Cobbler is an open-source installation server that helps in the installation of Linux distributions and other operating systems. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install and configure Cobbler on Fedora Server Latest.
Before we begin, make sure that you have the following prerequisites:
First, open a terminal window and execute the following command to install Cobbler:
sudo dnf -y install cobbler
Once Cobbler is installed, we need to perform some configurations to get it up and running. The main configuration file for Cobbler is located at /etc/cobbler/settings.
So, open the /etc/cobbler/settings file in your preferred text editor:
sudo vim /etc/cobbler/settings
Then, make the following changes to the file:
server: IP_address_of_the_server or FQDN
next_server: $server
manage_dhcp: 0
Please replace IP_address_of_the_server with the IP address of your server.
By default, Cobbler handles the DHCP configuration, but for this tutorial, we are going to use an existing DHCP server to keep things simple. Therefore, we need to disable COBBLER's DHCP feature by setting manage_dhcp = 0.
Once you have made the changes, save and close the file.
The next step is to start Cobbler and its services. Run the following command:
sudo systemctl start cobblerd
sudo systemctl enable cobblerd
sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd
This command will start the Cobbler daemon (cobblerd) and Apache HTTP server (httpd). Additionally, it enables the services to start automatically every time the system boots.
Cobbler uses port 80 and 443. Therefore, it is crucial to open these ports in the firewall. Run the following command to add the firewall rules:
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service={http,https} --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
The first command will add http and https services to the firewall. The --permanent flag ensures that the firewall rules persist after a reboot.
The second command --reload will reload the firewall to apply new rules.
In this final step, we will import a Linux distribution. First, create a directory for the distribution in the Cobbler's file system using the following command:
sudo mkdir /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/fedora-33-x86_64
Then, import the distribution using the following command:
sudo cobbler import --path=/mnt/fedora-33-x86_64 --name=fedora-33-x86_64
This command imports the "fedora-33-x86_64" distribution from the path /mnt/fedora-33-x86_64 and creates a configuration file under /etc/cobbler/.
Finally, sync Cobbler's configuration using the following command:
sudo cobbler sync
This command will sync the configuration files in /etc/cobbler to the web server's document root (/var/www/cobbler).
Congratulations! You have successfully installed and configured Cobbler on Fedora Server Latest. You can use Cobbler to install various Linux distributions over the network. To get started, you can use the web interface at http://IP_address_of_the_server/cobbler_web to manage your installation server.
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