Parallels Cloud Server - 6.0 Installation Manual
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0
Installation Using PXE
August 11, 2015
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4
Preparing for PXE Installation ................................................................................... 5
Choosing Servers ............................................................................................................ 5
Installing Software on the PXE Server .............................................................................. 6
Configuring the TFTP Server ............................................................................................ 6
Setting Up a DHCP Server .............................................................................................. 8
Setting Up an HTTP Server .............................................................................................. 8
Configuring the Parallels Server ....................................................................................... 9
Installing Virtuozzo 7 ............................................................................................... 10
Creating a Kickstart File .......................................................................................... 11
Standard Kickstart Options ............................................................................................ 11
Virtuozzo Kickstart Options ............................................................................................ 12
Kickstart File Example ................................................................................................... 18
Copying the Kickstart File .............................................................................................. 20
Starting Installation ........................................................................................................ 20
Index ........................................................................................................................ 22
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Introduction
This guide provides information on installing Virtuozzo 7 over a network using a PXE (Preboot
Execution Environment) server. You will also learn how to upgrade your existing system to Virtuozzo
7 over a network.
You can install Virtuozzo in a PXE environment using one of the following ways:
• Manual installation. When performing this kind of installation, you are asked questions by the
Virtuozzo installer and define the necessary installation and configuration settings. Manual
installation is recommended if you plan to install the product on a small number of physical
servers.
• Unattended installation. In this kind of installation, the Virtuozzo installer uses a kickstart file to
determine the necessary installation and configuration settings. Unattended installation
assumes that no interaction is required on your part and is recommended if you plan to install
the product on a multitude of physical servers.
To install Virtuozzo 7 over a network, you need to complete the following steps:
1 Prepare for installation from a PXE server.
2 Create a kickstart file. This step is only required if you plan to automate the procedure of
deploying Virtuozzo on your servers.
3 Install Virtuozzo.
All these steps are explained in the following chapters in detail.
Configuring the Parallels Server............................................................................... 9
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2
Preparing for PXE Installation
The process of preparing for installation over network with a PXE server includes the following
steps:
1 Choosing servers for the PXE installation.
2 Installing the necessary software on the PXE server.
3 Configuring the TFTP server.
4 Setting up a DHCP server.
5 Setting up an HTTP server.
6 Configuring the Parallels server.
All these steps are described below in detail.
In This Chapter
Choosing Servers ................................................................................................... 5
Installing Software on the PXE Server ...................................................................... 6
Configuring the TFTP Server ................................................................................... 6
Setting Up a DHCP Server ...................................................................................... 8
Setting Up an HTTP Server ..................................................................................... 8
Choosing Servers
First, you should decide on the servers to participate in the PXE installation. You need these
servers:
• PXE server. This is a server allowing your Parallels servers to boot and install Virtuozzo over the
network. Any server capable of running a Linux operating system and having a network
interface card (NIC) can play the role of a PXE server.
• DHCP server. This is a standard DHCP server serving computers on your network with the
necessary TCP/IP settings. You can use an existing DHCP server, if you have one, or set up a
DHCP server from scratch. In the latter case, you can install it on the PXE server or use a
dedicated server.
• Parallels server. This is a server running Virtuozzo. The server must meet the requirements
described in the Preparing for Installation chapter of the Virtuozzo 7 Installation Guide. In
Preparing for PXE Installation
addition to the requirements listed in this chapter, the server must have a NIC with PXE support
to be able to boot from the PXE server.
• HTTP or FTP server. This is a server storing the Virtuozzo installation files. You can use an
existing HTTP server, if you have one, or set up an HTTP server from scratch. In the latter case,
you can install it on the PXE server or use a dedicated server.
This guide assumes that you will store the installation files on an HTTP server and use HTTP as
the installation protocol.
Installing Software on the PXE Server
Next, you are supposed to install the necessary software on the PXE server. First of all, you need to
install a Linux operating system on the server. There are no specific requirements for which
operating system to use, so you can choose any (e.g., CentOS 6 or Fedora 17).
Once your system is up and running, install the following packages:
• tftp-server
• httpd (Install this package only if you plan to deploy the PXE and HTTP servers on the same
physical server.)
• syslinux
• dhcp (Install this package only if you plan to deploy the PXE and DHCP servers on the same
physical server.)
Assuming that your PXE server is running an RHEL-like operating system, you can use the yum
utility to install the packages:
# yum install tftp-server dhcp httpd syslinux
Configuring the TFTP Server
In the next step, you need to configure the TFTP server that you installed in the previous step. This
section describes the process of configuring the TFTP server for BIOS-based systems. For
information on how to configure the TFTP server for installing Virtuozzo on EFI-based systems, see
Configuring for EFI in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide at
https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/docs/enUS/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Installation_Guide/s1-netboot-pxe-config-efi.html.
To configure the TFTP server:
1 On the PXE server, open the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file, and edit it as follows:
service tftp
{
disable = no
socket_type = dgram
protocol = udp
wait = yes
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Preparing for PXE Installation
user = root
server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
server_args = -v -s /tftpboot
per_source = 11
cps = 100 2
flags = IPv4
}
Once you are done, save the file.
2 Copy the following files to the /tftpboot directory (if this directory does not exist, create it
under the root (/) directory):
• vmlinuz
• initrd.img
• menu.c32
• pxelinux.0
These files are necessary to start the installation of Virtuozzo. You can find the first two files in
the /isolinux directory of the Virtuozzo distribution. The menu.c32 and pxelinux.0 files
are located in the syslinux installation directory on the PXE server (usually, this is the
/usr/share/syslinux or /usr/lib/syslinux directory).
3 Create the /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg directory, and inside this directory, make the
default file.
4 Open the default file for editing, and add the following strings to it:
default menu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 100
ontimeout PCS
menu title Parallels Boot Menu
label PCS
menu label Install Parallels Cloud Server
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img ksdevice=eth0
For detailed information on the parameters you can specify in the
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default file and their configuration, see the documentation for
syslinux and its man pages.
5 Restart the xinetd service:
# /etc/init.d/xinetd restart
6 If necessary, configure your firewall on the PXE server to allow access to the TFTP server.
Note: When running the TFTP server, you might get the "Permission denied" error. In this case, you
may try to fix the problem by running the following command on the server: # restorecon -Rv
/tftboot/.
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