RH403 questions regarding provisionning

[JS_Learning]

Hi, 

I have some questions regarding provisionning.

I see https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_satellite/6.7/html/provisioning_guide/configur...

I also see the chapter 8 in the RH403 course, which seems to be about capsule.

Im trying to understand that.

1) I am struggling with the above because it talks about the "integrated capsule on Satellite" then it talks specifically about the capsule server ("Refresh features of the Capsule Server"). In the RH403 course we do configure an external capsule from Satellite, which is adding confusion to me.

2) I see for example "--foreman-proxy-dns-server "127.0.0.1" \".

Does that corresponds when it says "the Satellite domain name server is x.x.x.x""? is that the ip for the domain name server?

3) I don't understand the concept of subdomain related to that. In fact I don't see that anywhere, in the course RH403 or in the Satellite doc...

4) What else I should be configuring for that PXE to work? let's say in an exam contest where some things are already configured, what else I should be checking? I know we have to configure OS  etc... but that seems to be done (partially?)

5) Is having a subnet and domain mandatory? Especially for the one we "import Ipv4 subnet".

6) About this one: 

--foreman-proxy-dns-forwarders "8.8.8.8; 8.8.4.4" \

What if we are told that the second dns is sent to bob@lab.example.com or like bob.domain,example.com is that something we need to write in that parameter? or its only ip address? If so, are we supposed to ping that domain to get an ip or something?

@ricardodacosta Maybe you know some answers, as I followed your video course RH403 Satellite 6.6 based.

@SamW I saw you are experienced on that topic too maybe you could answer some parts?

Thanks in advance!

[philip_sweany]

Please start new thread with a relevent subject for questions.  Makes it easier to find than a hijkacked thread!

Jean:

1)  The primary Satellite server is built to include a full, complete Capsule server on itself, which we refer to as the integrated capsule.  The Sat Server communicates with all Capsule servers the same way, whether integrated or external, and the capsules perform the same set of duties (configurable) for their assigned hosts or domains.  Of courses, because the integrated capsule always exists, and is built on the main Satellite Server, some commands self-refer to the localhost when referencing components.  Like of the DNS service or proxy is running on the Satellite Server.  Hence 127.0.0.1.

2) yes.  replace x.x.x.x with the real address, to pint to the server location.

3) Subdomains are a DNS structure.  Your enterprise might use subdomains.  There is no extra meaning here.  We don't bother with subdomains in RH403 because it doesn't add any educational value to learning Satellite, that's all.

4) through 6)

The paramter you set is just for configuring name lookup forwarding.

You might want --foreman-proxy-dhcp-nameservers or --foreman-proxy-dhcp-search-domains to set the paramters that manage the DHCP DNS options when using PXE or when needing these set in a static network environment, to get the result in the /etc/resolv.conf as nameserver entries.

This typcially requires understanding your production networks, domain structure and subnet arrangement, and experimenting to confirm the needed options and settings.

We try to keep it simple in the course, but this really becomes clear when you practice in a valid production setting.

[JS_Learning]

Thanks for answering and the suggestion, I made a proper dedicated thread, as I should have done initially.

1) I see. I think then the documentation is a bit misleading (without the full understanding you have):

1. Refresh features of the Capsule Server to view the changes:

   # hammer proxy refresh-features --name "satellite.example.com"

I think if it's talking about a capsule server then the --name should be "capsule.example.com" and not the --name "satellite.example.com" (which appears to refer to the "integrated satellite capsule"). And/or it should say "Refresh features on the integrated capsule server...".

2) Ok. So that means that "--foreman-proxy-dns-server "127.0.0.1"" corresponds to the terms "Satellite domain name server address", is that correct? (my difficulty is in matching a given requirement using different wording with that configuration parameter; especially with the presence of the "proxy").

3) I see, I need to do more digging on that.

4) In all transparency, I was trying to have some sort of checklist of items to check to understand where are all the PXE important steps to check, let's say in a context where someone could be asked to do some provisionning. I find it particularly difficult outside of the lab of RH403, if/when some things are partially configured, some already present, some not.

So far, I gathered:

-Need to have OS entry properly configured in Red Hat Satellite

-Need to enable some feature on RH satellite (dns, dhcp, tfpt)... At the same time we create some sort of network related settings

-Need to refresh Satellite so the features are active

-Need to create a domain

-Need to import a subnet ipv4 (the settings would be linked to the steps of configuring feature)

Despite all the above I was not able to complete a provisionning outside RH403 (where I had full control)

5) 6)I see.

I think "--foreman-proxy-dhcp-nameservers "192.168.140.2" is only an IP so it can't take any domain name.

Probably "--foreman-proxy-dhcp-search-domains " would be the one, where we could use a subdomain name... I did not see that setting in the official documentation page, in fact I never saw it before. Probably I should see it in "satellite installer --help"

Thanks a lot it really helps for my understanding!