5. Cobbler Configuration¶
There are two main settings files which are located per default at /etc/cobbler/
:
- The file
settings.yaml
is following YAML specification. - The file
modules.conf
is following INI specification.
Note
Since we are cleaning a lot of tech-debt this may change over time. We are trying to find the balance which format is the best for us to handle in the code and the best for admins to handle in the config files.
Warning
If you are using allow_dynamic_settings
, then the comments in the YAML file will vanish after the first
change due to the fact that PyYAML doesn’t support comments
(Source)
There are additional configuration file locations which need to follow the YAML Syntax. These are loaded from the
include
directory in the settings.yaml
file. Any key specified in one of these files overwrites values from the
main file.
Warning
When using allow_dynamic_settings
the values are only persisted in the file settings.yaml
. This
may lead to a non expected behaviour after cobblerd
restarts. This is a
known issue.
5.1. Updates to the yaml-settings-file¶
Starting with 3.2.1:
- We require the extension
.yaml
on our settings file to indicate the format of the file to editors and comply to standards of the YAML specification. - We require the usage of booleans in the format of
True
andFalse
. If you have old integer style booleans with1
and0
this is fine but you may should convert them as soon as possible. We may decide in a future version to enforce our new way in a stricter manner. Automatic conversion is only done on a best-effort/available-resources basis. - We enforce the types of values to the keys. Additional unexpected keys will throw errors. If you have those used in Cobbler please report this in our issue tracker. We have decided to go this way to be able to rely on the existence of the values. This gives us the freedom to write less access checks to the settings without loosing stability.
5.2. settings.yaml
¶
5.2.1. allow_duplicate_hostnames¶
If True
, Cobbler will allow insertions of system records that duplicate the --dns-name
information of other
system records. In general, this is undesirable and should be left False.
default: False
5.2.2. allow_duplicate_ips¶
If True
, Cobbler will allow insertions of system records that duplicate the IP address information of other system
records. In general, this is undesirable and should be left False.
default: False
5.2.3. allow_duplicate_macs¶
If True
, Cobbler will allow insertions of system records that duplicate the mac address information of other system
records. In general, this is undesirable.
default: False
5.2.4. allow_dynamic_settings¶
If True
, Cobbler will allow settings to be changed dynamically without a restart of the cobblerd
daemon. You can
only change this variable by manually editing the settings file, and you MUST restart cobblerd
after changing it.
default: False
5.2.5. always_write_dhcp_entries¶
Always write DHCP entries, regardless if netboot is enabled.
default: False
5.2.6. anamon_enabled¶
By default, installs are not set to send installation logs to the Cobbler server. With anamon_enabled
, automatic
installation templates may use the pre_anamon
snippet to allow remote live monitoring of their installations from
the Cobbler server. Installation logs will be stored under /var/log/cobbler/anamon/
.
Note
This does allow an XML-RPC call to send logs to this directory, without authentication, so enable only if you are ok with this limitation.
default: False
5.2.7. auth_token_expiration¶
How long the authentication token is valid for, in seconds.
default: 3600
5.2.8. authn_pam_service¶
If using authn_pam in the modules.conf
, this can be configured to change the PAM service authentication will be
tested against.
default: "login"
5.2.9. autoinstall_snippets_dir¶
This is a directory of files that Cobbler uses to make templating easier. See the Wiki for more information. Changing this directory should not be required.
default: /var/lib/cobbler/snippets
5.2.10. autoinstall_templates_dir¶
This is a directory of files that Cobbler uses to make templating easier. See the Wiki for more information. Changing this directory should not be required.
default: /var/lib/cobbler/templates
5.2.11. bind_chroot_path¶
Set to path of bind chroot to create bind-chroot compatible bind configuration files. This should be automatically detected.
default: ""
5.2.12. bind_master¶
Set to the ip address of the master bind DNS server for creating secondary bind configuration files.
default: 127.0.0.1
5.2.13. boot_loader_conf_template_dir¶
Location of templates used for boot loader config generation.
default: "/etc/cobbler/boot_loader_conf"
5.2.14. bootloaders_dir¶
The location where Cobbler searches for the bootloaders to copy into the web directory.
default: /var/lib/cobbler/loaders
5.2.15. grubconfig_dir¶
The location where Cobbler searches for GRUB configuration files.
default: /var/lib/cobbler/grub_config
5.2.16. build_reporting_*¶
Email out a report when Cobbler finishes installing a system.
- enabled: Set to
true
to turn this feature on - email: Which addresses to email
- ignorelist: TODO
- sender: Optional
- smtp_server: Used to specify another server for an MTA.
- subject: Use the default subject unless overridden.
defaults:
build_reporting_enabled: false
build_reporting_sender: ""
build_reporting_email: [ 'root@localhost' ]
build_reporting_smtp_server: "localhost"
build_reporting_subject: ""
build_reporting_ignorelist: [ "" ]
5.2.17. buildisodir¶
Used for caching the intermediate files for ISO-Building. You may want to use a SSD, a tmpfs or something which does not persist across reboots and can be easily thrown away but is also fast.
default: /var/cache/cobbler/buildiso
5.2.18. cache_enabled¶
If cache_enabled
is True
, a cache will keep converted records in memory to make checking them faster. This helps
with use cases like writing out large numbers of records. There is a known issue with cache and remote XML-RPC API
calls. If you will use Cobbler with config management or infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform, it is
recommended to disable by setting to False
.
default: True
5.2.19. cheetah_import_whitelist¶
Cheetah-language autoinstall templates can import Python modules. while this is a useful feature, it is not safe to
allow them to import anything they want. This whitelists which modules can be imported through Cheetah. Users can expand
this as needed but should never allow modules such as subprocess or those that allow access to the filesystem as Cheetah
templates are evaluated by cobblerd
as code.
- default:
random
re
time
netaddr
5.2.20. client_use_https¶
If set to True
, all commands to the API (not directly to the XML-RPC server) will go over HTTPS instead of plain
text. Be sure to change the http_port
setting to the correct value for the web server.
default: False
5.2.21. client_use_localhost¶
If set to True
, all commands will be forced to use the localhost address instead of using the above value which can
force commands like cobbler sync
to open a connection to a remote address if one is in the configuration and would
traceback.
default: False
5.2.23. convert_server_to_ip¶
Convert hostnames to IP addresses (where possible) so DNS isn’t a requirement for various tasks to work correctly.
default: False
5.2.24. createrepo_flags¶
Default createrepo_flags
to use for new repositories.
default: "-c cache -s sha"
5.2.25. default_autoinstall¶
If no autoinstall template is specified to profile add, use this template.
default: /var/lib/cobbler/autoinstall_templates/default.ks
5.2.26. default_name_*¶
Configure all installed systems to use these name servers by default unless defined differently in the profile. For DHCP configurations you probably do not want to supply this.
defaults:
default_name_servers: []
default_name_servers_search: []
5.2.27. default_ownership¶
if using the authz_ownership
module, objects created without specifying an owner are assigned to this owner and/or
group.
- default:
admin
5.2.28. default_password_crypted¶
Cobbler has various sample automatic installation templates stored in /var/lib/cobbler/autoinstall_templates/
. This
controls what install (root) password is set up for those systems that reference this variable. The factory default is
“cobbler” and Cobbler check will warn if this is not changed. The simplest way to change the password is to run
openssl passwd -1
and put the output between the ""
.
default: "$1$mF86/UHC$WvcIcX2t6crBz2onWxyac."
5.2.29. default_template_type¶
The default template type to use in the absence of any other detected template. If you do not specify the template
with #template=<template_type>
on the first line of your templates/snippets, Cobbler will assume try to use the
following template engine to parse the templates.
Note
Over time we will try to deprecate and remove Cheetah3 as a template engine. It is hard to package and there are fewer guides then with Jinja2. Making the templating independent of the engine is a task which complicates the code. Thus, please try to use Jinja2. We will try to support a seamless transition on a best-effort basis.
Current valid values are: cheetah
, jinja2
default: "cheetah"
5.2.30. default_virt_bridge¶
For libvirt based installs in Koan, if no virt-bridge is specified, which bridge do we try? For EL 4/5 hosts this should
be xenbr0
, for all versions of Fedora, try virbr0
. This can be overridden on a per-profile basis or at the Koan
command line though this saves typing to just set it here to the most common option.
default: xenbr0
5.2.34. default_virt_type¶
If Koan is invoked without --virt-type
and no virt-type is set on the profile/system, what virtualization type
should be assumed?
Current valid values are:
xenpv
xenfv
qemu
vmware
NOTE: this does not change what virt_type
is chosen by import.
default: xenpv
5.2.35. enable_gpxe¶
Enable gPXE booting? Enabling this option will cause Cobbler to copy the undionly.kpxe
file to the TFTP root
directory, and if a profile/system is configured to boot via gPXE it will chain load off pxelinux.0
.
Note
We now gPXE is not active anymore and try to transition the code, settings and guide we have to iPXE.
default: False
5.2.37. http_port¶
Change this port if Apache is not running plain text on port 80. Most people can leave this alone.
default: 80
5.2.38. include¶
Include other configuration snippets with this regular expression. This is a list of folders.
default: [ "/etc/cobbler/settings.d/*.settings" ]
5.2.39. iso_template_dir¶
Folder to search for the ISO templates. These will build the boot-menu of the built ISO.
default: /etc/cobbler/iso
5.2.40. jinja2_includedir¶
This is a directory of files that Cobbler uses to include files into Jinja2 templates. Per default this settings is commented out.
default: /var/lib/cobbler/jinja2
5.2.41. kernel_options¶
Kernel options that should be present in every Cobbler installation. Kernel options can also be applied at the distro/profile/system level.
default: {}
5.2.42. ldap_*¶
Configuration options if using the authn_ldap module. See the Wiki for details. This can be ignored if you are not using LDAP for WebUI/XML-RPC authentication.
defaults:
ldap_server: "ldap.example.com"
ldap_base_dn: "DC=example,DC=com"
ldap_port: 389
ldap_tls: true
ldap_anonymous_bind: true
ldap_search_bind_dn: ''
ldap_search_passwd: ''
ldap_search_prefix: 'uid='
ldap_tls_cacertfile: ''
ldap_tls_keyfile: ''
ldap_tls_certfile: ''
5.2.43. bind_manage_ipmi¶
When using the Bind9 DNS server, you can enable or disable if the BMCs should receive own DNS entries.
default: False
5.2.44. manage_dhcp¶
Set to True
to enable Cobbler’s DHCP management features. The choice of DHCP management engine is in
/etc/cobbler/modules.conf
.
default: True
5.2.45. manage_dns¶
Set to True
to enable Cobbler’s DNS management features. The choice of DNS management engine is in
/etc/cobbler/modules.conf
.
default: False
5.2.46. manage_*_zones¶
If using BIND (named) for DNS management in /etc/cobbler/modules.conf
and manage_dns
is enabled (above), this
lists which zones are managed. See DNS configuration management for more information.
defaults:
manage_forward_zones: []
manage_reverse_zones: []
5.2.47. manage_genders¶
Whether or not to manage the genders file. For more information on that visit: github.com/chaos/genders
default: False
5.2.49. manage_tftpd¶
Set to True
to enable Cobbler’s TFTP management features. The choice of TFTP management engine is in
/etc/cobbler/modules.conf
.
default: True
5.2.50. mgmt_*¶
Cobbler has a feature that allows for integration with config management systems such as Puppet. The following
parameters work in conjunction with --mgmt-classes
and are described in further detail at
Configuration Management Integrations.
mgmt_classes: []
mgmt_parameters:
from_cobbler: true
5.2.51. next_server¶
If using Cobbler with manage_dhcp
, put the IP address of the Cobbler server here so that PXE booting guests can find
it. If you do not set this correctly, this will be manifested in TFTP open timeouts.
default: 127.0.0.1
5.2.52. nsupdate_enabled¶
This enables or disables the replacement (or removal) of records in the DNS zone for systems created (or removed) by Cobbler.
Note
There are additional settings needed when enabling this. Due to the limited number of resources, this won’t be done until 3.3.0. Thus please expect to run into troubles when enabling this setting.
default: False
5.2.53. nsupdate_log¶
The logfile to document what records are added or removed in the DNS zone for systems.
Note
The functionality this settings is related to is currently not tested due to tech-debt. Please use it with caution. This note will be removed once we were able to look deeper into this functionality of Cobbler.
- Required: No
- Default:
/var/log/cobbler/nsupdate.log
5.2.54. nsupdate_tsig_algorithm¶
Note
The functionality this settings is related to is currently not tested due to tech-debt. Please use it with caution. This note will be removed once we were able to look deeper into this functionality of Cobbler.
- Required: No
- Default:
hmac-sha512
5.2.55. nsupdate_tsig_key¶
Note
The functionality this settings is related to is currently not tested due to tech-debt. Please use it with caution. This note will be removed once we were able to look deeper into this functionality of Cobbler.
- Required: No
- Default:
[]
5.2.56. power_management_default_type¶
Settings for power management features. These settings are optional. See Power Management to learn more.
Choices (refer to the fence-agents project for a complete list):
- apc_snmp
- bladecenter
- bullpap
- drac
- ether_wake
- ilo
- integrity
- ipmilan
- ipmilanplus
- lpar
- rsa
- virsh
- wti
default: ipmilanplus
5.2.57. proxy_url_ext¶
External proxy which is used by the following commands: get-loaders
, reposync
, signature update
defaults:
http: http://192.168.1.1:8080
https: https://192.168.1.1:8443
5.2.58. proxy_url_int¶
Internal proxy which is used by systems to reach Cobbler for kickstarts.
e.g.: proxy_url_int: http://10.0.0.1:8080
default: ""
5.2.59. puppet_auto_setup¶
If enabled, this setting ensures that puppet is installed during machine provision, a client certificate is generated and a certificate signing request is made with the puppet master server.
default: False
5.2.60. puppet_parameterized_classes¶
Choose whether to enable puppet parameterized classes or not. Puppet versions prior to 2.6.5 do not support parameters.
default: True
5.2.61. puppet_server¶
Choose a --server
argument when running puppetd/puppet agent during autoinstall.
default: 'puppet'
5.2.62. puppet_version¶
Let Cobbler know that you’re using a newer version of puppet. Choose version 3 to use: ‘puppet agent’; version 2 uses status quo: ‘puppetd’.
default: 2
5.2.63. puppetca_path¶
Location of the puppet executable, used for revoking certificates.
default: "/usr/bin/puppet"
5.2.64. pxe_just_once¶
If this setting is set to True
, Cobbler systems that pxe boot will request at the end of their installation to
toggle the --netboot-enabled
record in the Cobbler system record. This eliminates the potential for a PXE boot loop
if the system is set to PXE first in it’s BIOS order. Enable this if PXE is first in your BIOS boot order, otherwise
leave this disabled. See the manpage for --netboot-enabled
.
default: True
5.2.65. nopxe_with_triggers¶
If this setting is set to True
, triggers will be executed when systems will request to toggle the
--netboot-enabled
record at the end of their installation.
default: True
5.2.66. redhat_management_permissive¶
If using authn_spacewalk
in modules.conf
to let Cobbler authenticate against Satellite/Spacewalk’s auth system,
by default it will not allow per user access into Cobbler Web and Cobbler XML-RPC. In order to permit this, the following
setting must be enabled HOWEVER doing so will permit all Spacewalk/Satellite users of certain types to edit all of
Cobbler’s configuration. these roles are: config_admin
and org_admin
. Users should turn this on only if they
want this behavior and do not have a cross-multi-org separation concern. If you have a single org in your satellite,
it’s probably safe to turn this on and then you can use CobblerWeb alongside a Satellite install.
default: False
5.2.67. redhat_management_server¶
This setting is only used by the code that supports using Uyuni/SUSE Manager/Spacewalk/Satellite authentication within Cobbler Web and Cobbler XML-RPC.
default: "xmlrpc.rhn.redhat.com"
5.2.68. redhat_management_key¶
Specify the default Red Hat authorization key to use to register system. If left blank, no registration will be
attempted. Similarly you can set the --redhat-management-key
to blank on any system to keep it from trying to
register.
default: ""
5.2.69. register_new_installs¶
If set to True
, allows /usr/bin/cobbler-register
(part of the Koan package) to be used to remotely add new
Cobbler system records to Cobbler. This effectively allows for registration of new hardware from system records.
default: False
5.2.70. remove_old_puppet_certs_automatically¶
When a puppet managed machine is reinstalled it is necessary to remove the puppet certificate from the puppet master
server before a new certificate is signed (see above). Enabling the following feature will ensure that the certificate
for the machine to be installed is removed from the puppet master server if the puppet master server is running on the
same machine as Cobbler. This requires puppet_auto_setup
above to be enabled
default: False
5.2.71. replicate_repo_rsync_options¶
Replication rsync options for repos set to override default value of -avzH
.
default: "-avzH"
5.2.72. replicate_rsync_options¶
replication rsync options for distros, autoinstalls, snippets set to override default value of -avzH
.
default: "-avzH"
5.2.73. reposync_flags¶
Flags to use for yum’s reposync. If your version of yum reposync does not support -l
, you may need to remove that
option.
default: "-l -n -d"
5.2.74. reposync_rsync_flags¶
Flags to use for rysync’s reposync. If archive mode (-a,–archive) is used then createrepo is not ran after the rsync as it pulls down the repodata as well. This allows older OS’s to mirror modular repos using rsync.
default: "-rltDv --copy-unsafe-links"
5.2.75. restart_*¶
When DHCP and DNS management are enabled, cobbler sync
can automatically restart those services to apply changes.
The exception for this is if using ISC for DHCP, then OMAPI eliminates the need for a restart. omapi
, however, is
experimental and not recommended for most configurations. If DHCP and DNS are going to be managed, but hosted on a box
that is not on this server, disable restarts here and write some other script to ensure that the config files get
copied/rsynced to the destination box. This can be done by modifying the restart services trigger. Note that if
manage_dhcp
and manage_dns
are disabled, the respective parameter will have no effect. Most users should not
need to change this.
defaults:
restart_dns: true
restart_dhcp: true
5.2.76. run_install_triggers¶
Install triggers are scripts in /var/lib/cobbler/triggers/install
that are triggered in autoinstall pre and post
sections. Any executable script in those directories is run. They can be used to send email or perform other actions.
They are currently run as root so if you do not need this functionality you can disable it, though this will also
disable cobbler status
which uses a logging trigger to audit install progress.
default: true
5.2.77. scm_track_*¶
enables a trigger which version controls all changes to /var/lib/cobbler
when add, edit, or sync events are
performed. This can be used to revert to previous database versions, generate RSS feeds, or for other auditing or backup
purposes. Git and Mercurial are currently supported, but Git is the recommend SCM for use with this feature.
default:
scm_track_enabled: false
scm_track_mode: "git"
scm_track_author: "cobbler <cobbler@localhost>"
scm_push_script: "/bin/true"
5.2.78. serializer_pretty_json¶
Sort and indent JSON output to make it more human-readable.
default: False
5.2.79. server¶
This is the address of the Cobbler server – as it is used by systems during the install process, it must be the address
or hostname of the system as those systems can see the server. if you have a server that appears differently to
different subnets (dual homed, etc), you need to read the --server-override
section of the manpage for how that
works.
default: 127.0.0.1
5.2.80. sign_puppet_certs_automatically¶
When puppet starts on a system after installation it needs to have its certificate signed by the puppet master server.
Enabling the following feature will ensure that the puppet server signs the certificate after installation if the puppet
master server is running on the same machine as Cobbler. This requires puppet_auto_setup
above to be enabled.
default: false
5.2.81. signature_path¶
The cobbler import
workflow is powered by this file. Its location can be set with this config option.
default: /var/lib/cobbler/distro_signatures.json
5.2.82. signature_url¶
Updates to the signatures may happen more often then we have releases. To enable you to import new version we provide the most up to date signatures we offer on this like. You may host this file for yourself and adjust it for your needs.
default: https://cobbler.github.io/signatures/3.0.x/latest.json
5.2.83. tftpboot_location¶
This variable contains the location of the tftpboot directory. If this directory is not present Cobbler does not start.
Default: /srv/tftpboot
5.2.84. virt_auto_boot¶
Should new profiles for virtual machines default to auto booting with the physical host when the physical host reboots? This can be overridden on each profile or system object.
default: true
5.2.85. webdir¶
Cobbler’s web directory. Don’t change this setting – see the Wiki on “relocating your Cobbler install” if your /var partition is not large enough.
default: @@webroot@@/cobbler
5.2.86. webdir_whitelist¶
Directories that will not get wiped and recreated on a cobbler sync
.
default:
webdir_whitelist:
- misc
- web
- webui
- localmirror
- repo_mirror
- distro_mirror
- images
- links
- pub
- repo_profile
- repo_system
- svc
- rendered
- .link_cache
5.2.87. xmlrpc_port¶
Cobbler’s public XML-RPC listens on this port. Change this only if absolutely needed, as you’ll have to start supplying a new port option to Koan if it is not the default.
default: 25151
5.2.88. yum_distro_priority¶
The default yum priority for all the distros. This is only used if yum-priorities plugin is used. 1 is the maximum value. Tweak with caution.
default: true
5.2.89. yum_post_install_mirror¶
cobbler repo add
commands set Cobbler up with repository information that can be used during autoinstall and is
automatically set up in the Cobbler autoinstall templates. By default, these are only available at install time. To
make these repositories usable on installed systems (since Cobbler makes a very convenient mirror) set this to True
.
Most users can safely set this to True
. Users who have a dual homed Cobbler server, or are installing laptops that
will not always have access to the Cobbler server may wish to leave this as False
. In that case, the Cobbler
mirrored yum repos are still accessible at http://cobbler.example.org/cblr/repo_mirror
and YUM configuration can
still be done manually. This is just a shortcut.
default: True
5.2.90. yumdownloader_flags¶
Flags to use for yumdownloader. Not all versions may support --resolve
.
default: "--resolve"
5.3. modules.conf
¶
If you have own custom modules which are not shipped with Cobbler directly you may have additional sections here.
5.3.1. authentication¶
What users can log into the WebUI and Read-Write XML-RPC?
Choices:
- authn_denyall – no one (default)
- authn_configfile – use /etc/cobbler/users.digest (for basic setups)
- authn_passthru – ask Apache to handle it (used for kerberos)
- authn_ldap – authenticate against LDAP
- authn_spacewalk – ask Spacewalk/Satellite (experimental)
- authn_pam – use PAM facilities
- authn_testing – username/password is always testing/testing (debug)
- (user supplied) – you may write your own module
WARNING: this is a security setting, do not choose an option blindly.
For more information:
- Web-Interface
- https://cobbler.readthedocs.io/en/release28/5_web-interface/security_overview.html
- https://cobbler.readthedocs.io/en/release28/5_web-interface/web_authentication.html#defer-to-apache-kerberos
- https://cobbler.readthedocs.io/en/release28/5_web-interface/web_authentication.html#ldap
default: authn_configfile
5.3.2. authorization¶
Once a user has been cleared by the WebUI/XML-RPC, what can they do?
Choices:
- authz_allowall – full access for all authenticated users (default)
- authz_ownership – use users.conf, but add object ownership semantics
- (user supplied) – you may write your own module
WARNING: this is a security setting, do not choose an option blindly. If you want to further restrict Cobbler with ACLs for various groups, pick authz_ownership. authz_allowall does not support ACLs. Configuration file does but does not support object ownership which is useful as an additional layer of control.
For more information:
- Web-Interface
- https://cobbler.readthedocs.io/en/release28/5_web-interface/security_overview.html
- https://cobbler.readthedocs.io/en/release28/5_web-interface/web_authentication.html
default: authz_allowall
5.3.3. dns¶
Chooses the DNS management engine if manage_dns
is enabled in /etc/cobbler/settings.yaml
, which is off by
default.
Choices:
- manage_bind – default, uses BIND/named
- manage_dnsmasq – uses dnsmasq, also must select dnsmasq for DHCP below
- manage_ndjbdns – uses ndjbdns
NOTE: More configuration is still required in /etc/cobbler
For more information see DNS configuration management.
default: manage_bind
5.3.4. dhcp¶
Chooses the DHCP management engine if manage_dhcp
is enabled in /etc/cobbler/settings.yaml
, which is off by
default.
Choices:
- manage_isc – default, uses ISC dhcpd
- manage_dnsmasq – uses dnsmasq, also must select dnsmasq for DNS above
NOTE: More configuration is still required in /etc/cobbler
For more information see DHCP Management.
default: manage_isc
5.3.5. tftpd¶
Chooses the TFTP management engine if manage_tftpd
is enabled in /etc/cobbler/settings.yaml
, which is on by
default.
Choices:
- manage_in_tftpd – default, uses the system’s TFTP server
- manage_tftpd_py – uses Cobbler’s TFTP server
default: manage_in_tftpd