[rkwasny]

Ubuntu MAAS to provision servers - when new server arrives guys at the DC just need to plug it in and power it once, everything else is just clicking around.

Pyinfra to manage and install software (I'm fed up with custom DSLs, pyinfra is pure python)

[lathiat]

I work for Canonical so a biased +1 for MAAS (Metal As A Service). It’s got a pretty great workflow where you PXE boot an unknown server and it “commissions” it by cataloguing all its hardware specs and running some hardware tests etc and adding it to the list of available services. It’s ready to deploy through the web interface, cli or API. That installs the OS and pre configures the network and storage and adds your SSH keys. You can give cloud-init metadata the same as a cloud server to bootstrap your next steps or config. It’s multi user so you can track who then deploys and owns the machines by username. We use that for our internal hardware lab as well as deploying OpenStack or Kubernetes using juju to automatically check out the machines which internally sets cloud-init metadata to kickstart the juju install process.

https://maas.io/

If you’re using Ubuntu it’s Pretty great. It does support custom Linux and windows images but the feature set isn’t as good for storage and network config etc and that doesn’t get as much focus as first party Ubuntu deployment. So if your primary OS is something else there may be better tailored solutions.

More generally there is a class of “metal” management solutions you can look at similar like Foreman and OpenStack Ironic that usually have some variation of PXE boot install. Hopefully some others can chime in with good examples or recommendations for those.

May help to share what your primary OS/Distro is and others you need to do.

[jryan49]

Does the dc provide racking servers for you as a service? Or do you have to go out to the dc?

[rkwasny]

Yes, DC provides racking servers, plugging in cables etc. I just write instructions in a ticket.

I go to the data centre from time to time, mostly taking junior engineers for a sightseeing trip to show them how "the cloud" actually looks :-)

If you need colocation in London I can put you in touch.