xcat-core/xCAT-client/pods/man1/genimage.1.pod

=head1 NAME

B<genimage> - Generates a stateless image to be used for a diskless install.

=head1 SYNOPSIS

B<genimage> B<-i> I<nodebootif> B<-n> I<nodenetdrivers> B<-o> I<OS> B<-p> I<profile> [B<-l> I<rootlimit>] [B<-r> I<additional_nics>] [B<-k> I<kernel_version>]

B<genimage> [B<-h> | B<--help> | B<-v> | B<--version>]


=head1 DESCRIPTION

Generates a stateless image that can be used to boot xCAT nodes in a diskless mode.  The default packages included
(and excluded) in the image are specified by /opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/<OS>/<profile>.pkglist and
/opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/<OS>/<profile>.exlist. Customized package lists can be specified under /install/custom/netboot/<OS> directory. The generated image will be put in /install/netboot/<OS>/<arch>/<profile>.

The B<genimage> command must be run on a system that is the same architecture as the nodes it will be
used on.  If the management node is not the same architecture, copy the contents of
/opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/<OS> to a system that is the proper architecture, and mount /install from
the management node to that system. 

The B<genimage> command will run geninitrd automatically.  (You can run geninitrd yourself at a later time, if
you want to rebuild the initrd.)  After your image is created, you can chroot to the
image, install any additional software you would like, or make modifications to files, and then run
B<packimage> to prepare the image for deployment.


=head1 OPTIONS

=over 12

=item B<-o> I<OS>

The operating system for the image:  fedora8, rhel5, sles10, etc.  The OS packages must be in
/install/<OS>/<arch> (use L<copycds(8)|copycds.8>).

=item B<-p> I<profile>

The profile (e.g. compute, service) to use to create the image.  This determines what package lists are
used from /opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/<OS> to create the image with.  When deploying nodes with this image,
the nodes' nodetype.profile attribute must be set to this same value.

=item B<-i> I<nodebootif>

The network interface the diskless node will boot over (e.g. eth0).

=item B<-n> I<nodenetdrivers>

The driver modules needed for the network interface.  Note:  the order that the drivers are specified in
is important.

=item B<-l> I<rootlimit>

The maximum size allowed for the root file system in the image.  Specify in bytes, or can append k, m, or g.

=item B<-r> I<additional_nics>

Other network interfaces (e.g. eth1) in the image that should be configured via DHCP.

=item B<-k> I<kernel_version>

Use this flag if you want to use a specific version of the kernel in the image.  Defaults to the first kernel found
in the install image.

=item B<-v|--version>

Display version.

=item B<-h|--help>

Display usage message.

=back


=head1 RETURN VALUE

0 The command completed successfully.

1 An error has occurred.


=head1 EXAMPLES

=over 3

=item 1.

To generate a fedora8 image for a compute node architecture x86_64 and place it in the
/install/netboot/fedora8/x86_64/compute/rootimg directory:  change directory to
/opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/fedora and run:

 genimage -i eth0 -n tg3,bnx2 -o fedora8 -p compute

This would use the profile information from the /opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/fedora/compute* files.

=back


=head1 FILES

/opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/<OS>/genimage


=head1 SEE ALSO

L<geninitrd(1)|geninitrd.1>, L<packimage(1)|packimage.1>