Hello. On 23.06.2015 04:57, Sebastian Pipping wrote:
On 21.06.2015 12:50, Victor Dmitriyev wrote:
Arch is highly configurable so it's assumed that you build a system for your needs by yourself.
in general: yes. However, the requirements on OpenStack images [6] are rather strict, e.g. a single partition with an ext3/4 file system and using cloud-init. So the base would be the same for any OpenStack image playing by the rules. You could build that base manually, or you could use a tool and do that (with HTTP caching) in about 90 seconds. With that minimal base, you can still configure the system to your very needs. I think it's no different to Debian or Gentoo, in that regard.
I guess it's alright, you should probably file a feature request on bugtracker then.
In Debian, apart from cloud-init that magic is done by packages cloud-utils and cloud-initramfs-growroot of cloud-initramfs-tools [7]. While Arch does have cloud-init, I find cloud-utils in AUR only and no cloud-initramfs-growroot at all.
It seems that cloud-init can perform this task by itself (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Cloud-init#Other_sections_in_cloud.cfg).
cloud-init is calling resize2fs (if configured to do so) but it cannot grow the partition. That has to be done in the initramfs before mounting. So cloud-init relies on an enlarged partition to do the resize2fs work. However, unlike with Debian, mkinitcpio-growrootfs is calling resize2fs itself already so cloud-init does not seem to have much to resize any more in Arch.
The cloud-init package has growpart module which apparently can resize partitions. It uses gpart utility which is in official repositories or growroot utility which is part of cloud-utils package [10]. Try it out. It might actually be sufficient.
The cloud-utils package right now is in official repositories (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/any/cloud-init/), how you missed that?
I wrote "[w]hile Arch does have cloud-init". I didn't miss it.
Sorry, I've mistaken cloud-utils for cloud-init in this line:
While Arch does have cloud-init, I find cloud-utils in AUR only and no
There is yet something else: Trust. Anyone can make images and upload them but who is going to trust the image if it is not signed by a person that they trust? There is a group of five people in the Arch master signing keys [8]. One of them created, signed and uploaded the archlinux-bootstrap-*.tar.gz files that users rely on. My hope is that one of these five is willing to use image-bootstrap [4] to create, sign and upload OpenStack images as well.
archlinux-bootstrap-*.tar.gz files are meant for installation of Archlinux from a computer running another Linux distribution (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Install_from_existing_Linux#Method_B:_U...), so, of course, Arch developers sign this installation medium.
I'm very happy that they do.
In my opinion, official Arch OpenStack images is pointless because what point in server image that you need to configure anyway?
Creating an OpenStack images manually takes debugging and time to figure things out. That alone may be a reason why some people would either use something ready to use or to save the trouble altogether. I don't see why people would want OpenStack images for Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Gentoo, but not Arch Linux.
Yeah, probably. Anyway, if you will successfully create OpenStack image I hope you will share your experience on ArchWiki somewhere.
[6] http://docs.openstack.org/image-guide/content/ch_openstack_images.html
[9] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Install_from_existing_Linux#Creating_th...
In conclusion, I have an impression that you miss the point of Arch, so I point you towards the ArchWiki again: Arch Linux -- https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux The Arch Way -- https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/The_Arch_Way Installation guide -- https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_guide cloud-init -- https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Cloud-init and, in general, the ArchWiki has a lot of useful information.
Which point of Arch did I miss? I'm aware about its rolling release nature and that some people may want to avoid rolling release distros in a cloud or any server context. Some do and some don't.
I overreacted. For some reason I thought that tone of your mail was a bit bossy. In the end, I hope you will create a basement of the official way to use Arch on OpenStack. Regards, Victor [10] http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~cloud-init-dev/cloud-init/trunk/view/head:/clou...