Server Installation

There are multiple methods to install a Warewulf server. This page describes some of those methods.

Binary RPMs

The Warewulf project builds binary RPMs as part of its CI/CD process. You can obtain them from the GitHub releases page.

Rocky Linux 9

# dnf install https://github.com/warewulf/warewulf/releases/download/v4.6.0rc2/warewulf-4.6.0rc2-1.el9.x86_64.rpm

openSuse Leap

# zypper install https://github.com/warewulf/warewulf/releases/download/v4.6.0rc2/warewulf-4.6.0rc2-1.suse.lp155.x86_64.rpm

Container images

Warewulf can be built in a Linux container. This can be especially useful for testing and development, or to replace traditional package installation. It is also possible to only use the container for building and the install it in the host system afterwards. For that look at the INSTALL, UNINSTALL and PURGE labels inside the Dockerfile

Docker

# docker build -t warewulf .
# docker run -d --replace --name warewulf-test --privileged --net=host -v /:/host -v /etc/warewulf:/etc/warewulf -v /var/lib/warewulf/:/var/lib/warewulf/ -e NAME=warewulf-test -e IMAGE=warewulf warewulf

Systemd-nspawn

Warewulf runs multiple services inside one single container and uses systemd as init system. As such, it might be better to use systemd-nspawn, which was explicitly made to run containers with a full init system.

# docker build -t warewulf .
# mkdir warewulf-nspawn
# docker export "$(docker create --name warewulf-test warewulf true)" | tar -x -C warewulf-nspawn
# systemd-nspawn -D warewulf-nspawn/ passwd
# systemd-nspawn -D warewulf-nspawn/ --boot

Compiled from Source

Before you build the Warewulf source code you will first need to install the build dependencies:

  • make: This should be available via your Linux distribution’s package manager (e.g. dnf install make)

  • go: Golang is also available on most current Linux distributions, but you can also install the most recent version.

  • Depending on your Linux Distribution, you may need to install other development packages. Typically it is recommended to install the entire development group.

    dnf groupinstall "Development Tools"

Once these dependencies are installed, you can obtain and build the source code.

Release Tarball

The Warewulf project releases source distributions alongside its binary RPMs. You can obtain them from the GitHub releases page.

Select the version you wish to install and download the tarball to any location on the server, then follow these directions making the appropriate substitutions:

curl -LO https://github.com/warewulf/warewulf/releases/download/v4.6.0rc2/warewulf-4.6.0rc2.tar.gz
tar -xf warewulf-4.6.0rc2.tar.gz
cd warewulf-4.6.0rc2
make all && sudo make install

Git

You can install different versions of Warewulf from its Git tags or branches. The main branch is where most active development occurs, so if you want to obtain the latest and greatest version of Warewulf, this is where to go. But be forewarned, using a snapshot from main is not guaranteed to be stable or generally supported for production.

If you are building for production, it is best to download a release tarball from the main site, the GitHub releases page, or from a Git tag.

git clone https://github.com/warewulf/warewulf.git
cd warewulf
git checkout main # or switch to a tag like 'v4.6.0rc2'
make all && sudo make install

Runtime Dependencies

In its default configuration, Warewulf requires some operating system provided services. Generally these are provided by your distribution.

  • dhcp-server

  • tftp-server

  • nfs-utils

If you are using an Enterprise Linux compatible distribution you can install them with dnf install dhcp-server tftp-server nfs-utils.

Starting warewulfd

The Warewulf installation registers the Warewulf service with systemd, so it should be as easy to start/stop/check as any other systemd service:

# systemctl enable --now warewulfd