Router Box Setup
Setting up the router box.
The router box hosts several VMs required for bootstrapping the Phoenix system:
- OpenWRT VM - Routing
- Deployment VM - Runs the Phoenix installer and serves as a bastion host
- Hedgehog VM - Network fabric management
This document will guide you through all the necessary steps to have a functional router box.
BIOS Configuration
BIOS Update
Update to v1.27 or higher if at a lower version.
Enable AMT (Intel Active Management Technology)
- Access BIOS setup screen
- Enter MEBx
- Enable by setting a complex password with special charaters, capital letters and numbers (default
admin:admin) - Access AMT Network Setup and set to a static IP that belongs to the BMC IP subnet.
Security Settings
- Secure Boot: Disabled during BIOS update and OS install phases, Enabled post-install
- Rest of defaults are ok
USB Drive Preparation
Prepare 2 USB drives:
USB 1: Ubuntu Server ISO
Download Ubuntu 24.04.3 Server:
https://ftp.rediris.es/sites/releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso
Make sure no partitions are mounted and flash the image to USB 1 with:
sudo dd if=/path/to/ubuntu-24.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
Note: replace X with the actual drive letter (a, b, c ...), e.g. /dev/sdb. You can use lsblk | grep sd to see the available USB sticks connected.
USB 2: Cloud-Init CIDATA Drive
user-data file
Create a user-data file similar to the following (adjust values as needed):
#cloud-config
autoinstall:
version: 1
early-commands:
- 'printf "letmein\nletmein" | sudo passwd ubuntu-server'
locale: en_GB.UTF-8
keyboard:
layout: us
user-data:
timezone: Asia/Tokyo
disable_root: false
network:
version: 2
ethernets:
# A working network at install time is required when
# - refresh-installer.update==true
# - updates==all
# - Any packages specified in the packages section
# - Any commands that needs network in late-commands section
# ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
# │ ROUTER BOX - REAR PANEL │
# │ │
# │ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ │
# │ │ SFP+ │ │ SFP+ │ │ RJ45 │ │ RJ45 │ │
# │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌───┐ │ │ ┌───┐ │ │
# │ │ ░░░░░ │ │ ░░░░░ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
# │ │ ░░░░░ │ │ ░░░░░ │ │ └───┘ │ │ └───┘ │ │
# │ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ │
# │ enp2s0f0np1 enp2s0f0np0 enp89s0 enp87s0 │
# │ │
# │ ◄─────────────────── LEFT TO RIGHT ───────────────────► │
# └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
enp2s0f1np1: { dhcp4: false, dhcp6: false, accept-ra: false, optional: true }
enp2s0f0np0: { dhcp4: false, dhcp6: false, accept-ra: false, optional: true }
enp89s0: { dhcp4: false, dhcp6: false, accept-ra: false }
enp87s0: { dhcp4: true, dhcp6: false, accept-ra: false, optional: true }
bridges:
virbr-libvirt:
dhcp4: false
dhcp6: false
accept-ra: false
# MAC format spec 'b2:1d:6e:' + last 3 octets of the physical bridged interface (stands for 'bR:Id:Ge')
macaddress: "b2:1d:6e:17:01:ab"
# the actual interface label will change if extra PCIe NIC is added
interfaces: [ enp89s0 ]
addresses:
- "192.168.7.2/24"
# the default route & nameserver IP is equivalent to the router-X BMC mgmt network IP
# we may want to add other router IP as secundary default route (weighted by route metric) and nameserver
routes:
- { to: default, via: 192.168.7.1 }
nameservers: { addresses: [ 192.168.7.1 ], search: [ "phoenix.bcn" ] }
ssh:
authorized-keys:
- 'ssh-ed25519 AAAA... your-key-here'
install-server: true
identity:
hostname: router-0-host
realname: 'Midokura Ubuntu'
username: ubuntu
# mkpasswd --method=sha-512 ${PASSWORD}
password: 'your-hashed-password-here'
storage:
grub:
reorder_uefi: false
swap:
size: 0
config:
- { type: disk, ptable: gpt, path: /dev/nvme0n1, wipe: superblock-recursive, preserve: false, name: '', grub_device: false, id: disk-nvme0n1 }
# EFI partition on nvme
- { type: partition, device: disk-nvme0n1, number: 1, size: 268435456, name: EFI, wipe: superblock, flag: boot, preserve: false, grub_device: true, id: partition-nvme0n1p1 }
- { type: format, volume: partition-nvme0n1p1, fstype: fat32, name: EFI, preserve: false, id: format-efi }
- { type: mount, path: /boot/efi, device: format-efi, id: mount-efi }
# root partition on nvme
- { type: partition, device: disk-nvme0n1, number: 2, size: -1, name: root, wipe: superblock, flag: '', preserve: false, grub_device: false, id: partition-nvme0n1p2 }
- { type: format, volume: partition-nvme0n1p2, fstype: ext4, name: root, preserve: false, id: format-root }
- { type: mount, path: /, device: format-root, id: mount-root }
refresh-installer:
update: true
updates: security
package_update: true
packages: [ lm-sensors, vim, curl, tree, bridge-utils, libvirt-clients, chrony, git, build-essential, unzip, file, qemu-kvm, libvirt-daemon-system, virtiofsd, virtinst, guestfs-tools, cloud-image-utils ]
late-commands:
- 'sed -i "s|GRUB_TIMEOUT=0|\0\nGRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT=3|" /target/etc/default/grub'
- 'sed -i "s|timeout=30|timeout=3|" /target/boot/grub/grub.cfg'
- curtin in-target --target=/target -- update-grub
- 'mkdir -p /target/root/.ssh'
- 'cp -ar /var/log/installer /target/root/'
- 'mkdir -p /target/etc/systemd/system/systemd-networkd-wait-online.service.d'
- 'echo "[Service]\nExecStart=\nExecStart=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-networkd-wait-online --any" > /target/etc/systemd/system/systemd-networkd-wait-online.service.d/override.conf'
Values to Customize:
identity.hostname- Set appropriate hostname (e.g.,router-0-host,router-1-host)identity.password- Generate withmkpasswd --method=sha-512 ${PASSWORD}network.bridges.virbr-libvirt.macaddress- Use formatb2:1d:6e:+ last 3 octets of the physical bridged interfacenetwork.bridges.virbr-libvirt.addresses- Set appropriate IP for the routernetwork.bridges.virbr-libvirt.routesandnameservers- Set to the router BMC management network IP
usb drive
Prepare a small USB drive with cloud-init configuration:
# Assuming an empty USB flash drive on /dev/sdX, as root:
parted /dev/sdX mklabel gpt
parted /dev/sdX mkpart CIDATA fat32 1MB 100%
mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n CIDATA -v /dev/sdX1
mkdir -p /mnt/usb
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/usb
cp user-data /mnt/usb/
touch /mnt/usb/meta-data
umount /mnt/usb
Installation
- Plug in both USB drives
- Ensure Secure Boot is disabled
- Boot from the Ubuntu installer USB
- The Ubuntu installer will auto-start and complete the unattended installation
For real devices with Internet connectivity, uncomment the packages and change updates sections in the user-data file to install additional packages during installation.
Creating the bastion0 virtual machine
The bastion0 VM will be used to bootstrap and deploy all components from the Phoenix environment. To set it up you just need to execute:
LIBVIRT_DIR=/var/lib/libvirt/images
MGMT_ROUTER_IP=192.168.33.251
MGMT_DEPLOYMENT_IP=192.168.33.250
# Download the cloud image
sudo wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img \
-O $LIBVIRT_DIR/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img
cat > user-data <<EOF
#cloud-config
hostname: bastion0
user: ubuntu
ssh_authorized_keys:
- ssh-rsa AAAA... your-key-here
package_update: true
packages:
- python3
- python3-pip
- python3-venv
write_files:
- path: /etc/netplan/99-custom-dns.yaml
content: |
network:
version: 2
ethernets:
eth0:
dhcp4: false
addresses:
- $MGMT_DEPLOYMENT_IP/24
routes:
- { to: default, via: $MGMT_ROUTER_IP }
nameservers:
addresses: [$MGMT_ROUTER_IP, 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4] # First IP being OpenWRT router0
search: [example.com]
EOF
touch meta-data
sudo cloud-localds $LIBVIRT_DIR/cloud-init.iso user-data meta-data
# Create a 128GB disk from the cloud image
sudo qemu-img create \
-f qcow2 -F qcow2 \
-b $LIBVIRT_DIR/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img $LIBVIRT_DIR/ubuntu-noble-vm.qcow2 128G
# Create the VM
sudo virt-install \
--name deployment0 \
--vcpus 2 \
--memory 4096 \
--disk $LIBVIRT_DIR/ubuntu-noble-vm.qcow2,device=disk \
--disk $LIBVIRT_DIR/cloud-init.iso,device=cdrom \
--network bridge=virbr-libvirt \
--os-variant ubuntu24.04 \
--import \
--graphics vnc,listen=0.0.0.0 \
--console pty,target_type=serial \
--noautoconsole