4.2. Virtuozzo Kickstart Options

Along with standard Linux options, Virtuozzo provides a number of specific parameters and keywords that you need to add to your kickstart file.

The table below lists all available parameters and keywords.

Table 4.1. General Parameters

ParameterDescription

key <key>

Mandatory. Installs the Virtuozzo product key on the server. This key is needed to start using the Virtuozzo 7 software.

cep [--agree|--disagree]

Mandatory. Specify whether you want to participate in the Customer Experience Program.

  • --agree. Join the program. In this case, Virtuozzo will periodically collect the information about the configuration of your physical server and virtual machines and containers and use it to make the product better fit your needs. No private information like your name, e-mail address, phone number, and keyboard input will be collected.
  • --disagree. Do not join the program.

vznetcfg

Optional. Invokes the vznetcfg utility with the specified options. This parameter accepts all options that you can normally pass to vznetcfg. The options and their values should be separated by an equals sign (for example, vznetcfg --net=virt_network1:eth0). For detailed information on the vznecfg options, refer to the vznetcfg section in the Virtuozzo 7 Command Line Reference Guide.

vziptables

Deprecated. To configure iptables modules for containers, use the NETFILTER parameter in the container configuration file (for details, see the Virtuozzo Command Line Reference Guide).

vztturlmap

Optional. Sets the URL of the repository and repository mirrors to use for handling EZ OS and application templates. By default, Virtuozzo uses the following URLs:

  • http://fedora.redhat.com for handling Fedora-related templates.
  • http://mirror.centos.org for handling CentOS-related templates.
  • http://archive.ubuntu.com for handling Ubuntu-related templates.
  • http://download.opensuse.org for handling openSUSE-related templates.
  • ftp://ftp.suse.com for handling SUSE-related templates.
  • ftp://ftp.de.debian.org for handling Debian-related templates.
  • http://vzdownload.swsoft.com for obtaining specific software packages for the aforementioned Linux distributions. These packages are necessary for the correct operation of your OS templates.

To use your own URL, you first need to specify the name of the respective Linux distribution, followed by = and the desired URL (e.g., $FC_SERVER=http://myrepository.com to redefine the default repository for Fedora). To use several URLs, separate them by space.

Note

Note: Some Linux distributions (e.g., Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) do not have official repositories. So you should manually create software repositories before starting to use OS templates for such distributions. Refer to the Virtuozzo 7 Templates Management Guide to learn how you can do it.

up2date

Optional. Does the following:

  1. Configure the repositories with updates for Virtuozzo software and templates.
  2. Check the repositories for available updates.
  3. Download and install the updated packages, if any, on the server.

Using this option, you can ensure that you have the latest Virtuozzo software packages and templates right after the installation, without the need to manually check for updates.

nosfxtemplate

Optional. Skips installing the pre-created and pre-cached EZ templates on the server. The current version of Virtuozzo is shipped with only one pre-created and pre-cached OS EZ template: centos-6-x86_64.

%eztemplates

Optional. Installs EZ templates on the server. All available templates are listed in the /Packages directory of the Virtuozzo distribution. You can easily identify them by the -ez-<number>.swsoft.noarch.rpm ending (e.g., centos-6-x86-ez-3.0.0-14.swsoft.noarch.rpm). The names of the templates must be specified without the ending and separated by the new-line character, for example:

%eztemplates
centos-6-x86
devel-centos-6-x86

When using this parameter, keep in mind the following:

  • If you specify an empty list, no templates will be installed on the server.
  • If you skip this parameter, all templates included in the Virtuozzo distribution will be installed on the server.

  • You can indicate the --cache argument next to a respective OS template to cache it after installation. To cache all specified OS templates, specify --cache after %eztemplates.

    Note

    Note: To cache OS templates for some Linux distributions (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server), you should first create special repositories storing the necessary software packages for these OS templates. Refer to the Virtuozzo 7 Templates Management Guide to learn how you can do it.

  • This option must be specified as the first one after the keys.

ignoredisk

Optional. Ignores the specified drives or all drives except the one specified. Used with one of the following arguments:

  • --drives=<drive>[,…] - A comma-separated list of drives to ignore. If a server has drives other than those specified in this option, the installer will ask what to do with them.
  • --only-use=<drive> - Ignore every drive except the specified.

prlnet [--ip-scope-start <start_IP_addr> --ip-scope-end <end_IP_addr>] [--ip <adapter_IP_addr>[/<mask>]] [--dhcp-ip <DHCP_IP_addr>] --name <name>

Optional. Defines the range of IP addresses the DHCP server will be able to allocate to virtual machines in host-only networks; virtual adapter IP address and subnet mask; DHCP server IP address; and virtual network name. If you omit one or more parameters, the following default values will be used:

  • --ip-scope-start: 10.37.130.1,
  • --ip-scope-end: 10.37.130.254,
  • --ip: 10.37.130.2/255.255.255.0,
  • --dhcp-ip: 10.37.130.1.

%packages

Specifies the package groups to install on the server:

  • @base and @core (mandatory). Installs the packages required for the correct operation of your system.
  • @vz (mandatory). Installs the packages specific to the OS virtualization part of Virtuozzo.
  • @ps (mandatory). Installs the packages specific to the hardware virtualization part of Virtuozzo.
  • @clustering (optional). Installs the packages required for creating clusters from Virtuozzo systems.
  • @templates (optional). Installs all templates included in the Virtuozzo distribution. If you want to install specific templates only, use the %eztemplates option.
  • @pstorage (optional). Installs the packages required for setting up a Virtuozzo storage cluster and configuring the server as an MDS server, a chunk server, or a client.
  • @optional (optional). Installs additional packages that are not installed with Virtuozzo by default.

Table 4.2. Parameters Specific to Virtuozzo storage

ParameterDescription

pstorage mds_create <name> --ip=<IP_address>

Does the following:

  • Creates a Virtuozzo storage cluster with the name of <name>. A name may contain the characters a-z, A-Z, 0-9 as well as minus (-) and underscore (_) signs.
  • Configures the server as a metadata server for the Virtuozzo storage cluster and binds the MDS service to the IP address of <IP_address>.

Metadata servers are part of any Virtuozzo storage cluster. They store metadata about chunk servers, data chunks, and chunk replicas. You must set up at least one metadata server for a cluster to function.

Note

Notes:

  1. MDS servers must have static IP addresses assigned. If you are using DHCP, you should map an IP address to the MAC address of the MDS server.
  2. For detailed information on deploying and managing Virtuozzo storage clusters, consult the Virtuozzo storage Administrator’s Guide.
  3. The current version of Virtuozzo storage supports setting up one cluster per kickstart file. So when specifying several pstorage commands, make sure that all commands use the same cluster name.

pstorage clusterpw <passwd>

Mandatory. Creates a new or supplies the existing password when creating or joining Virtuozzo storage clusters.

Note

Note: Keeping plain-text passwords in the kickstart file is a security risk if your network is not isolated. In this case, consider installing Virtuozzo first and configuring Virtuozzo storage clusters manually later.

pstorage mds_join <name> --ip= <IP_address>

Does the following:

  • Configures the server as a metadata server for the Virtuozzo storage cluster with the name of <name>.
  • Sets the IP address of <IP_address> to connect to the metadata server.

pstorage reg_timeout <minutes>

Sets the number of minutes during which MDS servers, chunk servers, and clients can try to register with the master MDS server and join the cluster. Every minute, one registration attempt is made. The default value is 0, which assumes that the master MDS server is already up and running.

pstorage cs_join <name> [<options>]

Configures the server as a chunk server for the Virtuozzo storage cluster with the name of <name>. You can use the following options with this command:

  • --mpoint=<mnt_point<. Specify the mount point under which the chunk server is to be mounted on the server.
  • --ssd=<MNT_POINT>,<SIZE>. Specify the mount point under which the SSD drive is to be mounted on the server.
  • --ssd=no. Specify this option to forbid the use of SSD drives for write journaling.
  • --tier=<TIER>. Specify the tier, from 0 to 3, defining the type of storage to use for storing data chunks. You can use tiers to keep different categories of data on different chunk servers.
  • --allow-system-disk. Allow creating chunk servers on system disks. Have in mind that doing so may result in cluster performance degradation.

Do not use the options, except for --ssd=no, if you are creating the default partition layout and chunk server configuration using the autopart standard option.

Chunk servers store the contents of virtual machines and containers as 64MB data chunks. All data chunks are replicated, and their replicas are stored on different chunk servers. You must set up at least one chunk server for a cluster to function.

pstorage client <name> [--ssd=<MNT_POINT>|--ssd=no]

Configures the server as a client for the Virtuozzo storage cluster with the name of <name>. You can use:

  • the --ssd=<MNT_POINT> option to manually specify the mount point under which the SSD drive is to be mounted on the server. Do not use this option if you are creating the default partition layout and chunk server configuration using the autopart standard option.
  • the --ssd=no option to forbid the use of SSD drives for storing the local cache.

Clients are computers with Virtuozzo 7 from where you run virtual machines and containers stored on your Virtuozzo storage.

pstorage key <key>

Optional. Installs the Virtuozzo storage product key on the server. This key is needed to start using the Virtuozzo storage functionality.

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