How to manage machine groups

Machine groups allow you to categorize machines for easy recognition and bulk action.

About machine groups.

Availability zones

Availability zones (AZs) in MAAS improve fault tolerance, service performance, and power management by organizing resources across physical or network areas. If there is failure in one AZ, you can quickly switch to another one.

Manage availability zones

Create, update and delete availability zones as desired.

Create an availability zone

UI
Main menu > AZs > Add AZ > Enter Name, Description > Add AZ.

CLI

maas $PROFILE zones create name=$ZONE_NAME description=$ZONE_DESCRIPTION

Update an availability zone

UI
Main menu > AZs > Select AZ > Edit > Update Name, Description > Update AZ.

CLI

maas $PROFILE zone update $OLD_ZONE_NAME name=$NEW_ZONE_NAME \
description=$ZONE_DESCRIPTION

Delete an availability zone

UI
Main menu > AZs > Select zone > Delete AZ > Delete AZ.

CLI

maas $PROFILE zone delete $ZONE_NAME

List availability zones

UI
Main menu > AZs

CLI

maas $PROFILE zones read \
| jq -r '(["ZONE","NAME","DESCRIPTION"]
| (., map(length*"-"))), (.[] | [.id, .name, .description])
| @tsv' | column -t

Example output:

ZONE  NAME         DESCRIPTION
----  ----         -----------
5     BizOffice
1     default
4     Inventory
2     Medications
3     Payroll
6     ProServ

Assign a machine to an availability zone

UI (MAAS 3.4)
Machines > Select machines > Categorise > Set zone > Choose Zone > Set zone for machine.

UI
Machines > Select machines > Take action > Set zone > Choose Zone > Set zone for machine.

CLI

maas $PROFILE machines read | jq '.[] | .hostname, .system_id'
maas admin machine update $SYSTEM_ID zone=$ZONE_NAME

Resource pools

MAAS uses resource pools to group machines and VM hosts for better allocation. New machines default to the “default” pool. Resource pools are useful when you are budgeting a limited number of machines across different datacenter functions

Manage resource pools

Create, update, delete and list resource pools as needed.

Create a resource pool

UI

  • MAAS 3.4: Organisation > Pools > Add pool > Enter Name & Description > Save pool.
  • Earlier versions: Resource > Add pool > Enter Name & Description > Add pool.

CLI

maas $PROFILE resource-pools create name=$NAME description="$DESCRIPTION"

Update a pool

CLI

maas $PROFILE resource-pool update $RESOURCE_POOL_ID name=newname description="A new description."

description is optional.

Delete a resource pool

UI

  • MAAS 3.4: Organisation > Pools > (trash can) > Delete.
  • Earlier versions: Resource > (trash can) > Delete.

CLI

maas $PROFILE resource-pool delete $RESOURCE_POOL_ID

List resource pools

CLI

maas $PROFILE resource-pools read

View a single pool

CLI

maas $PROFILE resource-pool read $RESOURCE_POOL_ID

Assign machines to pools

Attach or detach machines from a resource pool at any time.

Attach a machine to a pool

UI

  • MAAS 3.4 forward: Machines > Select machine > Categorise > Set pool > Select Resource pool > Set pool.
  • Earlier versions: Machines > Select machine > Configuration > Set Resource pool > Save changes.

CLI

maas $PROFILE machine update $SYSTEM_ID pool=$POOL_NAME

Detach a machine from a pool

UI

  • MAAS 3.4: Same as “Add a machine to a pool,” but select “default” as the resource pool.
  • Earlier versions: Machines > (machine) > Configuration > Set pool to “default” > Save changes.

CLI

maas $PROFILE machine update $SYSTEM_ID pool="default"

Attach a VM host to a pool

UI

  • MAAS 3.4: KVM > LXD > Select VM host > KVM host settings > Resource pool > Save changes.
  • Earlier versions: Assign pool during VM host creation or edit VM host settings.

CLI

maas $PROFILE vm-host update $SYSTEM_ID pool=$POOL_NAME

Detach a VM host from a pool

UI

  • MAAS 3.4: Same as “Add a VM host to a pool,” but select “default” as the resource pool.
  • Earlier versions: Edit VM host settings and assign to “default”.

CLI

maas $PROFILE vm-host update $SYSTEM_ID pool="default"

Tags and annotations

MAAS also offers methods to label machines at all life-cycle stages, including tags, notes, and dynamic annotations. Tags are persistent labels that remain associated with machines until you remove them.

How to name a tag

When working with tags, there are some universal rules you need to follow:

  1. Tag names can include any combination of alphabetic letters (a-zA-Z), numbers (0-9), dashes (-) and underscores (_).
  2. Tag names can be a maximum of 256 characters in length.
  3. Tag names cannot include spaces.

In general, names that do not conform to these rules cannot be created.

Tagging machines

Manage machine tags on the fly, as they are created and attached to machines.

Add a tag

UI
Machines > (Select machine) > Take action > Tag > (Enter tag name) > Create tag > (Fill out form) > Create and add to tag changes > Save.

UI (Version 3.1 and older)
Enter the tag name in the Tags box > (Return) > (Select completion).

CLI

maas $PROFILE tags create name=$TAG_NAME comment='$TAG_COMMENT'

Add a kernel option tag

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE tags create name='$TAG_NAME' \
    comment='$TAG_COMMENT' kernel_opts='$KERNEL_OPTIONS'

Delete a tag from all machines

UI
Machines > Tags > (Trash can icon) > Delete

CLI

maas $PROFILE tag delete $TAG_NAME

Delete a tag from specific machines

Machines > (Select machines) > Take action > Tag > Remove > Save.

Remove tags

With MAAS 3.1 and earlier versions, you remove tags, rather than explicitly deleting them. Tags are “deleted” when you have removed them from all machines.

UI
Tags box > (Select the X next to tag to remove) > (Select appropriate completion button)

Unassign tags

UI (only)
Machines > (Select machine) > Take action > Tag > Remove (on specific tag) Save

List tagged nodes

CLI (only)

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="sysrq_always_enabled dyndbg='file drivers/usb/* +p' console=tty1 console=ttyS0"

Update tags

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE tag update $TAG_NAME comment='$TAG_COMMENT'

List all tags

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE tags read | jq -r '(["tag_name","tag_comment"]|(.,map(length*"-"))),(.[]|[.name,.comment]) | @tsv' | column -t

Rebuild a tag

If you need to update tags for all machines – without having to recommission them – you can accomplish this with the rebuild command:

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE tag rebuild $TAG

This command automatically applies the tag to all machines regardless of state, even machines that are actively deployed.

Manage automatic tags

MAAS 3.2 and above can auto-apply tags to machines based on XPath expressions.

Create automatic tags (MAAS 3.4 and above)

UI
Organisation > Tags > Create new tag > (Fill in form) > Save

Note: Adding and XPath expression makes a tag automatic.

Change tag definitions

UI
Organisation > Tags > (Pencil icon) > (Edit definition) > Save

MAAS will re-tag all matching machines in a background process.

Creating automatic tags (3.3/3.2)

Machines > Tags > Create new tag > (Fill in form) > Save

Note: Adding and XPath expression makes a tag automatic.

Update tag definitions

UI
Machines > Tags > (Pencil icon) > Edit the Definition > Save.

MAAS will re-tag all matching machines in the background.

Update tag kernel options

UI (only)
Machines > Tags > (Select pencil icon) > Kernel options > Save.

Kernel options can exist for both manual and automatic tags. However, they will be applied during boot time (commissioning and deploying). If the tagged machines are deployed, the updated kernel option won’t apply until the machines are redeployed. We suggest that you release those machines prior to the update, then redeploy those machines when the kernel options of the tag are updated.

Manage VM host tags

Apply tags to VM hosts to help distinguish them.

Assign tags to a VM host

**CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE vmhosts read \
| jq -r '(["vm_host_name","id"]
|(.,map(length*"-"))),(.[]|[.name,.id])
| @tsv' | column -t
maas $PROFILE vmhost add-tag $VMHOST_ID	tag=$TAG_NAME

Remove VM host tags

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE vmhost remove-tag $VMHOST_ID tag=$TAG_NAME

### List VM host tags

**CLI (only)**
```nohighlight
maas $PROFILE vmhosts read | jq -r '(["vm_host_name","id","tags"]|(.,map(length*"-"))),(.[]|[.name,.id,.tags[]]) | @tsv' | column -t

View VM host tags (MAAS 3.4)

UI
KVM > (VM host type) > (VM host) > KVM host settings > Tags. You can also edit, add, or delete tags from this view.

View VM host tags (MAAS 3.3 and below)

UI
KVM > (VM host) > KVM host settings > Tags. You can also edit, add, or delete tags from this view.

View VM host tags (CLI)

CLI

maas $PROFILE vmhost read $VMHOST_ID \
| jq -r '(["name","id","tags"]
|(.,map(length*"-"))),([.name,.id,.tags[]])
| @tsv' | column -t

Annotations

Annotations add context and metadata to your machines for identification and filtering. There are two types: notes, which are static and survive throughout the life-cycle; and dynamic annotations, which only exist during deployment.

Note: Dynamic annotations aren’t supported in MAAS version 2.9 or earlier.

Manage notes

Notes are longer, persistent descriptions that stay with a machine throughout its life-cycle unless manually altered.

Add or modify notes

UI
Machines > (Machine) > Configuration > Edit > Note > (Edits) > Save changes.

CLI

maas $PROFILE machines read \
| jq -r '(["hostname","system_id"]
|(.,map(length*"-"))),(.[]|[.hostname,.system_id])
|@tsv' | column -t
maas $PROFILE machine update $SYSTEM_ID description="$NOTE"

To erase a note, just use an empty string.

Manage dynamic annotations

Dynamic annotations are ephemeral data attached to allocated or deployed machines.

Identify eligible machines

To list machines that can receive annotations, execute:

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE machines read \
| jq -r '(["hostname","system_id","status"]
|(.,map(length*"-"))),(.[]|[.hostname,.system_id,.status_name])
|@tsv' | column -t

Set an annotation

Set annotations using key=value pairs:

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE machine set-owner-data $SYSTEM_ID $KEY=$VALUE

Change an annotation

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE machine set-owner-data $SYSTEM_ID $KEY=$NEW_VALUE

Remove an annotation

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE machine set-owner-data $SYSTEM_ID $KEY=""

List annotations

CLI (only)

maas $PROFILE machines read \
| jq -r '(["hostname","system_id","owner_data"]
|(.,map(length*"-"))),(.[]|[.hostname,.system_id,.owner_data[]])
|@tsv' | column -t

Last updated 2 months ago.

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