How to Install Cobbler on Windows 10

Cobbler is an open-source installation server that allows for the automatic installation of operating systems on client machines. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Cobbler on a Windows 10 machine.

Prerequisites

Before installing Cobbler, make sure that you have the following prerequisites installed:

• Git for Windows (https://git-scm.com/download/win)
• Python 2.7 (https://www.python.org/downloads/)

Installing Cobbler

Follow the steps below to install Cobbler on Windows 10:

1. Open Git Bash, which is installed with Git for Windows.
2. Clone the Cobbler repository from GitHub by running the following command:

git clone https://github.com/cobbler/cobbler.git

3. Navigate to the cloned repository by running the following command:

cd cobbler

4. Install Cobbler by running the following command:

python setup.py install

5. Verify that Cobbler has been installed correctly by running the following command:

cobbler check

If the output of the command is "No configuration problems found", then Cobbler has been installed correctly.

Configuring Cobbler

After installing Cobbler, you need to configure it before you can start using it. Follow the steps below to configure Cobbler:

1. Copy the default configuration files by running the following command:

sudo cp /etc/cobbler/settings{,.orig}
sudo cp /etc/cobbler/dhcp.template{,.orig}
sudo cp /etc/cobbler/pxe/pxedefault.template{,.orig}

2. Edit the settings file by running the following command:

sudo nano /etc/cobbler/settings

Change the following settings in the file:

• server: Set this to the IP address of your Windows 10 machine.
• next_server: Set this to the IP address of your Windows 10 machine.
• manage_dhcp: Set this to 1.
• pxe_just_once: Set this to 1.

3. Save and close the file by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.
4. Edit the DHCP configuration file by running the following command:

sudo nano /etc/cobbler/dhcp.template

Change the following settings in the file:

• Replace subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 with the subnet and netmask of your network.
• Replace option routers 192.168.1.1; with the IP address of your router.
• Replace option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.1; with the IP address of your DNS server.

5. Save and close the file by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.
6. Edit the PXE default configuration file by running the following command:

sudo nano /etc/cobbler/pxe/pxedefault.template

Change the following settings in the file:

• Replace kernel /images/centos5-x86_64/vmlinuz with the path to the kernel file for the operating system you want to install.
• Replace append initrd=/images/centos5-x86_64/initrd.img with the path to the initrd file for the operating system you want to install.

7. Save and close the file by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.
8. Restart the Cobbler service by running the following command:

sudo systemctl restart cobblerd.service

9. Synchronize the Cobbler configuration by running the following command:

sudo cobbler sync

10. Start the Cobbler web interface by running the following command:

sudo systemctl start cobblerd.service
sudo systemctl start httpd.service

11. Open your web browser and go to http://localhost/cobbler_web. You should see the Cobbler web interface.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed and configured Cobbler on Windows 10. You can now use Cobbler to automate the installation of operating systems on client machines.