1. Overview of Cobbler
1. Introduction to cobbler
Cobbler is an automated operating system deployment tool. It creates a central management node by integrating services such as DHCP, TFTP, DNS, and HTTP. The functions that can be realized include configuring services, creating repositories, and decompressing operating system installation media. Proxy or integrate with a configuration management system, control power management, etc. The ultimate goal of Cobbler is to enable machines to be installed without human intervention.
Cobbler is developed by the Python language and is a secondary encapsulation of PXE. Integrating multiple features, it provides CLI and Web management forms. At the same time, Cobbler also provides an API interface, which is convenient for secondary development and use. It can not only install physical machines, but also supports the installation of kvm and xen virtualization. In addition, it can also combine centralized management software such as Puppet to realize automatic management, and can also manage DHCP, DNS, and yum package mirroring.
Cobbler function points:
- After the server is on the shelf, the required operating system can be automatically installed (such as: Centos7 or rhel8, almalinux9, ubuntu18, 20, 22, etc.);
- During the server installation process, the operating system can be configured according to the requirements (such as: modify the IP address, host name, and select the installation package);
- After the system installation is complete, you can customize the execution script to complete the system basic software initialization (such as: Zabbix-agent installation configuration, system basic optimization configuration, etc.);
- It can be used as an internal YUM source and initialized when the system is installed;
- system can be reinstalled;
- Cobbler supports APs