MKEx installation¶

You can install MKEx either from a bootable ISO image or by way of Kickstart.

To install MKEx from a bootable ISO image:

Note

The bootable ISO image is quite similar to that of a Rocky Linux installation.

Bootup the ISO. The welcome screen will display.
Select the language for the MKEx installation and click Continue. A warning message will display, stating that MKEx is pre-released software that is intended for development and testing purposes only.

Click I want to proceed. The INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen will display, offering entry points to the various aspects of the MKEx installation.

Installation phase	Aspects
LOCALIZATION	Keyboard Language Support Time & Date
SYSTEM	Installation Destination KDUMP Network & Host Name Security Policy
USER SETTINGS	Root Password User Creation

Click Installation Destination to call the INSTALLATION DESTINATION screen. Review the setup. The default installation destination should suffice for testing purposes.

Once you are certain the setting is correct, click DONE to return to the The INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen.
Next, click User Creation to call the CREATE USER screen.
Configure a user for your MKEx installation, making sure to tick the Make this user administrator checkbox, and click DONE to return to the The INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen.
Next, click Network & Host Name to call the NETWORK & HOST NAME screen.
Set the toggle to ON to enable the network connection, update the Host Name if necessary, and click DONE to return to the The INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen.
Click Begin Installation. Tthe INSTALLATION PROGRESS screen will display.

Note

The output may be differ from any previous experience you have had with installing Rocky Linux. This is due to the use of an immutable operating system base rather than a traditional RPM-based OS.
Once installation is complete, click Reboot System to boot the new image. Be aware that the initial boot will require time to load the MKE images by way of the network. Once the initial boot is complete, a login prompt will display.
Log in to the console.

Note

SSH is disabled by default, however you can enable it for easier access.
Verify the presence of the MKE image:

Note

Presence verification requires the use of the sudo command due to the locking down of the /var/run/docker.sock socket. The immutable operating system does not allow the use of the usermod command.
- Users with external network access:
```
sudo docker image ls
```
- Users on an isolated system, without external network access:
```
ls -l /usr/share/mke
```
If the MKE image is present, skip ahead to the following step. If the MKE image is not present, run the following command to load it:
```
sudo docker load -i /usr/share/mke/ucp_images_3.6.8.tar.gz
```
Install MKE.
Log in to MKE, upload your license, and set up your worker nodes.
Optional. Install additional software to your MKEx operating system to benefit from additional features. Be aware that unlike other RPM-based systems, the immutable MKEx-based Rocky image uses rpm-ostree to manage software.

To install MKEx using Kickstart:

Obtain a copy of the ostre-repo.tar.gz and host it in a normal http server.

Copy the following kickstart to a file and host it on the http server.

ostreesetup --nogpg --osname=mkex --remote=mkex
--url=<url-of-hosted-repo> --ref=mkex/8/x86_64/mke/3.7.0-devel
bootloader --append='rw'

%post --erroronfail
rm -f /etc/ostree/remotes.d/rockylinux.conf
ostree remote add --no-gpg-verify mkex <url-of-hosted-repo>
ostree config set 'sysroot.readonly' 'true'
%end

Boot an Anaconda installer ISO of your choosing.
During machine bootup, inject a cmdline parameter to instruct Anaconda to use the hosted kickstart. This can be done by editing the cmdline in the grub menu. When the grub screen displays, press the Tab key and append inst.ks=<url-of-hosted-kickstart>.

The machine should boot into the Anaconda installer and automatically install as per the Kickstart instructions.

Note

The Kickstart provided here is not complete, as it only contains what is required for rpm-ostree. Be aware that it may be necessary to add commands for networking, partitioning, adding users, setting root passwd, and so forth.