ReleaseEngineering/OPSI

Definitions

• OPSI Server - Serves opsi packages, instructs clients on which packages to install, remove, etc. This is a Linux machine (debian currently).
• OPSI Client - Runs on win32 machines. Runs right before the login prompt at boot and audits the system to make sure the packages are in the proper state. This is when new installations happen.
• OPSI Package - Contains to-be-installed files as well as installation instructions. Sources for these package are to be kept in version control. Packages themselves are kept on the OPSI Server.
• OPSI Config Editor - This is a Java app that is used to manage what is installed on which machines. It lets you schedule installations of packages, and see what is currently installed. (Other things too, but not all packages support them.)

Installing a package

• Open up the OPSI Config Editor
• Select a client or clients, click on "Product Configuration"
• Change the action to "setup" for anything you want to install.
• The package(s) will be installed at the next reboot.

Note: The state table under "Product Configuration" does not seem to work right. No matter what happens during the install of a package (whether it works or not) it will be considered "installed" afterwards.

Creating a package

Parts of the package

An OPSI package is built from a directory with a specific layout and set of files. These are kept in version control and should be reviewed before check in. The important files in the package are as follows:

• OPSI/control - This contains the metadata for a package: name, version number, path to install script, etc.
• CLIENT_DATA/packagename.ins - This is the meat of a package. All of the installation work and setup should be done here. It is written in a language called wInst which is fairly well documented.

Less commonly used files:

• OPSI/preinst - Executes before the installation script (shell)
• OPSI/postinst - Executes after the installation script (shell)

Any installers or files a package depends on should be placed in the CLIENT_DATA/ directory, too. That entire directory is downloaded to the client before the installation script executes. Files in it can be referenced from within the installation script.