Is it possible to have system object inherits the 'Template Files' value from that of a profile's?

[Zack Perry]

cobbler objects in general follow a very clear OO hierarchy. But the 'Template Files' attributes of profile and system objects seem to be exceptions to such a pattern.

If the nodes that use the same profile share the same 'Template Files' attribute, it seems to be more economical to define the value of the attribute once in the shared profile, rather than doing so system by system?

Am I missing anything here?

Regards,

--Zack

[James Cammarata]

On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 1:03 AM, Zack Perry  wrote:
> cobbler objects in general follow a very clear OO hierarchy. But the 'Template Files' attributes of profile and system objects seem to be exceptions to such a pattern.
>
> If the nodes that use the same profile share the same 'Template Files' attribute, it seems to be more economical to define the value of the attribute once in the shared profile, rather than doing so system by system?
>
> Am I missing anything here?

Does the system have a value of "<<inherit>>" for the template files,
or are you trying to blend entries in the profile and systems?
Currently, only ksmeta, kopts and kopts-post allow you to blend things
like that.

If that's what you're trying to do, open a feature request on github.

[Zack Perry]

Hi James,

[...]
> > If the nodes that use the same profile share the same
> > 'Template Files' attribute, it seems to be more economical
> > to define the value of the attribute once in the shared
> > profile, rather than doing so system by system?
> >
> > Am I missing anything here?

cobbler 2.4.0 from epel-testing. Host runs SL 6.3 64bit.
> Does the system have a value of "<<inherit>>"
> for the template files,

No. It doesn't. I also tried with 2.2.3. Same.  Using the 
cobbler system edit --name="node_name" --template-files='<<inherit>>'
to try to "force the issue" has no effect. The 'Template Files' field
of the system object remains a {}.
> or are you trying to blend entries in the profile and systems?

That's a scenario I am contemplating too. It's like template
specialization in C++.
> Currently, only ksmeta, kopts and kopts-post allow you to
> blend things like that.
>
> If that's what you're trying to do, open a feature request
> on github.

Thanks! Will do.

Regards,

-- Zack

[Zack Perry]

Hi James,

[...]
> > If the nodes that use the same profile share the same
> > 'Template Files' attribute, it seems to be more economical
> > to define the value of the attribute once in the shared
> > profile, rather than doing so system by system?
> >
> > Am I missing anything here?
>
> Does the system have a value of "<<inherit>>" for the template files,
> or are you trying to blend entries in the profile and systems?

No. Please see the following profile and system reports:

[root@cobbler ~]# cobbler profile report --name=fedora17-ph-x86_64
Name                           : fedora17-ph-x86_64
TFTP Boot Files                : <<inherit>>
Comment                        : 
DHCP Tag                       : <<inherit>>
Distribution                   : <<inherit>>
Enable gPXE?                   : 0
Enable PXE Menu?               : <<inherit>>
Fetchable Files                : <<inherit>>
Kernel Options                 : <<inherit>>
Kernel Options (Post Install)  : <<inherit>>
Kickstart                      : <<inherit>>
Kickstart Metadata             : <<inherit>>
Management Classes             : <<inherit>>
Management Parameters          : <<inherit>>
Name Servers                   : []
Name Servers Search Path       : []
Owners                         : ['admin']
Parent Profile                 : fedora17-x86_64
Proxy                          : ~
Red Hat Management Key         : <<inherit>>
Red Hat Management Server      : <<inherit>>
Repos                          : <<inherit>>
Server Override                : <<inherit>>
Template Files                 : {}
Virt Auto Boot                 : <<inherit>>
Virt Bridge                    : <<inherit>>
Virt CPUs                      : <<inherit>>
Virt Disk Driver Type          : <<inherit>>
Virt File Size(GB)             : <<inherit>>
Virt Path                      : <<inherit>>
Virt RAM (MB)                  : <<inherit>>
Virt Type                      : <<inherit>>

[root@cobbler ~]# cobbler system report --name=nb2
Name                           : nb2
TFTP Boot Files                : {}
Comment                        : 
Enable gPXE?                   : 0
Fetchable Files                : {}
Gateway                        : 192.168.1.254
Hostname                       : nb2
Image                          : 
IPv6 Autoconfiguration         : False
IPv6 Default Device            : 
Kernel Options                 : {}
Kernel Options (Post Install)  : {}
Kickstart                      : <<inherit>>
Kickstart Metadata             : {}
LDAP Enabled                   : False
LDAP Management Type           : authconfig
Management Classes             : []
Management Parameters          : <<inherit>>
Monit Enabled                  : False
Name Servers                   : []
Name Servers Search Path       : []
Netboot Enabled                : True
Owners                         : ['admin']
Power Management Address       : 
Power Management ID            : 
Power Management Password      : 
Power Management Type          : ipmitool
Power Management Username      : 
Profile                        : fedora17-ph-x86_64
Proxy                          : <<inherit>>
Red Hat Management Key         : <<inherit>>
Red Hat Management Server      : <<inherit>>
Repos Enabled                  : False
Server Override                : <<inherit>>
Status                         : production
Template Files                 : {}
Virt Auto Boot                 : <<inherit>>
Virt CPUs                      : <<inherit>>
Virt Disk Driver Type          : <<inherit>>
Virt File Size(GB)             : <<inherit>>
Virt Path                      : <<inherit>>
Virt RAM (MB)                  : <<inherit>>
Virt Type                      : <<inherit>>
Interface =====                : em1
Bonding Opts                   : 
Bridge Opts                    : 
DHCP Tag                       : 
DNS Name                       : nb2
Master Interface               : 
Interface Type                 : 
IP Address                     : 192.168.1.12
IPv6 Address                   : 
IPv6 Default Gateway           : 
IPv6 MTU                       : 
IPv6 Secondaries               : []
IPv6 Static Routes             : []
MAC Address                    : e8:9a:8f:17:1b:eb
Management Interface           : False
MTU                            : 
Subnet Mask                    : 255.255.255.0
Static                         : True
Static Routes                  : []
Virt Bridge                    :

The inheritance is there, but you must double-check it using 
cobbler system dumpvars

[root@cobbler ~]# cobbler system dumpvars --name=nb2|grep ^template
template_files : /srv/cobbler/ub_hosts=/etc/hosts /srv/cobbler/ub_hostname=/etc/hostname /srv/cobbler/ub_static_interfaces=/etc/network/interfaces 
[...]
> Currently, only ksmeta, kopts and kopts-post allow you to
> blend things like that.

Yes. The cobbler man page is very clear in this regard.
> If that's what you're trying to do, open a feature request
> on github.

Once I have your comments back, I will file it as either a feature
request or a combo of bug report + feature request.

Regards,

-- Zack

[James Cammarata]

On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 10:30 PM, Zack Perry  wrote:
> Hi James,
>
> [...]
> > > If the nodes that use the same profile share the same
> > > 'Template Files' attribute, it seems to be more economical
> > > to define the value of the attribute once in the shared
> > > profile, rather than doing so system by system?
> > >
> > > Am I missing anything here?
> >
> > Does the system have a value of "<<inherit>>" for the template files,
> > or are you trying to blend entries in the profile and systems?
>
> No. Please see the following profile and system reports:
>
> ....
>
> The inheritance is there, but you must double-check it using
> cobbler system dumpvars

Oh ok, I hadn't gone through all that thoroughly so I assumed it
wasn't working. So it seems the issue is that the report isn't showing
the field properly if all it's doing is inheriting, the way
ksmeta/kopts* do.
> [root@cobbler ~]# cobbler system dumpvars --name=nb2|grep ^template
> template_files : /srv/cobbler/ub_hosts=/etc/hosts /srv/cobbler/ub_hostname=/etc/hostname /srv/cobbler/ub_static_interfaces=/etc/network/interfaces
> [...]
> > Currently, only ksmeta, kopts and kopts-post allow you to
> > blend things like that.
>
> Yes. The cobbler man page is very clear in this regard.
> > If that's what you're trying to do, open a feature request
> > on github.
>
> Once I have your comments back, I will file it as either a feature
> request or a combo of bug report + feature request.

And yeah, if they're still not blending it would be a feature request,
so go ahead and open that issue.

[Zack Perry]

Hi James,
> > No. Please see the following profile and system
> > reports:
> >
> > ....

Hi James,
> > The inheritance is there, but you must double-check it
> > using cobbler system dumpvars
>
> Oh ok, I hadn't gone through all that thoroughly so I
> assumed it wasn't working. So it seems the issue is that the 
> report isn't showing the field properly if all it's doing is
> inheriting, the way ksmeta/kopts* do.
> > [root@cobbler ~]# cobbler system dumpvars
>
> --name=nb2|grep ^template
> > template_files : /srv/cobbler/ub_hosts=/etc/hosts
>
> /srv/cobbler/ub_hostname=/etc/hostname
> /srv/cobbler/ub_static_interfaces=/etc/network/interfaces
> > [...]
> > > Currently, only ksmeta, kopts and kopts-post allow
> > > you to blend things like that.
> >
> > Yes. The cobbler man page is very clear in this regard.
> > > If that's what you're trying to do, open a feature
> > > request on github.
> >
> > Once I have your comments back, I will file it as
> > either a feature request or a combo of bug report + feature
> > request.
>
> And yeah, if they're still not blending it would be a
> feature request, so go ahead and open that issue.

I have been keeping detailed test notes. In another couple of days, I
should conclude my my tests. Will file pull requests for both patches
and docs, together with opening issues.

Many thanks for the new cobbler. It's definitely looking good!

Oh yes, have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Regards,

-- Zack