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Debian-LAN Setup_A

Network Topology

Machine Types

User and Machine Management

Details

To install a machine, you have to add the hardware MAC address to /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf. This can be done by hand or with help of the command:

debian-lan add2dhcp workstation

The command adds all MAC addresses found in the syslog. If you replace workstation by diskless, the HW addresses are added as diskless clients. (So make sure you first connect only one type of machines and after adding these continue with the other type).

Distributing Kerberos keytabs to clients: After the installation of a workstation from the mainserver, use the command:

debian-lan addmachine workstationXX

on the mainserver to copy the Kerberos keytab to workstationXX. Diskless clients do not need this procedure to be activated.

Adding users: Use the command:

debian-lan adduser <list of usernames separated by spaces>

or

debian-lan adduser <path to file> 

to add users. The file is a simple text file containing on each line a single username and optionally the user's password separated by spaces. If you omit the password, debian-lan will create a random password and append it to the user's line in the file.

Removing users: Use the command deluser in the debian-lan script.

For more details take a look at the debian-lan script itself.

Diskless Clients

/!\ The FAI classes DISKLESS_* work only on the mainserver, making the classes independent has not been done yet.

The mainserver might serve the root file system for diskless machines. To enable diskless machines, install the mainserver with the partitioning scheme LVM6_A replaced by LVM7_A in class/50-host-classes, which will add another partition for /opt, and add the class DISKLESS_SERVER. After installation and the creation of the FAI nfsroot (fai-setup), execute:

export LC_ALL=C
fai -vNu diskless dirinstall /opt/live/filesystem.dir/ |tee /var/log/fai/fai-diskless.log

This will install the chroot of the diskless machines in /opt. In addition, swaping over the network is activated and the PXE configuration prepared. Unknown machines and the disklessXX hosts will be booted as diskless clients.

Known Issues and Work-Arounds