As user ansible, unless otherwise specified, prepare and run Ansible playbooks as follows:

1. Run the following commands, which are prerequisites for running the Python scripts:

[ansible@csah python]$ sudo yum install python3

[ansible@csah python]$ sudo pip3 install pyyaml requests

2. To automatically create an inventory file for Ansible playbooks, run the Python scripts in the <git clone directory>/containers/python directory:

[ansible@csah python]$ python3 generate_inventory_file.py

3. Select the number for each task in the following list and provide inputs:

Figure 2.              Inventory file generation input tasks menu

Note: If in doubt, accept the default values, if any, that are listed for each option.

1. For option 1, specify the directory to which the files are to be downloaded:

provide complete path of directory to download OCP 4.3 software bits

default [/home/ansible/files]:

Option 1 downloads OpenShift Container Platform 4.3 software from RedHat into a directory for which user ansible has permissions. The instructions in this document assume that the directory is specified as /home/ansible/files.

2. For option 2:

i             Enter bootstrap node details including node names, the IP address assigned for bond0, and the iDRAC IP address and credentials.

ii           Using iDRAC credentials, from the list of available network devices, select one interface whose MAC addresses are used by DHCP and PXE boot.

Note: Ensure that the iDRAC IP address and credentials are accurate. If they are not accurate, an empty value ‘ ‘ is set as the MAC address, which results in the failure of the Ansible playbooks. A manual change is then necessary to add MAC address to ensure that Ansible playbooks can run.

enter the bootstrap node name

default [bootstrap]:

ip address for os in bootstrap node: 100.82.46.26

ip address for idrac in bootstrap node: 100.82.34.26

enter the idrac user for bootstrap: root

enter idrac password for bootstrap:

1 -> NIC.Integrated.1-1-1

2 -> NIC.Integrated.1-2-1

3 -> NIC.Slot.2-1-1

4 -> NIC.Slot.2-2-1

Select the interface used by DHCP: 3

3. For options 3 and 4:

i             Add control plane and worker node details, including node names, the IP address that is assigned for bond0, and the iDRAC IP address and credentials.

Note: You must provide the IP address for bond0, node names, and other details for each node one at a time.

ii           Using iDRAC credentials, from the list of available network devices, select one interface whose MAC addresses are used by DHCP and PXE boot.

4. For option 5, provide details about the bond name, interfaces used by the bond, and bond options.

The bond options default value is based on best practices. Do not change it. You can change the primary interface name if it is different from the default value.

Interface names are based on the slot in which the NIC is placed in the server. This document assumes that RHCOS is used for both control plane and worker nodes and that the slot 2 NIC ports are used. The remaining instructions assume that the interface names are ens2f0 and ens2f1.

Note: Port enumeration in RHCOS is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 standards.

enter bond name

default [bond0]:

enter bond interfaces separated by ','

default [ens2f0,ens2f1]:

enter bond options

default [mode=active-backup,miimon=100,primary=ens2f0]:

5. For option 6, provide details about the disks that are used in bootstrap, control plane, and worker nodes.

Note: This document assumes that the nvme drive in the first slot is used for the OpenShift installation.

ensure disknames are absolutely available. Otherwise OpenShift install fails

specify the master device that will be installed

default [nvme0n1]:

specify the bootstrap device that will be installed

default [nvme0n1]:

specify the worker device that will be installed

default [nvme0n1]:

6. For option 7, provide the cluster name and DNS zones file name:

specify zone file

default [/var/named/ocp.zones]:

specify cluster name

default [ocp]:

7. For option 8, provide details about the HTTP web server setup and directory names that will be created under /var/www/html:

enter http port

default [8080]:

specify dir where ignition files will be placed

directory will be created under /var/www/html

default [ignition]:

specify the version of ocp

default [4.3]:

8. For option 9, provide lease times for dhcpd configuration:

enter a default lease time for dhcp

default [800]:

enter max lease time for dhcp

default [7200]:

9. For option 10, provide details about the default user that will be used to install the OpenShift Container Platform cluster, service network CIDR, pod network CIDR, and other details that will be added in the install-config.yaml file:

enter the user used to install openshift

DONOT CHANGE THIS VALUE

default [core]:

enter the directory where openshift installs

directory will be created under /home/core

default [openshift]:

enter the pod network cidr

default [10.128.0.0/14]:

pod network cidr: 10.128.0.0/14

specify cidr notation for number of ips in each node:

cidr number should be an integer and less than 32

default [23]:

specify the service network cidr

default [172.30.0.0/16]:

Note: Do not change the user value from core. Only the core user is allowed to SSH into cluster nodes.

10. To print all the inputs that you have provided up to this point, select option 11.

To modify any incorrect values, rerun the related option and correct the values.

11. Select option 12 to perform a YAML dump of all the displayed contents into a file called inventory_file in the current directory.

To review a sample file, see <git clone directory>/containers/ansible/hosts.

4. Log in to Red Hat, download the pull secret file, and copy the contents into a file called pullsecret under the directory containing the OpenShift Container Platform 4.3 software bits.

5. Edit inventory_file, adding the following contents under the software_src key, and save the file:

vars:

  software_src: /home/ansible/files

  pull_secret_file: pullsecret

Note: Copy inventory_file from <git clone dir>/containers/python/ to <git clone dir>/containers/ansible/hosts.

6. As user ansible, run the playbooks:

[ansible@csah ansible] $ pwd

/home/ansible/containers/ansible

[ansible@csah ansible] $ ansible-playbook -i hosts> <git clone dir>/containers/ansible/ocp.yml

The CSAH node is installed and configured with HTTP, DHCP, DNS, and PXE services. Also, the install-config.yaml file is generated, and the ignition config files are created and made available over HTTP.