- Combine KVM definition and Kickstart OS setup in a single module declaration.
- Create virtual machines in a centralized way with full OS setup from your Puppet master.
- Simply define which Linux flavor to install by pointing to the right HTTP mirror.
- Can be faster than bootstrapping an image, especially if you want an up to date OS.
You'll find 3 main themes to define a virtual machine: network, partitioning and packages.
The simplest definition will only need network settings and will create a CentOS 6.5 VM with 2 vcpu, 2GB of RAM and a 40GB disk image:
vkick::guest { 'instance1.domain.com':
root_intial_passwd => '$5$random_salt$cZtPYSe77B7/NJHzUSHr1AEOMnQQpIbLWPmIboI2nG3',
ipaddress => "173.255.197.131",
subnetmask => "255.255.255.0",
broadcast => "173.255.197.255",
gateway => "173.255.197.254",
}
To define a bigger Fedora 20 VM with a LAMP stack, download and install PuppetLabs repo meta then finally install the Puppet client:
vkick::guest { 'instance2.domain.com':
vcpu => 4,
ram => 16384,
disk_size => 120,
os_variant => 'fedora16',
http_mirror => 'http://fedora.mirrors.ovh.net/linux/releases/20/Fedora/x86_64/os/',
http_updates => 'http://fr2.rpmfind.net/linux/fedora/linux/updates/20/x86_64/',
timezone => 'Europe/London',
packages => ['httpd', 'mariadb-server', 'MySQL-python', 'python']
packages_to_download => ['http://yum.puppetlabs.com/puppetlabs-release-fedora-20.noarch.rpm'],
packages_post_install => ['puppet'],
pass_algorithm => 'sha512',
root_intial_passwd => '$6$random_salt$TNrwyNX0/aJaE8Ee/.dchDiGLxINLMiRTX.DX0SpGzYXE9MDgCq8qYsEBqBe5pPUKtPTUxoTXJyIgdsWQ1Csp0',
ipaddress => "173.255.197.131",
subnetmask => "255.255.255.0",
broadcast => "173.255.197.255",
gateway => "173.255.197.254",
}
Adapt HTTP mirrors to a server nearby and serving the right version for your CPU architecture. The CPU architecture is inherited from, the host's CPU, there for only the number of vcpu/thread is left to assign. Without specifying a partition scheme, the follow settings will be used:
- An ext4 /boot partition of 512MB.
- 2GB of swap.
- 10GB for an ext4 / partition as part of a LVM volume.
- 4GB for an ext4 /home partition as part of a LVM volume.
- All remaining space of the specified disk size will be used for a /var ext4 partition as part of a LVM volume.
- A working network bridge defined on the host.
- A CPU with support for virtualization via KVM.
- An access to the internet from the guest's IP or a local HTTP mirror.
- A version of python-virtinst equal or superior to 0.500.4-1 to support injecting Kickstart definition without local ISO or floppy installation image.
- Only works for guest OS supporting Kickstart files such as RedHat, CentOS, Fedora and Ubuntu (would need custom Kickstart template to, among other things, use apt-get rather than yum).
- Requires a guest setup with static IP, either public or private if local mirror available.
- Doesn't create other user accounts than root on a guest.