085 v1.22 Infrastructure & Cloud Documented

Cloud Provisioning

PXE/kickstart automation for local cloud environment setup — GSD Skill Creator skills applied to infrastructure provisioning workflows

Structured Data

Capability Metadata

Field	Value
ID	CAP-085
Version	v1.22
Domain	Infrastructure & Cloud
Status	Documented
Related	CAP-090, CAP-134
Source	skills/provision-node.yaml
Output	kickstart files, PXE config
Parent	Infrastructure & Cloud (page_id=384)

Configuration Reference

Kickstart structure: ks.cfg (anaconda format)

PXE server config: /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default

Provisioning skill metadata format: YAML with triggers, steps, verification

# Example: GSD skill for PXE provisioning
name: provision-node
description: >
  Automates PXE boot configuration and kickstart file generation
  for adding a new node to the local cloud environment.
  Use when: setting up a fresh bare-metal node.
triggers:
  - pattern: "new node"
  - pattern: "pxe boot"
  - pattern: "kickstart"

Technical Specifications

GSD skills automate: PXE boot server setup, kickstart template generation, network configuration, post-install verification

Learning pattern: observe → suggest → apply (same loop as code workflows, applied to infrastructure automation)

Verification method: TAID-D (Demonstration — run provisioning skill end-to-end)

Overview

Cloud Provisioning applies GSD Skill Creator's pattern learning to infrastructure automation: the same observe→suggest→apply loop that works for code workflows works equally well for provisioning steps. When setting up a fresh bare-metal node involves the same twelve-step kickstart sequence executed across multiple machines, that repetition is a natural skill candidate — the 3-occurrence threshold is quickly reached.

The skill captures PXE boot server configuration, kickstart file generation, network configuration, and post-install verification as a unified workflow. Instead of manually running each step — configuring the TFTP server, editing the PXE menu, generating a machine-specific kickstart, waiting for the node to come up and checking it — the skill orchestrates all of it in sequence with built-in error handling and rollback.

This capability represents the first time GSD Skill Creator crosses from software development workflows into infrastructure operations — proving that the pattern-to-skill pipeline is domain-agnostic.

History

Infrastructure skills emerged from repetitive node setup procedures. The same 12-step kickstart sequence executed across multiple machines became a natural skill candidate when the 3-occurrence threshold was reached in v1.22. The insight was that PXE provisioning has exactly the right characteristics for skill capture: deterministic steps, consistent trigger conditions ("new node"), and a clear completion state (node responds to ping, SSH accessible, services running).

Before GSD Skill Creator, the provisioning knowledge lived in an experienced operator's head or in a README that quickly fell out of date. After skill capture, it lives in a version-controlled YAML file that Claude Code activates automatically whenever the trigger pattern appears in conversation.

Key Concepts

For Students & Teachers

Think of a kickstart file as a recipe card for building a computer from scratch. PXE boot is the waiter that delivers the recipe to a new machine over the network before it even has an operating system. Cloud provisioning is the kitchen that runs this process reliably for many machines at once.

GSD Skill Creator watches an experienced sysadmin provision their first, second, and third node. By the third time, it suggests: "I've noticed you always do these twelve steps in this order. Want me to save that as a skill?" Once saved, any time someone says "we need a new node," the skill activates and guides them through the same twelve steps — with the same reliability as the experienced operator, every time.

Usage Examples

Example 1: Trigger provisioning skill

# In a Claude Code session, mention the trigger pattern
# "We need to add a new node to the cluster"
# → skill-creator activates provision-node skill
# → prompts for: hostname, MAC address, IP, role
# → generates kickstart file at /var/www/html/ks/<hostname>.cfg
# → updates PXE menu with new entry
# → boots node and monitors installation

Example 2: Manual skill invocation

skill-creator run provision-node \
  --hostname worker-04 \
  --mac 52:54:00:ab:cd:ef \
  --ip 10.0.1.14 \
  --role worker