Node Profiles
Node profiles provide a way to scalably group node configurations together. Instead of redundant configurations for each node, you can set common fields in a profile and then apply one or more profiles to each node.
Profiles may, themselves, reference other profiles, supporting complex mixtures of profile configuration and negation.
The Default Profile
A default Warewulf installation will come with a single “default” profile
pre-defined in nodes.conf.
# wwctl profile list
PROFILE NAME COMMENT/DESCRIPTION
------------ -------------------
default This profile is automatically included for each node
If the default profile exists, each new node automatically includes it when it is added.
You can view the fields of a profile with wwctl profile --all.
# wwctl profile list default --all
PROFILE FIELD VALUE
------- ----- -----
default Profiles --
default Comment This profile is automatically included for each node
default ClusterName --
default ImageName --
default Ipxe default
default RuntimeOverlay hosts,ssh.authorized_keys
default SystemOverlay wwinit,wwclient,fstab,hostname,ssh.host_keys,issue,resolv,udev.netname,systemd.netname,ifcfg,ifupdown,NetworkManager,wicked,ignition
default Kernel.Version --
default Kernel.Args quiet,crashkernel=no
default Init /sbin/init
default Root initramfs
default PrimaryNetDev --
default Resources[fstab] [{"file":"/home","mntops":"defaults,nofail","spec":"warewulf:/home","vfstype":"nfs"},{"file":"/opt","mntops":"defaults,noauto,nofail,ro","spec":"warewulf:/opt","vfstype":"nfs"}]
wwctl node list --all indicates which profile defines each field.
# wwctl node list n1 --all
NODE FIELD PROFILE VALUE
---- ----- ------- -----
n1 Profiles -- default
n1 Comment default This profile is automatically included for each node
n1 Ipxe default default
n1 RuntimeOverlay default hosts,ssh.authorized_keys
n1 SystemOverlay default wwinit,wwclient,fstab,hostname,ssh.host_keys,issue,resolv,udev.netname,systemd.netname,ifcfg,ifupdown,NetworkManager,wicked,ignition
n1 Kernel.Args default quiet,crashkernel=no
n1 Init default /sbin/init
n1 Root default initramfs
n1 Resources[fstab] default [{"file":"/home","mntops":"defaults,nofail","spec":"warewulf:/home","vfstype":"nfs"},{"file":"/opt","mntops":"defaults,noauto,nofail,ro","spec":"warewulf:/opt","vfstype":"nfs"}]
Setting Profile Fields
(Almost) any node fields can be set on a profile, but some fields don’t really
make sense anywhere but a node (e.g., --hwaddr and --ipaddr).
wwctl profile set default \
--image=rockylinux-9 \
--netmask=255.255.255.0
Un-setting Profile Fields
Profile fields can be cleared using the wwctl profile unset command, which
works the same way as wwctl node unset.
wwctl profile unset default --image
wwctl profile unset default --netname=default --netmask
Multiple Profiles
It’s possible to create multiple profiles, and even to apply multiple profiles to each node.
wwctl profile add net
wwctl profile set net --netmask=255.255.255.0
wwctl profile add image
wwctl profile set image --image=rockylinux-9
wwctl node set n1 --profile="default,net,image"
# wwctl node list n1 --all
NODE FIELD PROFILE VALUE
---- ----- ------- -----
n1 Profiles -- default,net,image
n1 Comment default This profile is automatically included for each node
n1 ImageName image rockylinux-9
n1 Ipxe default default
n1 RuntimeOverlay default hosts,ssh.authorized_keys
n1 SystemOverlay default wwinit,wwclient,fstab,hostname,ssh.host_keys,issue,resolv,udev.netname,systemd.netname,ifcfg,ifupdown,NetworkManager,wicked,ignition
n1 Kernel.Args default quiet,crashkernel=no
n1 Init default /sbin/init
n1 Root default initramfs
n1 NetDevs[default].Netmask net 255.255.255.0
n1 Resources[fstab] default [{"file":"/home","mntops":"defaults,nofail","spec":"warewulf:/home","vfstype":"nfs"},{"file":"/opt","mntops":"defaults,noauto,nofail,ro","spec":"warewulf:/opt","vfstype":"nfs"}]
Using multiple profiles makes it easy to work with multiple, heterogeneous groups of cluster nodes and to test new configurations on smaller subsets of nodes. For example, you can use this method to run a different kernel on only a subset or group of cluster nodes without changing any other node attributes.
Profile Precedence and Combinations of Profiles
In case of scalar fields, the right-most profile in the node’s profile list takes precedence. Field values set directly on nodes take precedence over profile field values. However, things behave differently for field types, like lists, where it makes sense to combine their values.
Let’s assume we have in addition to the node profile two more profiles:
default and profile_a. The field root serves as an example
for a scalar field and runtime overlay for list typed fields.
We start with a configuration where the node uses only the default profile.
nodeprofiles:
profile_a:
runtime overlay:
- runtime_overlay_from_profile_a
root: root_from_profile_a
default:
runtime overlay:
- runtime_overlay_from_default
root: root_from_default
nodes:
n1:
profiles:
- default
runtime overlay:
- runtime_overlay_from_node_profile
root: root_from_node_profile
Next we filter the output a little to focus on one field at time.
# wwctl node list n1 --all | grep -E '(NODE|----|Root)'
NODE FIELD PROFILE VALUE
---- ----- ------- -----
n1 Root SUPERSEDED root_from_node_profile
As expected, the value originates from the node profile because the node profile has highest precedence.
Things are different for the list typed field runtime overlay.
# wwctl node list n1 --all | grep -E '(NODE|----|Runtime)'
NODE FIELD PROFILE VALUE
---- ----- ------- -----
n1 RuntimeOverlay default,n1 runtime_overlay_from_default,runtime_overlay_from_node_profile
Here the value from the node profile is appended to the value of the default profile.
Next we remove the value for root from the node profile and add
profile_a to the list of profiles for the node.
nodes:
n1:
profiles:
- default
- profile_a
runtime overlay:
- runtime_overlay_from_node_profile
First we check the root field and see that it set from profile_a
as profile_a is now the profile with highest precedence.
# wwctl node list n1 --all | grep -E '(NODE|----|Root)'
NODE FIELD PROFILE VALUE
---- ----- ------- -----
n1 Root profile_a root_from_profile_a
The value of runtime overlay is now a combination of the values of
all three profiles.
# wwctl node list n1 --all | grep -E '(NODE|----|Runtime)'
NODE FIELD PROFILE VALUE
---- ----- ------- -----
n1 RuntimeOverlay default,profile_a,n1 runtime_overlay_from_default,runtime_overlay_from_profile_a,runtime_overlay_from_node_profile
We get the same result when making use of nested profiles, that is
when we add profile_a to the list of profiles within the default profile.
nodeprofiles:
default:
profiles:
- profile_a
...
...
nodes:
n1:
profiles:
- default
...
Negating Profiles
Profiles may be negated by later profiles. For example, a profile list
p2,~p1 adds the profile p2 to a node and removes a previously-applied
p1 profile from a node.
nodeprofiles:
p1:
runtime overlay:
- runtime_overlay_from_p1
p2:
profiles:
- p1
runtime overlay:
- runtime_overlay_from_p2
nodes:
n1:
profiles:
- p2
- ~p1
The value of runtime overlay is then just runtime_overlay_from_p2.
# wwctl node list n2 --all
NODE FIELD PROFILE VALUE
---- ----- ------- -----
n2 Profiles -- p2,~p1
n2 RuntimeOverlay p2 runtime_overlay_from_p2
Using Profiles Effectively
There are a lot of ways to use profiles to facilitate complex cluster configurations; but they are not required. It is completely possible to not use profiles at all, and to simply set all fields directly on cluster nodes.
If you do use profiles, some fields lend themselves most naturally to being set
on profiles. Network subnet masks (--netmask) and gateways (--gateway)
are common profile fields, as is --image. Most IPMI fields
make sense on a profile, and it is also common to configure tags and resources
on a profile for easy application to multiple nodes.
Node-specific information, like HW/MAC addresses (--hwaddr) and IP addresses
(--ipaddr, --ipmiaddr) should always be put in a node configuration
rather than a profile configuration.