Re: Would the group consider creating a Katello Appliance?

[Michael Burbury]

Dear team,

LZ is correct, a virtual appliance only for a major release, trying to do it from
nightlies would be too much (my thoughts were more - nightmare - pun intended).

It should be possible to run a "yum update" to update the appliance.

If possible, the appliance could have a configure script for setting IP, hostname, DNS and
basic Katello configuration, just enough to get you started.

The more simple it can be kept, the more "likes" you will probably get from
those whom uptake it. The goal is to reduce complexity and package an appliance product
for a single specific purpose, but still have the flexibility for advanced administrators
to customize the system to their specific needs. I would say, pre-configured as a Fedora
Repo and if possible a simple Ketello client script that can be run on a Fedora client
system that could use HTTP to fetch packages needed for subscription to the Katello
server. The easier it can be made for a user of the software, the more popular the
software will become. This has been proven even by the likes of Symantec Netbackup
Appliances and even Oracle's Database Appliance which have been selling extremely
well.

Thank you for your consideration and good to see constructive conversations on such a
delivery model, as this seems to be the most popular way things are headed in the IT
Industry.
I am happy to help with the project and testing where I can.

An appliance approach to the software on Redhat, would also make it very easy for Redhat
to sell in place of a Satellite server and more in line with their virtualization stack.
(The integration with RHN would be a large bonus for Redhat to control subscriptions - and
license compliance which many Financial companies need to report on during audits)


Best Regards,

Michael Burbury

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Would the group consider creating a Katello Appliance?

[Lukas Zapletal]

This is interesting idea for sure.

We have already started integrating Foreman, the provisioning and
configuration part of Katello, and I wonder if it make sens to deliver
images with Foreman. You cannot easily do provisioning in the cloud
(e.g. EC2) with Katello, because Foreman does over-the-wire
provisioning. You need your own DHCP, DNS, TFTP and stuff. Foreman
is better fit for data centers.

But images could be still valuable in the datacenters as a "quick"
installation. I still think our installer is very simple and it is
matter of ten commands to get Katello working successfully. But image
could be loaded in a RHEV or libvirt instance to get Katello running
quickly.

Therefore I think images make sense, but only for subscription and
package management, for foreman each installation is pretty unique
because you need to configure all the services for provisioning. I mean,
you could have it all in the appliance, but what you cannot run in the
virtual guest is hypervisor itself.

The solution could be - all in one installation except hypervisors. You
would need to do some post-configuration step in order to get
provisioning running. This is, I think, doable.

LZ

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 10:33:56PM +0000, Michael Burbury wrote:
>  Dear team,
>  
>  LZ is correct, a virtual appliance only for a major release, trying to do it from
> nightlies would be too much (my thoughts were more - nightmare - pun intended).
>  
>  It should be possible to run a "yum update" to update the appliance.
>  
>  If possible, the appliance could have a configure script for setting IP, hostname, DNS
> and basic Katello configuration, just enough to get you started.
>  
>  The more simple it can be kept, the more "likes" you will probably get from
> those whom uptake it. The goal is to reduce complexity and package an appliance product
> for a single specific purpose, but still have the flexibility for advanced administrators
> to customize the system to their specific needs. I would say, pre-configured as a Fedora
> Repo and if possible a simple Ketello client script that can be run on a Fedora client
> system that could use HTTP to fetch packages needed for subscription to the Katello
> server. The easier it can be made for a user of the software, the more popular the
> software will become. This has been proven even by the likes of Symantec Netbackup
> Appliances and even Oracle's Database Appliance which have been selling extremely
> well.
>  
>  Thank you for your consideration and good to see constructive conversations on such a
> delivery model, as this seems to be the most popular way things are headed in the IT
> Industry.
>  I am happy to help with the project and testing where I can.
>  
>  An appliance approach to the software on Redhat, would also make it very easy for Redhat
> to sell in place of a Satellite server and more in line with their virtualization stack.
>  (The integration with RHN would be a large bonus for Redhat to control subscriptions -
> and license compliance which many Financial companies need to report on during audits)
>  
>  
>  Best Regards,
>  
>  Michael Burbury
>  
>  #####################################################################################
>  Confidentiality and Privilege Notice 
>  This document is intended solely for the named addressee.  The information contained in
> the pages is confidential and contains legally privileged information. If you are not the
> addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for delivery of the message to such
> person), you may not copy or deliver this message to anyone, and you should destroy this
> message and kindly notify the sender by reply email. Confidentiality and legal privilege
> are not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery to you.
>  #####################################################################################
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-- 
Later,

 Lukas "lzap" Zapletal
 #katello #systemengine