shoelaces(8)

✨ shoelaces(8) — the system manager's manual but make it cute ✨

okay bestie, buckle UP 💅 this is the shoelaces page from the System Manager's Manual, and it's literally about automated server bootstrapping. yes. servers. getting their lil shoes tied. that's the whole vibe. 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

shoelaces — automated server bootstrapping 🥾✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

shoelaces [options...]

that's it. that's the whole thing. options go brrr. 💫

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

every single one, no skips, no cap:

• -base-url <string> — optional, bestie. it sets the base address used when generating URLs. if you don't pass it, the value of -bind-addr gets used instead. lowkey convenient. ✨
• -bind-addr <host:port> — where Shoelaces listens for requests. defaults to localhost:8081. 📍
• -config <config> — points at a config file. and guess what — every option below can live in that config too. so you can just vibe with a file instead of 800 flags. 🎀
• -data-dir <directory> — a directory holding mappings, configs, templates, etc. the whole lil treasure chest. 🗂️
• -debug — turns on debug mode. 👀
• -env-dir <directory> — a directory with environment overrides. the README of the project has the tea on how environment overrides work. ☕
• -mappings-file <file> — a mappings YAML file. defaults to mappings.yaml. again, README of the project for the deets on mappings. 📄
• -static-dir <directory> — a custom web directory full of static files. defaults to web. 🌐
• -template-extension <extension> — the Shoelaces template extension. defaults to .slc. slc stands for slay, probably. 💅

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👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

so here's the main character energy: Shoelaces serves over HTTP iPXE boot scripts, cloud-init configuration, and literally any other configuration files to baremetal or virtual machines booting using iPXE. 🖥️✨

and it does a few other things too, to make managing server deployments easier:

• 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. 🔁

and fr fr — Shoelaces is better when used along a DHCP server. the CONFIGURATION section below has examples of how to hook a DHCP server up with Shoelaces. 🫶

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🌈 CONFIGURATION 🌈

Shoelaces goes looking for a config file whenever the -config flag is specified. simple as that. 💫

here's an example config file, iconic:

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

and now the fun part — dhcpd(8) can be hooked with Shoelaces by adding this snippet into 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";
}

same energy with dnsmasq(8) — configure it for working with Shoelaces using this snippet:

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

⚠️ and don't forget, bestie — a TFTP server such as tftpd(8) must be configured to serve the iPXE executable, undionly.kpxe. no tftp, no boots. periodt. 💀

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🦄 SEE ALSO 🦄

dhcpd(8) dhcpd.conf(5) dnsmasq(8) tftpd(8)

go read those too, iykyk 📚✨

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💜 AUTHORS 💜

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

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

Bugs reports and patches can be submitted via GitHub's interface or contacting the maintainers directly via email. 🐛💌

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was the shoelaces(8) manual from the System Manager's Manual, dated 2023-08-24. go tie some server shoes. slay. 👑💖🦋