Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- eve-kvm:creating-a-model [2026/08/04 16:06] – created mc
+++ eve-kvm:creating-a-model [2026/08/04 16:47] (current) – mc
@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 This page documents how to build a ZEDEDA Cloud **hardware model** for a new edge node, including a simpler alternative to the USB-round-trip and console/debug-shell methods.
-===== The problem =====
+===== The challenge =====
-Two "official" ways exist to pull hardware spec info off a node running EVE-OS:
+The two ways most people reach for to pull hardware spec info off a node running EVE-OS are:
-  * **USB install method** — boot the EVE-OS installer from USB; EVE-OS writes a best-effort model file back to the inventory partition of the USB stick.
+  * **USB install method** — boot the EVE-OS installer from USB; EVE-OS writes a best-effort model file back to the inventory partition of the USB stick. Requires physically getting the USB stick back after install.
-  * **Console + debug shell method** — get serial/KVM console access, drop into the EVE-OS debug shell, and run ''spec.sh'' manually.
+  * **Console + debug shell method** — get serial/KVM console access, drop into the EVE-OS debug shell, and run ''spec.sh'' manually. Requires ongoing console/KVM access to the device.
-Both are annoying because of a chicken-and-egg problem: **you can't SSH into the node until it's onboarded, and you can't onboard it (with the right model) until you know its hardware model.**
+Both are fine **if you have that physical/console access**. The real problem shows up when you don't: a remote site, a device with no console port wired up, no one on hand to swap the USB stick back out, etc. In that case you're stuck — you can't SSH in to grab the info remotely, because SSH normally isn't available until the node is onboarded, and it can't be onboarded without knowing its hardware model.
+There's actually a third, less well-known official option that solves exactly this: an EVE-OS installer image with SSH bootstrapped in. It still needs one physical flash-and-boot, but after that everything else — pulling ''spec.sh'', ''lspci'', etc. — happens over the network.
 ===== The simpler way: SSH-enabled EVE-OS image =====