Cobbler (v3.2.2) automatic deployment of ESXi and configuration of IP address with ks script error

[wangxu186189]

question：

env:
os: RockyLinux8.9
soft : cobbler 3.2.2 cobbler-web 3.2.2
des:
I successfully deployed the ESXi 7.0.3 system in bulk to 100 servers using Cobbler (v3.2.2), and the corresponding kickstart script content is as follows:

# Accept the VMware End User License Agreement
vmaccepteula

# Set the root password for ESXI HOST
rootpw password01!

# Install on the first local disk available on machine
install --firstdisk --overwritevmfs

# Set the network to dhcp on the first network adapter
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=vmnic0

# Set keyboard type
keyboard "US Default"

# Reboot
reboot

# Use busybox interpreter
%firstboot --interpreter=busybox

# Enable ESXi Shell
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_esx_shell
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_esx_shell

# Enable SSH
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_ssh
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_ssh

# Suppress Shell warning
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/SuppressShellWarning -i 1

# enable password login (SSH)
sed -i "s/PasswordAuthentication no/PasswordAuthentication yes/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_confg;

# Reboot to apply settings 
esxcli system shutdown reboot -d 15

But when I want to achieve automatic batch deployment of ESXi 7. X system, when I automatically configure the management IP address (for vmnic0) and vmk0 address based on the server's bmc IP address, an error is reported on the cobbler web interface. When trying to install on the PXE network, there are also corresponding errors. Please help everyone. The code for my kickstart script is as follows:

# Accept the VMware End User License Agreement
vmaccepteula

# Set the root password for ESXI HOST
rootpw password01!

# Install on the first local disk available on machine
install --firstdisk --overwritevmfs

# Set the network to dhcp on the first network adapter
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=vmnic0

# Set keyboard type
keyboard "US Default"

# Reboot
reboot


# Use busybox interpreter
%firstboot --interpreter=busybox

# Enable ESXi Shell
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_esx_shell
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_esx_shell

# Enable SSH
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_ssh
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_ssh

# Suppress Shell warning
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/SuppressShellWarning -i 1

# enable password login (SSH)
sed -i "s/PasswordAuthentication no/PasswordAuthentication yes/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_confg;

#get BMC IP
bmc_ip=$(esxcli hardware ipmi bmc get | grep IPv4Address | awk '{print $2}')

#redefine BMC IP
bmc_arr1=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $1}')
bmc_arr2=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $2}')
bmc_arr3=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $3}')
bmc_arr4=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $4}')

#define dw_arr3
dw_arr3=$(expr $bmc_arr3 - 100)

#define dw ip
dw_ip="$bmc_arr1.$bmc_arr2.$dw_arr3.$bmc_arr4"
dw_gw="$bmc_arr1.$bmc_arr2.$dw_arr3.254"

#setup dw ip
esxcli network ip interface ipv4 set -t static -I $dw_ip -N 255.255.255.0 -g $dw_gw -i vmk0

# Reboot to apply settings
esxcli system shutdown reboot -d 15

On the cobbler web interface, after clicking on the View Automatic Installation Template in my ESXI profiles, ks reported the following error:

# This automatic OS installation file had errors that prevented it from being rendered correctly.
# The cobbler.log should have information relating to this failure. 

cobbler.log

I tried to directly use the ks script above to deploy ESXi 7. X system on a PXE network, but during the installation process, the DCUI interface reported the following error:

Does Cobbler v3.2.2 support network configuration when automatically deploying ESXi OS with kickstart for ESXi 7. X and above?
Does anyone know how to solve this error?

[wangxu186189]

@SchoolGuy , Can u help me ？

[wangxu186189]

many thanks , i will try again

[wangxu186189]

I have adjusted the code according to the document you provided, but there are still errors:

# This automatic OS installation file had errors that prevented it from being rendered correctly.
# The cobbler.log should have information relating to this failure.

cobbler.log

Here is my adjusted KS code :

# Accept the VMware End User License Agreement
vmaccepteula

# Set the root password for ESXI HOST
rootpw password01!

# Install on the first local disk available on machine
install --firstdisk --overwritevmfs

# Set the network to dhcp on the first network adapter
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=vmnic0

# Set keyboard type
keyboard "US Default"

# Reboot
reboot


# Use busybox interpreter
%firstboot --interpreter=busybox

# Enable ESXi Shell
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_esx_shell \
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_esx_shell \

# Enable SSH
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_ssh \
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_ssh  \

# Suppress Shell warning
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/SuppressShellWarning -i 1 \

# enable password login (SSH)
sed -i "s/PasswordAuthentication no/PasswordAuthentication yes/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_confg; \

# get BMC IP
bmc_ip=$(esxcli hardware ipmi bmc get | grep IPv4Address | awk '{print $2}') \

#Splitting the BMC IP string to obtain various parts
bmc_arr1=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $1}')    \
bmc_arr2=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $2}')    \
bmc_arr3=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $3}')    \
bmc_arr4=$(echo $bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print $4}')    \

# dw third byte
dw_arr3=$(expr $bmc_arr3 - 100) \

# dw IP address and gateway
dw_ip="$bmc_arr1.$bmc_arr2.$dw_arr3.$bmc_arr4" \
dw_gw="$bmc_arr1.$bmc_arr2.$dw_arr3.254" \

#setup dw ip
esxcli network ip interface ipv4 set -t static -I $dw_ip -N 255.255.255.0 -g $dw_gw -i vmk0 \

# Reboot to apply settings
esxcli system shutdown reboot -d 15 -r "Reboot to apply settings" \`

I adjusted my code according to the instructions in this section of the document :

Placeholders and directives can be escaped by putting a backslash before them. $var and #if will be output as literal text.
A placeholder or directive can span multiple physical lines, following the same rules as Python source code: put a backslash () at the end of all lines except the last line. However, if there’s an unclosed parenthesis, bracket or brace pending, you don’t need the backslash.

[wangxu186189]

@SchoolGuy Is there a problem with my escape? I have attached the complete code, please take a look
test.zip

[SchoolGuy]

Try this one please:

# Accept the VMware End User License Agreement
vmaccepteula

# Set the root password for ESXI HOST
rootpw password01!

# Install on the first local disk available on machine
install --firstdisk --overwritevmfs

# Set the network to dhcp on the first network adapter
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=vmnic0

# Set keyboard type
keyboard "US Default"

# Reboot
reboot

# Use busybox interpreter
%firstboot --interpreter=busybox

# Enable ESXi Shell
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_esx_shell \
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_esx_shell \

# Enable SSH
vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_ssh \
vim-cmd hostsvc/start_ssh  \

# Suppress Shell warning
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/SuppressShellWarning -i 1 \

# enable password login (SSH)
sed -i "s/PasswordAuthentication no/PasswordAuthentication yes/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_confg; \

# get BMC IP
bmc_ip=\$(esxcli hardware ipmi bmc get | grep IPv4Address | awk '{print \$2}') \

#Splitting the BMC IP string to obtain various parts
bmc_arr1=\$(echo \$bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print \$1}')    \
bmc_arr2=\$(echo \$bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print \$2}')    \
bmc_arr3=\$(echo \$bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print \$3}')    \
bmc_arr4=\$(echo \$bmc_ip|awk -F. '{print \$4}')    \

# dw third byte
dw_arr3=\$(expr \$bmc_arr3 - 100) \

# dw IP address and gateway
dw_ip="\$bmc_arr1.\$bmc_arr2.\$dw_arr3.\$bmc_arr4" \
dw_gw="\$bmc_arr1.\$bmc_arr2.\$dw_arr3.254" \

#setup dw ip
esxcli network ip interface ipv4 set -t static -I \$dw_ip -N 255.255.255.0 -g \$dw_gw -i vmk0 \

# Reboot to apply settings
esxcli system shutdown reboot -d 15 -r "Reboot to apply settings" \`

I just escaped as previously described the $ with a backslash.

[wangxu186189]

it works ! many thanks

[wangxu186189]

By the way, how can I view the logs on the cobbler during the PXE system installation process? Does the default cobbler not have a Print installation task log? Where can I configure it? I want to analyze the process of automatic deployment of the system in order to troubleshoot faults

[wangxu186189]

@SchoolGuy

[SchoolGuy]

@wangxu186189 all Cobbler logs are going to /var/log/cobbler/cobbler.log

The TFTP, DHCP and Apache services have their own respective logging files and folders.

The client installation logs are only available locally on the Cobbler server via the Anaconda installer when RH based systems are being installed. The client then sends those to Cobbler. Other vendors have not yet been implemented so far for this functionality.