Boxes

A box describes the image and necessary requirements for VM creation. They are described in json files. Each file can contain one or more box descriptions. Descriptions are usually grouped by the provider and the processor architecture. Box description files are located in ~/.config/mdbci/boxes folder or in config/boxes directory of the project.

File format:

{
  "debian_bullseye_gcp": {
    "provider": "gcp",
    "architecture": "amd64",
    "image": "debian-cloud/debian-11",
    "platform": "debian",
    "platform_version": "bullseye",
    "default_machine_type": "g1-small",
    "default_cpu_count": "1",
    "default_memory_size": "1024",
    "supported_instance_types": ["a2-highgpu-1g", "a2-highgpu-2g"]
  },

  "debian_bullseye_aws" : {
    "provider": "aws",
    "architecture": "amd64",
    "ami": "ami-05b99bc50bd882a41",
    "user": "admin",
    "default_machine_type": "t3.medium",
    "default_cpu_count": "2",
    "default_memory_size": "4096",
    "platform": "debian",
    "platform_version": "bullseye",
    "vpc": "true",
    "supported_instance_types": ["t2.nano","t2.micro"]
  },

  "debian_bullseye_libvirt": {
    "provider": "libvirt",
    "architecture": "amd64",
    "box": "generic/debian11",
    "platform": "debian",
    "platform_version": "bullseye"
  }
}

Each box name usually consists of distribution name, version and box provider

Common parameters

provider - box provider (aws, gcp, libvirt, digitalocean, docker)
architecture - processor arcitecture { amd64 | aarch64 }
platform - distribution name
platfrom_version - distribution version
skip_configuration - boolean flag. If set, the machine will not be configured using Chef. None of products will be installed.

Common cloud boxes parameters:

default_memory_size - node RAM size
default_cpu_count - node number of processors
default_machine_type - node machine type
supported_instance_types - list of machine types that can de run with this image

Provider-specific parameters:

AWS:
- ami - Amazon Machine Image ID
- vpc - boolean flag, indicates whether the machine will be lauched in an Amazon VPC
GCP:
- image - image or image family name
Libvirt:
- box - Vagrant box name

Distribution-specific parameters:

configure_subscription_manager - boolean flag for RedHat system registration. When the flag is set MDBCI registers the system via RHSM and attaches it to an available subscription on the machine creation and unsubscribes and de-registers on the destruction.
configure_suse_connect - boolean flag for SLES system registration. When the flag is set MDBCI activates the system via SUSEConnect on the machine creation and deactivates it on the destruction.

MDBCI