Networking

NodeFoundry manages network configuration for bare-metal node provisioning and cluster communication.

iPXE Boot Flow

When a new server powers on with PXE enabled:

1. The server sends a DHCP request on the network
2. The DHCP server (either the switch or Sentinel’s built-in server) responds with an IP and the iPXE boot URL
3. The server downloads the iPXE script from http://<master>:<port>/boot/config?mac=<mac>
4. iPXE loads the default OS image and boots into it
5. The node agent starts, inventories hardware, and registers with the Sentinel

DHCP Configuration

NodeFoundry can either use your existing network switch’s DHCP, or run its own built-in DHCP server.

Using the built-in DHCP server

Create a network via the CLI:

$ nf network create \
  --cidr 10.0.0.0/24 \
  --gateway 10.0.0.1 \
  --dns 8.8.8.8 --dns 8.8.4.4 \
  --rangeStart 10.0.0.100 \
  --rangeEnd 10.0.0.200 \
  --nicId <nic-id>

Using your switch’s DHCP

Point the switch’s DHCP at the master node:

Network Requirements

For small deployments, a single flat network works. For production, separate management and cluster traffic onto different VLANs or physical networks.