Cobbler; Cobbler Requirements; Using Cobbler Check - Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0 Reference Manual

Chapter 11.

Cobbler

RHN Satellite features the Cobbler server that allows administrators to centralize their system
installation and provisioning infrastructure. Cobbler is an installation server that collects the various
methods of performing unattended system installations, whether it be server, workstation, or guest
systems in a full or para-virtualized setup.
Cobbler has several tools to assist in pre-installation guidance, kickstart file management, content
channel management, and more. Features of Cobbler include:
• Installation environment analysis using the cobbler check command
• Multi-site installation server configuration with cobbler replicate
• Automation of kickstart file creation using kickstart import
• Kickstart template creation and management using the Cheetah template engine and Kickstart
Snippets
• Virtual machine guest installation automation with the koan client-side tool.

11.1. Cobbler Requirements

To use Cobbler as a PXE boot server, you should check the following guidelines:
• If you plan to use Cobbler to install systems using PXE, you must have tftp-server installed and
configured.
• If you plan to use Cobbler to PXE boot systems for installation, you must have either the ability to
act as a DHCP server for Cobbler PXE booting or access to your network DHCP server /etc/
dhcp.conf to change next-server to the hostname or IP address of your Cobbler server.

11.1.1. Using cobbler check

Once your Satellite server is installed, you can check that your system is correctly configured to run as
a proper Cobbler boot server.
The cobbler check command can be run at a shell prompt as root. It will automatically run checks
on several services' runtime status and configuration files for proper configuration. The following lists
the services and configuration files that cobbler check tests.
• /etc/cobbler/settings — The central cobbler configuration file; cobbler check will check
to see if you have set the server setting to the addressable IP or hostname of the Cobbler server,
as well as the next_server field set to the hostname or IP of the Cobbler server if it will be also be
managing DHCP services for PXE boots.
• SELinux — Will verify that you have the correct SELinux setting for HTTPD services and the proper
content rules for tftp and files in /var/www/cobbler/images/.
• cobblerd — Will check to see if you have the Cobbler daemon running.
• xinetd — Will inform you that Xinetd services running and that you have changed the parameter
disabled to no in /etc/xinetd.d/tftp.
• httpd — Will check to see if the HTTPD service is running.
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