Chapter 5. Creating system images by using RHEL image builder web console interface
RHEL image builder is a tool for creating custom system images. To control RHEL image builder and create your custom system images, you can use the web console interface.
5.1. Accessing the RHEL image builder dashboard in the RHEL web console Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
With the cockpit-composer plugin for the RHEL web console, you can manage image builder blueprints and composes using a graphical interface.
Prerequisites
- You must have root access to the system.
- You installed RHEL image builder.
-
You installed the
cockpit-composerpackage.
Procedure
-
On the host, open
https://<_localhost_>:9090/in a web browser. - Log in to the web console as the root user.
To display the RHEL image builder controls, click the button, in the upper-left corner of the window.
The RHEL image builder dashboard opens, listing existing blueprints, if any.
5.2. Creating a blueprint in the web console interface Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
Creating a blueprint is a necessary step before you build your customized RHEL system image. All the customizations available are optional. You can create a customized blueprint by using the following options:
- Using the CLI. See Supported image customizations.
- Using the web console. Follow the steps:
These blueprint customizations are available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 or later versions and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 or later versions.
Prerequisites
- You have opened the RHEL image builder app from the web console in a browser. See Accessing RHEL image builder GUI in the RHEL web console.
Procedure
Click in the upper-right corner.
A dialog wizard with fields for the blueprint name and description opens.
On the
Detailspage:- Enter the name of the blueprint and, optionally, its description.
- Click .
Optional: In the
Packagespage:-
On the
Available packagessearch, enter the package name - Click the button to move it to the Chosen packages field.
- Repeat the previous steps to search and include as many packages as you want.
Click .
NoteThese customizations are all optional unless otherwise specified.
-
On the
-
On the
Kernelpage, enter a kernel name and the command-line arguments. On the
File systempage, you can selectUse automatic partitioningorManually configure partitionsfor your image file system. For manually configuring the partitions, complete the following steps:Click the button.
The
Configure partitionssection opens, showing the configuration based on Red Hat standards and security guides.From the dropdown menu, provide details to configure the partitions:
For the
Mount pointfield, select one of the following mount point type options:-
/- the root mount point -
/app -
/boot -
/data -
/home -
/opt -
/srv -
/usr -
/usr/local /varYou can also add an additional path to the
Mount point, such as/tmp. For example:/varas a prefix and/tmpas an additional path results in/var/tmp.NoteDepending on the Mount point type you choose, the file system type changes to
xfs.
-
For the
Minimum size partitionfield of the file system, enter the needed minimum partition size. In the Minimum size dropdown menu, you can use common size units such asGiB,MiB, orKiB. The default unit isGiB.NoteMinimum sizemeans that RHEL image builder can still increase the partition sizes, in case they are too small to create a working image.
To add more partitions, click the button. If you see the following error message:
Duplicate partitions: Only one partition at each mount point can be created., you can:- Click the button to remove the duplicated partition.
- Choose a new mount point for the partition you want to create.
- After you finish the partitioning configuration, click .
On the
Servicespage, you can enable or disable services:- Enter the service names you want to enable or disable, separating them by a comma, by space, or by pressing the key. Click .
-
Enter the
Enabled services. -
Enter the
Disabled services.
On the
Firewallpage, set up your firewall setting:-
Enter the
Ports, and the firewall services you want to enable or disable. - Click the button to manage your firewall rules for each zone independently. Click .
-
Enter the
On the
Userspage, add a users by following the steps:- Click .
-
Enter a
Username, aPassword, and aSSH key. You can also mark the user as a privileged user, by clicking theServer administratorcheckbox. Click .
On the
Groupspage, add groups by completing the following steps:Click the button:
-
Enter a
Group nameand aGroup ID. You can add more groups. Click .
-
Enter a
On the
SSH keyspage, add a key:Click the button.
- Enter the SSH key.
-
Enter a
User. Click .
On the
Timezonepage, set your time zone settings:On the
Timezonefield, enter the time zone you want to add to your system image. For example, add the following time zone format: "US/Eastern".If you do not set a time zone, the system uses Universal Time, Coordinated (UTC) as default.
-
Enter the
NTP servers. Click .
On the
Localepage, complete the following steps:-
On the
Keyboardsearch field, enter the package name you want to add to your system image. For example: ["en_US.UTF-8"]. -
On the
Languagessearch field, enter the package name you want to add to your system image. For example: "us". Click .
-
On the
On the
Otherspage, complete the following steps:-
On the
Hostnamefield, enter the hostname you want to add to your system image. If you do not add a hostname, the operating system determines the hostname. -
Mandatory only for the Simplifier Installer image: On the
Installation Devicesfield, enter a valid node for your system image. For example:dev/sda1. Click .
-
On the
Mandatory only when building images for FDO: On the
FIDO device onboardingpage, complete the following steps:On the
Manufacturing server URLfield, enter the following information:-
On the
DIUN public key insecurefield, enter the insecure public key. -
On the
DIUN public key hashfield, enter the public key hash. -
On the
DIUN public key root certsfield, enter the public key root certs. Click .
-
On the
On the
OpenSCAPpage, complete the following steps:-
On the
Datastreamfield, enter thedatastreamremediation instructions you want to add to your system image. -
On the
Profile IDfield, enter theprofile_idsecurity profile you want to add to your system image. Click .
-
On the
Mandatory only when building images that use Ignition: On the
Ignitionpage, complete the following steps:-
On the
Firstboot URLfield, enter the package name you want to add to your system image. -
On the
Embedded Datafield, drag or upload your file. Click .
-
On the
-
. On the
Reviewpage, review the details about the blueprint. Click .
The RHEL image builder view opens, listing existing blueprints.
5.3. Importing a blueprint in the RHEL image builder web console interface Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can import and use an already existing blueprint. The system automatically resolves all the dependencies.
Prerequisites
- You have opened the RHEL image builder app from the web console in a browser.
- You have a blueprint that you want to import to use in the RHEL image builder web console interface.
Procedure
-
On the RHEL image builder dashboard, click . The
Import blueprintwizard opens. -
From the
Uploadfield, either drag or upload an existing blueprint. This blueprint can be in eitherTOMLorJSONformat. - Click . The dashboard lists the blueprint you imported.
Verification
When you click the blueprint you imported, you have access to a dashboard with all the customizations for the blueprint that you imported.
To verify the packages that have been selected for the imported blueprint, navigate to the
Packagestab.- To list all the package dependencies, click . The list is searchable and can be ordered.
Next steps
Optional: To modify any customization:
-
From the
Customizationsdashboard, click the customization you want to make a change. Optionally, you can click to navigate to all the available customization options.
-
From the
5.4. Exporting a blueprint from the RHEL image builder web console interface Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can export a blueprint to use the customizations in another system. You can export the blueprint in the TOML or in the JSON format. Both formats work on the CLI and also in the API interface.
Prerequisites
- You have opened the RHEL image builder app from the web console in a browser.
- You have a blueprint that you want to export.
Procedure
- On the image builder dashboard, select the blueprint you want to export.
-
Click
Export blueprint. TheExport blueprintwizard opens. Click the button to download the blueprint as a file or click the button to copy the blueprint to the clipboard.
- Optional: Click the button to copy the blueprint.
Verification
- Open the exported blueprint in a text editor to inspect and review it.
5.5. Creating a system image by using RHEL image builder in the web console interface Copy linkLink copied to clipboard!
You can create a customized RHEL system image from a blueprint by completing the following steps.
Prerequisites
- You opened the RHEL image builder app from the web console in a browser.
- You created a blueprint.
Procedure
- In the RHEL image builder dashboard, click the blueprint tab.
- On the blueprint table, find the blueprint you want to build an image.
- On the right side of the chosen blueprint, click . The Create image dialog wizard opens.
On the Image output page, complete the following steps:
- From the Select a blueprint list, select the image type you want.
From the Image output type list, select the image output type you want.
Depending on the image type you select, you need to add further details.
- Click .
On the Review page, review the details about the image creation and click .
The image build starts and takes up to 20 minutes to complete.
Verification
After the image finishes building, you can:
Download the image.
- On the RHEL image builder dashboard, click the Node options (⫶) menu and select Download image.
Download the logs of the image to inspect the elements and verify if any issue is found.
- On the RHEL image builder dashboard, click the Node options (⫶) menu and select Download logs.