Cobbler is a Linux installation server that automates the installation and configuration of Linux operating systems. It is also used for provisioning and managing virtual machines. In this tutorial, we will discuss the steps to install Cobbler on Arch Linux.
Before installing Cobbler, make sure you have a server running Arch Linux with the following installed:
A fully updated Arch Linux system.
A non-root user with sudo privileges.
To install Cobbler on Arch Linux, we need to install the required packages and dependencies. To install Cobbler package, the epel repository is required, so we install the epel repository by running the following command:
sudo pacman -S yaourt
yaourt -S yay
yay -S epel-release
Then, we can install the required packages and dependencies by running the following command:
sudo pacman -S git dhcp dnsmasq httpd nfs-utils pykickstart python2-pyopenssl python2-setuptools python-ipaddr pyyaml mod_wsgi
After installing all the required packages and dependencies, we can download the latest version of Cobbler from the official website or directly from GitHub.
To download the latest version of Cobbler from GitHub, run the following command:
git clone https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler.git
Now, navigate to the cobbler directory:
cd cobbler/
Then, run the following command to install Cobbler:
sudo python2 setup.py install
Now, verify the installation by running the following command:
cobbler version
This command should output the version of Cobbler installed on the system.
Now, we need to configure Cobbler to run on our system. To do this, we need to edit the Cobbler configuration file by running the following command:
sudo nano /etc/cobbler/settings
In this file, we need to set the following parameters:
manage_dhcp: 1
manage_dns: 1
manage_tftpd: 1
manage_rsync: 1
next_server: <IP-ADDRESS-OF-HOST>
server: <IP-ADDRESS-OF-HOST>
Then, we need to edit the DNSMASQ configuration file by running the following command:
sudo nano /etc/dnsmasq.conf
In this file, we need to set the following parameters:
listen-address=127.0.0.1,<IP-ADDRESS-OF-HOST>
dhcp-range=<IP-ADDRESS-OF-HOST>,<IP-ADDRESS-OF-HOST>,255.255.255.0,12h
Finally, we need to create a Cobbler user by running the following command:
sudo cobbler check
This command will create a default user "cobbler" with a password "cobbler". We can change this password by running the following command:
sudo cobbler user passwd --name=cobbler --password=<NEW-PASSWORD>
To start the required services, run the following command:
sudo systemctl start httpd.service dnsmasq.service cobblerd.service
To enable the services at boot, run the following command:
sudo systemctl enable httpd.service dnsmasq.service cobblerd.service
If you have a firewall enabled on your system, you need to allow the following ports for Cobbler to work:
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=https --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=69/udp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=25150/tcp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=25151/tcp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=25152/tcp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
Congratulations! You have successfully installed and configured Cobbler on Arch Linux. Now you can automate the installation and configuration of Linux operating systems and provision virtual machines.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
