>> in the last couple of days I tested the avahi usb stick image and how >> it was working with MAAS. > > Hey Diogo, > > Thanks for this. I'm approaching your findings in terms of > documentation, so trying to think around the virtual aspect of this. >> >> I don't have loads of spare machines and/or USB sticks to test this so >> I went with virtual machines. I used VirtualBox so I could test the >> avahi usb stick image, which is a 64bit and my host is 32bit. kvm >> doesn't accept running a 64bit guest on a 32bit host. So, I setup a >> new MAAS server from scratch using the installer from Precise. >> >> For the node I couldn't boot directly from the USB stick, because >> VirtualBox doesn't support that. I created a new virtual disk, >> attached it to the VM and booted from there. I think this allows us to >> test the code that runs once it boots, so I don't think the fact I'm >> not using a real usb stick matter a lot. If you see issues with this >> approach, please let me know. >> > This all sounds great. I guess what I want to know is, how sure are > you that it'll work with a real USB stick? It sounds like all the same > things should happen from what I'm reading here, so in terms of > writing the documentation, we could write about what you did, as if it > was done physically. Is it possible to write about it in this way, or > would we be guessing anything, or taking any different steps? > > If things are going to be different between a virtual set-up and a > physical one, I think we need to either: > - Push for someone to do this physically, even if it means > travel/renting/buying/borrowing equipment. > - Write about it in the best way we can, given our physical > limitations, and highlight potential trouble points for things we are > not 100% sure about, then pay close attention to users would are > reporting back issues. > > Regarding the VM set-up itself: Do you think there would be much of a > use case for people wanting to do things this way in real life, or is > it just a clever get-around that you came up with to get over the > problem of not having the machines and USB sticks physically present? > > If you think it would be something people would like to try themselves > to get their MAAS working, we could write this story as more of a > 'double guide' - how to do it virtually, and how to do it > physically/with USB sticks. > >> To create the VirtualBox disk image: >> >> $ wget -c http://people.canonical.com/~andreserl/maas.img.bz2 >> $ bunzip2 maas.img.bz2 >> $ VBoxManage convertdd maas.img avahi-node-02-usb.vdi >> >> I tried a couple of different virtual network setups in VirtualBox but >> the only one I could get working was bridged mode on a virtual adapter >> (lxcbr0). That way both VMs have internet access and see each other. > > Can you tell me a bit more about what a virtual adaptor is? This part > may be key here. It's important that all the different parts can see > each other, so that avahi can do what it needs to do, and be 'found.' >> >> So the network looks like: >> lxcbr0: 10.0.3.1 bridging the MAAS network to my internal network >> MAAS server: 10.0.0.3.2 >> >> Once I had this set up, I could boot the node from the avahi disk >> image created above. The node booted, found the MAAS server and kept >> making requests like this: >> >> "GET /MAAS/api/1.0/nodes/?op=is_registered&mac_address=08:00:27:50:5e:a3 >> HTTP/1.1" 200 205 "-" "curl/7.22.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) >> libcurl/7.22.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1 >> zlib/1.2.3.4 libidn/1.23 librtmp/2.3 >> > What does this request mean? > >> At this point the node showed the login prompt and the node hostname >> set to ubuntu.1 >> >> I then went to the MAAS UI and added that node MAC address and >> architecture type. The node displayed as "Comissioning". >> > This sounds good to me. > >> Meanwhile in the node screen, it booted into kexec, the hostname >> changed to node-080027505ea3 and gave me the login prompt. After some >> time, the node was turned off and its status changed to "Ready" in the >> MAAS UI. >> > About how long are we talking here? > >> In summary, it works but I think it could be much better. One thing I >> found surprising, is the login prompts. If you are looking at the >> screen it seems like the system is ready to use, but if you wait long >> enough, it'll suddenly boot into kexec or turn off the machine. I >> think it'd be a better user experience if we showed the user that the >> node is trying to contact the MAAS server (on the first step) or that >> the node is doing its thing once it's executing kexec. >> > Yes definitely - the user isn't going to know what's happening if > they're waiting a long time. We need some kind of message here. > >> Another thing I was expecting is the avahi usb disk to behave like pxe >> booting. I'd boot from it and the node would find the MAAS server in >> the network, enlist itself (show up as "Declared" in the MAAS ui) then >> I could accept & commission it. The way it works now I have to >> manually add the node's MAC address into the UI. Maybe it was a >> misunderstanding on my part of how the Avahi story should work, but I >> thought I'd raise this as well. > > I'm not sure about this myself. Any ideas guys? >> >> What you think about these issues? Need bugs for them? If there are >> other use cases using the avahi image that you'd like me to try, >> please contact me. > > Thanks for all this Diogo. >> >> Cheers, >> -- >> Diogo M. Matsubara >> >> -- >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~private-canonical-maas >> Post to : private-canonical-m...@lists.launchpad.net >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~private-canonical-maas >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
-- Matthew Revell Launchpad Product Manager Canonical https://launchpad.net/~matthew.revell _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~launchpad-dev Post to : launchpad-dev@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~launchpad-dev More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
