Prerequisites

1. Create a kickstart file or use an existing one

Procedure

1. Extract the downloaded image tar file:

   # tar xvf <UUID>-commit.tar

2. Navigate to the directory where you have extracted the .tar file.

   It contains a compose.json file and a OSTree directory. The compose.json file contains the commit number and the OSTree directory contains the rpm packages.

3. Open the compose.json file and note the commit ID number. You need this number handy when you proceed to set up a web server.

4. List the rpm packages in the commit.

   # rpm-ostree db list rhel/8/x86_64/edge --repo=repo

5. Use a Kickstart file to run the RHEL installer. You can either use any existing file or can create one using the Kickstart Generator tool.

   In the Kickstart file, ensure that you include the details about how to provision the file system, create a user, and how to fetch and deploy the RHEL for Edge image. The RHEL installer uses this information during the installation process.

   The following is a Kickstart file example:

   lang en_US.UTF-8
   keyboard us
   timezone Etc/UTC --isUtc
   text
   zerombr
   clearpart --all --initlabel
   autopart
   reboot
   user --name=core --group=wheel
   sshkey --username=core "ssh-rsa AAAA3Nza...."
   
   ostreesetup --nogpg --osname=rhel --remote=edge
   --url=https://mirror.example.com/repo/
   --ref=rhel/8/x86_64/edge

Procedure

1. Create a dockerfile.

   On the command prompt, run the following commands:

   FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi
   RUN yum -y install httpd && yum clean all
   ADD kickstart.ks /var/www/html/
   ARG commit=commit.tar
   ADD $commit /var/www/html/
   EXPOSE 80
   CMD ["/usr/sbin/httpd", "-D", "FOREGROUND"]

   Where,

   • kickstart.ks is the name of the Kickstart file from the RHEL for Edge image. The kickstart file includes directive information. To help you manage the images later, it is advisable to include the checks and settings for Greenboot checks. To do so, you can update the Kickstart file to include the following settings:

     /etc/greenboot/check/required.d/check-dns.sh
     
     #!/bin/bash
     
     DNS_SERVER=$(grep nameserver /etc/resolv.conf | cut -f2 -d" ")
     COUNT=0
     
     # check DNS server is available
     ping -c1 $DNS_SERVER
     while [ $? != '0' ] && [ $COUNT -lt 10 ]; do
     ((COUNT++))
     echo "Checking for DNS: Attempt $COUNT ."
     sleep 10
     ping -c 1 $DNS_SERVER
     done

   • Commit.tar is the image commit number

   • `/var/www/html` is the location where the commit is saved. You can choose a different location to save the commit.

     The ostree repo can be hosted from any HTTP server/service, and that the example, using a container, is just an option for how to do this. The docker file performs the following tasks:

     1. Uses the latest Universal Base Image (ubi)
     2. Installs the web server (httpd)
     3. Adds the kickstart file to the server

     4. Adds the RHEL for Edge image commit to the server

        The line ARG commit=commit.tar allows you to specify future commits using the command-line.

2. Build a docker container

   #  podman build -t name-of-container-image --build-arg commit=uuid-commit.tar .

3. Run the container

   #  podman run --rm -d -p port:80 localhost/name-of-container-image

   As a result, the server is set up and ready to launch the RHEL installer using the commit.tar repository and the kickstart file.

Procedure

1. Open a browser an access https://access.redhat.com/downloads.
2. Click the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
3. CLick the button Download Now for the option "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Boot ISO"

Procedure

1. Run the Anaconda Installer using the libvirt virt-install:

   virt-install --name rhel-edge-test-1 --memory 2048 --vcpus 2 --disk path=prepared_disk_image.qcow2,format=qcow2 --os-variant rhel8.0 --cdrom /home/username/Downloads/rhel8-edge.iso

2. On the installation screen, press TAB to specify an additional kernel parameter:

   inst.ks=http://edge_device_ip:port/kickstart.ks

   The kernel parameter specifies that you want to install RHEL using the Kickstart file and not the RHEL image contained in the RHEL Installer.

   The RHEL Installer starts, fetches the Kickstart file from the server (HTTP) endpoint and executes the commands, including the command to install the RHEL for Edge image commit from the HTTP endpoint. Once the installation is complete, the installer prompts for login details.

3. On the Login screen, specify your user account credentials and click Enter.

4. Verify whether the RHEL for Edge image is successfully installed.

   $ rpm-ostree status

   The command output provides the image commit ID and shows that the installation is successful.

   Following is a sample output:

   State: idle
   Deployments:
   * ostree://edge:rhel/8/x86_64/edge
   		  Timestamp: 2020-09-18T20:06:54Z
   			Commit: 836e637095554e0b634a0a48ea05c75280519dd6576a392635e6fa7d4d5e96