NAME

shoelaces - automated server bootstrapping

SYNOPSIS

shoelaces [options...]

OPTIONS

-base-url <string>

Optional parameter. Specifies the base address that will be used when generating URLs. If it's not specified, the value of "-bind-addr" will be used.

-bind-addr <host:port>

The address where Shoelaces will listen for requests. Defaults to "localhost:8081".

-config <config>

Specifies a config file. All the following options can be specified in the config.

-data-dir <directory>

Specifies a directory with mappings, configs, templates, etc.

-debug

Enables debug mode.

-env-dir <directory>

Specifies a directory with environment overrides. Refer to the README of the project for more information about environment overrides.

-mappings-file <file>

Specifies a mappings YAML file. Defaults to "mappings.yaml". Refer to the README of the project for more information about mappings.

-static-dir <directory>

Specifies a custom web directory with static files. Defaults to "web".

-template-extension <extension>

Shoelaces template extension. Defaults to ".slc".

DESCRIPTION

Shoelaces serves over HTTP iPXE boot scripts, cloud-init configuration, and any other configuration files to baremetal or virtual machines booting using iPXE. It also does a few other things to make easier managing server deployments:

Has a simple but nice UI to show the current configuration, and history of servers that booted.
Uses Go templates to handle complex configurations.
Allows specifying the boot entry point for a given server based on its IP address or DNS PTR record.
Supports the notion of environments for Development and Production environment configurations, while trying to minimize template duplication.
Puts unknown servers into iPXE script boot retry loop, while at the same time showing them in the UI allowing the user to select a specific boot configuration.

Shoelaces is better when used along a DHCP server. Refer to the CONFIGURATION section for examples on how to configure a DHCP server for hooking it with Shoelaces.

CONFIGURATION

Shoelaces searches for a config file whenever the -config flag is specified.

Here is example config file:

bind-addr=localhost:8081
data-dir=/etc/shoelaces/data-dir/
template-extension=.slc
mappings-file=mappings.yaml
debug=true

dhcpd(8) can be hooked with Shoelaces by adding the following snippet in dhcpd.conf(5):

# dhcp.conf
next-server <your-tftp-server>;
if exists user-class and option user-class = "iPXE" {
  filename "http://<shoelaces-server>/start";
} else {
  filename "undionly.kpxe";
}

Similarly, dnsmasq(8) can be configured for working with Shoelaces with the following snippet:

dhcp-match=set:ipxe,175 # iPXE sends a 175 option.
dhcp-boot=tag:!ipxe,undionly.kpxe
dhcp-boot=http://<shoelaces-server>/start

A TFTP server such as tftpd(8) must be configured to serve the iPXE executable, undionly.kpxe.

AUTHORS

Maintained by ThousandEyes Inc. <opensource@thousandeyes.com>.

Up-to-date sources can be found at https://github.com/thousandeyes/shoelaces.