Cobbler is a

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

provisioning server that facilitates and automates the network-based system installation of multiple computer

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

s from a central point using services such as DHCP, TFTP, and

DNS The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to ...

. It can be configured for

PXE PXE may refer to: * Preboot Execution Environment, booting computers via a network * Proof and Experimental Establishment, an Indian defense laboratory * Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, a genetic disease * Pentium Extreme Edition, a variant of Pentium D ...

, reinstallations, and virtualized guests using

Xen Xen (pronounced ) is a type-1 hypervisor, providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently. It was originally developed by the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory an ...

, KVM or

VMware VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture. VMware's desktop software ru ...

. Cobbler interacts with the koan program for re-installation and virtualization support. koan and Cobbler use

libvirt libvirt is an open-source API, daemon and management tool for managing platform virtualization. It can be used to manage KVM, Xen, VMware ESXi, QEMU and other virtualization technologies. These APIs are widely used in the orchestration layer o ...

to integrate with different virtualization software. Cobbler is able to manage complex network scenarios like bridging on a bonded

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

link. The Cobbler project was born at Red Hat and led by Michael DeHaan. Cobbler builds on the Kickstart mechanism and offers installation profiles that can be applied to one or many machines. It also features integration with Yum to aid in machine installs. Cobbler has features to dynamically change the information contained in a kickstart template (definition), either by passing variables called ksmeta or by using so-called snippets. An example for a ksmeta variable could be the name of a disk device in the system. This could be inherited from the system's Cobbler profile. Snippets can be dynamic

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

code that expands the limited functionality of

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to re ...

. The combination of profiles, ksmeta and snippets gives Cobbler high flexibility; complexity is avoided by keeping the actual "code" in the snippets, of which there can be one for each task in an installation. There are examples for network setup or disk partitioning; keeping common code in snippets helps minimize the size of the kickstart files. Cobbler was originally targeted for RPM-based installs via Kickstart and Anaconda and was previously hosted as part of the

Fedora Project The Fedora Project is an independent project to co-ordinate the development of Fedora Linux, a Linux-based operating system, operating with the vision of "''a world where everyone benefits from free and open source software built by inclusive, w ...

. Since Jan 19, 2011, Cobbler has been packaged for

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: ''Desktop'', ''Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All the ...

. Since 2012, Canonical Ltd has used Cobbler for test automation of OpenStack on Ubuntu.

Red Hat Red Hat, Inc. is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, with other offices worldwide. Red Hat has become ass ...

systems management Systems management refers to enterprise-wide administration of distributed systems including (and commonly in practice) computer systems. Systems management is strongly influenced by network management initiatives in telecommunications. The ap ...

application,

Satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

, used Cobbler for provisioning up until RedHat Satellite 6.0.

References

External links

* Free software programmed in Python Provisioning Network booting Booting Virtualization software for Linux {{Linux-stub