oneSIS is an

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...

tool developed at

Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Ba ...

aimed at easing systems administration in large-scale,

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 ...

cluster environments. The official tag line for oneSIS is that it is ''a thin, role-based Single Image System for scalable cluster management.'' oneSIS is a simple and highly extensible method for deploying and managing one or more root images of supported

Linux distribution A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...

s into a master image used as the root of

diskless node A diskless node (or diskless workstation) is a workstation or personal computer without disk drives, which employs network booting to load its operating system from a server. (A computer may also be said to ''act as a diskless node'', if its disks ...

s. A single image can serve thousands of nodes.

Using oneSIS

oneSIS requires functional infrastructure, such as

DHCP The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a cli ...

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 ...

, and NFSroot; se
HOWTO
Sysadmin has to determine which machine will serve as the source for the image that will eventually be deployed to the remaining machines in the cluster. One of the easy-to-use conventions of oneSIS is that all configuration settings for all nodes within a cluster are controlled by a single file on the master node, ''/etc/sysimage''. This file is used to list the machines in the cluster, define which machines belong to what class, and explains which classes boot which images from the NFSroot server and how their configuration settings differ. Changes applied to the master images appear instantly to the nodes using said images. Changing a node to boot into a different image only requires a quick modification to and a reboot of the target client. Since oneSIS was designed with the Linux-systems administrator in mind, users will not find proprietary-

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

frontends here; all the tools to image a box, copying root-images, converting diskless machines diskfull, etc. are accessible exclusively through the

command line interface A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

(CLI). The goal is to let Linux systems administrators feel at home with the typical CLI tools they're already used to. OneSIS benefits include: *Overall system complexity and administration overhead is reduced. *Potentially more stable and secure environment because sysadmins concentrate on hardening single images. *Images can be deployed in diskless and diskfull environments. *Uses standard tools and settings found in any Linux distribution and the open Linux kernel source. *Scalability. *Possibilities for load balancing and failover support.

External links

oneSIS Project HomeSandia National Laboratories

Using oneSIS

External links

See also