Files
linuxkit/docs/platform-packet.md
Rolf Neugebauer 5b1cb7ec50 examples: Update packet.net examples
- Add getty to get access to the serial console
- Add a arm64 example for baremetal type 2a
- Update documentation (and use example in documentation)

I've tested the PXE boot on arm64 and the bond interface gets
set up and seems usable.

Signed-off-by: Rolf Neugebauer <rolf.neugebauer@docker.com>
2017-11-13 18:23:06 +00:00

134 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown

# LinuxKit with bare metal on Packet
[Packet](http://packet.net) is a bare metal hosting provider.
You will need to [create a Packet account] and a project to
put this new machine into. You will also need to [create an API key]
with appropriate read/write permissions to allow the image to boot.
[create a Packet account]:https://app.packet.net/#/registration/
[create an API key]:https://help.packet.net/quick-start/api-integrations
Linuxkit is known to boot on the [Type 0]
and [Type 1] servers at Packet.
Support for other server types, including the [Type 2A] ARM server,
is a work in progress.
[Type 0]:https://www.packet.net/bare-metal/servers/type-0/
[Type 1]:https://www.packet.net/bare-metal/servers/type-1/
[Type 2A]:https://www.packet.net/bare-metal/servers/type-2a/
The `linuxkit run packet` command can mostly either be configured via
command line options or with environment variables. see `linuxkit run
packet --help` for the options and environment variables.
By default, `linuxkit run` will provision a new machine and remove it
once you are done. With the `-keep` option the provisioned machine
will not be removed. You can then use the `-device` option with the
device ID on subsequent `linuxkit run` invocations to re-use an
existing machine. These subsequent runs will update the iPXE data so
you can boot alternative kernels on an existing machine.
There is an example YAML file for [x86_64](../examples/packet.yml) and
an additional YAML for [arm64](../examples/packet.arm64.yml) servers
which provide both access to the serial console and via ssh and
configures bonding for network devices via metadata (if supported).
**Note**: The update of the iPXE configuration sometimes may take some
time and the first boot may fail. Hitting return on the console to
retry the boot typically fixes this.
## Boot
LinuxKit on Packet boots the `kernel+initrd` output from moby
via
[iPXE](https://help.packet.net/technical/infrastructure/custom-ipxe). iPXE
booting requires a HTTP server on which you can store your images. The
`-base-url` option specifies the URL to the HTTP server.
If you don't have a public HTTP server at hand, you can use the
`-serve` option. This will create a local HTTP server which can either
be run on another Packet machine or be made accessible with tools
like [ngrok](https://ngrok.com/).
For example, to boot the [example](../examples/packet.net)
with a local HTTP server:
```sh
moby build packet.yml
# run the web server
# run 'ngrok http 8080' in another window
PACKET_API_KEY=<API key> PACKET_PROJECT_ID=<Project ID> \
linuxkit run packet -serve :8080 -base-url <ngrok url> packet
```
To boot a `arm64` image for Type 2a machine (`-machine
baremetal_2a`) you currently need build using `moby build packet.yml packet.arm64.yml` and then un-compress both the kernel and
the initrd before booting, e.g:
```sh
mv packet-initrd.img packet-initrd.img.gz && gzip -d packet-initrd.img.gz
mv packet-kernel packet-kernel.gz && gzip -d packet-kernel.gz
```
The LinuxKit image can then be booted with:
```sh
PACKET_API_KEY=<API key> PACKET_PROJECT_ID=<Project ID> \
linuxkit run packet -machine baremetal_2a -serve :8080 -base-url -base-url <ngrok url> packet
```
**Note**: It may take several minutes to deploy a new server. If you
are attached to the console, you should see the BIOS and the boot
messages.
## Console
By default, `linuxkit run packet ...` will connect to the
Packet
[SOS ("Serial over SSH") console](https://help.packet.net/technical/networking/sos-rescue-mode). This
requires `ssh` access, i.e., you must have uploaded your SSH keys to
Packet beforehand.
You can exit the console vi `~.` on a new line once you are
disconnected from the serial, e.g. after poweroff.
**Note**: We also require that the Packet SOS host is in your
`known_hosts` file, otherwise the connection to the console will
fail. There is a Packet SOS host per zone.
You can disable the serial console access with the `-console=false`
command line option.
## Disks
At this moment the Linuxkit server boots from RAM, with no persistent
storage. We are working on adding persistent storage support on Packet.
## Networking
On the baremetal type 2a system (arm64 Cavium Thunder X) the network device driver does not get autoloaded by `mdev`. Please add:
```
- name: modprobe
image: linuxkit/modprobe:<hash>
command: ["modprobe", "nicvf"]
```
to your YAML files before any containers requiring the network to be up, e.g., the `dhcpcd` container.
Some Packet server types have bonded networks; the `metadata` package has support for setting
these up, and also for adding additional IP addresses.
## Integration services and Metadata
Packet supports [user state](https://help.packet.net/technical/infrastructure/user-state)
during system bringup, which enables the boot process to be more informative about the
current state of the boot process once the kernel has loaded but before the
system is ready for login.