maas-devel team mailing list archive

[Andres Rodriguez <andres.rodriguez@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm happy to annouce that MAAS 2.1.0 Alpha 1 has been released.

*Availability*
MAAS 2.1.0 Alpha 1 has been made available in:

*ppa:maas/next*

*Filing bugs*
Users can file bugs in [1], please use a prefix for the subject, such as [
2.1].

[1] https://bugs.launchpad.net/maas/+filebug

*Release Notes*

2.1.0 Alpha 1
Major new features

   -

   Offline deployment - Ubuntu Derived & Additional repositories

MAAS 2.1.0 alpha 1 improves its offline deployment capabilities by adding
support for Ubuntu Derived repositories, PPA’s and Custom repositories.
This enables MAAS to configure deployed machines with the correct APT
repositories and keyrings, without being dependent on Internet connectivity:


   -

   Ubuntu Derived Repositories (from an Ubuntu Mirror)

MAAS 2.0 and earlier versions only allowed users to change the Ubuntu
Archive to use, for the lifecycle (enlistment, commissioning, deployment).
This was limited to only defining the location of the repository.

There repositories, are repositories that are based on an Ubuntu mirror,
but due to its nature, have been resigned with a different key.  As such,
MAAS now allow users to also provide the GPG key fingerprint. This key is
added to the APT keyring, and allows machines to seamlessly authenticate
against the derived repository.


   -

   PPA’s

MAAS now adds the ability to define PPA’s. Similarly to the Ubuntu derived
repositories, if the machine doesn’t have direct access to the keyserver to
obtain the APT key for validation, the user will be able to define the GPG
Key fingerprint so that it gets added to the APT keyring, and the machine
can validate against the PPA.


   -

   Custom repositories

MAAS 2.1.0 alpha 1 also adds the ability to define custom repositories.
Being able to define custom repositories allows users the flexibility to
add their repositories that have been customized. As such, users will be
able to provide the distribution and component for their repository. As an
example, users would be able to add the Google Chrome repository:

deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main

And define the distribution (in the above example, it is stable) and
the component(s)
(in the above example, it is main).

In order to use this feature, you can refer to:


   -

   The Web UI, under the “Settings” tab, you will find a sub-tab called
   “Package repositories”
   -

   The API, for the PackageRepositories endpoint.
   -

   The CLI, under package-repositories endpoint.


NOTE: Supporting derived, PPA’s and custom repositories is dependent on
Curtin and Cloud-init. As such, this feature will be fully utilized when
using the latest version of cloud-init in the MAAS images. Cloud-init will
be SRU’d to previous releases in order to support the feature. In the
meantime, this feature is limited to only Yakkety deployments and won’t
affect commissioning.


   -

   Advanced Networking - Static Routes

MAAS 2.1 alpha 1 introduces the ability to define static routes. This
allows administrators to configure the subnets that can be reached from the
source subnet. As such, MAAS allows administrators to define routes, per
subnet, with a gateway IP, destination and the metric.

   -

   In the WebUI, you can find the Static Routes configuration under the
   Subnet Details Page.
   -

   In the API/CLI, you can find the static-routes endpoint.



   -

   Machine Networking - Bridge Configuration

MAAS has now expanded its machine network configuration capabilities and
supports the creation of bridge interfaces. This support is limited to the
ability to create a bridge against a single interface.


   -

   Automatic bridge creation on all configured interfaces can also be
   performed at allocation time over the API. Use the “bridge_all” option to
   have MAAS automatically create bridges on all interfaces. This would be
   useful if administrators or users would like to create bridges for all
   physical interfaces.



   -

   Maintenance - Rescue Mode

MAAS has now added a new state in the lifecycle of a machine. This new
state is Rescue Mode. Rescue mode allows users to put a Deployed or a
Broken machine in ephemeral state (Ubuntu running on Memory) so that they
can rescue their machines. This is similar to running Ubuntu from USB stick
to fix the underlying OS.
Minor new features

   -

   Disk erasing improvements & Secure erase

Since MAAS 1.7, MAAS supported the ability to erase disks on machine
release. This support was limited to erasing the whole disk and could only
be enabled (or disabled) globally.

As of 2.1.0 alpha1, MAAS now supports the ability to select between
different options, as well as have the ability to select this per machine,
on release. The options are:

   -

   Secure erase. If this option is enabled, MAAS will attempt to erase via
   secure erase (if the hard drives support it), otherwise, it will perform a
   full erase or a quick erase (depending on the options provided).
   -

   Quick erase. If this option is enabled, MAAS will only wipe the
   beginning and the end of the storage devices.



   -

   Machine Networking - SR-IOV Auto Tagging and Tags WebUI

MAAS 2.1 alpha 1 has improved the WebUI for the Machine Networking
configuration, and as such, it now allows the definition of tags per
network interface via the WebUI. Additionally, MAAS also attempts
auto-detects and tag SR-IOV NIC cards.
Ongoing work

   -

   Improved IPv6 Support
   -

   MAAS Services - NTP
   -

   MAAS Image Consolidation
   -

   Support for Low Latency Kernels
   -

   Support for HWE Rolling Kernels

Known issues and workarounds

   -

   MAAS Service Tracking incorrectly reporting some services are not
   operational, however, this doesn’t affect operations.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/maas/+bug/1615618


   -

   Can’t deploy CentOS images. The new version of curtin is required in
   MAAS 2.1, which is not yet supported by CentOS images.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/curtin/+bug/1617375


-- 
Andres Rodriguez
Engineering Manager, MAAS
Canonical USA, Inc.