Installing from a Bonded Internet ISO for Debian 10¶

Nodes can be provisioned using the ISO images available from the management server. These bootable images automatically install and configure Bonding on a device. Images are available in the ISO format and must be written to a USB disk or burned to a CD-R/CD-RW. Only 64-bit (amd64) images are available.

Due to its simplicity, this is the recommended installation method for small to medium-sized installations.

Not all installation packages are contained in the ISOs. Packages and configuration are downloaded during the installation process, so you must have Internet access while provisioning with the custom ISOs.

Note

Installation media for this should be regenerated regularly to ensure that the most recent version of bonding is being installed.

The Debian 10 installation media will provision a device with a base image of Debian 10 which already has bonding installed. This method will install whichever version of bonding the installer was created with.

The installation process expects networking to be available so that it can download the initial configuration. By default, DHCP will be performed on all interfaces until a working network is found. If a DHCP server is not available see Setting custom network parameters during installation to configure static networking.

The installer will ask you to confirm you want to overwrite the existing disk and then install the image onto the device. The installer will then ask you for the node key. You can leave this blank to setup as a default bonder, or enter a key to download and apply the node’s configuration.

Downloading ISO files¶

The provisioning ISOs are available in the Space section of the application, under the Node Setup tab of a space page. This tab is shown only to users who have the “node setup” permission.

First load the list of spaces:

Then select the space whose ISO you want to download:

Finally, load the Node Setup tab:

If no ISOs are listed, the space has been configured not to have its own ISO files. In this case, do one of the following:

Update the space settings so that ISOs are created for the space, or ask an administrator to do so if you don’t have the appropriate permissions.
Ask an administrator in the parent space for the URL of an ISO file from the parent space. The ISO can be used to image a node in your own space, but will have the default root password specified in the parent space.

Mounting the ISO¶

The ISO file needs to be made available to the node hardware somehow. After loading the ISO, you’ll also need to update the BIOS so the hardware boots from it; please refer to your hardware instructions or review the steps for some common bonder hardware.

Use one of the following methods:

Virtual guest CD-ROM¶

When imaging a virtual guest, use your virtualization provider’s console to mount the ISO in the guest’s CD drive.

USB disk¶

Create a bootable USB disk from the ISO file by following the instructions at Creating bootable USB disks from ISO images.

DVD¶

Note

The Debian 10 installation media is too large to fit on a CD.

For instructions on burning ISO images to DVD, refer to documentation from your DVD-ROM drive manufacturer or operating system vendor.

Terminal interface¶

If the installation disk or CD is not the highest boot priority, the BIOS will have a boot menu that will let you select or reorder device boot order. Some common keys are tab, F12, F10, F8 or F2. Consult manufacturer documentation details.

The initial boot menu will present the following install options:

Install bonding: the install will prompt for a node key and download the node’s configuration from the management server.
Install default bonder: the install will not prompt for a node key and will provision the device as a default bonder.

For each of the above there are 3 console options:

Graphical console: install using a physical display and keyboard connected to the device.
Serial console 1: install using the first serial interface of the device, with 115,200 baud, no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no flow control.
Serial console 2: install using the second serial interface of the device, with all of the same remaining options listed above.

Note

Devices come with a variety of default serial settings. You may need to update the serial settings of the device to 115,200 baud. To change the settings, refer to the manufacturer’s documentation or read these examples.

After the install option is selected, you may be prompted destroying all data on the disk. Select “Yes” to continue with the bonding install.

Setting custom network parameters during installation¶

When installing on a network that does not have a DHCP server available, static configuration can be set via the GNU GRUB menu that is shown when the ISO boots.

While the menu is displayed, use the arrow keys to select the desired installation type but do not hit the enter key. Instead, hit the e key to edit the menu entry. Using the arrow keys, move to the line that starts with $linux and ends with ip=dhcp. Change ip=dhcp to the appropriate static configuration options with with the following format:

ip=<ip-address>::<gateway>:<netmask>::<interface>:none:<nameserver>

For example, assuming an interface of enp2s0, an IP of 192.168.4.10/24 a gateway of 192.168.1.1, and a nameserver of 8.8.8.8, use the following parameters:

ip=192.168.1.10::192.168.1.1:255.255.255.0::enp2s0:none:8.8.8.8

Hit Ctrl-x or F10 to continue with the install.

If you are having issues, you can add the rd.debug option as well to see what the boot process is doing.

Note that the interfaces will be named according to predictable interface naming rules. The name of the interface will be consistent for a specific hardware configuration. If you do not know what the name of the desired device will be, add the following option:

rd.break=pre-mount

This will bring up a shell allowing inspection of the system. To list the interfaces, run:

ip addr

If you are familiar with ip commands, you may also set up and test the network manually in this shell. Hitting Ctrl-d will continue the installation process.