure

1. Use the blueprint installed in the /usr/share/microshift/blueprint directory that is specific to your platform architecture. See the following example snippet for an explanation of the blueprint sections:

   Generated image builder blueprint example snippet

   name = "microshift_blueprint"
   description = "MicroShift 4.18.1 on x86_64 platform"
   version = "0.0.1"
   modules = []
   groups = []
   
   [[packages]]
   name = "microshift"
   version = "4.18.1"
   ...
   ...
   
   [customizations.services]
   enabled = ["microshift"]
   
   [customizations.firewall]
   ports = ["ssh"]
   ...
   ...
   
   [[containers]]
   source = "quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256:f41e79c17e8b41f1b0a5a32c3e2dd7cd15b8274554d3f1ba12b2598a347475f4"
   
   [[containers]]
   source = "quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev@sha256:dbc65f1fba7d92b36cf7514cd130fe83a9bd211005ddb23a8dc479e0eea645fd"
   ...
   …
   EOF

   • [[packages]] name = "microshift": references for all non-optional MicroShift RPM packages using the same version compatible with the microshift-release-info RPM.
   • [customizations.services] enabled = ["microshift"]: references for automatically enabling MicroShift on system startup and applying default networking settings.
   • [[containers]] source = "quay.io/openshift-release-dev/…​: references for all non-optional MicroShift container images necessary for an offline deployment. The SHA depends on the release you are using.

2. Add the blueprint to the image builder by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli blueprints push microshift_blueprint.toml

Verification

1. Verify the image builder configuration listing only MicroShift packages by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli blueprints depsolve microshift_blueprint | grep microshift

   Example output

   blueprint: microshift_blueprint v0.0.1
       microshift-release-info-4.18.1-202511250827.p0.g4105d3b.assembly.4.18.1.el9.noarch
       microshift-4.18.1-202511250827.p0.g4105d3b.assembly.4.18.1.el9.x86_64

2. Optional: Verify the image builder configuration that lists all of the components to be installed by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli blueprints depsolve microshift_blueprint

Procedure

1. Edit your ostree blueprint by running the following command:

   $ vi <microshift_blueprint.toml>

   Replace <microshift_blueprint.toml> with the name of the blueprint file used for the MicroShift service.

2. Add the following example text to your blueprint:

   [[packages]]
   name = "<microshift_additional_package_name>"
   version = "*"

   • [[packages]] name = Include one stanza for each additional service that you want to add. For example, replace <microshift_additional_package_name> in with the name the RPM for the service you want to include such as microshift-olm. Add another stanza as needed.

Next steps

1. Add custom certificate authorities to the blueprint as needed. For more information, see the following links:

   • Using Shared System Certificates (RHEL 9)
   • Supported image customizations (RHEL 9)
   • Creating and managing OSTree image updates

2. After you finish adding to your blueprint, you can apply the manifests to an active node by building a new RHEL for Edge system and deploying it on the client:

   • Create the ISO.
   • Add the blueprint and build the ISO.
   • Download the ISO and prepare it for use.
   • Do any provisioning that is needed.

Procedure

1. Start an ostree container image build by running the following command:

   $ BUILDID=$(sudo composer-cli compose start-ostree --ref "rhel/{op-system-version-major}/$(uname -m)/edge" <microshift_blueprint> edge-container | awk '/^Compose/ {print $2}')

   Replace <microshift_blueprint> with the name of your blueprint.

   This command also returns the identification (ID) of the build for monitoring.

2. You can check the status of the build periodically by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli compose status

   Example output of a running build

   ID                                     Status     Time                     Blueprint                 Version   Type               Size
   cc3377ec-4643-4483-b0e7-6b0ad0ae6332   RUNNING    Wed Jun 7 12:26:23 2023  microshift_blueprint      0.0.1     edge-container

   Example output of a completed build

   ID                                     Status     Time                      Blueprint              Version   Type               Size
   cc3377ec-4643-4483-b0e7-6b0ad0ae6332   FINISHED   Wed Jun 7 12:32:37 2023   microshift_blueprint   0.0.1     edge-container

   Note

   You can use the watch command to monitor your build if you are familiar with how to start and stop it.

3. Download the container image using the ID and get the image ready for use by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli compose image ${BUILDID}

4. Change the ownership of the downloaded container image to the current user by running the following command:

   $ sudo chown $(whoami). ${BUILDID}-container.tar

5. Add read permissions for the current user to the image by running the following command:

   $ sudo chmod a+r ${BUILDID}-container.tar

6. Bootstrap a server on port 8085 for the ostree container image to be consumed by the ISO build by completing the following steps:

   1. Get the IMAGEID variable result by running the following command:

      $ IMAGEID=$(cat < "./${BUILDID}-container.tar" | sudo podman load | grep -o -P '(?<=sha256[@:])[a-z0-9]*')

   2. Use the IMAGEID variable result to run the Podman command step by running the following command:

      $ sudo podman run -d --name=minimal-microshift-server -p 8085:8080 ${IMAGEID}

      This command also returns the ID of the container saved in the IMAGEID variable for monitoring.

7. Generate the installation program blueprint file by running the following command:

   cat > microshift-installer.toml <<EOF
   name = "microshift-installer"
   
   description = ""
   version = "0.0.0"
   modules = []
   groups = []
   packages = []
   EOF

Procedure

1. Add the blueprint to the image builder by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli blueprints push microshift-installer.toml

2. Start the ostree ISO build by running the following command:

   $ BUILDID=$(sudo composer-cli compose start-ostree --url http://localhost:8085/repo/ --ref "rhel/9/$(uname -m)/edge" microshift-installer edge-installer | awk '{print $2}')

   This command also returns the identification (ID) of the build for monitoring.

3. You can check the status of the build periodically by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli compose status

   Example output for a running build

   ID                                     Status     Time                      Blueprint              Version   Type               Size
   c793c24f-ca2c-4c79-b5b7-ba36f5078e8d   RUNNING    Wed Jun 7 13:22:20 2023   microshift-installer   0.0.0     edge-installer

   Example output for a completed build

   ID                                     Status     Time                      Blueprint              Version   Type               Size
   c793c24f-ca2c-4c79-b5b7-ba36f5078e8d   FINISHED   Wed Jun 7 13:34:49 2023   microshift-installer   0.0.0     edge-installer

Procedure

1. Download the ISO using the ID by running the following command:

   $ sudo composer-cli compose image ${BUILDID}

2. Change the ownership of the downloaded container image to the current user by running the following command:

   $ sudo chown $(whoami). ${BUILDID}-installer.iso

3. Add read permissions for the current user to the image by running the following command:

   $ sudo chmod a+r ${BUILDID}-installer.iso