The manifest file is the primary way to interact with bootstrap-vz. Every configuration and customization of a Debian installation is specified in this file.
The manifest format is YAML or JSON. It is near impossible to run the bootstrapper with an invalid configuration, since every part of the framework supplies a json-schema that specifies exactly which configuration settings are valid in different situations.
Many of the settings in the example manifests use strings like
debian-{system.release}-{system.architecture}-{{"{%y"}}}{{"{%m"}}}{{"{%d"}}}
.
These strings make use of manifest variables, which can cross reference
other settings in the manifest or specific values supplied by the
bootstrapper (e.g. all python date formatting variables are available).
Any reference uses dots to specify a path to the desired manifest
setting. Not all settings support this though, to see whether embedding
a manifest variable in a setting is possible, look for the
manifest vars
label.
The manifest is split into 7 sections.
Single string property that specifies the name of the image.
name
: The name of the resulting image. When bootstrapping cloud images, this would be the name visible in the interface when booting up new instances. When bootstrapping for VirtualBox or kvm, it's the filename of the image.required
manifest vars
Example:
---
name: debian-{system.release}-{system.architecture}-{%Y}-{%m}-{%d}-ebs
The provider section contains all provider specific settings and the name of the provider itself.
name
: target virtualization platform of the installationrequired
Consult the providers section of the documentation for a list of valid values.
Example:
---
provider:
name: ec2
This section concerns the bootstrapper itself and its behavior. There are 4 possible settings:
workspace
: Path to where the bootstrapper should place images and intermediate files. Any volumes will be mounted under that path.required
tarball
: debootstrap has the option to download all the software and pack it up in a tarball. When starting the actual bootstrapping process, debootstrap can then be pointed at that tarball and use it instead of downloading anything from the internet. If you plan on running the bootstrapper multiple times, this option can save you a lot of bandwidth and time. This option just specifies whether it should create a new tarball or not. It will search for and use an available tarball if it already exists, regardless of this setting.optional
Valid values:true, false
Default:false
mirror
: The mirror debootstrap should download software from. It is advisable to specify a mirror close to your location (or the location of the host you are bootstrapping on), to decrease latency and improve bandwidth. If not specified, the configured aptitude mirror URL is used.optional
include_packages
: Extra packages to be installed during bootstrap. Accepts a list of package names.optional
exclude_packages
: Packages to exclude during bootstrap phase. Accepts a list of package names.optional
variant
: Debian variant to install. The only supported value isminbase
and should only be used in conjunction with the Docker provider. Not specifying this option will result in a normal Debian variant being bootstrapped.
Example:
---
bootstrapper:
workspace: /target
tarball: true
mirror: http://deb.debian.org/debian/
include_packages:
- whois
- psmisc
exclude_packages:
- isc-dhcp-client
- isc-dhcp-common
variant: minbase
This section defines anything that pertains directly to the bootstrapped system and does not fit under any other section.
architecture
: The architecture of the system. Valid values:i386, amd64
required
bootloader
: The bootloader for the system. Depending on the bootmethod of the virtualization platform, the options may be restricted. Valid values:grub, extlinux, pv-grub
required
charmap
: The default charmap of the system. Valid values: Any valid charmap likeUTF-8
,ISO-8859-
orGBK
.required
hostname
: hostname to preconfigure the system with.optional
locale
: The default locale of the system. Valid values: Any locale mentioned in/etc/locale.gen
required
release
: Defines which debian release should be bootstrapped. Valid values:squeeze
,wheezy
,jessie
,sid
,oldstable
,stable
,testing
,unstable
required
timezone
: Timezone of the system. Valid values: Any filename from/usr/share/zoneinfo
required
Example:
---
system:
release: jessie
architecture: amd64
bootloader: extlinux
charmap: UTF-8
hostname: jessie x86_64
locale: en_US
timezone: UTC
The packages section allows you to install custom packages from a variety of sources.
install
: A list of strings that specify which packages should be installed. Valid values: Package names optionally followed by a/target
or paths to local.deb
files. Note that packages are installed in the order they are listed. The installer invocations are bundled by package type (remote or local), meaning if you install two local packages, then two remote packages and then another local package, there will be two calls todpkg -i ...
and a single call toapt-get install ...
.install_standard
: Defines if the packages of the"Standard System Utilities"
option of the Debian installer, provided by tasksel, should be installed or not. The problem is that with justdebootstrap
, the system ends up with very basic commands. This is not a problem for a machine that will not be used interactively, but otherwise it is nice to have at hand tools likebash-completion
,less
,locate
, etc.optional
Valid values:true
,false
Default:false
mirror
: The default aptitude mirror.optional
Default:http://deb.debian.org/debian/
sources
: A map of additional sources that should be added to the aptitude sources list. The key becomes the filename in/etc/apt/sources.list.d/
(with.list
appended to it), except formain
, which designates/etc/apt/sources.list
. The value is an array with each entry being a line.optional
components
: A list of components that should be added to the default apt sources. For examplecontrib
ornon-free
optional
Default:['main']
trusted-keys
: List of paths to.gpg
keyrings that should be added to the aptitude keyring of trusted signatures for repositories.optional
apt.conf.d
: A map ofapt.conf(5)
configuration snippets. The key become the filename in/etc/apt/apt.conf.d
, exceptmain
which designates/etc/apt/apt.conf
. The value is a string in theapt.conf(5)
syntax.optional
preferences
: Allows you to pin packages through apt preferences. The setting is an object where the key is the preference filename in/etc/apt/preferences.d/
. The keymain
is special and refers to the file/etc/apt/preferences
, which will be overwritten if specified.optional
The values are objects with three keys:package
: The package to pin (wildcards allowed)pin
: The release to pin the package to.pin-priority
: The priority of this pin.
Example:
---
packages:
install:
- /root/packages/custom_app.deb
- puppet
install_standard: true
mirror: http://cloudfront.debian.net/debian
sources:
puppet:
- deb http://apt.puppetlabs.com wheezy main dependencies
components:
- contrib
- non-free
trusted-keys:
- /root/keys/puppet.gpg
apt.conf.d:
00InstallRecommends: >-
APT::Install-Recommends "false";
APT::Install-Suggests "false";
00IPv4: 'Acquire::ForceIPv4 "false";'
preferences:
main:
- package: *
pin: release o=Debian, n=wheezy
pin-priority: 800
- package: *
pin: release o=Debian Backports, a=wheezy-backports, n=wheezy-backports
pin-priority: 760
- package: puppet puppet-common
pin: version 2.7.25-1puppetlabs1
pin-priority: 840
bootstrap-vz allows a wide range of options for configuring the disk layout of the system. It can create unpartitioned as well as partitioned volumes using either the gpt or msdos scheme. At most, there are only three partitions with predefined roles configurable though. They are boot, root and swap.
backing
: Specifies the volume backing. This setting is very provider specific. Valid values:ebs
,s3
,vmdk
,vdi
,raw
required
partitions
: A map of the partitions that should be created on the volume.type
: The partitioning scheme to use. When usingnone
, only root can be specified as a partition. Valid values:none
,gpt
,msdos
required
root
: Configuration of the root partition.required
size
: The size of the partition. Valid values: Any datasize specification up to TB (e.g. 5KiB, 1MB, 6TB).required
filesystem
: The filesystem of the partition. When choosingxfs
, thexfsprogs
package will need to be installed. Valid values:ext2
,ext3
,ext4
,xfs
required
format_command
: Command to format the partition with. This optional setting overrides the command bootstrap-vz would normally use to format the partition. The command is specified as a string array where each option/argument is an item in that array (much like the commands plugin).optional
The following variables are available:{fs}
: The filesystem of the partition.{device_path}
: The device path of the partition.{size}
: The size of the partition.{mount_opts}
: Options to mount the partition with. This optional setting overwrites the default option list bootstrap-vz would normally use to mount the partiton (defaults). The List is specified as a string array where each option/argument is an item in that array.optional
Here some examples:nodev
nosuid
noexec
journal_ioprio=3
The default command used by boostrap-vz is
['mkfs.{fs}', '{device_path}']
.boot
: Configuration of the boot partition. All settings equal those of the root partition.optional
swap
: Configuration of the swap partition. Since the swap partition has its own filesystem you can only specify the size for this partition.optional
additional_path
: Configuration of additional partitions. (e.g. /var/tmp) All settings equal those of the root partition.
Example:
---
volume:
backing: vdi
partitions:
type: msdos
boot:
filesystem: ext2
size: 32MiB
root:
filesystem: ext4
size: 864MiB
swap:
size: 128MiB
The plugins section is a map of plugin names to whatever configuration a plugin requires. Go to the plugin section of the documentation, to see the configuration for a specific plugin.
Example:
---
plugins:
minimize_size:
zerofree: true
shrink: true