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Zero Touch Provisioning - ZTP

Zero touch provisioning (ZTP) enables you to deploy network devices quickly in large-scale environments. On first boot, Cumulus Linux invokes ZTP, which executes the provisioning automation used to deploy the device for its intended role in the network.

The provisioning framework allows for a one-time, user-provided script to be executed. You can develop this script using a variety of automation tools and scripting languages, providing ample flexibility for you to design the provisioning scheme to meet your needs. You can also use it to add the switch to a configuration management (CM) platform such as Puppet, Chef, CFEngine or possibly a custom, proprietary tool.

While developing and testing the provisioning logic, you can use the ztp command in Cumulus Linux to manually invoke your provisioning script on a device.

ZTP in Cumulus Linux can occur automatically in one of the following ways, in this order:

  1. Through a local file
  2. Using a USB drive inserted into the switch (ZTP-USB)
  3. Through DHCP

Each method is discussed in greater detail below.

Use a Local File

ZTP only looks once for a ZTP script on the local file system when the switch boots. ZTP searches for an install script that matches an ONIE-style waterfall in /var/lib/cumulus/ztp, looking for the most specific name first, and ending at the most generic:

  • 'cumulus-ztp-' + architecture + '-' + vendor + '_' + model + '-r' + revision
  • 'cumulus-ztp-' + architecture + '-' + vendor + '_' + model
  • 'cumulus-ztp-' + vendor + '_' + model
  • 'cumulus-ztp-' + architecture
  • 'cumulus-ztp'

For example:

cumulus-ztp-amd64-cel_pebble-rUNKNOWN
cumulus-ztp-amd64-cel_pebble
cumulus-ztp-cel_pebble
cumulus-ztp-amd64
cumulus-ztp

You can also trigger the ZTP process manually by running the ztp --run <URL> command, where the URL is the path to the ZTP script.

Use a USB Drive

This feature has been tested only with thumb drives, not an actual external large USB hard drive.

If the ztp process does not discover a local script, it tries once to locate an inserted but unmounted USB drive. If it discovers one, it begins the ZTP process.

Cumulus Linux supports the use of a FAT32, FAT16, or VFAT-formatted USB drive as an installation source for ZTP scripts. You must plug in the USB drive before you power up the switch.

At minimum, the script must:

  • Install the Cumulus Linux operating system and license.
  • Copy over a basic configuration to the switch.
  • Restart the switch or the relevant services to get switchd up and running with that configuration.

Follow these steps to perform ZTP using a USB drive:

  1. Copy the Cumulus Linux license and installation image to the USB drive.
  2. The ztp process searches the root filesystem of the newly mounted drive for filenames matching an ONIE-style waterfall (see the patterns and examples above), looking for the most specific name first, and ending at the most generic.
  3. The contents of the script are parsed to ensure it contains the CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING flag (see example scripts).

The USB drive is mounted to a temporary directory under /tmp (for example, /tmp/tmpigGgjf/). To reference files on the USB drive, use the environment variable ZTP_USB_MOUNTPOINT to refer to the USB root partition.

ZTP over DHCP

If the ztp process does not discover a local/ONIE script or applicable USB drive, it checks DHCP every ten seconds for up to five minutes for the presence of a ZTP URL specified in /var/run/ztp.dhcp. The URL can be any of HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP.

For ZTP using DHCP, provisioning initially takes place over the management network and is initiated through a DHCP hook. A DHCP option is used to specify a configuration script. This script is then requested from the Web server and executed locally on the switch.

The ZTP process over DHCP follows these steps:

  1. The first time you boot Cumulus Linux, eth0 is configured for DHCP and makes a DHCP request.
  2. The DHCP server offers a lease to the switch.
  3. If option 239 is present in the response, the ZTP process starts.
  4. The ZTP process requests the contents of the script from the URL, sending additional HTTP headers containing details about the switch.
  5. The contents of the script are parsed to ensure it contains the CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING flag (see example scripts).
  6. If provisioning is necessary, the script executes locally on the switch with root privileges.
  7. The return code of the script is examined. If it is 0, the provisioning state is marked as complete in the autoprovisioning configuration file.

Trigger ZTP over DHCP

If provisioning has not already occurred, it is possible to trigger the ZTP process over DHCP when eth0 is set to use DHCP and one of the following events occur:

  • The switch boots.
  • You plug a cable into or unplug a cable from the eth0 port.
  • You disconnect, then reconnect the switch power cord.

You can also run the ztp --run <URL> command, where the URL is the path to the ZTP script.

Configure the DHCP Server

During the DHCP process over eth0, Cumulus Linux requests DHCP option 239. This option is used to specify the custom provisioning script.

For example, the /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf file for an ISC DHCP server looks like:

option cumulus-provision-url code 239 = text;

  subnet 192.0.2.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  range 192.0.2.100 192.168.0.200;
  option cumulus-provision-url "http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh";
}

Additionally, you can specify the hostname of the switch with the host-name option:

subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  range 192.168.0.100 192.168.0.200;
  option cumulus-provision-url "http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh";
  host dc1-tor-sw1 { hardware ethernet 44:38:39:00:1a:6b; fixed-address 192.168.0.101; option host-name "dc1-tor-sw1"; }
}

Do not use an underscore (_) in the hostname; underscores are not permitted in hostnames.

Inspect HTTP Headers

The following HTTP headers are sent in the request to the webserver to retrieve the provisioning script:

Header                        Value                 Example
------                        -----                 -------
User-Agent                                          CumulusLinux-AutoProvision/0.4
CUMULUS-ARCH                  CPU architecture      x86_64
CUMULUS-BUILD                                       4.1.0
CUMULUS-LICENSE-INSTALLED     Either 0 or 1         1
CUMULUS-MANUFACTURER                                odm
CUMULUS-PRODUCTNAME                                 switch_model
CUMULUS-SERIAL                                      XYZ123004
CUMULUS-BASE-MAC                                    44:38:39:FF:40:94
CUMULUS-MGMT-MAC                                    44:38:39:FF:00:00
CUMULUS-VERSION                                     4.1.0
CUMULUS-PROV-COUNT                                  0
CUMULUS-PROV-MAX                                    32

Write ZTP Scripts

Remember to include the following line in any of the supported scripts that you expect to run using the autoprovisioning framework.

# CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING

This line is required somewhere in the script file for execution to occur.

The script must contain the CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING flag. You can include this flag in a comment or remark; the flag does not need to be echoed or written to stdout.

You can write the script in any language currently supported by Cumulus Linux, such as:

  • Perl
  • Python
  • Ruby
  • Shell

The script must return an exit code of 0 upon success, as this triggers the autoprovisioning process to be marked as complete in the autoprovisioning configuration file.

The following script installs Cumulus Linux and its license from a USB drive and applies a configuration:

#!/bin/bash
function error() {
  echo -e "\e[0;33mERROR: The ZTP script failed while running the command $BASH_COMMAND at line $BASH_LINENO.\e[0m" >&2
  exit 1
}

# Log all output from this script
exec >> /var/log/autoprovision 2>&1
date "+%FT%T ztp starting script $0"

trap error ERR

#Add Debian Repositories
echo "deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian buster main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb http://security.debian.org/ buster/updates main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list

#Update Package Cache
apt-get update -y

#Load interface config from usb
cp ${ZTP_USB_MOUNTPOINT}/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces

#Load port config from usb
#   (if breakout cables are used for certain interfaces)
cp ${ZTP_USB_MOUNTPOINT}/ports.conf /etc/cumulus/ports.conf

#Install a License from usb and restart switchd
/usr/cumulus/bin/cl-license -i ${ZTP_USB_MOUNTPOINT}/license.txt && systemctl restart switchd.service

#Reload interfaces to apply loaded config
ifreload -a

#Output state of interfaces
net show interface

# CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
exit 0

Best Practices

ZTP scripts come in different forms and frequently perform many of the same tasks. As BASH is the most common language used for ZTP scripts, the following BASH snippets are provided to accelerate your ability to perform common tasks with robust error checking.

Set the Default Cumulus User Password

The default cumulus user account password is cumulus. When you log into Cumulus Linux for the first time, you must provide a new password for the cumulus account, then log back into the system. This password change at first login is required in Cumulus Linux 4.2 and later.

Add the following function to your ZTP script to change the default cumulus user account password to a clear-text password. The example changes the password cumulus to MyP4$$word.

function set_password(){
     # Unexpire the cumulus account
     passwd -x 99999 cumulus
     # Set the password
     echo 'cumulus:MyP4$$word' | chpasswd
}
set_password

If you have an insecure management network, set the password with an encrypted hash instead of a clear-text password. Using an encrypted hash is recommended.

  • First, generate a sha-512 password hash with the following python commands. The example commands generate a sha-512 password hash for the password MyP4$$word.

    user@host:~$ python3 -c "import crypt; print(crypt.crypt('MyP4$$word',salt=crypt.mksalt()))"
    $6$hs7OPmnrfvLNKfoZ$iB3hy5N6Vv6koqDmxixpTO6lej6VaoKGvs5E8p5zNo4tPec0KKqyQnrFMII3jGxVEYWntG9e7Z7DORdylG5aR/
    
  • Then, add the following function to the ZTP script to change the default cumulus user account password:

    function set_password(){
         # Unexpire the cumulus account
         passwd -x 99999 cumulus
         # Set the password
         usermod -p '$6$hs7OPmnrfvLNKfoZ$iB3hy5N6Vv6koqDmxixpTO6lej6VaoKGvs5E8p5zNo4tPec0KKqyQnrFMII3jGxVEYWntG9e7Z7DORdylG5aR/' cumulus
    }
    set_password
    

Install a License

Use the following function to include error checking for license file installation.

function install_license(){
     # Install license
     echo "$(date) INFO: Installing License..."
     echo $1 | /usr/cumulus/bin/cl-license -i
     return_code=$?
     if [ "$return_code" == "0" ]; then
         echo "$(date) INFO: License Installed."
     else
         echo "$(date) ERROR: License not installed. Return code was: $return_code"
         /usr/cumulus/bin/cl-license
         exit 1
     fi
}

Test DNS Name Resolution

DNS names are frequently used in ZTP scripts. The ping_until_reachable function tests that each DNS name resolves into a reachable IP address. Call this function with each DNS target used in your script before you use the DNS name elsewhere in your script.

The following example shows how to call the ping_until_reachable function in the context of a larger task.

function ping_until_reachable(){
    last_code=1
    max_tries=30
    tries=0
    while [ "0" != "$last_code" ] && [ "$tries" -lt "$max_tries" ]; do
        tries=$((tries+1))
        echo "$(date) INFO: ( Attempt $tries of $max_tries ) Pinging $1 Target Until Reachable."
        ping $1 -c2 &> /dev/null
        last_code=$?
            sleep 1
    done
    if [ "$tries" -eq "$max_tries" ] && [ "$last_code" -ne "0" ]; then
        echo "$(date) ERROR: Reached maximum number of attempts to ping the target $1 ."
        exit 1
    fi
}

Check the Cumulus Linux Release

The following script segment demonstrates how to check which Cumulus Linux release is running currently and upgrades the node if the release is not the target release. If the release is the target release, normal ZTP tasks execute. This script calls the ping_until_reachable script (described above) to make sure the server holding the image server and the ZTP script is reachable.

function init_ztp(){
    #do normal ZTP tasks
}

CUMULUS_TARGET_RELEASE=3.5.3
CUMULUS_CURRENT_RELEASE=$(cat /etc/lsb-release  | grep RELEASE | cut -d "=" -f2)
IMAGE_SERVER_HOSTNAME=webserver.example.com
IMAGE_SERVER= "http:// "$IMAGE_SERVER_HOSTNAME "/ "$CUMULUS_TARGET_RELEASE ".bin "
ZTP_URL= "http:// "$IMAGE_SERVER_HOSTNAME "/ztp.sh "

if [ "$CUMULUS_TARGET_RELEASE" != "$CUMULUS_CURRENT_RELEASE" ]; then
    ping_until_reachable $IMAGE_SERVER_HOSTNAME
    /usr/cumulus/bin/onie-install -fa -i $IMAGE_SERVER -z $ZTP_URL && reboot
else
    init_ztp && reboot
fi
exit 0

Apply Management VRF Configuration

If you apply a management VRF in your script, either apply it last or reboot instead. If you do not apply a management VRF last, you need to prepend any commands that require eth0 to communicate out with /usr/bin/ip vrf exec mgmt; for example, /usr/bin/ip vrf exec mgmt apt-get update -y.

Perform Ansible Provisioning Callbacks

After initially configuring a node with ZTP, use Provisioning Callbacks to inform Ansible Tower or AWX that the node is ready for more detailed provisioning. The following example demonstrates how to use a provisioning callback:

/usr/bin/curl -H "Content-Type:application/json" -k -X POST --data '{"host_config_key":"'somekey'"}' -u username:password http://ansible.example.com/api/v2/job_templates/1111/callback/

Disable the DHCP Hostname Override Setting

Make sure to disable the DHCP hostname override setting in your script (NCLU does this automatically).

function set_hostname(){
    # Remove DHCP Setting of Hostname
    sed s/'SETHOSTNAME="yes"'/'SETHOSTNAME="no"'/g -i /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/dhcp-sethostname
    hostnamectl set-hostname $1
}

NCLU in ZTP Scripts

Not all aspects of NCLU are supported when running during ZTP. Use traditional Linux methods of providing configuration to the switch during ZTP.

When you use NCLU in ZTP scripts, add the following loop to make sure NCLU has time to start up before being called.

# Waiting for NCLU to finish starting up
last_code=1
while [ "1" == "$last_code" ]; do
    net show interface &> /dev/null
    last_code=$?
done

net add vrf mgmt
net add time zone Etc/UTC
net add time ntp server 192.168.0.254 iburst
net commit

Test ZTP Scripts

There are a few commands you can use to test and debug your ZTP scripts.

You can use verbose mode to debug your script and see where your script failed. Include the -v option when you run ZTP:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -v -r http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
Attempting to provision via ZTP Manual from http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh

Broadcast message from root@dell-s6010-01 (ttyS0) (Tue May 10 22:44:17 2016):  

ZTP: Attempting to provision via ZTP Manual from http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
ZTP Manual: URL response code 200
ZTP Manual: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
ZTP Manual: Executing http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
error: ZTP Manual: Payload returned code 1
error: Script returned failure

To see if ZTP is enabled and to see results of the most recent execution, you can run the ztp -s command.

cumulus@switch:~$ ztp -s
ZTP INFO:

State              enabled
Version            1.0
Result             Script Failure
Date               Mon 20 May 2019 09:31:27 PM UTC
Method             ZTP DHCP
URL                http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh

If ZTP runs when the switch boots and not manually, you can run the systemctl -l status ztp.service then journalctl -l -u ztp.service to see if any failures occur:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl -l status ztp.service
● ztp.service - Cumulus Linux ZTP
    Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/ztp.service; enabled)
    Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2016-05-11 16:38:45 UTC; 1min 47s ago
        Docs: man:ztp(8)
    Process: 400 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/ztp -b (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
    Main PID: 400 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP USB: Device not found
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Looking for ZTP Script provided by DHCP
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: Attempting to provision via ZTP DHCP from http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: URL response code 200
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Executing http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Payload returned code 1
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: Script returned failure
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 systemd[1]: ztp.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 systemd[1]: Unit ztp.service entered failed state.
cumulus@switch:~$
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo journalctl -l -u ztp.service --no-pager
-- Logs begin at Wed 2016-05-11 16:37:42 UTC, end at Wed 2016-05-11 16:40:39 UTC. --
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: /var/lib/cumulus/ztp: Sate Directory does not exist. Creating it...
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: /var/run/ztp.lock: Lock File does not exist. Creating it...
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/ztp_state.log: State File does not exist. Creating it...
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Looking for ZTP local Script
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64-dell_s6010_s1220-rUNKNOWN
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64-dell_s6010_s1220
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64-dell
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP USB: Looking for unmounted USB devices
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP USB: Parsing partitions
May 11 16:37:45 cumulus ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP USB: Device not found
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Looking for ZTP Script provided by DHCP
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: Attempting to provision via ZTP DHCP from http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: URL response code 200
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Executing http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Payload returned code 1
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 ztp[400]: ztp [400]: Script returned failure
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 systemd[1]: ztp.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
May 11 16:38:45 dell-s6010-01 systemd[1]: Unit ztp.service entered failed state.

Instead of running journalctl, you can see the log history by running:

cumulus@switch:~$ cat /var/log/syslog | grep ztp
2016-05-11T16:37:45.132583+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: /var/lib/cumulus/ztp: State Directory does not exist. Creating it...
2016-05-11T16:37:45.134081+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: /var/run/ztp.lock: Lock File does not exist. Creating it...
2016-05-11T16:37:45.135360+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/ztp_state.log: State File does not exist. Creating it...
2016-05-11T16:37:45.185598+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Looking for ZTP local Script
2016-05-11T16:37:45.485084+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64-dell_s6010_s1220-rUNKNOWN
2016-05-11T16:37:45.486394+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64-dell_s6010_s1220
2016-05-11T16:37:45.488385+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64-dell
2016-05-11T16:37:45.489665+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp-x86_64
2016-05-11T16:37:45.490854+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP LOCAL: Waterfall search for /var/lib/cumulus/ztp/cumulus-ztp
2016-05-11T16:37:45.492296+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP USB: Looking for unmounted USB devices
2016-05-11T16:37:45.493525+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP USB: Parsing partitions
2016-05-11T16:37:45.636422+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP USB: Device not found
2016-05-11T16:38:43.372857+00:00 cumulus ztp [1805]: Found ZTP DHCP Request
2016-05-11T16:38:45.696562+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Looking for ZTP Script provided by DHCP
2016-05-11T16:38:45.698598+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: Attempting to provision via ZTP DHCP from http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
2016-05-11T16:38:45.816275+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: URL response code 200
2016-05-11T16:38:45.817446+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
2016-05-11T16:38:45.818402+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Executing http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
2016-05-11T16:38:45.834240+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: ZTP DHCP: Payload returned code 1
2016-05-11T16:38:45.835488+00:00 cumulus ztp [400]: Script returned failure
2016-05-11T16:38:45.876334+00:00 cumulus systemd[1]: ztp.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
2016-05-11T16:38:45.879410+00:00 cumulus systemd[1]: Unit ztp.service entered failed state.

If you see that the issue is a script failure, you can modify the script and then run ZTP manually using ztp -v -r <URL/path to that script>, as above.

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -v -r http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
Attempting to provision via ZTP Manual from http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh

Broadcast message from root@dell-s6010-01 (ttyS0) (Tue May 10 22:44:17 2019):  

ZTP: Attempting to provision via ZTP Manual from http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
ZTP Manual: URL response code 200
ZTP Manual: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
ZTP Manual: Executing http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh
error: ZTP Manual: Payload returned code 1
error: Script returned failure
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -s
State         enabled
Version       1.0
Result        Script Failure
Date          Mon 20 May 2019 09:31:27 PM UTC
Method        ZTP Manual
URL           http://192.0.2.1/demo.sh

Use the following command to check syslog for information about ZTP:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo grep -i ztp /var/log/syslog

Common ZTP Script Errors

Could not find referenced script/interpreter in downloaded payload

cumulus@leaf01:~$ sudo cat /var/log/syslog | grep ztp
2018-04-24T15:06:08.887041+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: Attempting to provision via ZTP Manual from http://192.168.0.254/ztp_oob_windows.sh
2018-04-24T15:06:09.106633+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: URL response code 200
2018-04-24T15:06:09.107327+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
2018-04-24T15:06:09.107635+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Executing http://192.168.0.254/ztp_oob_windows.sh
2018-04-24T15:06:09.132651+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Could not find referenced script/interpreter in downloaded payload.
2018-04-24T15:06:14.135521+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Retrying
2018-04-24T15:06:14.138915+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: URL response code 200
2018-04-24T15:06:14.139162+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
2018-04-24T15:06:14.139448+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Executing http://192.168.0.254/ztp_oob_windows.sh
2018-04-24T15:06:14.143261+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Could not find referenced script/interpreter in downloaded payload.
2018-04-24T15:06:24.147580+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Retrying
2018-04-24T15:06:24.150945+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: URL response code 200
2018-04-24T15:06:24.151177+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Found Marker CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
2018-04-24T15:06:24.151374+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Executing http://192.168.0.254/ztp_oob_windows.sh
2018-04-24T15:06:24.155026+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Could not find referenced script/interpreter in downloaded payload.
2018-04-24T15:06:39.164957+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP Manual: Retrying
2018-04-24T15:06:39.165425+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: Script returned failure
2018-04-24T15:06:39.175959+00:00 leaf01 ztp [13404]: ZTP script failed. Exiting...

Errors in syslog for ZTP like those shown above often occur if the script is created (or edited as some point) on a Windows machine. Check to make sure that the \r\n characters are not present in the end-of-line encodings.

Use the cat -v ztp.sh command to view the contents of the script and search for any hidden characters.

root@oob-mgmt-server:/var/www/html# cat -v ./ztp_oob_windows.sh 
#!/bin/bash^M
^M
###################^M
#   ZTP Script^M
###################^M
^M
/usr/cumulus/bin/cl-license -i http://192.168.0.254/license.txt^M
^M
# Clean method of performing a Reboot^M
nohup bash -c 'sleep 2; shutdown now -r "Rebooting to Complete ZTP"' &^M
^M
exit 0^M
^M
# The line below is required to be a valid ZTP script^M
#CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING^M
root@oob-mgmt-server:/var/www/html#

The ^M characters in the output of your ZTP script, as shown above, indicate the presence of Windows end-of-line encodings that you need to remove.

Use the translate (tr) command on any Linux system to remove the '\r' characters from the file.

root@oob-mgmt-server:/var/www/html# tr -d '\r' < ztp_oob_windows.sh > ztp_oob_unix.sh
root@oob-mgmt-server:/var/www/html# cat -v ./ztp_oob_unix.sh 
#!/bin/bash
###################
#   ZTP Script
###################
/usr/cumulus/bin/cl-license -i http://192.168.0.254/license.txt
# Clean method of performing a Reboot
nohup bash -c 'sleep 2; shutdown now -r "Rebooting to Complete ZTP"' &
exit 0
# The line below is required to be a valid ZTP script
#CUMULUS-AUTOPROVISIONING
root@oob-mgmt-server:/var/www/html#

Manually Use the ztp Command

To enable ZTP, use the -e option:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -e

Enabling ZTP means that ZTP tries to run the next time the switch boots. However, if ZTP already ran on a previous boot up or if a manual configuration has been found, ZTP will just exit without trying to look for any script.

ZTP checks for these manual configurations during bootup:

  • Password changes
  • Users and groups changes
  • Packages changes
  • Interfaces changes
  • The presence of an installed license

When the switch is booted for the very first time, ZTP records the state of important files that are most likely going to be modified after that the switch is configured. If ZTP is still enabled after a reboot, ZTP compares the recorded state to the current state of these files. If they do not match, ZTP considers that the switch has already been provisioned and exits. These files are only erased after a reset.

To reset ZTP to its original state, use the -R option. This removes the ztp directory and ZTP runs the next time the switch reboots.

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -R

To disable ZTP, use the -d option:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -d

To force provisioning to occur and ignore the status listed in the configuration file, use the -r option:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -r cumulus-ztp.sh

To see the current ZTP state, use the -s option:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo ztp -s
ZTP INFO:
State          disabled
Version        1.0
Result         success
Date           Mon May 20 21:51:04 2019 UTC
Method         Switch manually configured  
URL            None

You can run the NCLU net show system ztp script or net show system ztp json command to see the current ztp state.

Considerations

  • During the development of a provisioning script, the switch might need to be rebooted.
  • You can use the Cumulus Linux onie-select -i command to cause the switch to reprovision itself and install a network operating system again using ONIE.