Help with Cobbler 2.7.0 (from github) and EXSi5.5

[Razi Khaja]

I'm running Centos 6.5 and Cobbler 2.7.0 checked out from github:

[root@ops ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release

CentOS release 6.5 (Final)

[root@ops ~]# cobbler version

Cobbler 2.7.0

  source: c5a7bb2, Sun Apr 27 00:24:56 2014 +0200

  build time: Sat Apr 26 19:28:28 2014

My cobbler installation is able to successfully pxe boot systems on which I
install CentoOS 6.5, so I know that it is working, but I am having
difficulty with gpxe booting esxi5.5.

I have successfully imported the ESXi5.5
iso: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.5.0-1331820.x86_64.iso

I have installed the packages for gpxe, however, when I boot the machine on
which I want to install ESXi5.5, I get the following error:

>  Loading operating system
>  Configuration error while parsing /boot.cfg
>  Fatal error: 15 (Not found) 
Below is the distro report:

>  [root@ops ~]# cobbler distro report --name=vmware-5.5-x86_64
>  Name                           : vmware-5.5-x86_64
>  Architecture                   : x86_64
>  TFTP Boot Files                : {'$local_img_path/*.*':
>  '/var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/*.*'}
>  Breed                          : vmware
>  Comment                        :
>  Fetchable Files                : {}
>  Initrd                         :
>  /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/imgpayld.tgz
>  Kernel                         :
>  /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/mboot.c32
>  Kernel Options                 : {}
>  Kernel Options (Post Install)  : {}
>  Kickstart Metadata             : {'tree': 'http://@@http_server@
>  @/cblr/links/vmware-5.5-x86_64'}
>  Management Classes             : []
>  OS Version                     : esxi55
>  Owners                         : ['admin']
>  Red Hat Management Key         : <<inherit>>
>  Red Hat Management Server      : <<inherit>>
>  Template Files                 :
>  {'/etc/cobbler/pxe/bootcfg_esxi55.template':
>  '$local_img_path/cobbler-boot.cfg'} 
 I have already read previous similar posts for previous versions of esxi5,
but did not find those helpful:

https://lists.fedorahosted.org/pipermail/cobbler/2014-February/009284.html

https://lists.fedorahosted.org/pipermail/cobbler/2013-June/008869.html

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

-Razi

[Razi Khaja]

I may have partially debugged this problem.  (I am now trying ESXi5.5u1
instead of ESXi5.5, but that shouldn't make a big difference).  I ran
tcpdump on the machine running cobbler (ie. ops) and rebooted the physical
machine on which I want to install esxi.  It looks like the esxi installer
is looking for, and *really badly wants* a file called /boot.cfg file in
the root directory of the tftp server.


>  [root@ops ~]# tcpdump -n -i eth0 port 69
>  tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
>  listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 65535 bytes
>  13:54:25.689423 IP 172.29.2.0.ah-esp-encap > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  27 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.0" octet tsize 0
>  13:54:25.729213 IP 172.29.2.0.acp-port > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  32 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.0" octet blksize 1456
>  13:54:25.799020 IP 172.29.2.0.57089 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  79 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.cfg/34353739-3232-4d58-5138-333541344245" octet tsize 0 blksize
>  1408
>  13:54:25.801884 IP 172.29.2.0.57090 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  63 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.cfg/01-00-22-64-09-b4-d6" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  13:54:25.804445 IP 172.29.2.0.57091 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  67 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/mboot.c32" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  13:54:28.162020 IP 172.29.2.0.57092 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  39 RRQ
>  "/boot.cfg" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408 

I ran locate to find boot.cfg.  I found 3 copies of boot.cfg and 1 copy of
cobbler-boot.cfg

[root@ops ~]# locate boot.cfg
>  /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
>  /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/cobbler-boot.cfg
>  /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
>  /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/efi/boot/boot.cfg 

All copies of boot.cfg are the same.

[root@ops ~]# diff  /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
>  /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
>  [root@ops ~]# diff  /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
>  /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/efi/boot/boot.cfg 

I decided to copy one of these boot.cfg files to the root directory of the
tftp server

[root@ops ~]# cp /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
>  /var/lib/tftpboot/ 

I rebooted the physical machine on which I want to install esxi while
running tcpdump on the machine running cobbler (ie. ops).  This time the
esxi installation gets a little further.  The tcpdump output is below:

[root@ops ~]# tcpdump -n -i eth0 port 69
>  tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol
> decode
>  listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 65535 bytes
>  14:16:50.497304 IP 172.29.2.0.ah-esp-encap > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  27 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.0" octet tsize 0
>  14:16:50.500842 IP 172.29.2.0.acp-port > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  32 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.0" octet blksize 1456
>  14:16:50.551803 IP 172.29.2.0.57089 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  79 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.cfg/34353739-3232-4d58-5138-333541344245" octet tsize 0 blksize
>  1408
>  14:16:50.553676 IP 172.29.2.0.57090 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  63 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.cfg/01-00-22-64-09-b4-d6" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:16:50.556036 IP 172.29.2.0.57091 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  67 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/mboot.c32" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:16:52.902548 IP 172.29.2.0.57092 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  39 RRQ
>  "/boot.cfg" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:16:52.905537 IP 172.29.2.0.57093 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  40 RRQ
>  "/tboot.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408 

On the physical server that I am trying to install esxi, I get the
following error:

Loading operating system

/tboot.b00: file not found

Fatal error 15 (Not found)


Next I replaced boot.cfg with cobbler-boot.cfg and rebooted my physical
machine, watching the tcpdump

[root@ops ~]# cp /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/cobbler-boot.cfg
>  /var/lib/tftpboot/boot.cfg
>  cp: overwrite `/var/lib/tftpboot/boot.cfg'? y 

The tcpdump looks as follows:

[root@ops ~]# tcpdump -n -i eth0 port 69
>  tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol
> decode
>  listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 65535 bytes
>  14:28:38.428668 IP 172.29.2.0.ah-esp-encap > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  27 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.0" octet tsize 0
>  14:28:38.432558 IP 172.29.2.0.acp-port > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  32 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.0" octet blksize 1456
>  14:28:38.483118 IP 172.29.2.0.57089 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  79 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.cfg/34353739-3232-4d58-5138-333541344245" octet tsize 0 blksize
>  1408
>  14:28:38.485207 IP 172.29.2.0.57090 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  63 RRQ
>  "pxelinux.cfg/01-00-22-64-09-b4-d6" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:38.487562 IP 172.29.2.0.57091 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  67 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/mboot.c32" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.834637 IP 172.29.2.0.57092 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  39 RRQ
>  "/boot.cfg" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.837974 IP 172.29.2.0.57093 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  67 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/tboot.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.840040 IP 172.29.2.0.57094 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  63 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/b.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.842016 IP 172.29.2.0.57095 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  69 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/jumpstrt.gz" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.844013 IP 172.29.2.0.57096 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  69 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/useropts.gz" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.845904 IP 172.29.2.0.57097 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  63 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/k.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.847914 IP 172.29.2.0.57098 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  70 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/chardevs.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.850042 IP 172.29.2.0.57099 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  63 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/a.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.852167 IP 172.29.2.0.57100 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  66 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/user.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.854370 IP 172.29.2.0.57101 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  64 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/sb.v00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.856511 IP 172.29.2.0.57102 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  63 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/s.v00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
>  14:28:40.858534 IP 172.29.2.0.57103 > 172.29.3.31.tftp:  70 RRQ
>  "/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/ata_pata.v00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408 
... ...



The console of the physical esxi machine shows the machine successfully
booting esxi5.5u1.

My conclusion is that copying cobbler-boot.cfg to
/var/lib/tftpboot/boot.cfg resolved the problem.  Would any cobbler developers
or experts please verify that this is the correct thing to do?

Now onto kickstarting ESXi5.5u1 ...

I hope this post is helpful to others trying to gPXE boot and kickstart
ESXi5* installs.
-Razi


On Sat, Apr 26, 2014 at 10:24 PM, Razi Khaja <razi.khaja(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:

>  I'm running Centos 6.5 and Cobbler 2.7.0 checked out from
> github:
>
>  [root@ops ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release
>
>  CentOS release 6.5 (Final)
>
>  [root@ops ~]# cobbler version
>
>  Cobbler 2.7.0
>
>    source: c5a7bb2, Sun Apr 27 00:24:56 2014 +0200
>
>    build time: Sat Apr 26 19:28:28 2014
>
>  My cobbler installation is able to successfully pxe boot systems on which
>  I install CentoOS 6.5, so I know that it is working, but I am having
>  difficulty with gpxe booting esxi5.5.
>
>  I have successfully imported the ESXi5.5
>  iso: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.5.0-1331820.x86_64.iso
>
>  I have installed the packages for gpxe, however, when I boot the machine
>  on which I want to install ESXi5.5, I get the following error:
>
> > Loading operating system
> > Configuration error while parsing /boot.cfg
> > Fatal error: 15 (Not found)
>
>  Below is the distro report:
>
> > [root@ops ~]# cobbler distro report --name=vmware-5.5-x86_64
> > Name                           : vmware-5.5-x86_64
> > Architecture                   : x86_64
> > TFTP Boot Files                : {'$local_img_path/*.*':
> > '/var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/*.*'}
> > Breed                          : vmware
> > Comment                        :
> > Fetchable Files                : {}
> > Initrd                         :
> > /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/imgpayld.tgz
> > Kernel                         :
> > /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/mboot.c32
> > Kernel Options                 : {}
> > Kernel Options (Post Install)  : {}
> > Kickstart Metadata             : {'tree': 'http://@@http_server@
> > @/cblr/links/vmware-5.5-x86_64'}
> > Management Classes             : []
> > OS Version                     : esxi55
> > Owners                         : ['admin']
> > Red Hat Management Key         : <<inherit>>
> > Red Hat Management Server      : <<inherit>>
> > Template Files                 :
> > {'/etc/cobbler/pxe/bootcfg_esxi55.template':
> > '$local_img_path/cobbler-boot.cfg'}
>
>   I have already read previous similar posts for previous versions of
>  esxi5, but did not find those helpful:
>
>  https://lists.fedorahosted.org/pipermail/cobbler/2014-February/009284.html
>
>  https://lists.fedorahosted.org/pipermail/cobbler/2013-June/008869.html
>
>  Any help would be greatly appreciated,
>
>  -Razi
>
>
>
>
>