Installing Cobbler on POP! OS

Introduction

Cobbler is a Linux installation server that allows you to quickly and easily set up Linux servers. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the installation of Cobbler on POP! OS.

Prerequisites

• POP! OS Latest version installed
• Root access to the system

Step 1 - Install the required packages

Firstly, let's update the local package index and install the required packages for Cobbler:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cobbler cobbler-web debmirror apache2-utils

Step 2 - Configure Cobbler

Once the packages have been installed, we need to configure Cobbler. Open the "cobbler" configuration file in your favorite text editor:

sudo nano /etc/cobbler/settings

Change the following settings:

server: <your server's IP address or domain name>
next_server: <your server's IP address or domain name>
manage_dhcp: 1
manage_dns: 1
pxe_just_once: 1

Step 3 - Configure DNS

Next, we need to configure DNS. Open the "named" configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/cobbler/named.conf

Add the following lines at the beginning of the file:

// MANAGED BY COBBLER - DO NOT EDIT
zone "mycobbler.com" IN {
    type master;
    file "/etc/cobbler/zones/mycobbler.com.zone";
};

Step 4 - Create the DNS Zone file

Create a new DNS zone file in the "zones" directory:

sudo nano /etc/cobbler/zones/mycobbler.com.zone

Add the following lines to the file:

; MANAGED BY COBBLER - DO NOT EDIT
$ORIGIN mycobbler.com.
$TTL 86400
@       IN      SOA     ns1.mycobbler.com. root.mycobbler.com. (
                     2011042800         ; Serial
                     3600               ; Refresh
                     900                ; Retry
                     604800             ; Expire
                     86400 )            ; Minimum TTL
;
@       IN      NS      ns1.mycobbler.com.
@       IN      A       <your server's IP address>
ns1     IN      A       <your server's IP address>

Save and exit the file.

Step 5 - Generate the DHCP and DNS Configuration files

Generate the DHCP and DNS configuration files:

sudo cobbler get-loaders
sudo cobbler check
sudo cobbler sync

Step 6 - Start Apache and Cobbler services

Start the "apache2" and "cobblerd" services:

sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2

sudo systemctl enable cobblerd
sudo systemctl start cobblerd

sudo systemctl restart dhcpd

Step 7 - Log in to Cobbler Web Interface

Open your web browser and navigate to:

http://<your server's IP address>/cobbler_web

The Cobbler web interface should load.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed and configured Cobbler on POP! OS. You can now use it to manage Linux servers.

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!