Automated Quick Start Guide

You need two VMs (LPARs): one bastion host and one SNO node. Both must have internet access and static IP addresses assigned before starting.

Required Access & Accounts

• Root access on the bastion host
• Passwordless SSH from bastion to HMC (required for lpar_netboot)
• Red Hat pull secret – download from cloud.redhat.com
• Internet access from both VMs (or a configured mirror registry)

Ansible Playbook Flow

The main playbook (playbooks/main.yaml) runs these roles in sequence:

You can also run each step individually using the step-N-*.yaml playbooks.

Clone the ocp4-ai-power repository to your bastion host:

git clone https://github.com/ocp-power-automation/ocp4-ai-power.git
cd ocp4-ai-power/ansible-bastion

Run the Bastion Preparation Script

The prepare-bastion.sh script (included in the repository root) installs all required packages, Ansible, Ansible collections, and sets up the PXE TFTP directory:

cd ..
sudo bash prepare-bastion.sh
cd ansible-bastion

Setup Passwordless SSH to HMC

The Ansible playbook uses lpar_netboot via SSH to the HMC. Configure passwordless access:

# Generate SSH key if not already present
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048 -N '' -C 'BASTION-SSHKEY' -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa

# Add the public key to HMC (replace  and )
ssh @
mkauthkeys -a "$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)"

Save Pull Secret

mkdir -p ~/.openshift
# Paste your pull secret from cloud.redhat.com
vi ~/.openshift/pull-secret

Copy the example vars file and edit it for your environment:

cp example-vars.yaml vars.yaml
vi vars.yaml

Key Variables for SNO Installation

Set install_type: sno and configure the following variables:

Minimal SNO vars.yaml Example

helper:
  name: "helper"
  ipaddr: "9.47.87.83"          # Bastion IP

dns:
  domain: "ocp.io"
  clusterid: "sno"
  forwarder1: "9.9.9.9"
  forwarder2: "8.8.4.4"

dhcp:
  router: "9.47.95.254"
  netmask: "255.255.240.0"
  subnet: "9.47.80.0/20"

masters:
  - name: "sno-82"
    ipaddr: "9.47.87.82"
    macaddr: "fa:b0:45:27:43:20"
    pvmcec: "Server-9080-HEX-SN786E288"
    pvmlpar: "sno-lpar-name"
    disk: /dev/sda

pvm_hmc: hscroot@9.1.2.3

install_type: sno

rhcos_arch: "ppc64le"
rhcos_rhcos_base: "4.13"
rhcos_rhcos_tag: "latest"

ocp_client_base: "ocp"
ocp_client_tag: "latest-4.13"

workdir: "/home/cloud-user/ocp4-sno"
log_level: info

Option A – Full Automated Run (Recommended)

Run the complete end-to-end playbook from the ansible-bastion directory:

cd ansible-bastion
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/main.yaml

This single command will:

1. Set up all bastion services (dnsmasq, httpd, haproxy, tftp)
2. Download RHCOS images and OCP binaries
3. Generate the SNO install-config.yaml and ignition file
4. Trigger network boot of the SNO LPAR via lpar_netboot on HMC
5. Set the boot order to disk after installation
6. Monitor the installation until completion

Option B – Step-by-Step Playbooks

If you prefer to run each phase individually (e.g. for troubleshooting or partial re-runs):

cd ansible-bastion

# Step 1: Setup bastion services (DNS, DHCP, PXE, HTTP)
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/step-1-setup-services.yaml

# Step 2: Generate ignition config
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/step-2-create-ignition.yaml

# Step 3: Network boot the SNO LPAR via HMC
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/step-3-netboot-nodes.yaml

# Step 4: Monitor installation progress
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/step-4-monitor.yaml

Option C – Day 1 Setup Only (No Boot/Monitor)

To only set up bastion services and generate the ignition file (without triggering the network boot):

ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/setup-day1.yaml

If you ran the full main.yaml playbook, monitoring is included automatically. If you ran step-by-step, use step-4-monitor.yaml or monitor manually:

Using openshift-install (from workdir)

# Wait for bootstrap to complete
cd /home/cloud-user/ocp4-sno   # your workdir
./openshift-install wait-for bootstrap-complete --log-level=info

# Wait for full installation to complete
./openshift-install wait-for install-complete --log-level=info

Using oc CLI

export KUBECONFIG=/home/cloud-user/ocp4-sno/auth/kubeconfig

# Check node status
oc get nodes

# Check cluster version / installation progress
oc get clusterversion

# Check cluster operators (all Available=True when done)
oc get co

# Check pod status
oc get pod -A

After a successful installation, cluster credentials are stored in /auth/:

• kubeconfig – kubeconfig file for CLI access
• kubeadmin-password – password for the kubeadmin user

CLI Access

# Set kubeconfig (adjust workdir path)
export KUBECONFIG=/home/cloud-user/ocp4-sno/auth/kubeconfig

# Or login with kubeadmin
oc login https://api.sno.ocp.io:6443 \
  -u kubeadmin \
  -p $(cat /home/cloud-user/ocp4-sno/auth/kubeadmin-password)

oc cluster-info
oc get nodes

Web Console

https://console-openshift-console.apps.sno.ocp.io

Login with user kubeadmin and the password from /auth/kubeadmin-password.

Download oc CLI

• Linux (ppc64le)
• Linux (x86_64)
• Mac OSX
• Windows

Re-run a Specific Step

If a step fails, fix the issue and re-run only that step playbook:

# Re-run services setup only
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/step-1-setup-services.yaml

# Re-run ignition generation only
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/step-2-create-ignition.yaml

Check Ansible Logs

# Run with verbose output
ansible-playbook -e @vars.yaml playbooks/main.yaml -vvv 2>&1 | tee ansible-run.log

Check Service Status on Bastion

systemctl status dnsmasq
systemctl status httpd
# Verify DNS resolution
dig api.sno.ocp.io @localhost
# Verify HTTP server
curl http://localhost:8000/ignition/master-sno.ign | head -c 100

Check OpenShift Installer Logs

cat /home/cloud-user/ocp4-sno/.openshift_install.log | tail -50