Preparing to migrate homelab infrastructure from Rocky 8 to Rocky 9.
Pre-requisites
We are using our existing PXE boot homelab server in this article.
All commands to be run on the PXE boot server.
Download and Create Rocky Linux 9 FTP Installation Media
Download the DVD version of Rocky Linux 9 ISO image.
$ sudo yum install curl -y $ curl -# -O http://download.rockylinux.org/pub/rocky/9/isos/x86_64/Rocky-9.2-x86_64-dvd.iso
Mount the image and copy its content to the FTP location:
$ sudo mkdir -p /mnt/iso /var/ftp/pub/pxe/Rocky9 $ sudo mount Rocky-9.2-x86_64-dvd.iso /mnt/iso $ sudo cp -prv /mnt/iso/* /var/ftp/pub/pxe/Rocky9/ $ sudo umount /mnt/iso
Verify:
$ curl ftp://10.11.1.20/pub/pxe/Rocky9/ drwxr-xr-x 4 0 0 38 May 14 19:16 AppStream drwxrwxr-x 4 0 0 38 May 14 19:42 BaseOS -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 5504 Jun 21 08:59 COMMUNITY-CHARTER -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 1394 Jun 21 08:59 Contributors drwxrwxr-x 3 0 0 18 May 12 00:24 EFI -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 372 Jun 21 08:59 EULA -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 2204 Jun 21 08:59 LICENSE -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 1750 Jun 21 08:59 RPM-GPG-KEY-Rocky-9 -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 3159 Jun 21 08:59 RPM-GPG-KEY-Rocky-9-Testing drwxrwxr-x 3 0 0 59 May 12 00:24 images drwxrwxr-x 2 0 0 239 May 12 00:24 isolinux -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 102 Jun 21 09:00 media.repo
Create Rocky Linux Kickstart File
This is the Packer kickstart file /var/ftp/pub/pxe/rocky9-packer-ks.cfg that I use for my Rocky Linux 9 Kubernetes servers (a 32GB disk required).
#version=RHEL9 # This file was generated using the Kickstart Generator page, see below: # https://access.redhat.com/labs/kickstartconfig/ # Use network installation url --url="ftp://10.11.1.20/pub/pxe/Rocky9/BaseOS" repo --name="AppStream" --baseurl="ftp://10.11.1.20/pub/pxe/Rocky9/AppStream" # Disable Initial Setup on first boot firstboot --disable # Use text mode install text # Keyboard layouts keyboard --vckeymap=gb --xlayouts='gb' # System language lang en_GB.UTF-8 # SELinux configuration selinux --enforcing # Firewall configuration firewall --enabled --ssh # Do not configure the X Window System skipx # Network information network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eth0 --nameserver=10.11.1.2,10.11.1.3 --noipv6 --activate network --hostname=rocky9.localdomain # System authorisation information auth --useshadow --passalgo=sha512 # Root password rootpw packer # Root SSH public key sshkey --username=root "ssh-rsa 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 [email protected]" # System timezone timezone Europe/London --utc ignoredisk --only-use=vda # System bootloader configuration bootloader --location=mbr --timeout=1 --boot-drive=vda # Clear the Master Boot Record zerombr # Partition clearing information clearpart --all --initlabel # Reboot after installation reboot # Disk partitioning information #autopart --type=lvm part /boot --fstype="xfs" --ondisk=vda --size=1024 --label=boot --asprimary --fsoptions="rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid" part pv.01 --fstype="lvmpv" --ondisk=vda --size=31743 volgroup vg_os pv.01 logvol /tmp --fstype="xfs" --size=1024 --label="lv_tmp" --name=lv_tmp --vgname=vg_os --fsoptions="rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid" logvol / --fstype="xfs" --size=30716 --label="lv_root" --name=lv_root --vgname=vg_os %packages # dnf group info minimal-environment @^minimal-environment sudo qemu-guest-agent openssh-server # Alsa not needed in a VM -alsa* # Microcode updates cannot work in a VM -microcode_ctl # Firmware packages are not needed in a VM -iwl*firmware # Don't build rescue initramfs -dracut-config-rescue -plymouth %end %addon com_redhat_kdump --disable --reserve-mb='auto' %end %post sed -i 's/^.*requiretty/#Defaults requiretty/' /etc/sudoers sed -i 's/rhgb //' /etc/default/grub # SSHD PermitRootLogin and enable the service sed -i "s/#PermitRootLogin prohibit-password/PermitRootLogin yes/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_config /usr/bin/systemctl enable sshd # Update all packages /usr/bin/yum -y update %end
Copy the content and save it as /var/ftp/pub/pxe/rocky9-packer-ks.cfg on the PXE boot server.
Copy initrd.img and vmlinuz from the Rocky Linux 9 installation media to /var/lib/tftpboot/networkboot/Rocky9/:
$ sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/networkboot/Rocky9
$ sudo cp -pv /var/ftp/pub/pxe/Rocky9/images/pxeboot/{initrd.img,vmlinuz} /var/lib/tftpboot/networkboot/Rocky9/
Update the PXE boot configuration file /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default with the following content:
label Install Rocky Linux 9 Server (Packer kickstart, no swap) kernel /networkboot/Rocky9/vmlinuz append initrd=/networkboot/Rocky9/initrd.img inst.repo=ftp://10.11.1.20/pub/pxe/Rocky9 inst.ks=ftp://10.11.1.20/pub/pxe/rocky9-packer-ks.cfg
Perform a Network Boot
Create a VM that uses Network Boot (PXE), start it and check the automated process.
hi,
Little typo in the below section – line 1 you have /Rocky8, line 4 /Rocky9.
Mount the image and copy its content to the FTP location:
$ sudo mkdir -p /mnt/iso /var/ftp/pub/pxe/Rocky8
$ sudo mount Rocky-9.2-x86_64-dvd.iso /mnt/iso
$ sudo cp -prv /mnt/iso/* /var/ftp/pub/pxe/Rocky9/
$ sudo umount /mnt/iso
Thanks, good spot. That’s what happens when you copy/paste.