documentation/docs/alpine-server-setup/provisioning.md

# Provisioning

Flash the Alpine Linux extended ISO and make sure the secureboot keys are reset and TPM is enabled in the BIOS of the host. 

After booting the Alpine Linux extended ISO, partition the disks. For this action internet is required since `zfs`, `sgdisk` and various other necessary packages are not included on the extended ISO, therefore they need to be obtained from the alpine package repository.

To set it up `setup-interfaces` and `setup-apkrepos` will be used.

```
# setup-interfaces -ar
# setup-apkrepos -c1
```

> To use Wi-Fi simply run `setup-interfaces -r` and select `wlan0` or similar.

A few packages will have to be installed first,

```
# apk add zfs lsblk sgdisk wipefs dosfstools acpid mdadm zlevis
```

> The `zlevis` package is as of this moment not yet in the alpine package repository. Try to get it into the `/usr/bin` directory via a different method and add its dependencies `tpm2-tools` and `jose`. 

and load the ZFS kernel module

```
# modprobe zfs
```

Define the disks you want to use for this install,

```
# export disks="/dev/disk/by-id/<id-disk-1> ... /dev/disk/by-id/<id-disk-n>"
```

with `<id-disk-n>` for $n \in \mathbb{N}$ the `id` of the disk. 

> According to [openzfs-FAQ](https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/Project%20and%20Community/FAQ.html) using `/dev/disk/by-id/` is the best practice for small pools. For larger pools, using serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and the like, see [vdev_id](https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/man/master/5/vdev_id.conf.5.html) for proper configuration. 

Wipe the existing disk partitions:

```
# for disk in $disks; do
> zpool labelclear -f $disk
> wipefs -a $disk
> sgdisk --zap-all $disk
> done
```

Create on each disk an `EFI system` partition (ESP) and a `Linux filesystem` partition:

```
# for disk in $disks; do
> sgdisk -n 1:1m:+512m -t 1:ef00 $disk
> sgdisk -n 2:0:-10m -t 2:8300 $disk
> done
```

Create device nodes:

```
# mdev -s
```

Define the EFI partitions:

```
# export efiparts=""
# for disk in $disks; do
> efipart=${disk}-part-1
> efiparts="$efiparts $efipart"
> done
```

Create a `mdraid` array on the EFI partitions:

```
# modprobe raid1
# mdadm --create --level 1 --metadata 1.0 --raid-devices <n> /dev/md/esp $efiparts
# mdadm --assemble --scan
```

Format the array with a FAT32 filesystem:

```
# mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/md/esp
```

## ZFS pool creation

Define the pool partitions

```
# export poolparts=""
# for disk in $disks; do
> poolpart=${disk}-part-2
> poolparts="$poolparts $poolpart"
> done
```

The ZFS system pool is going to be encrypted. First generate an encryption key and save it temporarily to the file `/tmp/rpool.key` with:

```
# cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w 20 | head -n 1 > /tmp/rpool.key && cat /tmp/rpool.key
```

> While `zlevis` will be used for automatic decryption, if any changes are made to the bios or secureboot then this key will be needed, so make sure to save it.

Create the system pool:

```
# zpool create -f \
    -o ashift=12 \
    -O compression=lz4 \
    -O acltype=posix \ 
    -O xattr=sa \
    -O dnodesize=auto \
    -O encryption=on \
    -O keyformat=passphrase \
    -O keylocation=prompt \
    -m none \
    rpool raidz1 $poolparts
```

> Additionally, the `spare` option can be used to indicate spare disks. If more redundancy is preferred than `raidz2` and `raidz3` are possible [alternatives](https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/man/master/7/zpoolconcepts.7.html) for `raidz1`. If a single disk is used the `raidz` option can be left aside. For further information see [zpool-create](https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/man/master/8/zpool-create.8.html). 

Then create the system datasets:

```
# zfs create -o mountpoint=none rpool/root
# zfs create -o mountpoint=legacy -o quota=24g rpool/root/alpine
# zfs create -o mountpoint=/home -o atime=off -o setuid=off -o devices=off -o quota=<home-quota> rpool/home
# zfs create -o mountpoint=/var -o atime=off -o exec=off -o setuid=off -o devices=off -o quota=16g rpool/var
```

> Setting the `<home-quota>` depends on the total size of the pool, generally try to reserve some empty space in the pool.

Write the encryption key to TPM with `zlevis`:

```
# zlevis encrypt rpool '{}' < /tmp/rpool.key
```

> We are using the default configuration settings for `zlevis encrypt` but a different configuration is possible by setting `'{}'` accordingly.

> To check if it worked, perform `zlevis decrypt rpool`.

Finally, export the zpool:

```
# zpool export rpool
```