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4.2. Automated Installation

This section covers the kernel command line parameters for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisors. These parameters can be used to automate installation. The parameters are described in detail and an example parameter string for an automated installation is provided.
This installation method is an alternative to the interactive installation covered by Section 4.1, “Interactive Installation”. Using the method covered in this chapter with a PXE server can, with some configuration, deploy multiple Hypervisors without manually accessing the systems.
It is important to understand how the parameters work and what effects they have before attempting automated deployments. These parameters can delete data from existing systems if the system is configured to automatically boot with PXE.

4.2.1. How the Kernel Arguments Work

Below is a description of the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor start up sequence. This may be useful for debugging issues with automated installation.
  1. The ovirt-early script sets storage, network and management parameters in the /etc/default/ovirt file. These parameters are determined from the kernel arguments passed to the Hypervisor during the boot sequence.
  2. The /etc/init.d/ovirt-firstboot script executes special Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization scripts and start up procedures.
  3. An automated installation begins if all the required parameters are set.