Chapter 9. Using boot disks to provision hosts

1. Create a host entry in Satellite.
2. Generate a boot disk ISO image.
3. Boot your host from the ISO image.
4. The host connects to Templates Capsule and starts installing the operating system.
5. When the installation completes, the host registers to Satellite Server by using an activation key, performs necessary configuration, and installs management tools from the Red Hat Satellite Client 6 repository.

Procedure

1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Hosts > Create Host.
2. In the Name field, enter a name for the host.
3. Optional: Click the Organization tab and change the organization context to match your requirement.
4. Optional: Click the Location tab and change the location context to match your requirement.
5. From the Host Group list, select a host group that you want to assign your host to. That host group will populate the form.
6. Click the Interfaces tab, and on the interface of the host, click Edit.

7. Verify that the fields are populated with values. Note in particular:

   • Satellite automatically assigns an IP address for the new host.
   • The Name from the Host tab becomes the DNS name.
   • Ensure that Satellite automatically selects the Managed, Primary, and Provision options for the first interface on the host. If not, select them.

8. Click OK to save. To add another interface, click Add Interface. You can select only one interface for Provision and Primary.

   For more information about network interfaces, see Configuring network interfaces in Managing hosts.

9. Click the Operating System tab. Verify that all fields contain correct values.

10. Click Resolve in Provisioning Templates to check the new host can identify the right provisioning templates to use.

    For more information about associating provisioning templates, see Section 5.7, “Associating templates with operating systems”.

11. On the Parameters tab, click Add parameter. Add a parameter named kt_activation_keys, select the string type, and enter the name of the activation key as the value. The activation key has to belong to the same organization as your host. You can also enter a comma-separated list of multiple activation keys.
12. Click Submit to save the host details. This creates a host entry and the host details page appears.
13. Download the boot disk from Satellite Server. On the host details page, click the vertical ellipsis and select Full host 'My_Host_Name' image.

CLI procedure

1. Create a host:

   $ hammer host create \
   --build true \
   --enabled true \
   --hostgroup "My_Host_Group" \
   --location "My_Location" \
   --mac "My_MAC_Address" \
   --managed true \
   --name "My_Host_Name" \
   --organization "My_Organization"

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2. Configure the network interface of your host:

   $ hammer host interface update \
   --host "My_Host_Name" \
   --managed true \
   --primary true \
   --provision true

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3. Download the Full host image boot disk from Satellite Server:

   $ hammer bootdisk host \
   --full true \
   --host My_Host_Name

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Procedure

1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Subnets.
2. Click the dropdown menu in the Actions column of the required subnet.
3. Select Subnet generic image.

Procedure

1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Hosts > Templates > Provisioning Templates.
2. Create a provisioning template, or clone and edit an existing template. For more information, see Section 5.3, “Creating provisioning templates”.
3. In the template, click the Template tab.

4. In the Template editor field, add the create_users snippet to the %post section:

   <%= snippet('create_users') %>

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5. Select the Default checkbox.
6. Click the Association tab.
7. From the Application Operating Systems list, select an operating system.
8. Click Submit to save the provisioning template.

9. Create a host that is associated with the provisioning template or rebuild a host using the operating system associated with the modified template. For more information, see Creating a Host in Managing hosts.

   The SSH keys of the Owned by user are added automatically when the create_users snippet is executed during the provisioning process. You can set Owned by to an individual user or a user group. If you set Owned by to a user group, the SSH keys of all users in the user group are added automatically.