Synnefo » snf-image-creator

Usage

^^^^^

snf-image-creator comes in 2 variants:

 * snf-image-creator: A non-interactive command line program

 * snf-mkimage: A user-friendly dialog-based program

Non-interactive version

=======================

snf-image-creator receives the following options:

.. code-block:: console

 $ snf-image-creator --help

 Usage: snf-image-creator [options] <input_media>

 Options:

  --version             show program's version number and exit

  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

  -o FILE, --outfile=FILE

                        dump image to FILE

  -f, --force           overwrite output files if they exist

  -s, --silent          silent mode, only output errors

  -u FILENAME, --upload=FILENAME

                        upload the image to pithos with name FILENAME

  -r IMAGENAME, --register=IMAGENAME

                        register the image with ~okeanos as IMAGENAME

  -a ACCOUNT, --account=ACCOUNT

                        Use this ACCOUNT when uploading/registering images

                        [Default: None]

  -m KEY=VALUE, --metadata=KEY=VALUE

                        Add custom KEY=VALUE metadata to the image

  -t TOKEN, --token=TOKEN

                        Use this token when uploading/registering images

                        [Default: None]

  --print-sysprep       print the enabled and disabled system preparation

                        operations for this input media

  --enable-sysprep=SYSPREP

                        run SYSPREP operation on the input media

  --disable-sysprep=SYSPREP

                        prevent SYSPREP operation from running on the input

                        media

  --no-sysprep          don't perform system preparation

  --no-shrink           don't shrink any partition

Most input options are self-describing. If you want to save a local copy for

the image you create, you specify *-o* option. To upload the image to

*pithos+*, you specify valid credentials with *-a* and *-t* options and a

filename using *-u*. If you want to register the image with *~okeanos*,

in addition to *-u* specify a registration name using *-r*.

By default snf-image-creator will perform a number of system preparation

operations on the snapshot of the media and will shrink the last partition

found, before extracting the image. Both can be disabled by specifying

*--no-sysprep* and *--no-shrink* respectively.

If *--print-sysprep* is defined, the program will exit after outputing a

list of enabled and disabled system preparation operation appliable to this

media source. The user can enable or disable specific *syspreps* when creating

an image, using *-{enable,disable}-sysprep* options. You can specify those

options multiple times to enable or disable multiple *syspreps*.

Running *snf-image-creator* with *--print-sysprep* on a raw file that hosts a

debian system, we get the following output:

.. code-block:: console

   $ snf-image-creator --print-sysprep debian_desktop.img

   snf-image-creator 0.1

   =====================

   Examining source media `debian_desktop.img'... looks like an image file

   Snapshotting media source... done

   Enabling recovery proc

   Launching helper VM... done

   Inspecting Operating System... found a(n) debian system

   Mounting the media read-only... done

   Enabled system preparation operations:

       cleanup-cache:

   	Remove all regular files under /var/cache

       cleanup-log:

   	Empty all files under /var/log

       cleanup-passwords:

   	Remove all passwords and lock all user accounts

       cleanup-tmp:

   	Remove all files under /tmp and /var/tmp

       cleanup-userdata:

   	Delete sensitive userdata

       fix-acpid:

   	Replace acpid powerdown action scripts to immediately shutdown the

   	system without checking if a GUI is running.

       remove-persistent-net-rules:

   	Remove udev rules that will keep network interface names persistent

   	after hardware changes and reboots. Those rules will be created again

   	the next time the image runs.

       remove-swap-entry:

   	Remove swap entry from /etc/fstab. If swap is the last partition

   	then the partition will be removed when shrinking is performed. If the

   	swap partition is not the last partition in the disk or if you are not

   	going to shrink the image you should probably disable this.

       use-persistent-block-device-names:

   	Scan fstab & grub configuration files and replace all non-persistent

   	device references with UUIDs.

   Disabled system preparation operations:

       cleanup-mail:

   	Remove all files under /var/mail and /var/spool/mail

       remove-user-accounts:

   	Remove all user accounts with id greater than 1000

   cleaning up...

If we want the image to have all normal user accounts and all mail files

removed, we can create it specifying *--enable-sysprep* option like this:

.. code-block:: console

   $ snf-image-creator --enable-sysprep cleanup-mail --enable-sysprep remove-user-accounts ...

Dialog-based version

====================

*snf-mkimage* receives the following options:

.. code-block:: console

   $ Usage: snf-mkimage [options] [<input_media>]

   Options:

     --version             show program's version number and exit

     -h, --help            show this help message and exit

     -l FILE, --logfile=FILE

                            log all messages to FILE

If the input media is not specified in the command line, in the first dialog

box the user will be asked to specify it. After the input media is examined and

the program is initialized, the user will be given the choice to run

*snf-mkimage* in *wizard* or *expert* mode.

Wizard mode

-----------

When *snf-mkimage* runs in *wizard* mode, the user is just asked to provide the

following basic information:

 * Name: A short name for image (ex. "Slackware")

 * Description: An one-line description for the image (ex. "Slackware Linux 14.0 with KDE")

 * Account: An *~okeanos* account email

 * Token: A token corresponding to the account defined previously

After confirming, the image will be extracted, uploaded to *pithos+* and

registered to *~okeanos*. The user will also be given the choice to keep a local

copy of it. For most users the functionality this mode provides should be

sufficient.

Expert mode

-----------

Expert mode allows the user to have better control on the image creation

process. In the picture below the main menu can be seen:

.. image:: /snapshots/main_menu.png

In the *Customize* sub-menu the user can control:

 * The system preparation operations that will be applied on the media

 * Whether the image will be shrunk or not

 * The properties associated with the image

 * The configuration tasks that will run during image deployment

In the *Register* sub-menu the user can provide:

 * The credentials to login to *~okeanos*

 * A pithos filename for the uploaded *diskdump* image

 * A name for the image to be registered to *~okeanos* with

By choosing the *Extract* menu entry the user can dump the image to the local

file system and finally, if the user selects *Reset*, the system will ignore

all changes made so far and will start the image creation process again.