Chapter 5. Creating system images using the image builder web console interface

Procedure

1. Open https://localhost:9090/ in a web browser on the system where image builder is installed.

   For more information about how to remotely access image builder, see Managing systems using the RHEL web console document.

2. Log in to the web console as the root user.

3. To display the image builder controls, click the image builder icon, in the upper-left corner of the window.

   The image builder dashabord opens, listing existing blueprints, if any.

Procedure

1. Click Create Blueprint in the upper-right corner.

   A dialog wizard with fields for the blueprint name and description opens.

2. On the Details page:

   1. Enter the name of the blueprint and, optionally, its description. Click Next.

3. Optional: In the Packages page:

   1. On the Available packages search, enter the package name and click the > button to move it to the Chosen packages field. Search and include as many packages as you want. Click Next.

      Note

      These customizations are all optional unless otherwise specified.

4. On the Kernel page, enter a kernel name and the command-line arguments.

5. On the File system page, you can select Use automatic partitioning or Manually configure partitions for your image file system. For manually configuring the partitions, complete the following steps:

   1. Click the Manually configure partitions button.

      The Configure partitions section opens, showing the configuration based on Red Hat standards and security guides.

   2. From the dropdown menu, provide details to configure the partitions:

      1. For the Mount point field, select one of the following mount point type options:

         • / - the root mount point
         • /var
         • /home
         • /opt
         • /srv
         • /usr
         • /app
         • /data
         • /tmp

         • /usr/local

           You can also add an additional path to the Mount point, such as /tmp. For example: /var as a prefix and /tmp as an additional path results in /var/tmp.

           Note

           Depending on the Mount point type you choose, the file system type changes to xfs, and so on.

      2. For the Minimum size partition field of the file system, enter the desired minimum partition size. In the Minimum size dropdown menu, you can use common size units such as GiB, MiB, or KiB. The default unit is GiB.

         Note

         Minimum size means that the image builder can still increase the partition sizes, in case they are too small to create a working image.

   3. To add more partitions, click the Add partition button. If you see the following error message: “Duplicate partitions: Only one partition at each mount point can be created.”, you can:

      1. Click the Remove button to remove the duplicated partition.
      2. Choose a new mount point for the partition you want to create.
   4. After you finish the partitioning configuration, click Next.

6. On the Services page, you can enable or disable services:

   1. Enter the service names you want to enable or disable, separating them by a comma, by space, or by pressing the Enter key. Click Next.

7. On the Firewall page, set up your firewall setting:

   1. Enter the Ports, and the firewall services you want to enable or disable.
   2. Click the Add zone button to manage your firewall rules for each zone independently. Click Next.

8. On the Users page, add a users by following the steps:

   1. Click Add user.
   2. Enter a Username, a password, and a SSH key. You can also mark the user as a privileged user, by clicking the Server administrator checkbox. Click Next.

9. On the Groups page, add groups by completing the following steps:

   1. Click the Add groups button:

      1. Enter a Group name and a Group ID. You can add more groups. Click Next.

10. On the SSH keys page, add a key:

    1. Click the Add key button.

       1. Enter the SSH key.
       2. Enter a User. Click Next.

11. On the Timezone page, set your timezone settings:

    1. On the Timezone field, enter the timezone you want to add to your system image. For example, add the following timezone format: "US/Eastern".

       If you do not set a timezone, the system uses Universal Time, Coordinated (UTC) as default.

    2. Enter the NTP servers. Click Next.

12. On the Locale page, complete the following steps:

    1. On the Keyboard search field, enter the package name you want to add to your system image. For example: ["en_US.UTF-8"].
    2. On the Languages search field, enter the package name you want to add to your system image. For example: "us". Click Next.

13. On the Others page, complete the following steps:

    1. On the Hostname field, enter the hostname you want to add to your system image. If you do not add a hostname, the operating system determines the hostname.
    2. Mandatory only for the Simplifier Installer image: On the Installation Devices field, enter a valid node for your system image. For example: dev/sda1. Click Next.

14. Mandatory only when building FIDO images: On the FIDO device onboarding page, complete the following steps:

    1. On the Manufacturing server URL field, enter the following information:

       1. On the DIUN public key insecure field, enter the insecure public key.
       2. On the DIUN public key hash field, enter the public key hash.
       3. On the DIUN public key root certs field, enter the public key root certs. Click Next.

15. On the OpenSCAP page, complete the following steps:

    1. On the Datastream field, enter the datastream remediation instructions you want to add to your system image.
    2. On the Profile ID field, enter the profile_id security profile you want to add to your system image. Click Next.

16. Mandatory only when building Ignition images: On the Ignition page, complete the following steps:

    1. On the Firstboot URL field, enter the package name you want to add to your system image.
    2. On the Embedded Data field, drag or upload your file. Click Next.
17. . On the Review page, review the details about the blueprint. Click Create.

Procedure

1. On the image builder dashboard, click Import blueprint. The Import blueprint wizard opens.
2. From the Upload field, either drag or upload an existing blueprint. This blueprint can be in either TOML or JSON format.

3. Click Import. The dashboard lists the blueprint you imported.

   When you click the blueprint you imported, you have access to a dashboard with all the customizations for the blueprint that you imported.

Procedure

1. On the image builder dashboard, select the blueprint you want to export.
2. Click Export blueprint. The Export blueprint wizard opens.

3. To save the Exported blueprint, click the Export button.

   1. Optionally, click the Copy button to copy the blueprint.

Verification

1. Open the exported blueprint to inspect and review it.

Procedure

1. Access image builder dashboard.
2. On the blueprint table, find the blueprint you want to build an image.
3. On the right side of the chosen blueprint, click Create Image. The Create image dialog wizard opens.
4. Navigate to the Images tab and click Create Image. The Create image wizard opens.

5. On the Image output page, complete the following steps:

   1. From the Select a blueprint list, select the image type you want.

   2. From the Image output type list, select the image output type you want.

      Depending on the image type you select, you need to add further details.

6. Click Next.

7. On the Review page, review the details about the image creation and click Create image.

   The image build starts and takes up to 20 minutes to complete.