Install from a Snap

Although snap installs are meant to eventually replace traditional Ubuntu packages, installing MAAS from a snap is considered experimental at this time. In particular, implementing high availability via snaps is not yet possible. See MAAS HA for more on that topic.

All feedback is welcome via the MAAS issue tracker.

Snappy

For detailed information on snappy (snaps) please see the Snappy documentation. A less technical summary can be had via this Ubuntu Insights column.

Installation

Currently, only the stable and development MAAS versions are available via snaps. This corresponds, respectively, to the 'stable' and 'edge' snap channels:

snap info maas

Sample output:

name:      maas
summary:   "Metal as a Service"
publisher: maas
contact:   maas-devel@lists.ubuntu.com
description: |
  Total automation of you physical servers for amazing data center
  operational efficiency.

commands:
  - maas
tracking:        stable
installed:       2.2.0+bzr6057-snap (91) 98MB devmode
refreshed:       2017-05-30 16:15:09 +0000 UTC
channels:
  latest/stable: 2.2.0+bzr6057-snap (91)  98MB -
  latest/edge:   trunk+bzr6071-snap (101) 98MB devmode

To install the snap from the 'stable' channel (and the 'latest' track):

sudo snap install --devmode --stable maas

Note: At this time, MAAS can only be installed in 'devmode' and is therefore not fully isolated from the rest of the system. This corresponds to the same level of security provided by traditional Ubuntu packages.

Due to the null defaults used by this particular snap, no MAAS software has actually been installed and configured yet.

Configuration options

You will now need to tell the snap what mode MAAS will run in. This is known as initialization and it is performed by choosing one of the below options. Doing so will dictate what services will run on the local system.

  • all - All services
  • region - A region API server only (no database)
  • rack - A rack controller only
  • region+rack - A region API server and a rack controller (no database)

This is different from the installation scenarios covered in the package install method (see Install from packages) where the installation of a "region controller" will include a database.

All modes will prompt for a MAAS URL. The 'all' mode will use this for the creation of a new region controller whereas the other three modes will interpret it as the URL for an existing region controller.

The 'rack' and 'region+rack' modes will additionally ask for the shared secret that will allow the new rack controller to register with the region controller.

Initialization

This is where MAAS components will be installed and configured.

Here, the typical all-in-one design (mode 'all') will be chosen as an example:

sudo maas init --mode all

A dialog will appear that will gather some basic information:

MAAS URL [default=http://10.55.60.1:5240/MAAS]: http://192.168.122.1:5240/MAAS
Create first admin account:       
Username: admin
Password: ******
Again: ******
Email: admin@example.com
Import SSH keys [] (lp:user-id or gh:user-id): lp:petermatulis

A re-initialization is easily achieved. For example, to switch from one mode to another, say 'region', simply state it:

sudo maas init --mode region

Configuration verification

A verification of the currently running configuration can be done with:

sudo maas config

Sample output (for mode 'all'):

Mode: all
Settings:
maas_url=http://192.168.122.1:5240/MAAS

Service statuses

The status of running services can likewise be checked:

sudo maas status

Sample output (for mode 'all'):

bind9                            RUNNING   pid 7999, uptime 0:09:17
dhcpd                            STOPPED   Not started
dhcpd6                           STOPPED   Not started
ntp                              RUNNING   pid 8598, uptime 0:05:42
postgresql                       RUNNING   pid 8001, uptime 0:09:17
proxy                            STOPPED   Not started
rackd                            RUNNING   pid 8000, uptime 0:09:17
regiond:regiond-0                RUNNING   pid 8003, uptime 0:09:17
regiond:regiond-1                RUNNING   pid 8008, uptime 0:09:17
regiond:regiond-2                RUNNING   pid 8005, uptime 0:09:17
regiond:regiond-3                RUNNING   pid 8015, uptime 0:09:17
tgt                              RUNNING   pid 8040, uptime 0:09:15

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