Ubuntu Automated Installation (For K8S)

Because I am doing a lot of testing it can be rewarding to do a complete re-installation of a Kubernetes cluster. As a result the only thing I disliked was the manual process of the Ubuntu installation.
Here is a procedure to automate a complete Ubuntu installation and customize it.

Requirements

Before you can start, make sure you have already an Ubuntu image running with the correct Ubuntu ISO mounted in the CDROM. Packages will be required before the start of the creation of the ISO.
Kickstart is part of the syslinux-utils.

sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get install system-config-kickstart -y
sudo apt-get install syslinux-utils -y

Copy ISO Files to directory

If you didn’t do so, lets mount the ISO.

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom
sudo mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

The opt dir is for installation files. Therefor we’re creating a directory in /opt and copy the needed files for the new ISO to it.

sudo mkdir /opt/ubuntuiso
sudo cp -rT /mnt/cdrom /opt/ubuntuiso
sudo chmod -R 777 /opt/ubuntuiso

Lets select the language.:

sudo echo en >/opt/ubuntuiso/isolinux/lang

ks.cfg explained

It is easy to create a ks.cfg with the Kickstart GUI. The auto-installation process is using this file.
Lets start with customizing the ks.cfg. The first example is to give the Master image a fixed ip address.

There is the way to give the image a fixed ip address and set the hostname.

#Network information
network --bootproto=static --ip=10.3.12.150 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --gateway=10.3.12.254 --nameserver=10.3.12.10 --device=eth0 --hostname Master150

There is a section to install needed packages. Here is a list which I’m using:

%packages
openssh-server
docker.io
apt-transport-https
open-vm-tools
curl
syslinux
software-properties-common
vim
open-iscsi

After the installation of Ubuntu and the extra packages it is time to adjust the post section with all the things you want to change like enable and start docker, install the right version of Kubernetes, disable the swapfile, enable iscsid with the node.session.scan set to manual.

%post
#!/bin/bash
exec < /dev/tty6 > /dev/tty6
chvt 6
apt-get update
systemctl enable docker
systemctl start docker
curl -s https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg | apt-key add
apt-add-repository "deb http://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main"
apt-get install -qy kubelet=1.18.0-00 kubectl=1.18.0-00 kubeadm=1.18.0-00
apt-mark hold kubeadm kubelet kubectl
curl http://10.2.8.3/HX/hxcsi-1.2.rel.4.5.1a.569.git.cc5ea579.tar.gz -o /tmp/hxcsi.tar.gz
sed -i "s/\/swapfile/\#\/swapfile/" /etc/fstab
systemctl enable iscsid
vim -c '%s/node.session.scan = auto/node.session.scan = manual/g' -c 'wq' /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf
chvt 1

After this installation, which takes about 5 minutes, you can finalize the K8S Master like in explained in the Kubernetes Installation post.

Complete Kickstart ks.cfg

Here is my complete ks.cfg. Adjust the customization for the Workers auto installation ISO.

#Generated by Kickstart Configurator
#platform=x86

#System language
lang en_US
#Language modules to install
langsupport en_US
#System keyboard
keyboard us
#System mouse
mouse
#System timezone
timezone America/Los_Angeles --ntpservers=10.2.8.2
#Root password
rootpw --disabled
#Initial user
user iamjoost --fullname "iamjoost" --iscrypted --password $1$W1IKZSf$msnSQX9wOtM.JUBeVKjuI1
#Reboot after installation
reboot
#Use text mode install
text
#Install OS instead of upgrade
install
#Use CDROM installation media
cdrom
#System bootloader configuration
bootloader --location=mbr
#Clear the Master Boot Record
zerombr yes
#Partition clearing information
clearpart --all --initlabel
#Disk partitioning information
part / --fstype ext4 --size 1 --grow
part /boot --fstype ext2 --size 1000 --asprimary
#System authorization infomation
auth  --useshadow  --enablemd5
#Network information
network --bootproto=static --ip=10.3.12.150 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --gateway=10.3.12.254 --nameserver=10.3.12.10 --device=eth0 --hostname Master150
#Firewall configuration
firewall --disabled
#Do not configure the X Window System
skipx

%packages
openssh-server
docker.io
apt-transport-https
open-vm-tools
curl
syslinux
software-properties-common
vim
open-iscsi

%post
#!/bin/bash
exec < /dev/tty6 > /dev/tty6
chvt 6
apt-get update
systemctl enable docker
systemctl start docker
curl -s https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg | apt-key add
apt-add-repository "deb http://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main"
apt-get install -qy kubelet=1.18.0-00 kubectl=1.18.0-00 kubeadm=1.18.0-00
apt-mark hold kubeadm kubelet kubectl
curl http://10.2.8.3/HX/hxcsi-1.2.rel.4.5.1a.569.git.cc5ea579.tar.gz -o /tmp/hxcsi.tar.gz
sed -i "s/\/swapfile/\#\/swapfile/" /etc/fstab
systemctl enable iscsid
vim -c '%s/node.session.scan = auto/node.session.scan = manual/g' -c 'wq' /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf
chvt 1

ks.pressed

During the installation you will have to press a key. In other words, to emulate this, the ks.pressed file is used.

d-i partman/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition \
select Finish partitioning and write changes to disk
d-i partman/confirm boolean true

Prepare the ISO

copy the ks.cfg and ks.pressed to /opt/ubuntuiso

sudo cp ~/ks.pressed /opt/ubuntuiso/.
sudo cp ~/ks.cfg /opt/ubuntuiso/.

Create the ISO from all the files:

sudo mkisofs -D -r -V "ATTENDLESS_UBUNTU" -cache-inodes -J -l -b isolinux
/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-ta
ble -o /opt/autoinstall.iso /opt/ubuntuiso

To make the ISO bootable:

isohybrid /opt/autoinstall.iso

The automated installation start:

The ISO can be used for the automated installation.
Just create a VM and put the ISO in the CDROM
After 5 min Ubuntu is installed and the image can be finalized for Kubernetes.