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Answer file

How to build an answer file?

To create a fully automated and unattended installation of XCP-ng, you can rely on an answer file.

This file is an XML, here is an example:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
    <installation srtype="ext">
        <primary-disk>sda</primary-disk>
        <guest-disk>sdb</guest-disk>
        <keymap>us</keymap>
        <root-password>myrootpassword</root-password>
        <source type="url">http://pxe.example.org/xcp-ng/</source>
        <post-install-script type="url">
          http://pxe.example.org/myscripts/post-install-script
        </post-install-script>
        <admin-interface name="eth0" proto="dhcp" />
        <timezone>Europe/Paris</timezone>
    </installation>
tip

In order to use thin provisionned local disks, you need to add an srtype attribute to ext. Without this, it will create a local LVM SR by default.

Answer file values​

Here is the list of all entries.

Install​

<installation>
…
</installation>
tip

<installation mode="fresh"> will not make any backup if there's a previous installation

Re-install (backup, no config preservation):

<installation mode="reinstall">
…
</installation>

Upgrade (backup, preserve config):

<installation mode="upgrade">
…
</installation>

Restore:

<restore>
…
</restore>

Install options​

netinstall-gpg-check=bool

Check authenticity of repository metadata and RPMs (GPG signatures) (new in 8.0). It's True by default.

Common Elements​

Source​

  <source type="type">repo</source>
  <driver-source type="type">repo</driver-source>

Where type is one of:

  • local (repo ignored)
  • url
  • nfs

source defines the location of the installation repository or a Supplemental Pack. There may be multiple 'source' elements.

driver-source defines the source of a Supplemental Pack containing device drivers to be loaded by the installer and included after installation of the main repository. It can be

Repository formats:

  • nfs - server:/path/
  • url - one of:
    • http://[user[:passwd]]@host[:port]/path/
    • https://[user[:passwd]]@host[:port]/path/
    • ftp://[user[:passwd]]@host[:port]/path/
    • file:///path/
    • nfs://server:/path/

Bootloader​

Defines the bootloader variant and location. Optional.

  <bootloader location="mbr|partition">grub2</bootloader>

Default is mbr.

The optional attribute is write-boot-entry=bool, whether to modify the EFI Boot manager and write a boot entry for a UEFI installation. It's true by default.

Network backend​

Defines the network stack variant. Optional.

  <network-backend>bridge|openvswitch|vswitch</network-backend>

Default: vswitch.

Stage​

Defines a shell or python script to be invoked at the defined stage. Optional.

<script stage="stage" type="type">url</script>

Where stage is one of:

  • installation-start
  • filesystem-populated
  • installation-complete

And type is one of:

  • nfs
  • url

Args passed to the script:

  • installation-start: None
  • filesystem-populated: mnt (mount point of root filesystem)
  • installation-complete: 0 | 1 (success or failure)

FCoE​

Specifies interfaces to run Fibre Channel over Ethernet VLAN Discovery on.

<fcoe-interface name="eth"/> | <fcoe-interface hwaddr="mac"/>

(Re)Install Elements​

Initial Partitions​

Create primary partitions before installation. Used by XenRT to test preservation of Dell utility partitions.

  <initial-partitions>
    <partition number="n" size="sz" id="id"/>
  </initial-partitions>

Software RAID​

Specifies the target disks and md device for creating a software RAID 1 array. The md device can then be used in <primary-disk> below. Nnew in xcp-ng 7.5.0-2 and 7.6.

  <raid device="dev">
    <disk>dev1</disk>
    <disk>dev2</disk>
  </raid>

Primary disk​

Specifies the target disk for installation.

  <primary-disk>dev</primary-disk>

Optional attribute:

  • guest-storage=bool. Include the remaining space of the primary disk in the local SR. True by default.
  • sr-at-end=bool. Location of SR partition on the physical disk. Used by XenRT to simulate a host that has been migrated from an OEM release. Default: True.
  • preserve-first-partition=true|yes|false|no|if-utility. Defines the action to perform on detecting a non-XS partition at the start of the disk. Default : if-utility. Values:
    • true|yes: Unconditionally preserve
    • false|no: Unconditionally destroy
    • if-utility: Preserve if ID == 0xDE (MBR) or GUID == C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B and partition label == 'DELLUTILITY' (GPT).

Guest disks​

Specifies additional devices to be included in the local SR.

  <guest-disks>
    <guest-disk>dev</guest-disk>
  </guest-disks>

Admin interface​

Specifies the initial management interface.

  <admin-interface name="eth"/> | <admin-interface hwaddr="mac"/>

Mandatory attributes:

  • proto="static|dhcp|none"

If the interface is static then the following elements must be present:

      <ipaddr>ip</ipaddr>

      <subnet>subnet</subnet>

      <gateway>gw</gateway>

If proto is specified as "none" then protov6 must be specified and must not be none. Default: none. Optional attributes:

  • vlan="vlan". Specifies tagged VLAN id for management interface. If not present, untagged VLAN is used as default. VLAN is supported from 1 to 4094.
  • protov6="static|dhcp|autoconf|none". Default: none.

If protov6 is static then the following elements must be present:

      <ipv6>ipv6/prefix_length</ipv6>
      <gatewayv6>gw</gatewayv6>

Root password​

Specifies the root password. The value !! and a type of "hash" defers setting a password until first boot. Default: type="hash", !!.

  <root-password type="plaintext|hash">passwd</root-password>

How to create a hash.

mkpasswd -m SHA-512 'Password1'
$6$Vv6DgmVWmbZ.SdRl$AUWzbpE5luuNQIyW.CUEztWLKEJkSrBhfTKFdMaX1eJhPrtXworF4RIG.GQ9cBtxE0yNBI4weakgnHdGjljFg/

Name Server​

Specifies one or more DNS entries.

  <name-server>ip</name-server>

Hostname​

Specifies the hostname. Default: localhost.localdomain.

  <hostname>name</hostname>

Timezone​

Specifies the timezone (region/city).

  <timezone>tz</timezone>

NTP​

Specifies one or more NTP servers.

  <ntp-server>ntp</ntp-server>

Keymap​

Specifies the console keymap. Default: us.

  <keymap>kbd</keymap>

(Re)Install Attributes​

SR type​

Local SR type. Default: lvm.

  <installation sr-type="lvm|ext"?>

Upgrade Elements​

Existing installation​

Specifies the device containing the XCP-ng installation to be upgraded.

  <existing-installation>dev</existing-installation>

Restore Elements​

Backup disk​

Specifies the device containing the XCP-ng backup to be restored.

  <backup-disk>dev</backup-disk>

Upgrade answer file​

Your answer file can also be used to upgrade your machines. Here is an example:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<installation mode="upgrade">
    <existing-installation>sda</existing-installation>
    <source type="url">http://pxehost.example.com/xcp-ng/</source>
    <post-install-script type="url">
        http://pxehost.example.com/myscripts/post-install-script
    </post-install-script>
</installation>

As you can see, mode is set on upgrade. Be sure to target the right disk to search for previous existing installations (here sda). Do NOT specify primary-disk and guest-disk!