# Operating Systems Installation
The extension allows you to automate the process of installing and configuring operating systems on dedicated servers. It is one of the remote agent components and can work only with this remote agent.
# Standard network setup - network without VLANs
No special router configuration is required for the standard network setup without a VLAN.
- Make sure that no DHCP servers are active on the network as they may interfere with the provisioning process.
- Check if Spanning Tree Protocol is enabled on switches.
- Verify if portfast is enabled on switch ports connected to servers (not on ports that connect to other switches).
Enabling the portfast feature:
Switch2> enable
Switch2# configure terminal
Switch2(config)# spanning-tree portfast default
Do not configure portfast by default if some of the ports are connected to other switches instead of servers. In this case, you need to set up portfast on each port individually. If the switch does not support portfast, check if it has the Rapid STP protocol or you can disable STP completely.
# Advanced network setup - network with multiple VLANs
If you have multiple VLANs, you need to configure the router or L3 switch so that DHCP requests from foreign VLANs are forwarded to the IP address of the EasyDCIM remote agent installation.
For example:
ip helper-address 10.20.30.40
10.20.30.40 - IP address of the EasyDCIM remote agent
In case of doubt, please check your router manual for more information about "DHCP relaying" or "Broadcast forwarding".
# Troubleshooting PXE Boot Issues
TROUBLESHOOTING CENTER
You can find the step-by-step diagnostic guide here:
Troubleshooting PXE Boot Issues →
# Known issues
TROUBLESHOOTING CENTER
You can find a complete list of common OS installation errors and solutions here:
OS Installation Known Issues →
# Provisioning servers
This section allows you to add provisioning servers used to automatically install operating systems using a remote agent. More information on installing operating systems can be found here: Remote Provisioning Submodule
Each provisioning server can be assigned to more than one location and have its own installation templates. In order to add a new operating system, you need to find and use the "Add OS Provisioning Server" option in the action menu. The form includes the following fields:
- Server Name – name, it can be any name that will allow to distinguish the provisioning server
Next, you will be redirected to the advanced configuration view that includes below described fields:
- Use In Locations – locations in which the provisioning server will be active
- Remote Agent – the remote agent you want to use
- Reboot Method – device restart method
- Manual – manual restart of the device by an administrator
- IPMI – device restart using IPMI and automatically entering the PXE mode
- IPMI (UEFI) – device restart using the IPMI protocol with forced UEFI boot mode
- PDU – reset of the PDU outlet assigned to the device (for APC and Raritan devices)
- Nameserver 1 – the first default name server
- Nameserver 2 – the second default name server
- Rescue Template – selection of the template which will be used for rescue mode
- Reinstall Template – selection of the template which will be used for reinstallation, during e.g. service termination
- Bootloader – the default boot file
- [IPMI] Move To The Provisioning VLAN – whether the device’s network interface should be moved to the provisioning VLAN during the OS installation process
Client-facing installation emails are managed globally in Settings → Notifications → Email Templates. Administrator delivery should be configured through Settings → Notifications and the selected notification streams, rather than per provisioning server.
Once the provisioning server is successfully configured, you will need to define the subnets for the DHCP and TFTP servers to work.
# Provisioning subnets
In the next step, go to the "Provisioning Subnets" section and configure the appropriate subnets within which the DHCP server will run. Please note that the DHCP server requires at least one subnet for its NIC interface in the system. For example, our remote agent (that is the DHCP server) works on the enp0s8 interface with the IP address 192.168.56.2. Therefore, you must add a subnet in the ′Provisioning Subnets′ section corresponding to this address, e.g. 192.168.56.0/24.
The basic configuration involves adding at least one subnet for your NIC interface. The DHCP server can house an unlimited number of subnets and currently, it provides support for IPv4.
# Integration with the IP Address Management For EasyDCIM extension
IPAM integration replaces the local Provisioning Subnets list with IPv4 subnets selected from the IP Address Management extension. When this mode is enabled, the DHCP configuration for the remote agent is generated from IPAM subnets instead of manually added provisioning subnets.
To configure this feature, open Manage IPAM Integration in the Provisioning Subnets section. The form contains the following options:
- IPAM Integration Enabled – enables or disables the integration. When enabled, EasyDCIM reads subnet definitions from the IPAM module instead of the local provisioning subnets assigned to the remote agent.
- Subnets Level – determines which IPv4 subnets from IPAM will be included in the DHCP server configuration. Available options:
- All parent IPv4 subnets (subnets without a parent) – imports only top-level IPv4 subnets.
- IPv4 subnets from the first level – imports IPv4 subnets located on the first level of the IPAM hierarchy.
- IPv4 subnets from the second level – imports IPv4 subnets located on the second level of the IPAM hierarchy.
- IPv4 subnets from the third level – imports IPv4 subnets located on the third level of the IPAM hierarchy.
- IPv4 subnets without childs – imports only leaf IPv4 subnets, meaning subnets without child subnets.
- IPv4 subnets with CIDR – imports only IPv4 subnets that match the selected CIDR masks. After selecting this option, an additional Selected CIDR field is displayed, where you can choose one or more masks from /24 to /31.
- Relevant IPv4 subnets – imports only explicitly selected IPv4 subnets. After selecting this option, an additional Selected subnets field is displayed, where you can choose the exact IPAM subnets that should be used by DHCP.
Only IPv4 subnets with a defined gateway are included in the generated DHCP configuration. If the same subnet appears more than once, EasyDCIM keeps only one subnet/mask pair in the generated configuration.
When the integration settings are saved, EasyDCIM regenerates the DHCP configuration of the remote agent using the currently matched IPAM subnets. During OS provisioning, if the device IP address belongs to one of the IPAM subnets, EasyDCIM can also automatically fill the network configuration with values taken from IPAM, including the gateway, netmask, Nameserver 1, and Nameserver 2.