Chapter 2. Installing RHEL AI on bare metal

Prerequisites

• You have downloaded the Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI ISO image from https://access.redhat.com/.

Procedure

• Interactive GUI

  You can use the interactive Red Hat Enterprise Linux graphical installer and the RHEL AI ISO image to deploy RHEL AI on your machine. For more information about booting RHEL using an ISO file using the GUI, see the Interactively installing RHEL from installation media.

• Kickstart with embedded container image

  1. You can customize the RHEL AI installation by using your own Kickstart file.

     1. Create your own Kickstart file with your preferred parameters. For more information about creating Kickstart files, see the Creating Kickstart files in the RHEL documentation.

        Sample Kickstart file for RHEL AI called rhelai-bootc.ks

        # use the embedded container image
        ostreecontainer --url=/run/install/repo/container --transport=oci --no-signature-verification
        
        # switch bootc to point to Red Hat container image for upgrades
        %post
        bootc switch --mutate-in-place --transport registry registry.redhat.io/rhelai1/bootc-nvidia-rhel9:1.1
        touch /etc/cloud/cloud-init.disabled
        %end
        
        ## user customizations follow
        
        # customize this for your target system network environment
        network --bootproto=dhcp --device=link --activate
        
        # customize this for your target system desired disk partitioning
        clearpart --all --initlabel --disklabel=gpt
        reqpart --add-boot
        part / --grow --fstype xfs
        
        # services can also be customized via Kickstart
        firewall --disabled
        services --enabled=sshd
        
        # optionally add a user
        user --name=cloud-user --groups=wheel --plaintext --password <password>
        sshkey --username cloud-user "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nza....."
        
        # if desired, inject an SSH key for root
        rootpw --iscrypted locked
        sshkey --username root "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nza..."
        reboot

        The sample Kickstart uses the embedded container image in the ISO file, signaled by the ostreecontainer command with the --url=/run/install/repo/container parameter. The bootc switch parameter points to the Red Hat registry for future updates and then you can add your own customizations.

     2. You need to embed the Kickstart into the RHEL AI ISO so your machine can restart and deploy RHEL AI. In the following example, rhelai-bootc.ks is the name of the Kickstart file you’re embedding into the boot ISO. The mkksiso utility is found in the lorax rpm package.

        $ mkksiso rhelai-bootc.ks <downloaded-iso-image> rhelai-bootc-ks.iso

        where

        <downloaded-iso-image>

        Specify the ISO image you downloaded from access.redhat.com.

     3. You can then boot your machine using this boot ISO and the installation starts automatically. After the installation is complete, the host reboots and you can login to the new system using the credentials used in the Kickstart file.

        Important

        Be aware that having a custom Kickstart in your ISO will automatically start the installation, and disk partitioning, without prompting the user. Based on configuration, the local storage may be completely wiped or overwritten.

• Kickstart with custom container image

  You can customize a Kickstart file with your preferred parameters to boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI on your machine

  1. Create your own Kickstart file with your preferred parameters. For more information on creating Kickstart files, see the Creating Kickstart files in the RHEL documentation.

     Sample Kickstart file for RHEL AI called rhelai-bootc.ks

     # customize this for your target system network environment
     network --bootproto=dhcp --device=link --activate
     
     # customize this for your target system desired disk partitioning
     clearpart --all --initlabel --disklabel=gpt
     reqpart --add-boot
     part / --grow --fstype xfs
     
     # customize this to include your own bootc container
     ostreecontainer --url quay.io/<your-user-name>/nvidia-bootc:latest
     
     # services can also be customized via Kickstart
     firewall --disabled
     services --enabled=sshd
     
     # optionally add a user
     user --name=cloud-user --groups=wheel --plaintext --password <password>
     sshkey --username cloud-user "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nza....."
     
     # if desired, inject an SSH key for root
     rootpw --iscrypted locked
     sshkey --username root "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nza..."
     reboot

  2. You need to embed the Kickstart into the RHEL AI ISO so your machine can restart and deploy RHEL AI. In the following example, rhelai-bootc.ks is the name of the Kickstart file you’re embedding into the boot ISO. The mkksiso utility is found in the lorax rpm package.

     $ mkksiso rhelai-bootc.ks <downloaded-iso-image> rhelai-bootc-ks.iso

     where

     <downloaded-iso-image>

     Specify the ISO image you downloaded from access.redhat.com.

  3. You can then boot your machine using this boot ISO and the installation starts automatically. After the installation is complete, the host reboots and you can login to the new system using the credentials used in the Kickstart file.

     Important

     Be aware that having a custom Kickstart in your ISO will automatically start the installation, and disk partitioning, without prompting the user. Based on configuration, the local storage may be completely wiped or overwritten.

Verification

• To verify that your Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI tools installed correctly, you need to run the ilab command:

  $ ilab

  Example output

  $ ilab
  Usage: ilab [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...
  
    CLI for interacting with InstructLab.
  
    If this is your first time running ilab, it's best to start with `ilab
    config init` to create the environment.
  
  Options:
    --config PATH  Path to a configuration file.  [default:
                   /home/auser/.config/instructlab/config.yaml]
    -v, --verbose  Enable debug logging (repeat for even more verbosity)
    --version      Show the version and exit.
    --help         Show this message and exit.
  
  Commands:
    config    Command Group for Interacting with the Config of InstructLab.
    data      Command Group for Interacting with the Data generated by...
    model     Command Group for Interacting with the Models in InstructLab.
    system    Command group for all system-related command calls
    taxonomy  Command Group for Interacting with the Taxonomy of InstructLab.
  
  Aliases:
    chat      model chat
    convert   model convert
    diff      taxonomy diff
    download  model download
    evaluate  model evaluate
    generate  data generate
    init      config init
    list      model list
    serve     model serve
    sysinfo   system info
    test      model test
    train     model train