Hello MAASters!
We are happy to announce MAAS 2.6.0beta 1. This release introduces new and exciting features and UI improvements.
Important announcements
PXE booting leveraging HTTP
MAAS 2.6 changes the default underlying mechanism by which machines obtain files over the PXE boot process. For amd64 legacy mode, MAAS will now only download lpxelinux.0 over TFTP and the rest of the files and config via HTTP. For amd64 grub, MAAS 2.6 will support HTTP although its currently done over TFTP. arm64 is expected to work the same way as amd64, and ppc64el already uses HTTP to download kernel and initrd.
The major change, however, is for Virtual Machines on amd64, in which we know rely entirely on iPXE to do HTTP boot.
The section below details the changes now available.
New features & improvements
Improving the MAAS PXE boot process with HTTP
MAAS has always relied on TFTP to support the PXE boot process. Starting from 2.5 we started transitioning some of the boot process to use HTTP rather than full TFTP. Doing so significantly increases the boot speed and performance, provided that TFTP is a slow protocol in comparison to HTTP.
HTTP boot for EFI/grub
As of MAAS 2.6b1, partial HTTP boot is supported. This means that the grub rom will be obtained via TFTP, and the kernel and initrd will be obtained over HTTP.
MAAS will support booting EFI completely over HTTP, but currently there’s a bug in grub which prevents MAAS from fully supporting that.
ARM64
As of MAAS 2.6b1, ARM64 now also defaults to using HTTP for kernel and the initrd.
ESXi vCenter registration
MAAS 2.6b1 now adds the ability for ESXi deployments to automatically register themselves into a vCenter. This is done in several ways, that is by baking the credentials into the images, or by providing the credentials to the machine via MAAS.
With the latter approach, MAAS now has the ability to store vCenter credentials (which should be scoped down to only have permissions to register new ESXi hosts), which are provided to the machine during the deployment process. The hosts will then use these credentials to register themselves.
For more information about ESXi in MAAS, please contact Canonical at https://maas.io/contact-us .
Better boot process output
MAAS 2.6b1 introduces a better boot process output. MAAS has cues in which it allows users to better understand the machine deployment process. In MAAS 2.6b1, we are improving the process output which will yield a better insight of where machines are throughout the deployment and releasing process.
Further work will provide better insight for other states, such as commissioning and hardware testing.
UI - add Note (description)
Now it is possible for administrators to add a note to the machine. This is currently exposed under the ‘Configuration’ tab of the machine details page.
Bug fixes
For other issues or bugs fixed in this release, please refer to:
| Bug # | Description |
|---|---|
| LP: #1818932 | Websocket response time for machine.list too slow |
| LP: #1823105 | TFTP file transfer fails when no options are given |
| LP: #1824548 | [2.6, master] ARM64 cannot find linuxefi and initrdefi |
| LP: #1813276 | [2.5, UI, regression] Locked machine node name disappears from GUI |
| LP: #1822172 | [2.6a2, UI] In table actions - can’t release a machine in ‘allocated’ state |
| LP: #1823014 | [UI] Hardware tests dropdown showing parts of tags dropdown |
| LP: #1823018 | [UI] Tags dropdown not working as designed |
| LP: #1812360 | No support for double output to serial console on qemu-kvm s390x |
| LP: #1778744 | Default images should be downloaded for running architecture |
| LP: #1813019 | [feature] clearing storage and network config requires many slow api calls |
| LP: #1823033 | [2.5, ui] On switching to images tab unwarranted updates warning shown |
https://launchpad.net/maas/+milestone/2.6.0beta1
Availability
MAAS 2.6.0~beta1 is available in the following PPA:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:maas/next
sudo apt install maas