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Parallels Cloud Server Kickstart Options

Along with standard Linux options, Parallels Cloud Server provides a number of specific parameters and keywords that you need to add to your kickstart file.

The table below lists all available parameters and keywords.

General Parameters

Parameter

Description

key <key>

Mandatory. Installs the Parallels Cloud Server product key on the server. This key is needed to start using the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 software.

cep [ --agree | --disagree ]

Mandatory. Specify whether you want to participate in the Parallels Customer Experience Program.

  • --agree . Join the program. In this case, Parallels will periodically collect the information about the configuration of your physical server and virtual machines and Containers and use it to make the product better fit your needs. No private information like your name, e-mail address, phone number, and keyboard input will be collected.
  • --disagree . Do not join the program.

vznetcfg

Optional. Invokes the vznetcfg utility with the specified options. This parameter accepts all options that you can normally pass to vznetcfg . The options and their values should be separated by an equals sign (for example, vznetcfg --net=virt_network1:eth0 ).

For detailed information on the vznecfg options, refer to the vznetcfg section in the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command-Line Reference Guide .

vziptables

Deprecated. To configure iptables modules for Containers, use the NETFILTER parameter in the Container configuration file (for details, see the Parallels Cloud Server Command Line Reference Guide ).

vztturlmap

Optional. Sets the URL of the repository and repository mirrors to use for handling EZ OS and application templates.

By default, Parallels Cloud Server uses the following URLs:

  • http://fedora.redhat.com for handling Fedora-related templates.
  • http://mirror.centos.org for handling CentOS-related templates.
  • http://archive.ubuntu.com for handling Ubuntu-related templates.
  • http://download.opensuse.org for handling openSUSE-related templates.
  • ftp://ftp.suse.com for handling SUSE-related templates.
  • ftp://ftp.de.debian.org for handling Debian-related templates.
  • http://vzdownload.swsoft.com for obtaining specific software packages for the aforementioned Linux distributions. These packages are necessary for the correct operation of your OS templates.

To use your own URL, you first need to specify the name of the respective Linux distribution, followed by = and the desired URL (e.g., $FC_SERVER=http://myrepository.com to redefine the default repository for Fedora). To use several URLs, separate them by space.

Note : Some Linux distributions (e.g., Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) do not have official repositories. So you should manually create software repositories before starting to use OS templates for such distributions. Refer to the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Templates Management Guide to learn how you can do it.

up2date

Optional. Does the following:

1. Configure the repositories with updates for Parallels Cloud Server software and templates.

2. Check the repositories for available updates.

3. Download and install the updated packages, if any, on the server.

Using this option, you can ensure that you have the latest Parallels Cloud Server software packages and templates right after the installation, without the need to manually check for updates.

nosfxtemplate

Optional. Skips installing the pre-created and pre-cached EZ templates on the server. The current version of Parallels Cloud Server is shipped with only one pre-created and pre-cached OS EZ template - centos-6-x86_64 .

%eztemplates

Optional. Installs EZ templates on the server. All available templates are listed in the /Packages directory of the Parallels Cloud Server distribution. You can easily identify them by the -ez- number .swsoft.noarch.rpm ending (e.g., centos-6-x86-ez-3.0.0-14.swsoft.noarch.rpm ).

The names of the templates must be specified without the ending and separated by the new-line character, for example:

%eztemplates

centos-6-x86

devel-centos-6-x86

When using this parameter, keep in mind the following:

  • If you specify an empty list, no templates will be installed on the server.
  • If you skip this parameter, all templates included in the Parallels Cloud Server distribution will be installed on the server.
  • You can indicate the --cache argument next to a respective OS template to cache it after installation. To cache all specified OS templates, specify --cache after %eztemplates .

    Note : To cache OS templates for some Linux distributions (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server), you should first create special repositories storing the necessary software packages for these OS templates. Refer to the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Templates Management Guide to learn how you can do it.

  • This option must be specified as the first one after the keys.

ignoredisk

Optional. Ignores the specified drives or all drives except the one specified. Used with one of the following arguments:

  • --drives= <drive> [,...]
    A comma-separated list of drives to ignore. If a server has drives other than those specified in this option, the installer will ask what to do with them.
  • --only-use= <drive>
    Ignore every drive except the specified.

pvaagent

Optional. Downloads and installs the PVA Agent and Parallels Power Panel components on the server. After doing so, you can register the server with the Parallels Virtual Automation application and to use this application to manage virtual machines and Containers residing on it via a standard web browser.

Tthe PVA Agent and Parallels Power Panel components are downloaded from the official repository.

pvamn --ip <IP_address> [ --hostname <hostname> ] [ --pswd <passwd> ]

Optional. Creates a special Container on the server and install the PVA Management Server and Control Center components in the Container. Once the Container is created and the components are installed, the Container starts acting as the Master Server, ensuring the communication between the server and Parallels Virtual Automation.

The pvamn option is used with the following parameters:

  • --ip (mandatory): the IP address to assign to the PVA Management Server.
  • --hostname (optional): the hostname to assign to PVA Management Server.
  • --pswd (mandatory for upgrade): the password to log in to the PVA Management Node. When upgrading your system, use this option only if you want to reinstall the Management Node; otherwise, skip this parameter.

If you use several parameters, separate them by spaces (for example,

pvamn --ip 10.10.10.10 --hostname hostname.com).

Once the installation is complete, you can log in to Parallels Virtual Automation by opening http:// IP_address_or_hostname in the browser and using the root user name and the password you set as the value of the rootpw option (see Standard Kickstart Options ). If you upgrade the system, use the root user name and the password specified after the --pswd parameter.

The PVA Management Node and Control Center components are downloaded from the official repository.

Note : For more information on using Parallels Virtual Automation for managing servers with Parallels Cloud Server, refer to the Parallels Virtual Automation Administrator's User's Guide available at http://sp.parallels.com .

prlnet [ --ip-scope-start <start_IP_addr> --ip-scope-end <end_IP_addr> ] [ --ip <adapter_IP_addr> [/mask]] [ --dhcp-ip <DHCP_IP_addr> ] --name <name>

Optional. Defines the range of IP addresses the DHCP server will be able to allocate to virtual machines in host-only networks; virtual adapter IP address and subnet mask; DHCP server IP address; and virtual network name.

If you omit one or more parameters, the following default values will be used:

  • --ip-scope-start : 10.37.130.1,
  • --ip-scope-end : 10.37.130.254,
  • --ip : 10.37.130.2/255.255.255.0,
  • --dhcp-ip : 10.37.130.1.

%packages

Specifies the package groups to install on the server:

  • @base and @core (mandatory). Installs the packages required for the correct operation of your system.
  • @vz (mandatory). Installs the packages specific to the OS virtualization part of Parallels Cloud Server.
  • @ps (mandatory). Installs the packages specific to the hardware virtualization part of Parallels Cloud Server.
  • @clustering (optional). Installs the packages required for creating clusters from Parallels Cloud Server systems.
  • @templates (optional). Installs all templates included in the Parallels Cloud Server distribution. If you want to install specific templates only, use the %eztemplates option.
  • @pstorage (optional). Installs the packages required for setting up a Parallels Cloud Storage cluster and configuring the server as an MDS server, a chunk server, or a client.
  • @optional (optional). Installs additional packages that are not installed with Parallels Cloud Server by default.

Parameters Specific to Parallels Cloud Storage

pstorage mds_create <name> --ip= <IP_address>

Does the following:

  • Creates a Parallels Cloud Storage cluster with the name of <name> . A name may contain the characters a-z, A-Z, 0-9, minus (-) and underscore (_) signs.
  • Configures the server as a metadata server for the Parallels Cloud Storage cluster and binds the MDS service to the IP address of <IP_address> .

Metadata servers are part of any Parallels Cloud Storage cluster. They store metadata about chunk servers, data chunks, and chunk replicas. You must set up at least one metadata server for a cluster to function.

Notes:

1. MDS servers must have static IP addresses assigned. If you are using DHCP, you should map an IP address to the MAC address of the MDS server.

2. For detailed information on deploying and managing Parallels Cloud Storage clusters, consult the Parallels Cloud Storage Administrator's Guide .

3. The current version of Parallels Cloud Storage supports setting up one cluster per kickstart file. So when specifying several pstorage commands, make sure that all commands use the same cluster name.

pstorage clusterpw <passwd>

Mandatory. Creates a new or supplies the existing password when creating or joining Parallels Cloud Storage clusters.

Note: Keeping plain-text passwords in the kickstart file is a security risk if your network is not isolated. In this case, consider installing Parallels Cloud Server first and configuring Parallels Cloud Storage clusters manually later.

pstorage mds_join <name> --ip= <IP_address>

Does the following:

  • Configures the server as a metadata server for the Parallels Cloud Storage cluster with the name of <name> .
  • Sets the IP address of <IP_address> to connect to the metadata server.

pstorage reg_timeout <minutes>

Sets the number of minutes during which MDS servers, chunk servers, and clients can try to register with the master MDS server and join the cluster. Every minute, one registration attempt is made. The default value is 0 , which assumes that the master MDS server is already up and running.

pstorage cs_join <name>
[options]

Configures the server as a chunk server for the Parallels Cloud Storage cluster with the name of <name> . You can use the following options with this command:

  • --mpoint= <MNT_POINT> . Specify the mount point under which the chunk server is to be mounted on the server.
  • --ssd= <MNT_POINT> , <SIZE> . Specify the mount point under which the SSD drive is to be mounted on the server.
  • --ssd=no . Specify this option to forbid the use of SSD drives for write journaling.
  • --tier= <TIER> . Specify the tier, from 0 to 3, defining the type of storage to use for storing data chunks. You can use tiers to keep different categories of data on different chunk servers.

Do not use the options, except for --ssd=no , if you are creating the default partition layout and chunk server configuration using the autopart standard option.

Chunk servers store the contents of virtual machines and Containers as 64-MB data chunks. All data chunks are replicated, and their replicas are stored on different chunk servers. You must set up at least one chunk server for a cluster to function.

pstorage client <name> [ --ssd= <MNT_POINT> | --ssd=no ]

Configures the server as a client for the Parallels Cloud Storage cluster with the name of <name> .

You can use

  • the --ssd= <MNT_POINT> option to manually specify the mount point under which the SSD drive is to be mounted on the server. Do not use this option if you are creating the default partition layout and chunk server configuration using the autopart standard option.
  • the --ssd=no option to forbid the use of SSD drives for storing the local cache.

Clients are computers with Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 from where you run virtual machines and Containers stored on your Parallels Cloud Storage.

pstorage key <key>

Optional. Installs the Parallels Cloud Storage product key on the server. This key is needed to start using the Parallels Cloud Storage functionality.

Kickstart options for upgrading to Parallels Cloud Server 6.0

You do not need to use any options specific to Parallels Cloud Server in kickstart files to upgrade your system to Parallels Cloud Server 6.0. You can, however, specify any of the options listed in the table above, if necessary. In this case, the specified options will redefine the ones in the original installation. For example, you can use the --key option to install a new license for Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 on the server or the --cep option to cancel your participation in the Parallels Customer Experience Program.