# Rollcall Rollcall is a small, self-contained commissioning service for bare-metal servers, in the spirit of MAAS enlistment and commissioning, without the rest of MAAS. A server that PXE-boots for the first time gets an ephemeral Debian live image. The image takes a full hardware inventory (DMI, DIMMs, CPUs, disks, NVMe, NICs, InfiniBand HCAs, GPUs, PCI, LLDP neighbours, TPM), creates an administrator account on the server's BMC through in-band IPMI, reports everything to the Rollcall server and powers the machine off. From then on the server is known: it shows up in the web UI and the CLI, its BMC can be driven through the API, and it will not boot the commissioning image again unless you ask for it. Everything server-side is **one static Go binary**: HTTP API, embedded web UI, CLI, PostgreSQL schema management and the PXE bookkeeping. ## How it works ``` unknown server ──PXE──▶ dnsmasq (DHCP+TFTP) ──▶ pxelinux default menu │ 8 s timeout ▼ Debian live image over HTTP (kernel+initrd via TFTP, squashfs via HTTP, runs entirely from RAM) │ rollcall-agent: inventory + BMC user + POST /api/v1/commission │ rollcall server: PostgreSQL ◀─┘──▶ writes pxelinux.cfg/01- (next boot: "commissioned → power off") ``` * **Enlist**: a machine is identified by its DMI system UUID (fallback: serial, then boot MAC). First contact creates it in state `new`. * **Commission**: the inventory upload moves it to `ready`. The BMC password the agent generated is sealed with AES-256-GCM (key in `/etc/rollcall/master.key`) before it touches the database. It never leaves the server again: power and boot-device operations run `ipmitool` server-side. * **Re-commission**: removes the per-MAC PXE override; optionally sets bootdev=pxe and power-cycles the machine through its BMC. ## Repository layout | Path | What | |---|---| | `cmd/rollcall/` | Go server + CLI + embedded web UI (`web/`) | | `agent/` | `rollcall-agent.py` (runs inside the live image), its systemd unit, `build-image.sh` (live-build recipe) | | `deploy/` | `install.sh` (region), `install-rack.sh` + `rack.example.json` (rack controller), units, `config.example.json`, `os-sources.json`, `tags/`, `overlays/` | | `images/` | stateless root image recipes (`build-rootfs.sh`, `compute-debian13/`) | | `lab/` | Proxmox test lab: `pve-vbmc` (virtual IPMI BMC for VMs backed by the Proxmox API), cloud-init for the PXE server VM | | `site/` | Project website (static) | | `.gitea/workflows/` | CI (fmt/vet/build/tests), release on tags, deploy on push to `main` | ## Server New site: **[INSTALL.md](INSTALL.md)** (`deploy/bootstrap.sh`, from day 0 without a network plan to the first deployed machine). The steps below are the manual equivalent. ```sh # build cd cmd/rollcall && CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -trimpath -ldflags="-s -w" -o rollcall . # PostgreSQL role + database sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE ROLE rollcall LOGIN PASSWORD '...';" -c "CREATE DATABASE rollcall OWNER rollcall;" # config (see deploy/config.example.json), tokens from `rollcall keygen` sudo install -d -m 0750 /etc/rollcall && sudo install -m 0640 config.json /etc/rollcall/config.json # install binary, systemd unit, pxelinux menu, tftp symlinks cd deploy && sudo ./install.sh ``` `config.json` keys: `listen`, `image_dir` (served under `/rollcall/`), `tftp_root`, `database_url`, `master_key_file`, `admin_token` (web UI + management API), `agent_token` (what the live image presents), `commission_append` (kernel command line baked into generated PXE files), `bmc_hints` (out-of-band BMC mapping for machines without in-band IPMI, e.g. VMs). ### Console (same binary) A bare `rollcall` in a terminal opens a full-screen console, built like the llmgw one (Bubble Tea): the fleet down the left (Overview, Machines, Racks, Jobs, Events) and provisioning (Tags, Profiles, OS images), the chosen page on the right, keys along the bottom. It is keyboard only, so it works on serial consoles and BMC KVMs. * Machines: `/` filter (name, serial, MAC, IP, rack, tag), `s` cycles the state filter, `Space` selects, `*` selects everything shown, `Enter` opens a machine, `a` opens the actions for the selection or the current row: power, boot device, deploy OS, assign/unassign profile, tags, location, re-commission, release, cancel job, delete. Destructive ones ask first. * Racks: `Enter` shows the elevation; `Enter` on a unit opens that machine. * Jobs and events open the machine they belong to; tags, profiles and OS images show their definition. `r` refreshes (it also refreshes on its own, every 3 s while a job runs), `?` lists the keys, `q` quits. On the server as root it reads `/etc/rollcall/config.json`. Anywhere else it asks for the server URL and admin token once and keeps them in `~/.config/rollcall/client.json` (mode 0600), which the CLI then uses as well. In a pipe or a script a bare `rollcall` prints its help as before. `rollcall tui -dump 140x40 -page machines -plain` renders one screen to stdout. ### CLI (same binary) ```sh rollcall list rollcall show m-2ef1dab828c8 [-json] rollcall events m-2ef1dab828c8 rollcall power m-2ef1dab828c8 status|on|off|soft|cycle|reset rollcall bootdev m-2ef1dab828c8 pxe|disk|cdrom|bios|none rollcall recommission m-2ef1dab828c8 [-now] rollcall delete m-2ef1dab828c8 ``` Reads `ROLLCALL_URL` / `ROLLCALL_TOKEN`, or the config file when readable. ### API | Method | Path | Auth | Purpose | |---|---|---|---| | POST | `/api/v1/commission` | agent token | inventory upload from the live image | | GET | `/api/v1/bmc-hint?macs=` | agent token | out-of-band BMC hint for VMs | | GET | `/api/v1/machines` | admin | list (summaries) | | GET | `/api/v1/machines/{id}` | admin | full record: inventory, BMC (no secret), events | | POST | `/api/v1/machines/{id}/power` | admin | `{"action":"on"}` etc., runs ipmitool server-side | | POST | `/api/v1/machines/{id}/bootdev` | admin | `{"device":"pxe"}` | | POST | `/api/v1/machines/{id}/recommission[?now=1]` | admin | boot the image again on next PXE (`now=1`: via BMC immediately) | | DELETE | `/api/v1/machines/{id}` | admin | forget the machine | | GET/POST/DELETE | `/api/v1/profiles[/{name}]` | admin | stateless profiles | | POST | `/api/v1/machines/{id}/assign` `/unassign` | admin | stateless node assignment | | GET | `/api/v1/os` | admin | OS image catalog | | POST | `/api/v1/machines/{id}/deploy` | admin | `{"os":"rocky-9","disk":"/dev/sda","hostname":"","package_upgrade":false,"boot":true}` | | POST | `/api/v1/machines/{id}/release` | admin | wipe job | | GET / POST | `/api/v1/machines/{id}/jobs[/cancel]` | admin | job history / cancel | | GET | `/api/v1/jobs/self`, POST `…/progress` | job token (`X-Rollcall-Job`) | deploy agent | | POST | `/api/v1/phone-home/{token}` | job token in path | cloud-init phone_home | | GET | `/os/*` | none | OS disk images | | GET | `/rollcall/*` | none | image files (kernel, initrd, squashfs) | | GET | `/` | token in browser | web UI | Admin auth is `Authorization: Bearer `; the agent sends `X-Rollcall-Token`. ## Commissioning image `agent/build-image.sh` builds a Debian 13 live image with live-build (about 8 minutes, ~780 MB squashfs). It contains the full Debian kernel with non-free firmware, `ipmitool`, `freeipmi`, `rdma-core`, `infiniband-diags`, `mstflint`, `nvme-cli`, `smartmontools`, `lldpd`, `lshw` and an SSH server (root, key only) for debugging. Output goes to `image_dir`. Kernel parameters understood by the agent: `rollcall.server=URL` (required), `rollcall.token=…`, `rollcall.bmcuser=NAME` (default `commissioner`), `rollcall.nopoweroff` (stay up after reporting). ### BMC account In-band (`/dev/ipmi0`): find the LAN channel, pick the existing `commissioner` slot or the first empty user ID ≥ 3, set name/password, ADMINISTRATOR privilege, channel access, enable, SOL payload. The password is random (16 chars) and is reported once to the server. If no in-band IPMI exists the agent asks the server for a hint (`bmc_hints`) and verifies it out-of-band. Vendor quirks (iDRAC/iLO password policies, missing empty slots) are reported in `bmc.errors` and visible in the UI. ## Stateless nodes (Warewulf-style) For HPC compute nodes Rollcall can boot a root image straight into RAM and dress it with per-node files, instead of installing an OS on disk. * **Images** live in `images_dir//{vmlinuz,initrd.img,filesystem.squashfs}` and are built with `images/build-rootfs.sh ` from `images//{packages.list,hook.chroot,includes/}` (live-build, same toolchain as the commissioning image). `images/compute-debian13` is a Debian 13 compute node: slurmd, munge, rdma-core, NFS client, firmware. * **Profiles** bind an image to overlays, extra kernel parameters, a node name format (`node%03d`) and variables: `rollcall profile add compute -image compute-debian13 -overlays compute`. * **Assigning** a commissioned machine to a profile allocates a node name and IPs from `node_pools`, writes a per-MAC PXE entry that boots the image with `hostname=`, `rollcall.server=` and a per-node token, and exports static DHCP leases plus host names for dnsmasq (`dnsmasq_dir`, re-read on HUP via `rollcall-dnsmasq.path`). `rollcall assign compute -boot` also power-cycles the machine through its BMC. * **Overlays** are directory trees under `overlays_dir//{system,runtime}`; files ending in `.tmpl` are Go templates rendered with the node, all nodes of the cluster, the profile and `cluster_vars`. The `compute` overlay generates `/etc/hosts`, `slurm.conf` (node lines from the commissioning inventory: sockets, cores, threads, memory, GPUs), `gres.conf`, a persistent SSH host key per node (sealed in the database), root `authorized_keys` and the munge key. Inside the image `rollcall-overlay.service` applies the system overlay before munge/slurmd/ssh start; a timer refreshes the runtime overlay every five minutes, which doubles as the node heartbeat (`booted` state, last seen). * The controller renders the same files: `rollcall render compute etc/slurm/slurm.conf > /etc/slurm/slurm.conf`. States: `ready → stateless → booted`; `rollcall unassign` releases name and IPs. ## OS deployment (install to disk) For nodes that should run an operating system from their own disk, Rollcall writes a vendor cloud image onto the disk and lets cloud-init do first-boot configuration. No installer, no kickstart/preseed: a deployment is a streamed disk write and takes about as long as the image download. ``` rollcall deploy rocky-9 -boot -watch │ server: picks the disk (smallest that fits, or -disk), allocates hostname + IP, │ creates a job with a one-time token, writes pxelinux.cfg/01- │ ("deploy" entry = commissioning image with rollcall.mode=deploy), power-cycles via BMC ▼ commissioning image, deploy mode (agent/rollcall-deploy.py) GET /api/v1/jobs/self → image URL, sha256, disk, rendered cloud-init seed curl | tee sha256 | pv | zstd -d | dd of=/dev/sda (progress every 3 s) mount root fs → /var/lib/cloud/seed/nocloud/{meta-data,user-data}, datasource_list: [NoCloud, None] (SELinux images: /.autorelabel; UEFI hosts: efibootmgr entry for the ESP loader) POST progress state=done → server: state deployed, PXE entry = local disk, reboot ▼ first boot: cloud-init sets hostname/fqdn, SSH keys (root + default user), optional package_upgrade, then phone_home → POST /api/v1/phone-home/ (shown as "phoned home") ``` ### Image catalog and freshness ``` os_dir///disk.raw.zst raw disk image, zstd os_dir///meta.json sizes, sha256, upstream checksum, import time os_dir//current -> what new deployments use ``` `os_sources` (`deploy/os-sources.json`) lists upstream "latest" URLs with the vendor checksum file for each: Debian 13, Ubuntu 24.04, Rocky 9, AlmaLinux 9, CentOS Stream 9. `rollcall os sync` fetches the checksum file, and only when the vendor checksum differs from every imported version does it download the image, verify it, convert to raw (`qemu-img`), compress, write a new version directory and flip `current` atomically. `rollcall-os-sync.timer` runs it nightly; `keep` versions are retained per source, nothing younger than a day is pruned, and a job always pins the exact version it started with. Sources with `"track": "pinned"` still download new versions but keep `current` until `rollcall os promote `. Local files go in with `rollcall os import `. Image freshness is monthly at best upstream; the deploy option `-upgrade` (`package_upgrade`) pulls the rest on first boot. ```sh rollcall os list | sync [NAME...] [-force] | import NAME FILE [-family debian|rhel] | promote NAME VERSION | rm NAME VERSION rollcall deploy ID OS [-version V] [-disk /dev/nvme0n1] [-hostname H] [-upgrade] [-packages a,b] [-user-data FILE] [-boot] [-watch] rollcall release ID [-wipe quick|full] [-boot] [-watch] # wipe the disk, back to ready rollcall jobs ID [-watch] | job cancel ID ``` States: `ready → deploying → deployed` (`deploy-failed` on error; the agent stays up for ssh). A deployed machine's PXE entry defaults to local disk, so boot order can stay "network first" on BIOS hosts; on UEFI hosts the agent adds a boot entry for the installed loader. `rollcall recommission` or `release` take it back. ## Tags Tags single out machines for special treatment, as in MAAS. A tag has a name and optionally a **match rule**, a **cloud-config fragment** and **overlays**. ```sh rollcall tags add gpu -match '{{ gt .Node.GPUs 0 }}' -cloud-config deploy/tags/gpu-nvidia.yaml -comment "NVIDIA nodes" rollcall tags add rack-3 -comment "rack 3, row B" # manual only rollcall tag m-2ef1dab828c8 +rack-3 +burn-in -staging # manual tags on one machine rollcall list -tag gpu rollcall deploy tag:gpu rocky-9 -boot # every gpu machine rollcall power tag:rack-3 off ``` * **Auto tags** come from the match rule, a Go template over `.Node` (GPUs, IB GUIDs, CPUs, memory, disks, NVMe, PCI vendor ids, manufacturer, product, OS, existing tags). They are recomputed at every commissioning and whenever a tag definition is saved; manual tags are never touched by rules. * **At deployment** the fragments of the machine's tags are appended to the generated user-data as MIME parts (`packages`, `runcmd`, `write_files` merge additively; a `#!` fragment runs as a script). `deploy/tags/gpu-nvidia.yaml` installs the NVIDIA driver on Debian, Ubuntu and the RHEL family and reboots. * **For stateless nodes** a tag's overlays are applied after the profile's, so a `gpu` tag can add `gres.conf` lines or driver modules without a second profile. ## Physical location Every machine can carry building / room / rack / rack unit and an asset tag. ```sh rollcall location m-2ef1dab828c8 -building DC1 -room "Hall A" -rack R12 -unit 24 -asset A-0042 rollcall location tag:gpu -building DC1 -room "Hall B" # bulk by tag rollcall location import racks.csv -dry # from a DCIM / asset export rollcall location racks | rack R12 -building DC1 -room "Hall A" -height 48 rollcall list -rack R12 ``` The CSV needs a header; rows are matched by `id`, `serial`, `mac` or `node_name` and may carry `building, room, rack, unit, asset_tag`. Racks are created on first use (42U) and can be resized. The web UI shows a location column with building › room › rack chips, a **Racks** page with elevation views (machines drawn at their U, coloured by state) and bulk "Set location…". Templates and tag rules see `.Node.Building`, `.Node.Room`, `.Node.Rack`, `.Node.Unit`, so a rack can drive a tag (`{{ eq .Node.Rack "R12" }}`) or a Slurm `topology.conf` overlay. ## Network and rack controllers ### Model As in MAAS: **fabric → VLAN → subnet → IP ranges**. * A **fabric** is a switched layer-2 domain (`ethernet` or `infiniband`). * A **VLAN** has a VID (0 = untagged; a partition key on IB), an MTU, and says whether rollcall serves DHCP/PXE on it and which **rack controller** does (a second one splits the dynamic pool with it). * A **subnet** has a purpose (provisioning, mgmt, bmc, storage, ib, other), a gateway, DNS servers and a domain. * **Ranges** inside a subnet are `dynamic` (the DHCP pool PXE and commissioning use), `reserved` (never handed out: routers, switches, controllers) and `static` (where machines get their addresses; without one, anything outside dynamic/reserved). * **IPAM** records every address handed out (`rollcall ip list`), pinned ones (`rollcall net set ID -static ens18=10.0.0.60`) and reserved single addresses (`rollcall ip reserve 10.0.0.5 -name switch-1`). Addresses a machine already had are adopted when its subnet is defined. ```sh rollcall fabric add hall-a rollcall subnet add 10.50.0.0/24 -fabric hall-a -vid 0 -purpose provisioning -gateway 10.50.0.1 -dns 10.50.0.1 -domain dc.example rollcall range add 10.50.0.0/24 reserved 10.50.0.1 10.50.0.20 rollcall range add 10.50.0.0/24 static 10.50.0.50 10.50.0.199 rollcall range add 10.50.0.0/24 dynamic 10.50.0.200 10.50.0.250 rollcall vlan add hall-a 0 -dhcp -rack hall-a-rack1 # this rack controller serves DHCP/PXE here rollcall subnet add 10.60.0.0/24 -fabric hall-a -vid 200 -purpose storage rollcall dhcp hall-a-rack1 # the dnsmasq configuration it generates ``` ### Machine interfaces A **layout** describes interfaces in terms that fit many machines: NICs are chosen by selectors (`boot`, `name:X`, `mac:X`, `fastest:N`, `ib:N`, `all`), not by MAC. Interfaces are `physical`, `bond` (802.3ad by default) or `vlan`; each link names a subnet (CIDR, name, or `boot`) and a mode: `auto` (an address from the subnet), `static` (a given one), `dhcp` or `link_up`. ```json {"interfaces": [ {"type": "physical", "select": "boot", "links": [{"subnet": "boot", "mode": "auto", "default_gateway": true}]}, {"type": "bond", "name": "bond0", "members": ["fastest:2"], "mtu": 9000, "links": [{"mode": "link_up"}]}, {"type": "vlan", "parent": "bond0", "vid": 200, "links": [{"subnet": "10.60.0.0/24", "mode": "auto"}]}, {"type": "physical", "select": "ib:0", "links": [{"subnet": "ib0", "mode": "auto"}]} ]} ``` `rollcall layout add gpu-bond layout.json`, then either per machine (`rollcall net set ID -layout gpu-bond`) or per tag (`rollcall tags add gpu … -layout gpu-bond`). Without a layout the boot NIC gets an `auto` address on its subnet; without any subnet model, deployed machines use DHCP as before. At deployment the layout is resolved against the machine's inventory, addresses are allocated, and two files go into the image next to the cloud-init seed: `network-config` (cloud-init v2; cloud-init renders it for netplan, NetworkManager or ifupdown) and a udev rule that pins each NIC's name to its MAC, because RHEL-family cloud images boot with `net.ifnames=0`. Release returns the allocated addresses. `rollcall net show ID` previews it all. Verified in the lab: Debian 13 and Ubuntu 24.04 (netplan) and Rocky 9 (NetworkManager), with a static boot NIC and with an active-backup bond carrying VLAN 200. ### Region and rack controllers `rollcall serve` is the **region**: database, API, web UI, IPAM, image store. **Rack controllers** sit next to the machines, one or two per network segment (hall, building, site): * they serve DHCP and TFTP with dnsmasq on the VLANs assigned to them; the configuration, per-MAC PXE files and host files are computed by the region; * they run BMC commands (BMC networks are rarely routed to the region); * they serve boot and OS images from a local cache, filled from the region on first use (kernels and initrds are prefetched, TFTP cannot wait); * they pass the node API (commissioning, deploy jobs, overlays, phone-home) through to the region and tell it which rack a machine came through. A rack controller only needs to reach the region: it long-polls its desired state and a command queue. The region host runs an **embedded** rack controller (`rack_name`, default its hostname), which is all a single-server installation needs. Remote ones: ```sh rollcall controller join-code -name hall-b -addr 10.0.0.234:443 # on the region: one word, one use, 60 min # on the rack host (Debian/Ubuntu), from deploy/ with the binary next to it: ./rollcall rack join rollcall-join1-... -url http://10.213.78.1 # writes /etc/rollcall/rack.json + certificate sh install-rack.sh # dnsmasq, syslinux, cache dirs, rollcall-rack.service rollcall controllers # on the region: it shows up online rollcall vlan add hall-b 0 -dhcp -rack hall-b ``` dnsmasq is restarted only when its generated configuration changes, and only if it comes back; otherwise the last working configuration is restored (a hand-written DHCP configuration for the same interface is the usual cause: `install.sh` points it out). A machine that moved to another segment gets `rollcall net set ID -rack NAME`. The lab runs both: `pxe-server` (embedded, 10.213.77.0/24) and `pxe-rack2` (VM 213, remote, 10.213.78.0/24 on SDN vnet `pxenet2`), with node002 behind pxe-rack2 and its virtual BMC on pxe-rack2. Rack ↔ region traffic is mutual TLS (next section), so the BMC passwords of queued commands are encrypted. ### Agents over HTTPS Agents talk to their rack controller over HTTPS: the commissioning agent, the deploy agent and the image download. The region gives each rack a server certificate for its own URL's host (`CN=rack-server:NAME`, server use only, never one of the region's addresses). The rack serves the agents' endpoints on `:443` as well as on HTTP; `tls_listen` in `rack.json` changes the port, `off` turns it off. The embedded rack uses the region's own HTTPS listener. The pxelinux command line carries `rollcall.tls=https://HOST` and `rollcall.ca=`. An agent fetches `/ca.pem`, accepts it only by that fingerprint, and from then on uses HTTPS with it. When TLS was asked for and fails, it does not fall back to HTTP. What stays on HTTP: live-boot fetching the commissioning squashfs, and `/ca.pem` itself (checked by its fingerprint). This keeps BMC passwords and seed files from anyone who only listens, and from an HTTP server posing as the rack. TFTP and the kernel and initrd stay unauthenticated, so an attacker who can rewrite boot files on the wire is not stopped; that needs UEFI Secure Boot with signed images. ### DHCP already on the network: proxy DHCP Where the site's DHCP server keeps handing out addresses (a corporate DHCP, Infoblox, a router), a VLAN can be served in **proxy** mode: the rack controller does not hand out addresses, it only answers PXE clients with where to boot from (dnsmasq proxy DHCP), and TFTP and HTTP stay on the rack. ``` rollcall vlan add FABRIC VID -proxy-dhcp -rack RACK # web UI: subnet, DHCP / PXE: proxy deploy/bootstrap.sh --iface eth1 --proxy-dhcp # the same at install time ``` - The subnet needs no ranges. Without a static range, deployed machines keep getting their addresses from the site's server (`dhcp` links); set a static range aside, outside the site's pool, to give them fixed ones. - No `dhcp-host` lines are written for proxy subnets, and the router and DNS options come from the site's server. - `rollcall doctor` expects the foreign DHCP server here, and fails if none answers. - dnsmasq (2.91, still in 2.93) loops forever in its proxy code when a proxy range carries a `set:` tag: Rollcall's generated configuration leaves the tag out and limits the PXE services by interface instead. Verified in the lab with a separate DHCP server on the provisioning network: commissioning and three deployments in a row through the proxy. ## Certificate authority and TLS The region is the installation's certificate authority, as the llmgw control plane is: `ca_dir` (default `/etc/rollcall/ca`) holds `ca.pem` and `ca-key.pem` (ECDSA P-256, ten years), created on first start. * **HTTPS.** The region serves API, UI and images on `tls_listen` (default `:443`) with a certificate for every name and address it has plus `tls_names`; it is reissued when they change or a month before it ends. `admin_http` decides what plain HTTP may still do with the admin API: `allow` (default, for compatibility), `loopback` (the CLI on the region host) or `deny`. Nodes keep booting over HTTP: firmware and the live image cannot check a certificate before they have one. * **Rack controllers** join with a code from `rollcall controller join-code`: one word carrying the first half of the CA's SHA-256, a one-time secret, an expiry and the region's address. `rollcall rack join` checks the region against the fingerprint, sends a CSR with the secret and gets a client+server certificate (`rack:`, a year). From then on every rack call is mutual TLS and the region identifies the rack by its certificate; `rollcall controller rm` revokes it at once. Racks renew a month before expiry. The old `rack_secret` is still accepted when configured. * **Updates.** Racks follow the region's version: the region names the binary (version, architecture, SHA-256) in each rack's state and serves it over the rack's mutual-TLS channel. The rack stages it in `/var/lib/rollcall/update` after checking the checksum and that it reports the expected version; `rollcall-rack-update.path` (root) installs it, restarts the rack and puts the previous binary back if the rack does not register again within a minute (`last-result` says what happened). Racks on another architecture get `rack_binaries/rollcall-linux-`; `"auto_update": false` in `rack.json` opts out. `rollcall controllers` shows each rack's version. * **Admin certificates.** Instead of the admin token, a person or laptop can hold a client certificate: `rollcall admin-cert request NAME` (with the token once) makes a key locally, sends only a CSR and gets `admin:NAME` back; the CLI and console use it from `client.json`, and the `.p12` it writes goes into the browser's keychain, after which the web UI signs in by itself. `rollcall admin-cert list | revoke NAME` (revocation takes effect within 30 seconds). Certificates are checked against the CA, the client-auth usage and the serials the region recorded. * **Clients.** On the region host the CLI reads the CA from `ca_dir`; elsewhere `ROLLCALL_CA=ca.pem`, or the console shows the CA fingerprint on first connect and keeps the CA in `~/.config/rollcall/client.json` once you confirm it (`rollcall ca show` prints it on the region). `/ca.pem` serves the certificate; the web login links to it. * **Machines** trust it: deployments write the CA into the trust anchors of both families (`/usr/local/share/ca-certificates`, `/etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors`) and rebuild the store at every boot (`update-ca-certificates` or `update-ca-trust`; cloud-init's `ca_certs` fails on RHEL-family systems); stateless overlays get it as `.CA`. `rollcall ca issue NAME -host h1,h2 [-client]` issues leaves for anything else (Slurm REST, a registry, a web front end). * **Delegation.** The root may sign one level of intermediate CAs, each limited by name constraints to the domains and address ranges it serves: `rollcall ca intermediate caddy -permit int.example.com,10.213.0.0/16 -csr caddy.csr` signs a CSR (the key stays on the host that made it). An ACME server under that intermediate (Caddy's `acme_server`, step-ca) then issues short-lived certificates to nodes with certbot or acme.sh; everything that trusts the Rollcall CA trusts them, and nothing outside the permitted names can be issued. Roots created before this (path length 0) cannot delegate: `rollcall ca rotate -yes` replaces the root, keeping the old one as a backup; rack controllers then join again and clients trust the new fingerprint. `deploy/tags/acme-cert.yaml` is a tag that fetches a node certificate at first boot and renews it. ## Power drivers Every machine's BMC record names a driver; commands run on the rack controller that reaches the BMC network. | Driver | For | |---|---| | `ipmi` | IPMI 2.0 over LAN (ipmitool lanplus), any vendor; settings `cipher` (17 on newer BMCs), `privilege`, `interface` | | `redfish` and the vendor drivers below | DMTF Redfish (see below) | | `proxmox` | Proxmox VE VMs: API token (user = token id, password = secret), settings `node`, `vmid` | | `manual` | no power control; actions say so | ### Redfish across vendors There is one Redfish implementation of the DMTF standard. These rules hold for every vendor: - **Reset types and boot targets.** Read from what the BMC advertises (`@Redfish.AllowableValues` or the action's ActionInfo), never assumed. - **Boot override.** Target and enable go in one PATCH. - **If-Match.** Sent with the resource's ETag (header or `@odata.etag`). On 412 it is retried with the strong form, then without; on 428 it is fetched first. - **Pending settings.** A BMC that keeps them elsewhere (`.../SD`, `@Redfish.Settings`) gets the same PATCH there. - **Busy answers.** Retried for up to a minute: the server is in POST, 409 right after a power change, 503, "Retry in N seconds". - **202 answers.** Followed to their task monitor. - **Reset on the chassis.** Used when the system has no reset of its own. - **Missing power cycle.** ForceOff, wait for Off, then On. - **Paths from the BMC.** Only followed if they stay on the BMC and under `/redfish/`. What a vendor documents differently is a profile in `cmd/rollcall/redfish.go`, with its sources. The profile decides the driver name, how the BMC is recognised, its usual system path, the boot mode rule, how to clear an override and the login method. | Driver | Vendor | Boot mode in an override | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | `idrac` | Dell iDRAC 8/9/10 | not sent: a change starts a BIOS job | `System.Embedded.1`; iDRAC 10 takes boot settings at `.../Settings` | | `ilo` | HPE iLO 4 (2.30+), 5, 6 | current one, without it if refused | no PowerCycle (ForceRestart); no boot changes during POST (retried) | | `xcc` | Lenovo XCC, XCC2 | current one, without it if refused | override is Once only | | `supermicro` | Supermicro X11+, H12+ | always the current one | left out, some boards switch to Legacy | | `xfusion` | xFusion / Huawei iBMC | current one, without it if refused | session login; If-Match on every PATCH; ForcePowerCycle | | `kaytus` | KAYTUS / Inspur | current one, without it if refused | no public Redfish guide: reset may be on the chassis, a PATCH that worked can answer 400 | | `irmc` | Fujitsu / Fsas iRMC S5, S6 | not sent | `Systems/0`; ETag from the body; clearing is Target None (never Enabled Disabled); no GracefulShutdown (power button) | | `cimc` | Cisco UCS C-series CIMC | current one, without it if refused | `Systems/`, found through the collection | | `gigabyte` | GIGABYTE (MegaRAC SP-X) | always the current one | `Systems/Self`; If-Match required; short reset list | | `asrockrack` | ASRock Rack (MegaRAC) | always the current one | boot settings in `Systems/Self/SD` | | `openbmc` | OpenBMC (bmcweb) | current one, without it if refused | `Systems/system` | | `ami` | AMI MegaRAC SP-X boards | always the current one | `Systems/Self`; If-Match required | Settings a machine can override: | Setting | Effect | |---|---| | `system=` | the system path | | `boot_mode=UEFI\|Legacy` | always send this mode | | `auth=session\|basic` | login method | | `verify_tls=true` | check the BMC's certificate | Every profile is tested against a fake service that behaves as its sources describe (`redfish_test.go`). The profiles have not yet run against the real machines. **HTTPS BMCs (Redfish, Proxmox) are trusted by their certificate.** Before credentials first go to such a BMC, the rack controller reads its certificate with a TLS handshake that sends nothing. The region pins the SHA-256 on the BMC record as `extra tls_fingerprint`. A later connection showing a different certificate sends no credentials: the command fails with both fingerprints, and the machine gets the event `bmc certificate changed`. To trust a replaced BMC, clear the pin with `rollcall bmc ID -set tls_fingerprint=`. Changing the address does the same, and so does a BMC firmware update run by Rollcall. To check against the system's CAs instead, set `verify_tls=true`. After commissioning, a BMC still on IPMI is asked whether it speaks Redfish with the same account; if it does, the driver for its vendor takes over (event `bmc driver`). An operator's choice is never overridden. ```sh rollcall bmc drivers rollcall bmc m-1234 -driver idrac -address 10.0.5.21 -user root -password - -verify < pw rollcall bmc m-1234 -driver redfish -set system=/redfish/v1/Systems/1 -set verify_tls=true rollcall bmc m-1234 -probe # detect Redfish again ``` ### Firmware updates (Redfish) Rollcall keeps firmware packages in a repository on the region, reads each machine's firmware inventory from its BMC, and runs updates as jobs. ```sh # on the region: a file (or from anywhere: an https URL, which the region downloads) sudo rollcall firmware import BIOS_R760_WN64_2.3.5.EXE -vendor idrac -component bios -version 2.3.5 -models R760 -sha256 ... rollcall firmware list rollcall firmware show m-1234 -refresh # what is installed, what the repository offers rollcall firmware update m-1234 idrac-bios-2.3.5-2c49752f -reboot -watch rollcall firmware update tag:r760 idrac-bmc-7.20.10.50-097a4a54 ``` **The package.** A package names the BMC driver it is for (`idrac`, `ilo`, `supermicro`, ...), a component (`bios`, `bmc`, `nic`, `raid`, `cpld`, `psu`, `drive`, `other`), the version the component reports once installed, and optionally the models it fits. An update refuses a package for another vendor or model unless `-force`. The BMC checks the package itself: signature, model and downgrade policy. An HPE `.fwpkg` is unpacked at import to the iLO `.bin` or UEFI `.signed.flash` inside, because iLO's SimpleUpdate accepts a `.fwpkg` and then flashes nothing. **The job.** The region drives the update through the rack controller next to the BMC: 1. It hands the package over: an upload, or the BMC downloads it from the rack controller's `/firmware/`. Set `firmware_base=` on the BMC record when BMCs reach another address. 2. It watches the BMC's task. A BMC that restarts after flashing itself is waited for, up to 25 minutes. 3. It reads the inventory until the new version shows. `-reboot` power-cycles the host when the update waits for a reset (BIOS on most vendors), then verifies. Without it, a staged update ends as "accepted, applies at the next reboot". A running update survives a region restart. It cannot be cancelled once the BMC has the package. **How each vendor takes a package.** Each vendor profile in `cmd/rollcall/redfish_fwplans.go` carries its documented request, with sources. Without a profile, the standard methods are tried in this order: multipart push, SimpleUpdate pull, HttpPushUri. | Driver | How | Packages | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | `idrac` | MultipartUpload (SimpleUpdate pull on older iDRAC 9) | DUP `.EXE`, `.d9` | OnReset by default; BIOS/RAID/NIC apply at the next reboot | | `ilo` | SimpleUpdate: iLO pulls over HTTP | iLO `.bin`, UEFI `.signed.flash` (from `.fwpkg`) | components only an OS agent flashes need SUM/iSUT | | `xcc` | `/mfwupdate`, after taking `HttpPushUriTargetsBusy` | `.uxz` | update XCC before UEFI | | `supermicro` | `/UpdateService/upload` with targets and preserve options | `.bin` | licence SFT-OOB-LIC/SFT-DCMS-SINGLE; host powered off for BIOS | | `gigabyte`, `ami`, `asrockrack` | `/UpdateService/upload` with `OemParameters` ImageType | `.ima`, `.ima_enc`, `.hpm`, `.bin` | the BMC restarts after a BMC flash; ASRock Rack unverified | | `openbmc` | update-multipart (BMC Immediate, others OnReset) | signed `.tar` | | | `xfusion` | upload to `/tmp/web`, then SimpleUpdate | `.hpm` | BMC, BIOS, CPLD | | `kaytus` | upload, then OEM SimpleUpdate (FlashItem) | `.hpm`, `.bin` | from KAYTUS's own SDK; BMC and BIOS | | `irmc` | OEM actions (FWUpdate, BiosUpdate) | iRMC `.bin`, BIOS `.UPC` | | | `cimc` | not supported | | Cisco documents only SCP pulls | Per machine, on the BMC record: | Setting | Effect | |---|---| | `fw_method=multipart\|simple\|push` | skip the vendor plan and use this standard method | | `fw_params={...}` | replace the plan's UpdateParameters (e.g. Supermicro Gen 13 BIOS preserve options) | | `firmware_base=http://ADDR` | the address BMCs download from | The lab Redfish emulator has an UpdateService of the same shape: iDRAC profile multipart, iLO profile pull. The BMC version applies at once, the BIOS at the next reset. The lab has `lab/pve-vbmc/pve_redfish.py`, a Redfish service per Proxmox VM with iDRAC, iLO and generic profiles, next to the IPMI emulator. ## IPv6 Subnets can be IPv6 (`rollcall subnet add fd00:50::/64 ...`). IPAM hands out addresses from static ranges (walked from their start), deployments get them in `network-config` with a separate default route per family, and the default layout links every subnet of the boot NIC's VLAN, so an IPv6 prefix next to the IPv4 one makes machines dual-stack. Interfaces with planned addresses ignore router advertisements. dnsmasq serves router advertisements and DHCPv6 on IPv6 subnets with dhcp on; the rack offers itself as default router only when it is the subnet's gateway. Host files carry AAAA records, rack controllers report their IPv6 addresses, the region certificate covers them, and region, racks and clients work over IPv6 (`https://[fd00::1]`). PXE stays IPv4: syslinux cannot netboot over IPv6, so the provisioning VLAN needs an IPv4 subnet for commissioning and deployment. Verified in the lab: Debian 13 (with a bond and VLAN), Rocky 9 and AlmaLinux 9 dual-stack on two segments, AAAA lookups through dnsmasq, the admin CLI over `https://[fdc3:...]`. ## External IPAM (NetBox; Infoblox-style) Rollcall works on its own, but at a site with an established network plan the address authority is somewhere else. With `ipam` in `config.json` every address Rollcall hands out is registered there first: ```json "ipam": { "provider": "netbox", "url": "https://netbox.int.example.com", "token_file": "/etc/rollcall/netbox.token", "ca_file": "/etc/rollcall/netbox-ca.pem", "dns_zone": "int.example.com", "sync_interval": "5m" } ``` - **Allocation asks the authority.** An address that exists in NetBox and is not Rollcall's is skipped and the next candidate is tried, so Rollcall never collides with a printer, a VIP or another team's reservation. If NetBox is unreachable, allocation fails instead of guessing. - **Ownership is explicit.** Rollcall's records carry the tag `rollcall` and the machine ID in the custom field `rollcall_machine` (create both in NetBox; on Infoblox these are an extensible attribute). Records without both are never changed or deleted, only reported. - **Releases reconcile.** Releasing, unassigning or deleting a machine frees addresses locally and triggers a reconcile, which also runs every `sync_interval`: missing records are created, names and owners fixed, and Rollcall-owned records that are no longer in use deleted. - **DNS follows the record.** `dns_name` is `.` for a machine's provisioning/mgmt address and `-.` elsewhere (a subnet's `domain` replaces the zone when it lies inside it; `pxe.local` stays local). A NetBox-to-DNS sync (PowerDNS here, a host record on Infoblox) publishes it; Rollcall writes one object per address. - **Prefixes are delegated in NetBox.** Tag a prefix `rollcall`; `rollcall ipam prefixes` lists them and `rollcall ipam import` creates the missing subnets (VLAN and rack are then set as usual). ``` rollcall ipam # provider, last reconcile rollcall ipam sync -dry # what would change rollcall ipam sync rollcall ipam prefixes | import ``` The provider is an interface (reserve, owned records, update, delete, delegated prefixes); the NetBox driver is the first. An Infoblox WAPI driver maps them to `record:host`/`fixedaddress` with extensible attributes. ## DNS provider (PowerDNS, RFC 2136) Without an IPAM authority whose DNS sync publishes names, Rollcall can write its machines' A/AAAA records into the site's DNS itself. Names follow the IPAM rule above (`.`, `-.`). ```json "dns": { "provider": "powerdns", "zone": "int.example.com", "url": "http://dns.int.example.com:8081", "api_key_file": "/etc/rollcall/pdns.key" } ``` ```json "dns": { "provider": "rfc2136", "zone": "int.example.com", "server": "ns1.int.example.com:53", "tsig_name": "rollcall-key", "tsig_algorithm": "hmac-sha256", "tsig_secret_file": "/etc/rollcall/tsig.secret" } ``` - **powerdns** uses the HTTP API. Rollcall's RRsets carry a comment with account `rollcall`; RRsets without it are never changed or deleted. - **rfc2136** is a TSIG-signed dynamic update, for BIND, Knot, PowerDNS, Windows DNS and Infoblox. Next to each name Rollcall writes a marker `_rollcall. TXT "heritage=rollcall"`. A change to an existing record needs the marker as a prerequisite; a new record needs the name to be free. The server checks both atomically, so a record someone else owns is never overwritten. What Rollcall wrote is kept in the database, and each sync queries those records. A record changed behind Rollcall's back is repaired when the marker is still there. When someone else's record has taken the name, it is reported as a conflict. For BIND, grant the key the zone: `update-policy { grant rollcall-key zonesub ANY; };`. A sync runs on every allocation and release and every `sync_interval` (default 5m), with `ttl` defaulting to 300. ``` rollcall dns # provider, last sync, conflicts rollcall dns sync -dry # what would change rollcall dns sync ``` Conflicts and errors appear there, in the log and in `rollcall doctor`. ## Lab `lab/` documents a Proxmox SDN test setup: an isolated vnet, a PXE server VM running dnsmasq + Rollcall, two diskless VMs, and `pve-vbmc`, a tiny IPMI-over-LAN BMC emulator that drives VMs through the Proxmox API so that `ipmitool power on` and `chassis bootdev pxe` work against virtual machines. ## Status Commissioning, stateless nodes and disk deployment work end to end in the lab (virtual machines with 30 GB disks, SeaBIOS, out-of-band BMC hints). The in-band BMC path and the UEFI boot-entry step are implemented but have not yet been exercised on real hardware.