Massive rollout configs?

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twister5800
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Massive rollout configs?

Post by twister5800 »

Hi,

Lets says i have hundred RPI's, and I want all the devie to network boot, and get the same config, as now I have to go to each of them in configurator, and create a config file.

it must be me, but is there a feature, so that every new Rpi connected just uses another default template config, without me crating a new one 100 times?

Best regards
Martin :-)
aka
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by aka »

RPi boot from SD, it stores configuration. How do you suggest to make RPi will get this default config without rewriting this SD?
twister5800
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by twister5800 »

I just want them all to connect to a farm when connected. Do I have to create a config from each of them then in configurator?
J1mbo
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by J1mbo »

You need to create the SD card manually as that contains effectively the PXE boot code (which the RPi lacks). Then you need to create a policy template in wtware, boot up all the RPis via network boot, then drag the template onto each and reboot. It is a one-time thing but it would be better if the wtware console could dish out a default policy, if there isn't one set. And update the config.txt on the RPi with some defaults too :)
aka
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by aka »

If there's no individual configuration file, it's the mark, that terminal is not configured. It's good for beginners. New terminal gives the instructions, where to go and what to do next.
You can save all the settings into Everyone\all.wtc (default policy) and then create empty configuration files to make terminal not to show "Configuration manual". In Windows configurator empty configuration file is created by one click, when terminal tried to boot and was added into configurator terminal list.
Also read comments in Everyone\list.wtc. You may add there only line with MAC-address and nothing more. Then terminal decides that it has already been configured and will not enter into unconfigured mode.
twister5800
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by twister5800 »

Thanks to both :-)

I know I have to prepare the SD-card, so far so good - that can not be avoided.

Now I know i can add the MAC to the list.wtc and configure them that way.

The perfect scenario for me could be:

1) prepare sd card on all new Rpi's
2) When a NEW Rpi is booted and has no config, the configurator can deploy default setup on them, with having to add mac to list.wtc and drag a template onto it.

I have this working with the eLux product, customer got 70 terminals delivered at the store, they just set them up themselves and turned on, all was given a predefined config, with access to corporate terminal server, and i did'nt have to do anything :-)

That could be great.

As I wrote earlier, the SD'cards have to be prepared anyway, do to the nature of the RPi (no bios), but beyond that, it would be a great feature if wtware was able to do that :-)
aka
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by aka »

May be you'll suggest us what to do with new users, for whom we try to make it simpler, to give the instruction how to create terminal config file at start. What you mean is easy - we just need to create empty configs when TFTP or DHCP sees new terminal. Then such terminal will use settings from all.wtc. But it is a mark, that user needs to configure such terminal. It's not so often that all the terminals in network need the same configs as you need. And user should be stated, where and how he can do config for this new terminal.
J1mbo
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by J1mbo »

It would be nice to have the option, per-subnet ideally, to set a default profile for 'unknown' terminals. If nothing else, users can then change a faulty terminal without further input from IT. Of course this function might not be needed nor preferred in all situations.
twister5800
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by twister5800 »

J1mbo wrote:It would be nice to have the option, per-subnet ideally, to set a default profile for 'unknown' terminals. If nothing else, users can then change a faulty terminal without further input from IT. Of course this function might not be needed nor preferred in all situations.
aka, I understand your point of view, but as J1mbo wrote above - this is exactly what I need, taken from real life experience! :-) - none the less- the software is perfect :-)
aka
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by aka »

Ok, we started moving in this direction. Changes will be. Thanks for your ideas.
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by aka »

Hello.

We've just released a new version, that will help you to have default configurations for terminals groups.

Group is specified by subnet IP and mask. You create config from this group, i.e. for terminals from this subnet, and when new terminal boots and there's no configuration for it on server, then TFTP will download config for this group, default individual configuration file for all the new unconfigured terminals in selected subnet.

In directory "Everyone" now you can find file "default.wtc". It's the file to specify needed groups by subnet. Please, read comments there.

Also there's new interface in Configurator Utilities - list of groups.
Here you add new group:
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And here you create config for it:
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Also there's group "All". You may create config for all terminals, that are not from subnets for specified groups.

We hope it will solve your issue about default configurations for new terminals in subnet.
J1mbo
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by J1mbo »

This looks great, thank you for posting!
twister5800
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by twister5800 »

Perfect! - THANKS so happy about it, sorry for not letting you guys know before!

Nothing big, but here is a litle typo in the text :-)
typo.png
typo.png (19.41 KiB) Viewed 17020 times
Br. Martin
Last edited by twister5800 on Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
akatik
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by akatik »

Thanks, fixed it. Will be in the next version.
twister5800
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Re: Massive rollout configs?

Post by twister5800 »

Great! - and quick response too!
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