What can it do?
With mdi you can:
- automate the creation of VM systems (either PV or HVM) and their storage
- automate the basic installation of systems (either physical systems or VMs)
- tailor a system to one of several pre-defined roles (e.g. NIS server, mail server, VM server, storage server, install server)
What does it consist of?
mdi consists of:
- a front-end command mdi (Minimal Debian Installation) for creating installation configurations
- several back-end commands for managing individual resources associated with the installation (e.g. storage-editor manages VM storage allocation , dhcpd-editor manages DHCP address reservation, preseed-editor manages the creation of preseed files)
- a daemon command mdi-release for servicing requests issued by about-to-finish installations to deleting installation configurations
- a command pdi (Post-Debian Installation) for tailoring a newly installed system to a particular role
What has it been tested on?
MDI has been tested on:
What are its prerequisites?
MDI requires:
access to a PAACRT (PAA-compliant repository tree); instructions for creating one are given at InstallingDebian
Documentation
No man pages exist yet but here's a video showing its usage:
Downloads
version |
released |
version description |
file |
file description |
subversion trunk |
not released |
latest version from Subversion repository |
mdi subversion module |
How do I use it?
See InstallingDebian.
Bugs and change requests
id |
filed |
description |
response |
status |
MDI#001 |
10/11/2009 |
kernel packages which pull in real kernel make it hard to enforce specific kernel version |
|
fixed before svn3652 |
MDI#002 |
11/11/2009 |
missing the 'host' command |
|
fixed in svn3607 |
MDI#003 |
11/11/2009 |
missing the 'locate' command (or equiv?) |
|
fixed in svn3607 |
MDI#004 |
11/11/2009 |
still part of AHDG module |
move to its own module |
fixed in svn3615 |
MDI#005 |
14/11/2009 |
missing subversion, rdiff-backup, bc, my backup script in root's home |
mostly fixed in svn3607 ; backup script remains todo |
fixed in svn3797 |
MDI#006 |
14/11/2009 |
VMs should have VMserver root SSH key in authorized_keys |
reconsider trust model; model stands |
rejected |
MDI#007 |
22/11/2009 |
missing 'mkfad' |
|
fixed in svn3607 |
MDI#008 |
23/11/2009 |
missing 'ascii' |
|
fixed in svn3607 |
MDI#009 |
23/11/2009 |
adding steps means adding code in several locations |
model is as simple as it can be |
rejected |
MDI#010 |
29/11/2009 |
on squeeze, was it the "gone interactive" problem that made mdadm installation hang? |
disable localprivate's mdadm and try |
fixed before svn3734 |
MDI#011 |
29/11/2009 |
get mdi to write the alexis() function in ~root/.bashrc |
implement and rerun everywhere |
fixed in svn???? |
MDI#012 |
01/12/2009 |
install telnet (useful for mail/ssh/etc tests) |
|
fixed in svn3623 |
MDI#013 |
01/12/2009 |
--force and --simulate should become something like --repeat-mode={multi,none,normal} |
|
fixed in svn3622 |
MDI#014 |
04/12/2009 |
mail configuration should rewrite /etc/{aliases,mailname} |
|
fixed before svn3652 |
MDI#015 |
04/12/2009 |
ThomasAnglmaier recommends apt-show-versions |
|
fixed in svn3622 |
MDI#016 |
04/12/2009 |
need kibitz but it is not in any Debian package as far as I can tell |
use screen -x as less dependencies |
rejected |
MDI#017 |
04/12/2009 |
userapps task should include installing smbclient |
|
fixed before svn3652 |
MDI#018 |
04/12/2009 |
entry for the host itself in /etc/hosts is wrong |
|
fixed before svn3652 |
MDI#019 |
06/12/2009 |
install tcpdump everywhere |
|
fixed before svn3652 |
MDI#020 |
01/01/2010 |
transmissions fails to start |
|
fixed before svn3760 |
MDI#021 |
03/03/2010 |
write machine-parsable answers file to /etc/mdi.conf |
it already writes ~/.mdi/answers; use that |
rejected |
MDI#022 |
03/03/2010 |
repo mplayer should be renamed multimedia |
|
fixed in svn3759 |
MDI#023 |
13/06/2010 |
dnsdomainname command silent on gnocchi |
hosts contained |
fixed before svn4401 |
MDI#024 |
12/07/2010 |
MDI#024-block |
|
fixed in svn3974 |
MDI#025 |
14/07/2010 |
MDI#025-block |
|
fixed before svn4054 |
MDI#026 |
26/07/2010 |
MDI#026-block |
|
fixed before svn4054 |
MDI#027 |
12/08/2010 |
xen-migrator is still broken |
|
fixed before svn4401 |
MDI#028 |
12/08/2010 |
dhcpd-editor fails silently if no available IPs |
add select changes(*) after update; should be 1 |
fixed in svn4421 |
MDI#030 |
12/08/2010 |
pdi uses '! $VMSERVER' to test whether something is a VM but this is not a robust test |
consider asking user 'am i am vm?' and/or 'am i an hvm?' |
fixed before svn4401 |
MDI#031 |
12/08/2010 |
video is out of date; command names have changed |
make new video |
fixed 13/02/2011 |
MDI#032 |
13/02/2011 |
consider using ramdisk for /tmp |
done on fiori; do elsewhere; update PDI |
fixed in svn4421 |
MDI#033 |
16/02/2011 |
need multi-dist, multi-section, multi-cpu support inside created local repos |
to be implemented |
fixed in svn4402 |
MDI#034 |
18/02/2011 |
{vm,preseed}-editor assume name of debian repo is 'debian' (search for MDI#034 in both) |
abstract it to etc/mdi.sh |
fixed in svn4421 |
MDI#035 |
19/02/2011 |
step install_repos_keys is extremely slow |
|
fixed in svn4421 |
MDI#036 |
19/02/2011 |
decide whether to add security and volatile to paa-configurator scripts |
security already in, squeeze-updates (was volatile) to be handled the same way |
fixed in svn4478 |
MDI#037 |
19/02/2011 |
prepare ahuxley-keyring and install it in place of slow wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net |
implement |
fixed in svn4421 |
MDI#038 |
21/02/2011 |
copy PXE images into module and symlink from /var/lib/tftpboot (some code changes required) |
implement |
fixed in svn4478 |
MDI#039 |
06/03/2011 |
should determine if access to security updates should be configured |
old stable gets it only to a point, stable does, testing does not; see RELEASE_IS_RELEASED |
duplicate of MDI#036 |
MDI#040 |
06/03/2011 |
apache configuration files should be on shared storage so that multiple install servers can share it |
|
open |
MDI#041 |
06/03/2011 |
run create, interrupt it, run delete, run create again; it complains mdi: WARNING: repo for old VM will be recreated in 10 seconds |
|
fixed in svn4477 |
MDI#042 |
07/03/2011 |
paa apache and apt should output directly to file |
implement |
fixed in svn4477 |
MDI#043 |
07/03/2011 |
need paa unapache and unapt |
implement |
fixed in svn4477 |
MDI#044 |
07/03/2011 |
get mdi.tar.gz unpacked automatically |
implement |
fixed in svn4477 |
MDI#045 |
07/12/2011 |
move paa to a new package (again) |
implement |
open |
MDI#046 |
02/02/2012 |
install Icinga client software (actually Nagios client software) |
implement |
open |
Copyright
MDI is (C) AlexisHuxley 2006-2011 and is distributed under the terms of the GPL.
See also
Computing (other software by AlexisHuxley)