(Sorry in advance if this question is completely basic and I should have found out myself... I didn't find a solution in the documentation.)
I need to set up a FAI server that provides a - what I believe - rather flexible installation service based on profiles, not on host names, or MAC addresses. 1. The system administrator should plug in a virgin PC an let it boot from the network; 2. While the PC broadcasts its MAC address the administrator would open a web interface on the FAI server which lists the MAC address of the PC requesting installation; 3. The administrator selects the MAC address, and specifies what to install on this PC: an installation profile (e.g. "DEVELOPMENT", "TERMINAL", "CALCNODE", etc.), an IP address, a hostname. With my current knowledge of FAI I would solve the installation task on the FAI server side as follows, for every single installation request: i. Create an entry in the /etc/.../dhcpd.conf (maybe /srv/... may be a better place in future as the file will grow in size) adding an entry for the MAC address and the specified IP address and host name; ii. Use fai-chboot to create a network boot configuration profile for the client to-be-installed, specifying the requested installation profile; iii. When the client boots FAI will install, and at the end of the successful installation the FAI server removes the reference to the bootloader file from the host specification in /etc/.../dhcpd.conf for the installed client, and removes the previously created network boot configuration profile. Is this the recommended way to go? If not, what do you suggest? Sorry again *if* this topic *is* covered by the documentation. (In this case please let me know where to find it.) Thanks for your help and suggestions, Peter
