Let’s get some machines up and running, using the MAAS CLI. If you haven’t installed MAAS yet, you can follow these instructions first.
In the CLI, logging in is a two-stepper:
sudo maas apikey --username=admin > api-key-file
You can make sure you got a valid API key by displaying the contents of api-key-file:
cat api-key-file
XXEjkeeqM:zXb7LkuPY7VxShFNhCFDaD8WnP8gLVL8V64GbSn:tTKdwWV64GbSn:tTKdwW
NOTE:
You need to run the apikey command to get an API key. You can’t cut and paste the one above, it won’t work.
Anyway, we can now login to MAAS. But first, let’s try “maas –help” – there’s an important distinction that you’ll want to remember:
maas --help
usage: maas [-h] COMMAND ...
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
drill down:
COMMAND
login Log in to a remote API, and remember its description and credentials.
logout Log out of a remote API, purging any stored credentials.
list List remote APIs that have been logged-in to.
refresh Refresh the API descriptions of all profiles.
init Initialise MAAS in the specified run mode.
config View or change controller configuration.
status Status of controller services.
migrate Perform migrations on connected database.
apikey Used to manage a user's API keys. Shows existing keys unless --generate or --delete is passed.
configauth Configure external authentication.
createadmin Create a MAAS administrator account.
changepassword
Change a MAAS user's password.
admin Interact with http://192.168.43.251:5240/MAAS/api/2.0/
This is the help you get (a) if you’re not logged in, or (b) if you don’t type a logged-in username (called a “profile”) after “maas”. What you see above isn’t even half of what MAAS can do, but it’s all you get as an unrecognized user.
So now, let’s login and try that help again:
NOTE: Your MAAS address will probably not be the same as the one I’m using; cutting and pasting won’t work.
maas login admin http://192.168.43.251:5240/MAAS/api/2.0/ $(head -1 api-key-file)
You are now logged in to the MAAS server at
http://192.168.43.251:5240/MAAS/api/2.0/ with the profile name 'admin'.
For help with the available commands, try:
maas admin --help
Now, having done that, we can get a much better idea what MAAS will do:
maas admin --help
usage: maas admin [-h] COMMAND ...
Issue commands to the MAAS region controller at http://192.168.43.251:5240/MAAS/api/2.0/.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
drill down:
COMMAND
account Manage the current logged-in user.
bcache-cache-set Manage bcache cache set on a machine.
bcache-cache-sets Manage bcache cache sets on a machine.
bcache Manage bcache device on a machine.
bcaches Manage bcache devices on a machine.
block-device Manage a block device on a machine.
block-devices Manage block devices on a machine.
boot-resource Manage a boot resource.
boot-resources Manage the boot resources.
boot-source Manage a boot source.
boot-source-selection
Manage a boot source selection.
boot-source-selections
Manage the collection of boot source selections.
boot-sources Manage the collection of boot sources.
commissioning-script
Manage a custom commissioning script.
commissioning-scripts
Manage custom commissioning scripts.
dhcpsnippet Manage an individual DHCP snippet.
dhcpsnippets Manage the collection of all DHCP snippets in MAAS.
dnsresource Manage dnsresource.
dnsresource-record Manage dnsresourcerecord.
dnsresource-records
Manage DNS resource records (e.g. CNAME, MX, NS, SRV, TXT)
dnsresources Manage dnsresources.
device Manage an individual device.
devices Manage the collection of all the devices in the MAAS.
discoveries Query observed discoveries.
discovery Read or delete an observed discovery.
domain Manage domain.
domains Manage domains.
events Retrieve filtered node events.
fabric Manage fabric.
fabrics Manage fabrics.
fan-network Manage Fan Network.
fan-networks Manage Fan Networks.
file Manage a FileStorage object.
files Manage the collection of all the files in this MAAS.
ipaddresses Manage IP addresses allocated by MAAS.
iprange Manage IP range.
ipranges Manage IP ranges.
interface Manage a node's or device's interface.
interfaces Manage interfaces on a node.
license-key Manage a license key.
license-keys Manage the license keys.
maas Manage the MAAS server.
machine Manage an individual machine.
machines Manage the collection of all the machines in the MAAS.
network Manage a network.
networks Manage the networks.
node Manage an individual Node.
node-results Read the collection of commissioning script results.
node-script Manage or view a custom script.
node-script-result Manage node script results.
node-script-results
Manage node script results.
node-scripts Manage custom scripts.
nodes Manage the collection of all the nodes in the MAAS.
notification Manage an individual notification.
notifications Manage the collection of all the notifications in MAAS.
package-repositories
Manage the collection of all Package Repositories in MAAS.
package-repository Manage an individual package repository.
partition Manage partition on a block device.
partitions Manage partitions on a block device.
pod Manage an individual pod.
pods Manage the collection of all the pod in the MAAS.
rack-controller Manage an individual rack controller.
rack-controllers Manage the collection of all rack controllers in MAAS.
raid Manage a specific RAID (Redundant Array of Independent
Disks) on a machine.
raids Manage all RAIDs (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) on
a machine.
region-controller Manage an individual region controller.
region-controllers Manage the collection of all region controllers in MAAS.
resource-pool Manage a resource pool.
resource-pools Manage resource pools.
sshkey Manage an SSH key.
sshkeys Manage the collection of all the SSH keys in this MAAS.
sslkey Manage an SSL key.
sslkeys Operations on multiple keys.
space Manage space.
spaces Manage spaces.
static-route Manage static route.
static-routes Manage static routes.
subnet Manage subnet.
subnets Manage subnets.
tag Tags are properties that can be associated with a Node and
serve as criteria for selecting and allocating nodes.
tags Manage all tags known to MAAS.
user Manage a user account.
users Manage the user accounts of this MAAS.
version Information about this MAAS instance.
virtual-machine Manage individual virtual machines.
virtual-machines Manage a collection of virtual machines.
vlan Manage a VLAN on a fabric.
vlans Manage VLANs on a fabric.
vm-host Manage an individual vm-host.
vm-hosts Manage the collection of all the vm-hosts in the MAAS.
vmfs-datastore Manage VMFS datastore on a machine.
vmfs-datastores Manage VMFS datastores on a machine.
volume-group Manage volume group on a machine.
volume-groups Manage volume groups on a machine.
zone Manage a physical zone.
zones Manage physical zones.
This is a profile. Any commands you issue on this profile will
operate on the MAAS region server.
The command information you see here comes from the region server's
API; it may differ for different profiles. If you believe the API may
have changed, use the command's 'refresh' sub-command to fetch the
latest version of this help information from the server.
The next step? Set the DNS server IP address. You can do this by issuing the CLI subcommand called “dnsresource”. Let’s look at the help for that command:
maas admin dnsresource --help
Usage: maas admin dnsresource [-h] COMMAND ...
Manage dnsresource.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
drill down:
COMMAND
read Read a DNS resource
update Update a DNS resource
delete Delete a DNS resource
That looks like what we want; let’s be naive and try that:
maas admin dnsresource read
Usage: maas admin dnsresource read [--help] [-d] [-k] id [data [data ...]]
Read a DNS resource
positional arguments:
id
data
optional arguments:
--help, -h Show this help message and exit.
-d, --debug Display more information about API responses.
-k, --insecure Disable SSL certificate check
Read a DNS resource by id.
the following arguments are required: id, data
Well, that’s weird, and not what we want. But wait – the CLI follows the “collection-instance” rule. Listing DNS resources would be part of a collection, so they would be pluralized. Let’s try dnsresources (plural):
maas admin dnsresources read
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
[]
That isn’t it either, but in the maas set-config command there is a parameter named upstream_dns for which we can set a value. Let’s try that:
maas admin maas set-config name=upstream_dns value="8.8.8.8"
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
OK
Yep, that’s it. It isn’t obvious whether we needed to type the IP address with quotes. In fact, it doesn’t matter; whatever makes you feel more comfortable:
maas admin maas set-config name=upstream_dns value=8.8.8.8
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
OK
Next, we need to import images. Some images automatically sync, so let’s bring in some other image (like Ubuntu 16.04 LTS) just to see how that works.
Reading the help, it says we can discover the images we’ve already downloaded, using the following command:
maas admin boot-resources read
The JSON resulting from this command is rather lengthy, so we’ve collapsed it to a pop-down. You can click the arrow to see the JSON returns. Incidentally, we’ll do that from now on with long listings:
Success.
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
[
{
"id": 7,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "grub-efi-signed/uefi",
"architecture": "amd64/generic",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/7/"
},
{
"id": 8,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "grub-efi/uefi",
"architecture": "arm64/generic",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/8/"
},
{
"id": 9,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "grub-ieee1275/open-firmware",
"architecture": "ppc64el/generic",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/9/"
},
{
"id": 10,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "pxelinux/pxe",
"architecture": "i386/generic",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/10/"
},
{
"id": 1,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "ubuntu/bionic",
"architecture": "amd64/ga-18.04",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/1/",
"subarches": "generic,hwe-p,hwe-q,hwe-r,hwe-s,hwe-t,hwe-u,hwe-v,hwe-w,ga-16.04,ga-16.10,ga-17.04,ga-17.10,ga-18.04"
},
{
"id": 2,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "ubuntu/bionic",
"architecture": "amd64/ga-18.04-lowlatency",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/2/",
"subarches": "generic,hwe-p,hwe-q,hwe-r,hwe-s,hwe-t,hwe-u,hwe-v,hwe-w,ga-16.04,ga-16.10,ga-17.04,ga-17.10,ga-18.04"
},
{
"id": 3,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "ubuntu/bionic",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/3/",
"subarches": "generic,hwe-p,hwe-q,hwe-r,hwe-s,hwe-t,hwe-u,hwe-v,hwe-w,ga-16.04,ga-16.10,ga-17.04,ga-17.10,ga-18.04"
},
{
"id": 4,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "ubuntu/bionic",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04-edge",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/4/",
"subarches": "generic,hwe-p,hwe-q,hwe-r,hwe-s,hwe-t,hwe-u,hwe-v,hwe-w,ga-16.04,ga-16.10,ga-17.04,ga-17.10,ga-18.04,hwe-18.10,hwe-19.04"
},
{
"id": 5,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "ubuntu/bionic",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04-lowlatency",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/5/",
"subarches": "generic,hwe-p,hwe-q,hwe-r,hwe-s,hwe-t,hwe-u,hwe-v,hwe-w,ga-16.04,ga-16.10,ga-17.04,ga-17.10,ga-18.04"
},
{
"id": 6,
"type": "Synced",
"name": "ubuntu/bionic",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04-lowlatency-edge",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-resources/6/",
"subarches": "generic,hwe-p,hwe-q,hwe-r,hwe-s,hwe-t,hwe-u,hwe-v,hwe-w,ga-16.04,ga-16.10,ga-17.04,ga-17.10,ga-18.04,hwe-18.10,hwe-19.04"
}
]
Okay, that’s a lot of information, but it looks like we have a bunch of 18.04 images downloaded and synched. Depending on what version of MAAS you’re using, your list could be a lot different, and that doesn’t matter here.
Try getting a more compact image list
Let’s try to get a little fancy with grep and see if we can make that list shorter:
maas admin boot-resources read | grep architecture
This produces a quick list of the images we’ve successfully downloaded:
"architecture": "amd64/generic",
"architecture": "arm64/generic",
"architecture": "ppc64el/generic",
"architecture": "i386/generic",
"architecture": "amd64/ga-18.04",
"architecture": "amd64/ga-18.04-lowlatency",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04-edge",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04-lowlatency",
"architecture": "amd64/hwe-18.04-lowlatency-edge",
That definitely confirms that we have some images. But what are those three or four on top? Looking at the massive JSON output, notice that they have names like “open-firmware,” “uefi,” and “pxe.” Those are images that can PXE-boot machines, basically. But how can we sort this information out in a neat way?
Well, if you’re going to use anything with JSON-based output, you’ll want to consider learning the command line tool jq↗. It’s quite handy for parsing the JSON output of the MAAS CLI. So, for example, if we want a lightly formatted table of names and architectures, we can run that last command through jq like this:
maas admin boot-resources read | jq -r '.[] | "\(.name)\t\(.architecture)"'
This gives us a cleaner image list that looks something like this:
grub-efi-signed/uefi amd64/generic
grub-efi/uefi arm64/generic
grub-ieee1275/open-firmware ppc64el/generic
pxelinux/pxe i386/generic
ubuntu/bionic amd64/ga-18.04
ubuntu/bionic amd64/ga-18.04-lowlatency
ubuntu/bionic amd64/hwe-18.04
ubuntu/bionic amd64/hwe-18.04-edge
ubuntu/bionic amd64/hwe-18.04-lowlatency
ubuntu/bionic amd64/hwe-18.04-lowlatency-edge
So basically, we have images needed to boot and deloy machines. That’s a good start, but let’s pull down another image for the practice.
We can select images with the boot-source-selections command, so let’s try that with old “Trusty” (Xenial Xerus, aka 16.04):
maas admin boot-source-selections create 1 \
> os="ubuntu" release="trusty" arches="amd64" subarches="*" \
> labels="*"
The results look like this:
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"os": "ubuntu",
"release": "trusty",
"arches": [
"amd64"
],
"subarches": [
"*"
],
"labels": [
"*"
],
"boot_source_id": 1,
"id": 2,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/boot-sources/1/selections/2/"
}
And that worked, which is good, because that was a long command to type correctly. Luckily, downloading (importing) them is a fairly simple command:
maas admin boot-resources import
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
Import of boot resources started
The whole point here is to get machines deployed, so the next step is to get DHCP working. We have to find the right VLAN, which isn’t too hard, since at this point there’s only one.
In order to turn on DHCP, we need to know two things besides the VLAN name (“untagged”): we need to know the fabric ID and the primary rack controller name. Actually, to start with, all the fabrics will be on the same untagged VLAN, so any fabric will do. We can find a usable fabric by picking a valid bridge IP address like this:
maas admin subnet read 192.168.123.0/24 | grep fabric_id
"fabric_id": 2,
Then we need to find the name of the primary rack controller:
maas admin rack-controllers read | grep hostname | cut -d '"' -f 4
wintermute
So we should be able to turn on DHCP like this:
maas admin vlan update 2 untagged dhcp_on=True primary_rack=wintermute
{"dhcp_on": ["dhcp can only be turned on when a dynamic IP range is defined."]}
Wait. We need to define a dynamic IP range for this to work. Well, my virtual bridge is on 192.168.123.0/24. Yours will be in a different place, most likely. We want to use that subnet, so let’s choose a reasonable IP range, like, say, 192.168.123.190 to 192.168.123.253:
maas admin ipranges create type=dynamic start_ip=192.168.123.190 end_ip=192.168.123.253
Remember that your subnet address will probably be different, so you’ll need to create a range within that subnet. The result of this command is:
Success.
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": false,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"primary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"id": 5003,
"space": "undefined",
"secondary_rack": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
},
"type": "dynamic",
"start_ip": "192.168.123.190",
"end_ip": "192.168.123.253",
"user": {
"is_superuser": true,
"username": "admin",
"email": "admin@admin.com",
"is_local": true,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/users/admin/"
},
"comment": "",
"id": 1,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/ipranges/1/"
}
Okay, now let’s try that DHCP switch-on one more time:
maas admin vlan update 2 untagged dhcp_on=True primary_rack=wintermute
Now it works:
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"space": "undefined",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"secondary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"fabric_id": 2,
"id": 5003,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
}
In order to deploy machines, we’ve got to create some, plain and simple, and then commission them. We’re using virsh for this example, but you can use LXD or any VM hosting tool you’re comfortable with:
maas admin machines create
> architecture=amd64
> mac_addresses=52:54:00:15:36:f2
> power_type=virsh
> power_parameters_power_id=f677a842-571c-4e65-adc9-11e2cf92d363
> power_parameters_power_address=qemu+ssh://stormrider@192.168.123.1/system
> power_parameters_power_pass=xxxxxxxx
That seemed to work:
Success.
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"storage": 0.0,
"tag_names": [],
"special_filesystems": [],
"memory": 0,
"boot_disk": null,
"virtualblockdevice_set": [],
"hardware_info": {
"system_vendor": "Unknown",
"system_product": "Unknown",
"system_family": "Unknown",
"system_version": "Unknown",
"system_sku": "Unknown",
"system_serial": "Unknown",
"cpu_model": "Unknown",
"mainboard_vendor": "Unknown",
"mainboard_product": "Unknown",
"mainboard_serial": "Unknown",
"mainboard_version": "Unknown",
"mainboard_firmware_vendor": "Unknown",
"mainboard_firmware_date": "Unknown",
"mainboard_firmware_version": "Unknown",
"chassis_vendor": "Unknown",
"chassis_type": "Unknown",
"chassis_serial": "Unknown",
"chassis_version": "Unknown"
},
"address_ttl": null,
"memory_test_status": -1,
"other_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"osystem": "",
"status_message": "Commissioning",
"netboot": true,
"physicalblockdevice_set": [],
"node_type": 0,
"cpu_test_status": -1,
"memory_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"bcaches": [],
"storage_test_status": 0,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"status": 1,
"commissioning_status": 0,
"power_type": "virsh",
"locked": false,
"numanode_set": [
{
"index": 0,
"memory": 0,
"cores": []
}
],
"bios_boot_method": null,
"fqdn": "ace-swan.maas",
"node_type_name": "Machine",
"hostname": "ace-swan",
"volume_groups": [],
"testing_status": 0,
"network_test_status": -1,
"other_test_status": -1,
"interface_test_status": -1,
"hwe_kernel": null,
"blockdevice_set": [],
"testing_status_name": "Pending",
"power_state": "unknown",
"min_hwe_kernel": "",
"owner": "admin",
"distro_series": "",
"storage_test_status_name": "Pending",
"cpu_speed": 0,
"swap_size": null,
"cpu_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"hardware_uuid": null,
"architecture": "amd64/generic",
"pool": {
"name": "default",
"description": "Default pool",
"id": 0,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/resourcepool/0/"
},
"cache_sets": [],
"pod": null,
"iscsiblockdevice_set": [],
"disable_ipv4": false,
"status_action": "",
"boot_interface": {
"name": "eth0",
"id": 10,
"product": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"children": [],
"link_connected": true,
"enabled": true,
"interface_speed": 0,
"numa_node": 0,
"firmware_version": null,
"parents": [],
"discovered": null,
"params": "",
"links": [],
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"tags": [],
"type": "physical",
"vlan": null,
"vendor": null,
"link_speed": 0,
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
},
"cpu_count": 0,
"domain": {
"authoritative": true,
"ttl": null,
"resource_record_count": 0,
"name": "maas",
"is_default": true,
"id": 0,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/domains/0/"
},
"current_testing_result_id": 7,
"default_gateways": {
"ipv4": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
},
"ipv6": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
}
},
"interface_set": [
{
"name": "eth0",
"id": 10,
"product": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"children": [],
"link_connected": true,
"enabled": true,
"interface_speed": 0,
"numa_node": 0,
"firmware_version": null,
"parents": [],
"discovered": null,
"params": "",
"links": [],
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"tags": [],
"type": "physical",
"vlan": null,
"vendor": null,
"link_speed": 0,
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
}
],
"status_name": "Commissioning",
"commissioning_status_name": "Pending",
"owner_data": {},
"ip_addresses": [],
"raids": [],
"network_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"description": "",
"current_commissioning_result_id": 6,
"interface_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"current_installation_result_id": null,
"zone": {
"name": "default",
"description": "",
"id": 1,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/zones/default/"
},
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/machines/bhxws3/"
}
And just like that, it’s already commissioning (MAAS does that if it can).
So now we have a machine in the “Ready” state, but let’s also get familiar with commanding MAAS to commission it via the CLI. All we really need for that is the system ID, which is the last parameter in the “resource uri” above. But just for grins, let’s go ahead and retrieve the system ID using the CLI.
There’s only one in this example, so we don’t have to worry about any other cross-referencing on this machine:
maas admin machines read | jq '.[] | .hostname, .system_id'
"ace-swan"
"bhxws3"
Okay, now we can use that system ID to commission the machine via the CLI:
maas admin machine commission bhxws3
And commissioning should start and return success:
Success.
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"storage_test_status_name": "Pending",
"bcaches": [],
"cpu_count": 1,
"interface_set": [
{
"params": "",
"numa_node": 0,
"tags": [],
"id": 10,
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"vendor": "Red Hat, Inc.",
"children": [],
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"discovered": [],
"links": [],
"link_speed": 0,
"link_connected": true,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"enabled": true,
"interface_speed": 0,
"firmware_version": null,
"name": "ens3",
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"product": null,
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"id": 5003,
"space": "undefined",
"secondary_rack": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"parents": [],
"type": "physical",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
}
],
"network_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"numanode_set": [
{
"index": 0,
"memory": 985,
"cores": [
0
]
}
],
"locked": false,
"hardware_uuid": "F677A842-571C-4E65-ADC9-11E2CF92D363",
"default_gateways": {
"ipv4": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
},
"ipv6": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
}
},
"status_action": "",
"status_message": "Commissioning",
"cpu_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"memory_test_status": -1,
"virtualblockdevice_set": [],
"pool": {
"name": "default",
"description": "Default pool",
"id": 0,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/resourcepool/0/"
},
"current_testing_result_id": 9,
"current_installation_result_id": null,
"netboot": true,
"description": "",
"special_filesystems": [],
"testing_status": 0,
"memory": 1024,
"current_commissioning_result_id": 8,
"storage": 5368.70912,
"commissioning_status": 0,
"cpu_test_status": -1,
"tag_names": [
"virtual"
],
"memory_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"swap_size": null,
"status_name": "Commissioning",
"other_test_status": -1,
"pod": null,
"storage_test_status": 0,
"blockdevice_set": [
{
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"size": 5368709120,
"block_size": 512,
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"serial": "QM00001",
"uuid": null,
"numa_node": 0,
"available_size": 5368709120,
"id": 3,
"partition_table_type": null,
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"storage_pool": null,
"used_for": "Unused",
"filesystem": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"used_size": 0,
"partitions": [],
"name": "sda",
"type": "physical",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
}
],
"other_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"distro_series": "",
"testing_status_name": "Pending",
"ip_addresses": [],
"address_ttl": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"physicalblockdevice_set": [
{
"firmware_version": "2.5+",
"serial": "QM00001",
"uuid": null,
"numa_node": 0,
"available_size": 5368709120,
"size": 5368709120,
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"id": 3,
"partition_table_type": null,
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"storage_pool": null,
"used_for": "Unused",
"filesystem": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"used_size": 0,
"partitions": [],
"name": "sda",
"block_size": 512,
"type": "physical",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
}
],
"fqdn": "ace-swan.maas",
"osystem": "",
"domain": {
"authoritative": true,
"ttl": null,
"resource_record_count": 0,
"name": "maas",
"id": 0,
"is_default": true,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/domains/0/"
},
"boot_interface": {
"params": "",
"numa_node": 0,
"tags": [],
"id": 10,
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"vendor": "Red Hat, Inc.",
"children": [],
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"discovered": [],
"links": [],
"link_speed": 0,
"link_connected": true,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"enabled": true,
"interface_speed": 0,
"firmware_version": null,
"name": "ens3",
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"product": null,
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"id": 5003,
"space": "undefined",
"secondary_rack": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"parents": [],
"type": "physical",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
},
"hostname": "ace-swan",
"network_test_status": -1,
"min_hwe_kernel": "",
"power_state": "off",
"interface_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"owner_data": {},
"volume_groups": [],
"power_type": "virsh",
"node_type": 0,
"owner": "admin",
"cache_sets": [],
"architecture": "amd64/generic",
"hwe_kernel": null,
"zone": {
"name": "default",
"description": "",
"id": 1,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/zones/default/"
},
"disable_ipv4": false,
"boot_disk": {
"firmware_version": "2.5+",
"serial": "QM00001",
"uuid": null,
"numa_node": 0,
"available_size": 5368709120,
"size": 5368709120,
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"id": 3,
"partition_table_type": null,
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"storage_pool": null,
"used_for": "Unused",
"filesystem": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"used_size": 0,
"partitions": [],
"name": "sda",
"block_size": 512,
"type": "physical",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
},
"status": 1,
"iscsiblockdevice_set": [],
"raids": [],
"node_type_name": "Machine",
"hardware_info": {
"system_vendor": "QEMU",
"system_product": "Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)",
"system_family": "Unknown",
"system_version": "pc-i440fx-focal",
"system_sku": "Unknown",
"system_serial": "Unknown",
"cpu_model": "Intel Core Processor (Skylake, IBRS)",
"mainboard_vendor": "Unknown",
"mainboard_product": "Unknown",
"mainboard_serial": "Unknown",
"mainboard_version": "Unknown",
"mainboard_firmware_vendor": "SeaBIOS",
"mainboard_firmware_date": "04/01/2014",
"mainboard_firmware_version": "1.13.0-1ubuntu1",
"chassis_vendor": "QEMU",
"chassis_type": "Other",
"chassis_serial": "Unknown",
"chassis_version": "pc-i440fx-focal"
},
"commissioning_status_name": "Pending",
"bios_boot_method": "pxe",
"interface_test_status": -1,
"cpu_speed": 0,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/machines/bhxws3/"
}
And that’s it, it’s that easy. It takes a minute to get all the parameters together to create a new machine, but it isn’t that difficult.
The real value of MAAS, of course, is deploying machines without having to be there. That’s what we’re going to do next.
When it’s finished commissioning, we can allocate a machine like this:
maas admin machines allocate system_id=bhxws3
Allocating assigns ownership of that machine to the requesting user, which prevents others from changing the state of your machine you aren’t expecting it. When successful, you’ll get a return like this:
Success.
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"raids": [],
"zone": {
"name": "default",
"description": "",
"id": 1,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/zones/default/"
},
"current_commissioning_result_id": 8,
"storage_test_status": 2,
"current_testing_result_id": 9,
"bcaches": [],
"ip_addresses": [
"192.168.123.190"
],
"pool": {
"name": "default",
"description": "Default pool",
"id": 0,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/resourcepool/0/"
},
"physicalblockdevice_set": [
{
"firmware_version": "2.5+",
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"partition_table_type": "GPT",
"type": "physical",
"block_size": 512,
"id": 3,
"numa_node": 0,
"partitions": [
{
"uuid": "8aa1164c-8a91-41d7-92e3-c411634355bb",
"size": 5360320512,
"bootable": false,
"tags": [],
"id": 3,
"used_for": "ext4 formatted filesystem mounted at /",
"device_id": 3,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda-part2",
"type": "partition",
"filesystem": {
"fstype": "ext4",
"label": "root",
"uuid": "68487852-7e38-4605-a84e-d787532fd443",
"mount_point": "/",
"mount_options": null
},
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/partition/3"
}
],
"filesystem": null,
"available_size": 0,
"size": 5368709120,
"storage_pool": null,
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"used_size": 5366611968,
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"used_for": "GPT partitioned with 1 partition",
"uuid": null,
"name": "sda",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"serial": "QM00001",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
}
],
"swap_size": null,
"storage": 5368.70912,
"node_type_name": "Machine",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"owner_data": {},
"special_filesystems": [],
"tag_names": [
"virtual"
],
"cpu_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"locked": false,
"cpu_count": 1,
"volume_groups": [],
"storage_test_status_name": "Passed",
"hardware_info": {
"system_vendor": "QEMU",
"system_product": "Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)",
"system_family": "Unknown",
"system_version": "pc-i440fx-focal",
"system_sku": "Unknown",
"system_serial": "Unknown",
"cpu_model": "Intel Core Processor (Skylake, IBRS)",
"mainboard_vendor": "Unknown",
"mainboard_product": "Unknown",
"mainboard_serial": "Unknown",
"mainboard_version": "Unknown",
"mainboard_firmware_vendor": "SeaBIOS",
"mainboard_firmware_date": "04/01/2014",
"mainboard_firmware_version": "1.13.0-1ubuntu1",
"chassis_vendor": "QEMU",
"chassis_type": "Other",
"chassis_serial": "Unknown",
"chassis_version": "pc-i440fx-focal"
},
"node_type": 0,
"other_test_status": -1,
"hostname": "ace-swan",
"interface_test_status": -1,
"boot_interface": {
"link_speed": 0,
"params": "",
"vendor": "Red Hat, Inc.",
"firmware_version": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"enabled": true,
"type": "physical",
"links": [
{
"id": 15,
"mode": "auto",
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"id": 5003,
"secondary_rack": null,
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"fabric_id": 2,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
}
}
],
"id": 10,
"discovered": [
{
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"id": 5003,
"secondary_rack": null,
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"fabric_id": 2,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
},
"ip_address": "192.168.123.190"
}
],
"numa_node": 0,
"children": [],
"parents": [],
"link_connected": true,
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"tags": [],
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"interface_speed": 0,
"name": "ens3",
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"product": null,
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"id": 5003,
"secondary_rack": null,
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"fabric_id": 2,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
},
"memory": 1024,
"memory_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"default_gateways": {
"ipv4": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
},
"ipv6": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
}
},
"blockdevice_set": [
{
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"size": 5368709120,
"block_size": 512,
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"partition_table_type": "GPT",
"type": "physical",
"id": 3,
"numa_node": 0,
"partitions": [
{
"uuid": "8aa1164c-8a91-41d7-92e3-c411634355bb",
"size": 5360320512,
"bootable": false,
"tags": [],
"id": 3,
"used_for": "ext4 formatted filesystem mounted at /",
"device_id": 3,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda-part2",
"type": "partition",
"filesystem": {
"fstype": "ext4",
"label": "root",
"uuid": "68487852-7e38-4605-a84e-d787532fd443",
"mount_point": "/",
"mount_options": null
},
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/partition/3"
}
],
"filesystem": null,
"available_size": 0,
"storage_pool": null,
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"used_size": 5366611968,
"used_for": "GPT partitioned with 1 partition",
"uuid": null,
"name": "sda",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"serial": "QM00001",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
}
],
"interface_set": [
{
"link_speed": 0,
"params": "",
"vendor": "Red Hat, Inc.",
"firmware_version": null,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"enabled": true,
"type": "physical",
"links": [
{
"id": 15,
"mode": "auto",
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"id": 5003,
"secondary_rack": null,
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"fabric_id": 2,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
}
}
],
"id": 10,
"discovered": [
{
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"id": 5003,
"secondary_rack": null,
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"fabric_id": 2,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
},
"ip_address": "192.168.123.190"
}
],
"numa_node": 0,
"children": [],
"parents": [],
"link_connected": true,
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"tags": [],
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"interface_speed": 0,
"name": "ens3",
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"product": null,
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"id": 5003,
"secondary_rack": null,
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"name": "untagged",
"fabric_id": 2,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
}
],
"numanode_set": [
{
"index": 0,
"memory": 985,
"cores": [
0
]
}
],
"min_hwe_kernel": "",
"memory_test_status": -1,
"power_type": "virsh",
"power_state": "off",
"status": 10,
"testing_status_name": "Passed",
"interface_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"cache_sets": [],
"constraints_by_type": {},
"domain": {
"authoritative": true,
"ttl": null,
"id": 0,
"resource_record_count": 0,
"name": "maas",
"is_default": true,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/domains/0/"
},
"network_test_status": -1,
"current_installation_result_id": null,
"bios_boot_method": "pxe",
"status_name": "Allocated",
"address_ttl": null,
"fqdn": "ace-swan.maas",
"cpu_speed": 0,
"hwe_kernel": null,
"description": "",
"commissioning_status_name": "Passed",
"pod": null,
"network_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"hardware_uuid": "F677A842-571C-4E65-ADC9-11E2CF92D363",
"commissioning_status": 2,
"status_message": "Ready",
"owner": "admin",
"distro_series": "",
"status_action": "",
"testing_status": 2,
"cpu_test_status": -1,
"architecture": "amd64/generic",
"netboot": true,
"iscsiblockdevice_set": [],
"disable_ipv4": false,
"virtualblockdevice_set": [],
"osystem": "",
"boot_disk": {
"firmware_version": "2.5+",
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"partition_table_type": "GPT",
"type": "physical",
"block_size": 512,
"id": 3,
"numa_node": 0,
"partitions": [
{
"uuid": "8aa1164c-8a91-41d7-92e3-c411634355bb",
"size": 5360320512,
"bootable": false,
"tags": [],
"id": 3,
"used_for": "ext4 formatted filesystem mounted at /",
"device_id": 3,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda-part2",
"type": "partition",
"filesystem": {
"fstype": "ext4",
"label": "root",
"uuid": "68487852-7e38-4605-a84e-d787532fd443",
"mount_point": "/",
"mount_options": null
},
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/partition/3"
}
],
"filesystem": null,
"available_size": 0,
"size": 5368709120,
"storage_pool": null,
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"used_size": 5366611968,
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"used_for": "GPT partitioned with 1 partition",
"uuid": null,
"name": "sda",
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"serial": "QM00001",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
},
"other_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/machines/bhxws3/"
}
Deploying a machine with the CLI
Finally, let’s deploy that machine this way:
maas admin machine deploy bhxws3
Success.
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"architecture": "amd64/generic",
"cpu_speed": 0,
"tag_names": [
"virtual"
],
"boot_interface": {
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"links": [
{
"id": 15,
"mode": "auto",
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"id": 5003,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"secondary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"space": "undefined",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
}
}
],
"numa_node": 0,
"enabled": true,
"params": "",
"firmware_version": null,
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"type": "physical",
"children": [],
"vendor": "Red Hat, Inc.",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"parents": [],
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"id": 5003,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"secondary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"space": "undefined",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"link_connected": true,
"id": 10,
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"discovered": [
{
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"id": 5003,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"secondary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"space": "undefined",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
},
"ip_address": "192.168.123.190"
}
],
"link_speed": 0,
"name": "ens3",
"product": null,
"interface_speed": 0,
"tags": [],
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
},
"ip_addresses": [
"192.168.123.190"
],
"testing_status_name": "Passed",
"osystem": "ubuntu",
"bcaches": [],
"owner": "admin",
"special_filesystems": [],
"numanode_set": [
{
"index": 0,
"memory": 985,
"cores": [
0
]
}
],
"node_type": 0,
"cpu_test_status": -1,
"storage_test_status_name": "Passed",
"locked": false,
"disable_ipv4": false,
"status_message": "Deploying",
"other_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"interface_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"status_name": "Deploying",
"commissioning_status": 2,
"hardware_uuid": "F677A842-571C-4E65-ADC9-11E2CF92D363",
"fqdn": "ace-swan.maas",
"min_hwe_kernel": "",
"network_test_status": -1,
"iscsiblockdevice_set": [],
"current_testing_result_id": 9,
"interface_test_status": -1,
"status_action": "",
"pool": {
"name": "default",
"description": "Default pool",
"id": 0,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/resourcepool/0/"
},
"netboot": true,
"distro_series": "bionic",
"current_installation_result_id": 10,
"memory_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"cpu_count": 1,
"hwe_kernel": "ga-18.04",
"description": "",
"current_commissioning_result_id": 8,
"cpu_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"storage_test_status": 2,
"hardware_info": {
"system_vendor": "QEMU",
"system_product": "Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)",
"system_family": "Unknown",
"system_version": "pc-i440fx-focal",
"system_sku": "Unknown",
"system_serial": "Unknown",
"cpu_model": "Intel Core Processor (Skylake, IBRS)",
"mainboard_vendor": "Unknown",
"mainboard_product": "Unknown",
"mainboard_serial": "Unknown",
"mainboard_version": "Unknown",
"mainboard_firmware_vendor": "SeaBIOS",
"mainboard_firmware_date": "04/01/2014",
"mainboard_firmware_version": "1.13.0-1ubuntu1",
"chassis_vendor": "QEMU",
"chassis_type": "Other",
"chassis_serial": "Unknown",
"chassis_version": "pc-i440fx-focal"
},
"bios_boot_method": "pxe",
"storage": 5368.70912,
"blockdevice_set": [
{
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"size": 5368709120,
"block_size": 512,
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"numa_node": 0,
"partition_table_type": "GPT",
"storage_pool": null,
"type": "physical",
"filesystem": null,
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"used_size": 5366611968,
"serial": "QM00001",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"uuid": null,
"available_size": 0,
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"id": 3,
"name": "sda",
"partitions": [
{
"uuid": "8aa1164c-8a91-41d7-92e3-c411634355bb",
"size": 5360320512,
"bootable": false,
"tags": [],
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda-part2",
"device_id": 3,
"type": "partition",
"id": 3,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"filesystem": {
"fstype": "ext4",
"label": "root",
"uuid": "68487852-7e38-4605-a84e-d787532fd443",
"mount_point": "/",
"mount_options": null
},
"used_for": "ext4 formatted filesystem mounted at /",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/partition/3"
}
],
"used_for": "GPT partitioned with 1 partition",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
}
],
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"boot_disk": {
"firmware_version": "2.5+",
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"numa_node": 0,
"partition_table_type": "GPT",
"size": 5368709120,
"storage_pool": null,
"type": "physical",
"block_size": 512,
"filesystem": null,
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"used_size": 5366611968,
"serial": "QM00001",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"uuid": null,
"available_size": 0,
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"id": 3,
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"name": "sda",
"partitions": [
{
"uuid": "8aa1164c-8a91-41d7-92e3-c411634355bb",
"size": 5360320512,
"bootable": false,
"tags": [],
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda-part2",
"device_id": 3,
"type": "partition",
"id": 3,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"filesystem": {
"fstype": "ext4",
"label": "root",
"uuid": "68487852-7e38-4605-a84e-d787532fd443",
"mount_point": "/",
"mount_options": null
},
"used_for": "ext4 formatted filesystem mounted at /",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/partition/3"
}
],
"used_for": "GPT partitioned with 1 partition",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
},
"default_gateways": {
"ipv4": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
},
"ipv6": {
"gateway_ip": null,
"link_id": null
}
},
"raids": [],
"cache_sets": [],
"domain": {
"authoritative": true,
"ttl": null,
"is_default": true,
"id": 0,
"name": "maas",
"resource_record_count": 0,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/domains/0/"
},
"hostname": "ace-swan",
"virtualblockdevice_set": [],
"memory": 1024,
"owner_data": {},
"zone": {
"name": "default",
"description": "",
"id": 1,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/zones/default/"
},
"power_state": "off",
"status": 9,
"address_ttl": null,
"other_test_status": -1,
"volume_groups": [],
"power_type": "virsh",
"pod": null,
"testing_status": 2,
"physicalblockdevice_set": [
{
"firmware_version": "2.5+",
"tags": [
"ssd"
],
"numa_node": 0,
"partition_table_type": "GPT",
"size": 5368709120,
"storage_pool": null,
"type": "physical",
"block_size": 512,
"filesystem": null,
"model": "QEMU HARDDISK",
"used_size": 5366611968,
"serial": "QM00001",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"uuid": null,
"available_size": 0,
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda",
"id": 3,
"id_path": "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-QEMU_HARDDISK_QM00001",
"name": "sda",
"partitions": [
{
"uuid": "8aa1164c-8a91-41d7-92e3-c411634355bb",
"size": 5360320512,
"bootable": false,
"tags": [],
"path": "/dev/disk/by-dname/sda-part2",
"device_id": 3,
"type": "partition",
"id": 3,
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"filesystem": {
"fstype": "ext4",
"label": "root",
"uuid": "68487852-7e38-4605-a84e-d787532fd443",
"mount_point": "/",
"mount_options": null
},
"used_for": "ext4 formatted filesystem mounted at /",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/partition/3"
}
],
"used_for": "GPT partitioned with 1 partition",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/blockdevices/3/"
}
],
"interface_set": [
{
"mac_address": "52:54:00:15:36:f2",
"links": [
{
"id": 15,
"mode": "auto",
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"id": 5003,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"secondary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"space": "undefined",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
}
}
],
"numa_node": 0,
"enabled": true,
"params": "",
"firmware_version": null,
"sriov_max_vf": 0,
"type": "physical",
"children": [],
"vendor": "Red Hat, Inc.",
"system_id": "bhxws3",
"parents": [],
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"id": 5003,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"secondary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"space": "undefined",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"link_connected": true,
"id": 10,
"effective_mtu": 1500,
"discovered": [
{
"subnet": {
"name": "192.168.123.0/24",
"description": "",
"vlan": {
"vid": 0,
"mtu": 1500,
"dhcp_on": true,
"external_dhcp": null,
"relay_vlan": null,
"fabric_id": 2,
"id": 5003,
"fabric": "fabric-2",
"secondary_rack": null,
"name": "untagged",
"space": "undefined",
"primary_rack": "8dwnne",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/vlans/5003/"
},
"cidr": "192.168.123.0/24",
"rdns_mode": 2,
"gateway_ip": null,
"dns_servers": [],
"allow_dns": true,
"allow_proxy": true,
"active_discovery": false,
"managed": true,
"id": 4,
"space": "undefined",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/subnets/4/"
},
"ip_address": "192.168.123.190"
}
],
"link_speed": 0,
"name": "ens3",
"product": null,
"interface_speed": 0,
"tags": [],
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/nodes/bhxws3/interfaces/10/"
}
],
"node_type_name": "Machine",
"commissioning_status_name": "Passed",
"network_test_status_name": "Unknown",
"memory_test_status": -1,
"swap_size": null,
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/machines/bhxws3/"
}
Okay then. We’ve installed and configured MAAS, started DHCP, created a machine, commissioned it, acquired it, and deployed it, with minimal hassle. There’s just one more useful thing to experience before diving into MAAS head-first.
What if we just set ourselves up to SSH into our MAAS machines? Making this work will also allow us to scp files in – and I’m sure you can see how we’d provision a machine from there. We can also do the provisioning with MAAS, but that’s a more complex topic for later.
First things first: we need to build the MAAS infrastructure necessary to play with this feature.
We start by creating a vm-host. Let’s play dumb and walk our way through this; first, we’ll just try creating a vm-host, like this:
maas admin vm-host create
This doesn’t give anything like the expected result:
usage: maas admin vm-host [-h] COMMAND ...
Manage an individual vm-host.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
drill down:
COMMAND
refresh Refresh a pod
parameters
Obtain pod parameters
compose Compose a pod machine
add-tag Add a tag to a pod
remove-tag
Remove a tag from a pod
read
update Update a specific pod
delete Deletes a pod
A vm-host is identified by its id.
argument COMMAND: invalid choice: 'create' (choose from 'refresh', 'parameters', 'compose', 'add-tag', 'remove-tag', 'read', 'update', 'delete')
We forgot about the collective pluralism of the MAAS CLI. We need to use vm-hosts to create one, because we’re adding to the collection, so the correct command should look something like this:
maas admin vm-hosts create
Still not quite what we expected, but we’re failing forward fast, which is a great way to learn. MAAS tells us we need to specify a type:
{"type": ["This field is required."]}
We have to specify what kind of vm-host we want; in this case, it’s going to be an LXD vm-host, so we modify our previous command like this:
maas admin vm-hosts create type=lxd
Hmm, still one more thing to enter: the power_address:
{"power_address": ["This field is required."]}
We need to update our command to tell MAAS what LXD instance we’re going to use. The power_address for an LXD vm-host is of the form https://<gateway-ip-address>:8443. The 8443 is the default port when you ran lxd init to get LXD started, after installing it. In my case, the LXD gateway is 10.38.31.1 at the moment, so my modified command would be:
maas admin vm-hosts create type=lxd power_address=https://10.38.31.1:8443
Within seconds, we get a success message and JSON output. From now on, I’ll leave the JSON output for you to generate and view on your own, unless it bears specifically on the discussion. In this case, all that we’ll need is the last non-bracket line of the JSON return, which is:
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/pods/7/"
Your address will vary, so check carefully.
What we’ll need in the next step is the vm-host ID, which is the number on the end of the resource_uri. In this case that’s “7”.
Having a VM host is great, but we can’t demonstrate ssh/scp machine actions without a virtual machine running on that host. Let’s create one. This may get tricky, so let’s start by looking at the MAAS CLI help:
maas admin --help
This gives us the following, very long command list:
usage: maas admin [-h] COMMAND ...
Issue commands to the MAAS region controller at http://192.168.56.91:5240/MAAS/api/2.0/.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
drill down:
COMMAND
account Manage the current logged-in user.
bcache-cache-set Manage bcache cache set on a machine.
bcache-cache-sets Manage bcache cache sets on a machine.
bcache Manage bcache device on a machine.
bcaches Manage bcache devices on a machine.
block-device Manage a block device on a machine.
block-devices Manage block devices on a machine.
boot-resource Manage a boot resource.
boot-resources Manage the boot resources.
boot-source Manage a boot source.
boot-source-selection
Manage a boot source selection.
boot-source-selections
Manage the collection of boot source selections.
boot-sources Manage the collection of boot sources.
commissioning-script
Manage a custom commissioning script.
commissioning-scripts
Manage custom commissioning scripts.
dhcpsnippet Manage an individual DHCP snippet.
dhcpsnippets Manage the collection of all DHCP snippets in MAAS.
dnsresource Manage dnsresource.
dnsresource-record Manage dnsresourcerecord.
dnsresource-records
Manage DNS resource records (e.g. CNAME, MX, NS, SRV,
TXT)
dnsresources Manage dnsresources.
device Manage an individual device.
devices Manage the collection of all the devices in the MAAS.
discoveries Query observed discoveries.
discovery Read or delete an observed discovery.
domain Manage domain.
domains Manage domains.
events Retrieve filtered node events.
fabric Manage fabric.
fabrics Manage fabrics.
fan-network Manage Fan Network.
fan-networks Manage Fan Networks.
file Manage a FileStorage object.
files Manage the collection of all the files in this MAAS.
ipaddresses Manage IP addresses allocated by MAAS.
iprange Manage IP range.
ipranges Manage IP ranges.
interface Manage a node's or device's interface.
interfaces Manage interfaces on a node.
license-key Manage a license key.
license-keys Manage the license keys.
maas Manage the MAAS server.
machine Manage an individual machine.
machines Manage the collection of all the machines in the MAAS.
network Manage a network.
networks Manage the networks.
node Manage an individual Node.
node-results Read the collection of commissioning script results.
node-script Manage or view a custom script.
node-script-result Manage node script results.
node-script-results
Manage node script results.
node-scripts Manage custom scripts.
nodes Manage the collection of all the nodes in the MAAS.
notification Manage an individual notification.
notifications Manage the collection of all the notifications in
MAAS.
package-repositories
Manage the collection of all Package Repositories in
MAAS.
package-repository Manage an individual package repository.
partition Manage partition on a block device.
partitions Manage partitions on a block device.
pod Manage an individual pod.
pods Manage the collection of all the pod in the MAAS.
rack-controller Manage an individual rack controller.
rack-controllers Manage the collection of all rack controllers in MAAS.
raid Manage a specific RAID (Redundant Array of Independent
Disks) on a machine.
raids Manage all RAIDs (Redundant Array of Independent
Disks) on a machine.
region-controller Manage an individual region controller.
region-controllers Manage the collection of all region controllers in
MAAS.
resource-pool Manage a resource pool.
resource-pools Manage resource pools.
sshkey Manage an SSH key.
sshkeys Manage the collection of all the SSH keys in this
MAAS.
sslkey Manage an SSL key.
sslkeys Operations on multiple keys.
space Manage space.
spaces Manage spaces.
static-route Manage static route.
static-routes Manage static routes.
subnet Manage subnet.
subnets Manage subnets.
tag Tags are properties that can be associated with a Node
and serve as criteria for selecting and allocating
nodes.
tags Manage all tags known to MAAS.
user Manage a user account.
users Manage the user accounts of this MAAS.
version Information about this MAAS instance.
virtual-machine Manage individual virtual machines.
virtual-machines Manage a collection of virtual machines.
vlan Manage a VLAN on a fabric.
vlans Manage VLANs on a fabric.
vm-host Manage an individual vm-host.
vm-hosts Manage the collection of all the vm-hosts in the MAAS.
vmfs-datastore Manage VMFS datastore on a machine.
vmfs-datastores Manage VMFS datastores on a machine.
volume-group Manage volume group on a machine.
volume-groups Manage volume groups on a machine.
zone Manage a physical zone.
zones Manage physical zones.
This is a profile. Any commands you issue on this profile will
operate on the MAAS region server.
The command information you see here comes from the region server's
API; it may differ for different profiles. If you believe the API may
have changed, use the command's 'refresh' sub-command to fetch the
latest version of this help information from the server.
We’re looking to compose a machine here, so where would you look instinctively? Well, the first thought might be machines, so we can give that help screen a try:
maas admin machines --help
This produces a few commands:
sage: maas admin machines [-h] COMMAND ...
Manage the collection of all the machines in the MAAS.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
drill down:
COMMAND
is-registered MAC address registered
set-zone Assign nodes to a zone
power-parameters Get power parameters
accept Accept declared machines
accept-all Accept all declared machines
release Release machines
list-allocated List allocated
allocate Allocate a machine
add-chassis Add special hardware
clone Clone storage and/or interface configurations
read List Nodes visible to the user
create Create a new machine
is-action-in-progress
MAC address of deploying or commissioning node
This list is interesting, but there isn’t a specific compose command here. We could go down the garden path with maas admin machines create, but first, let’s see if the vm-host command has anything we’re seeking:
maas admin vm-host --help
Bingo. Found the command; do you see it in this list?
usage: maas admin vm-host [-h] COMMAND ...
Manage an individual vm-host.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
drill down:
COMMAND
refresh Refresh a pod
parameters
Obtain pod parameters
compose Compose a pod machine
add-tag Add a tag to a pod
remove-tag
Remove a tag from a pod
read
update Update a specific pod
delete Deletes a pod
A vm-host is identified by its id.
Okay, so maas admin vm-host compose is the root command; let’s see what it requires:
maas admin vm-host compose --help
This command is robust:
usage: maas admin vm-host compose [--help] [-d] [-k] id [data [data ...]]
Compose a pod machine
Positional arguments:
id
This method accepts keyword arguments. Pass each argument as a
key-value pair with an equals sign between the key and the value:
key1=value1 key2=value key3=value3. Keyword arguments must come after
any positional arguments.
Compose a new machine from a pod.
:param cores: Optional. The minimum number of CPU cores.
:type cores: Int
:param memory: Optional. The minimum amount of memory,
specified in MiB (e.g. 2 MiB == 2*1024*1024).
:type memory: Int
:param hugepages_backed: Optional. Whether to request
hugepages backing for the machine.
:type hugepages_backed: Boolean
:param pinned_cores: Optional. List of host CPU cores
to pin the VM to. If this is passed, the "cores" parameter is ignored.
:type pinned_cores: Int
:param cpu_speed: Optional. The minimum CPU speed,
specified in MHz.
:type cpu_speed: Int
:param architecture: Optional. The architecture of
the new machine (e.g. amd64). This must be an architecture the pod
supports.
:type architecture: String
:param storage: Optional. A list of storage
constraint identifiers in the form ``label:size(tag,tag,...),
label:size(tag,tag,...)``. For more information please see the CLI
pod management page of the official MAAS documentation.
:type storage: String
:param interfaces: Optional. A
labeled constraint map associating constraint labels with desired
interface properties. MAAS will assign interfaces that match the
given interface properties.
Format: ``label:key=value,key=value,...``
Keys:
- ``id``: Matches an interface with the specific id
- ``fabric``: Matches an interface attached to the specified fabric.
- ``fabric_class``: Matches an interface attached to a fabric
with the specified class.
- ``ip``: Matches an interface whose VLAN is on the subnet implied by
the given IP address, and allocates the specified IP address for
the machine on that interface (if it is available).
- ``mode``: Matches an interface with the specified mode. (Currently,
the only supported mode is "unconfigured".)
- ``name``: Matches an interface with the specified name.
(For example, "eth0".)
- ``hostname``: Matches an interface attached to the node with
the specified hostname.
- ``subnet``: Matches an interface attached to the specified subnet.
- ``space``: Matches an interface attached to the specified space.
- ``subnet_cidr``: Matches an interface attached to the specified
subnet CIDR. (For example, "192.168.0.0/24".)
- ``type``: Matches an interface of the specified type. (Valid
types: "physical", "vlan", "bond", "bridge", or "unknown".)
- ``vlan``: Matches an interface on the specified VLAN.
- ``vid``: Matches an interface on a VLAN with the specified VID.
- ``tag``: Matches an interface tagged with the specified tag.
:type interfaces: String
:param hostname: Optional. The hostname of the newly
composed machine.
:type hostname: String
:param domain: Optional. The ID of the domain in which
to put the newly composed machine.
:type domain: Int
:param zone: Optional. The ID of the zone in which to
put the newly composed machine.
:type zone: Int
:param pool: Optional. The ID of the pool in which to
put the newly composed machine.
:type pool: Int
Common command-line options:
--help, -h
Show this help message and exit.
-d, --debug
Display more information about API responses.
-k, --insecure
Disable SSL certificate check
We could get fancy, but for these purposes, we just need a machine. The only thing that’s absolutely required is the vm-host ID. Remember that line of JSON from above? In this example, the ID is “7”; remember to check your own machine for the correct ID. We’ll enter this command:
maas admin vm-host compose 7
We got some feedback with a machine system_id:
Success.
Machine-readable output follows:
{
"system_id": "xttpfx",
"resource_uri": "/MAAS/api/2.0/machines/xttpfx/"
}
We can use this, along with some jq tricks, to see if this machine is commissioning (as expected):
maas admin machines read | jq -r '(["HOSTNAME","SYSID",
"POWER","STATUS","OWNER", "TAGS", "POOL","VLAN","FABRIC",
"SUBNET"] | (., map(length*"-"))),(.[] | [.hostname, .system_id,
.power_state, .status_name, .owner // "-",.tag_names[0] // "-",
.pool.name,.boot_interface.vlan.name,.boot_interface.vlan.fabric,
.boot_interface.links[0].subnet.name]) | @tsv' | column -t
This gives the following output on my machine:
HOSTNAME SYSID POWER STATUS OWNER TAGS POOL VLAN FABRIC SUBNET
-------- ----- ----- ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ------ ------
native-cub xttpfx on Testing admin virtual default untagged fabric-1 10.38.31.0/24
By the time I got this command typed in, commissioning had already nearly finished, and the machine was in the “testing” phase. If we run this command again now, we should see that it’s in the “Ready” state:
HOSTNAME SYSID POWER STATUS OWNER TAGS POOL VLAN FABRIC SUBNET
-------- ----- ----- ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ------ ------
native-cub xttpfx off Ready - virtual default untagged fabric-1 10.38.31.0/24
Get the machine to a login state
We can’t SSH into it, because it automatically turned off after commissioning, and anyway, we didn’t have a chance to ask for SSH keys to be loaded during the commissioning process. Let’s run that commissioning again, with SSH keys enabled, and making sure that it’s left on after it’s done. For this operation, we just use the standard machine commands, because the vm-host is now hosting a MAAS machine:
maas admin machine commission xttpfx enable_ssh=1
This will return a success message (be sure to substitute the “xttpfx” with whatever your composed machine system_id turns out to be; remember, your mileage may vary). After a little while, the machine should return to a “Ready” state again, but this time, with the power left /on/, and with SSH keys passed to the machine, so that we can login to it.
We can check this again, with the above jq command:
HOSTNAME SYSID POWER STATUS OWNER TAGS POOL VLAN FABRIC SUBNET
-------- ----- ----- ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ------ ------
native-cub xttpfx on Ready - virtual default untagged fabric-1 10.38.31.0/24
Logging into a commissioned machine
So it’s “Ready” and it’s powered on, that’s good. In order to log in, we’ll need to know the machine’s IP address. There are several ways to get this, but by far the easiest (with LXD VMs) is just using the lxc command:
lxc list
This will give us the following output:
+------------+---------+---------------------+-----------------------------------------------+-----------------+-----------+
| NAME | STATE | IPV4 | IPV6 | TYPE | SNAPSHOTS |
+------------+---------+---------------------+-----------------------------------------------+-----------------+-----------+
| first-one | RUNNING | 10.38.31.193 (eth0) | | CONTAINER | 0 |
+------------+---------+---------------------+-----------------------------------------------+-----------------+-----------+
| native-cub | RUNNING | 10.38.31.202 (eth0) | fd42:fd4c:6ab9:19bc:216:3eff:fe9e:bc7b (eth0) | VIRTUAL-MACHINE | 0 |
+------------+---------+---------------------+-----------------------------------------------+-----------------+-----------+
This brings up some important nuances about the LXD list. Note that there are two machines, one of which is a CONTAINER, not useful for this tutorial. The other, “native-cub,” is the VIRTUAL-MACHINE we just created, and that’s the one whose IP address we want for SSH purposes: 10.38.31.202.
Okay, so now we can try logging in via SSH, using the “ubuntu” user (always):
ssh ubuntu@10.38.31.202
We get the expected first-login response:
The authenticity of host '10.38.31.202 (10.38.31.202)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:hkKRDyRDG9JcsSmAQ0ir5jy0UKQ+PrU/FTJr36U3bvw.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?
And if we say “yes,” we should get this result:
Warning: Permanently added '10.38.31.202' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.
Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.4.0-64-generic x86_64)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
* Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
* Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage
System information as of Mon Feb 1 00:11:52 UTC 2021
System load: 0.0 Processes: 127
Usage of /home: unknown Users logged in: 0
Memory usage: 10% IPv4 address for enp5s0: 10.38.31.202
Swap usage: 0%
14 updates can be installed immediately.
2 of these updates are security updates.
To see these additional updates run: apt list --upgradable
tmpfs-root /media/root-rw tmpfs rw,relatime 0 0
overlayroot / overlay rw,relatime,lowerdir=/media/root-ro,upperdir=/media/root-rw/overlay,workdir=/media/root-rw/overlay-workdir/_ 0 0
/dev/loop0 /media/root-ro squashfs ro,relatime 0 0
The programs included with the Ubuntu system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
Ubuntu comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by
applicable law.
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.
ubuntu@native-cub:`$
We can jump out of this machine and use its IP address to copy files over to it. First, let’s make sure that there isn’t anything in the local directory on the machine:
ls
And we get what we’d expect:
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ ls
ubuntu@native-cub:`$
So now, let’s exit the machine with exit, and just touch a file called “try-out-the-maas-cli.html” (a very uncommon filename) in the CWD on the local machine:
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ exit
logout
Connection to 10.38.31.202 closed.
stormrider@wintermute:`$ touch try-out-the-maas-cli.html
stormrider@wintermute:`$ ls
api-key-file Credentials Dropbox Pictures snap Templates
Backups Desktop git Public stormrider.io Videos
BRF Documents mnt '#scratch#' temp Websites
Code Downloads Music Show-n-Tell temp` try-out-the-maas-cli.html
stormrider@wintermute:`$
Now, let’s try to scp (secure copy) the file over to the machine, login, and see if the file made it:
stormrider@wintermute:`$ scp ./try-out-the-maas-cli.html ubuntu@10.38.31.202:
try-out-the-maas-cli.html 100% 0 0.0KB/s 00:00
stormrider@wintermute:`$ ssh ubuntu@10.38.31.202
Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.4.0-64-generic x86_64)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
* Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
* Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage
System information as of Mon Feb 1 00:20:42 UTC 2021
System load: 0.0 Processes: 123
Usage of /home: unknown Users logged in: 0
Memory usage: 10% IPv4 address for enp5s0: 10.38.31.202
Swap usage: 0%
14 updates can be installed immediately.
2 of these updates are security updates.
To see these additional updates run: apt list --upgradable
tmpfs-root /media/root-rw tmpfs rw,relatime 0 0
overlayroot / overlay rw,relatime,lowerdir=/media/root-ro,upperdir=/media/root-rw/overlay,workdir=/media/root-rw/overlay-workdir/_ 0 0
/dev/loop0 /media/root-ro squashfs ro,relatime 0 0
Last login: Mon Feb 1 00:19:34 2021 from 10.38.31.1
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ ls
try-out-the-maas-cli.html
ubuntu@native-cub:`$
Good, we can copy files to a MAAS-managed machine.
Copying files to a deployed machine
Copying files to a commissioned machine doesn’t do us much good, of course, since the machine gets wiped out and reloaded on deployment. Let’s acquire and deploy that same machine, and then try logging in and copying files again.
First, we have to acquire and deploy the machine:
maas admin machines allocate system_id=xttpfx
(Success message and JSON data stream)
maas admin machine deploy xttpfx
(Success message and JSON data stream)
maas admin machines read | jq -r '(["HOSTNAME","SYSID",
"POWER","STATUS","OWNER", "TAGS", "POOL","VLAN","FABRIC",
"SUBNET"] | (., map(length*"-"))),(.[] | [.hostname, .system_id,
.power_state, .status_name, .owner // "-",.tag_names[0] // "-",
.pool.name,.boot_interface.vlan.name,.boot_interface.vlan.fabric,
.boot_interface.links[0].subnet.name]) | @tsv' | column -t
HOSTNAME SYSID POWER STATUS OWNER TAGS POOL VLAN FABRIC SUBNET
-------- ----- ----- ------ ----- ---- ---- ---- ------ ------
native-cub xttpfx on Deploying admin virtual default untagged fabric-1 10.38.31.0/24
When it finally reaches the “Deployed” state, we can try and log into it:
stormrider@wintermute:`$ ssh ubuntu@10.38.31.2
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the ECDSA key sent by the remote host is
SHA256:AsOdI357mZdmymQG/bmZzbtrDwZPKNYwdUDgCecHHhI.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /home/stormrider/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending ECDSA key in /home/stormrider/.ssh/known_hosts:20
remove with:
ssh-keygen -f "/home/stormrider/.ssh/known_hosts" -R "10.38.31.2"
ECDSA host key for 10.38.31.2 has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.
No surprise. On deployment, the SSH key just got updated, so just do what the message suggests, and you can SSH in normally:
stormrider@wintermute:`$ ssh-keygen -f "/home/stormrider/.ssh/known_hosts" -R "10.38.31.2"
# Host 10.38.31.2 found: line 20
/home/stormrider/.ssh/known_hosts updated.
Original contents retained as /home/stormrider/.ssh/known_hosts.old
stormrider@wintermute:`$ ssh ubuntu@10.38.31.2
The authenticity of host '10.38.31.2 (10.38.31.2)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:AsOdI357mZdmymQG/bmZzbtrDwZPKNYwdUDgCecHHhI.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Warning: Permanently added '10.38.31.2' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.
Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.4.0-65-generic x86_64)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
* Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
* Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage
System information as of Mon Feb 1 00:34:27 UTC 2021
System load: 0.08 Processes: 133
Usage of /: 48.2% of 6.78GB Users logged in: 0
Memory usage: 10% IPv4 address for enp5s0: 10.38.31.2
Swap usage: 0%
14 updates can be installed immediately.
2 of these updates are security updates.
To see these additional updates run: apt list --upgradable
The programs included with the Ubuntu system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
Ubuntu comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by
applicable law.
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.
ubuntu@native-cub:`$
Copying a script to a machine and running it
So first, let’s verify that the script we want to copy over there isn’t /already/ there. In fact, to keep it simple, let’s just create a simple and fun script to see what scp can get us. First, we’ll need to install a couple of software packages on the deployed machine:
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ fortune
Command 'fortune' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install fortune-mod
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ sudo apt install fortune-mod
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
fortunes-min librecode0
Suggested packages:
fortunes x11-utils
The following NEW packages will be installed:
fortune-mod fortunes-min librecode0
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 17 not upgraded.
Need to get 615 kB of archives.
After this operation, 2135 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 librecode0 amd64 3.6-24 [523 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 fortune-mod amd64 1:1.99.1-7build1 [37.3 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 fortunes-min all 1:1.99.1-7build1 [55.1 kB]
Fetched 615 kB in 3s (203 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package librecode0:amd64.
(Reading database ... 71387 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../librecode0_3.6-24_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking librecode0:amd64 (3.6-24) ...
Selecting previously unselected package fortune-mod.
Preparing to unpack .../fortune-mod_1%3a1.99.1-7build1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking fortune-mod (1:1.99.1-7build1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package fortunes-min.
Preparing to unpack .../fortunes-min_1%3a1.99.1-7build1_all.deb ...
Unpacking fortunes-min (1:1.99.1-7build1) ...
Setting up librecode0:amd64 (3.6-24) ...
Setting up fortunes-min (1:1.99.1-7build1) ...
Setting up fortune-mod (1:1.99.1-7build1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.1) ...
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ ddate
Command 'ddate' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install ddate
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ sudo apt install ddate
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
ddate
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 17 not upgraded.
Need to get 10.8 kB of archives.
After this operation, 34.8 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 ddate amd64 0.2.2-1build1 [10.8 kB]
Fetched 10.8 kB in 1s (20.0 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package ddate.
(Reading database ... 71424 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../ddate_0.2.2-1build1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking ddate (0.2.2-1build1) ...
Setting up ddate (0.2.2-1build1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ cowsay
Command 'cowsay' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install cowsay
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ sudo apt install cowsay
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
filters cowsay-off
The following NEW packages will be installed:
cowsay
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 17 not upgraded.
Need to get 18.5 kB of archives.
After this operation, 93.2 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 cowsay all 3.03+dfsg2-7 [18.5 kB]
Fetched 18.5 kB in 2s (7603 B/s)
Selecting previously unselected package cowsay.
(Reading database ... 71431 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../cowsay_3.03+dfsg2-7_all.deb ...
Unpacking cowsay (3.03+dfsg2-7) ...
Setting up cowsay (3.03+dfsg2-7) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
ubuntu@native-cub:`$
Now we can drop back and write a script that uses these three packages to produce an interesting result. Here’s what should be in the script:
#!/bin/bash
ddate > /tmp/foo
echo ' ' >> /tmp/foo
fortune -s >> /tmp/foo
cat /tmp/foo | cowsay
Add the text above to a script called motd.sh, and then chmod 777 motd.sh. Then, use the following command to copy the script to the deployed machine:
scp ./motd.sh ubuntu@10.38.31.2:
Then we can log back into the deployed machine and check the permissions on motd.sh in the arriving CWD:
ssh ubuntu@10.38.31.2
...
ls -lsa motd.sh
ubuntu@native-cub:`$ ls -lsa motd.sh
4 -rwxrwxr-x 1 ubuntu ubuntu 97 Feb 1 00:49 motd.sh
ubuntu@native-cub:`$
On my machine, it didn’t copy the permissions precisely, but it is executable by me, so I can run it and get the highly-important output:
________________________________________
/ Today is Boomtime, the 32nd day of \
| Chaos in the YOLD 3187 |
| |
| Water, taken in moderation cannot hurt |
| anybody. |
| |
\ -- Mark Twain /
----------------------------------------
\ ^__^
\ (oo)\_______
(__)\ )\/\
||----w |
|| ||
As you see, it’s not that difficult to install MAAS, deploy a machine, and then load usable software on it. Now you can go through the MAAS documenation to learn more about what you just did.