Veratype LabCopper
Copper is an opinionated take on basic SDI: keep a clear inventory of physical servers, control them through their BMCs, and get an operating system on without a lot of ceremony — built for air-gapped halls, without OpenStack Ironic.
The dilemma
PXE hangs when PortFast is off. Spreadsheets drift from the rack. Full Ironic stacks pull in more process than many closed halls need. Operators still need a clear list of servers and a reliable way to boot an install image.
Copper is Veratype Lab’s opinionated answer: Redfish to the BMC, virtual media as the primary boot path, a web control plane for inventory and jobs, and an agent that sits next to the hardware on the out-of-band network.
Who Copper is for
Copper assumes a certain kind of hall. If that matches how you run metal, day-one work stays short. If it does not, another tool will serve you better.
Servers expose Redfish virtual media (tested on Supermicro X12/X13 and HPE Gen10–Gen12). The agent can live on the OOB network while the control plane stays more restricted. Provisioning boots a live OS first; the target write path today is Ubuntu cloud images in raw format. Software RAID in the open-source edition.
Copper is not OpenStack. PXE settings exist on the data DHCP page when your network supports them — but the opinionated path is virtual media, especially when PortFast is off. Hardware RAID controllers are a commercial-edition concern, not this open toolkit’s default.
Core value pillars
Five operating pillars — from inventory to install — without standing up Ironic.
Name the chassis, store Redfish endpoints and credentials, import declared rows from CSV, and bind them when DHCP leases or probes prove the BMC is real — so “what do we have?” stops being a hallway conversation.
Probe systems, change boot order, attach or eject virtual media, and reset hosts through the control plane. The agent speaks Redfish to many BMCs; operators work from one UI and a job queue.
Install images are served on the OOB network and mounted as virtual CDs. That path dodges the spanning-tree traps that make PXE unreliable when PortFast is left off — the reality in many locked fabrics.
copper_bmc sits next to the metal: media, Redfish, optional OOB DHCP. copper_control_plane holds inventory, credentials, policy, and the web UI — including a poll mode where the agent dials out when the control plane cannot reach the OOB island.
Copper boots a small live image first. From there, teams finish with the automation they already trust — Ansible and friends — then write a raw Ubuntu cloud image. Copper stages the metal; it does not replace your config management religion.
Architecture
Credentials and policy stay on the control plane. The agent is a multi-BMC executor with a split network face.
Web UI, SQLite inventory, BMC credentials, job history, OOB DHCP policy, and an in-process data-network DHCP server (including PXE next-server / boot-file when you need them). One operation at a time per server; many servers in parallel.
Serves install images to BMCs on the OOB network, runs the Redfish command API (or polls the control plane), optionally runs OOB DHCP when pushed a policy, and can capture LLDP so you see where gear is plugged in.
The agent never stores Redfish passwords. Every request carries the BMC address and login from the control plane. Media stays local to the OOB plane so air-gapped installs do not depend on a cloud image CDN.
What it governs
Copper covers the path from “declared chassis” to “booted live image” — inventory, OOB addressing, data DHCP/PXE options, and Redfish actions.
Import CSV rows as declared inventory. Probe Redfish or match OOB DHCP leases to bind them. Until bound, destructive actions stay disabled — so half-known hosts do not get rebooted by accident.
Drop images in the agent media folder. Mount them as virtual media with boot override, reboot into the live image, then continue with storage layout and image write from the control plane’s job flow.
Push address pools and MAC filters to the agent for BMCs. Run data-NIC DHCP in the control plane when you want addressing and optional PXE instructions — without conflating the two planes.
How it works
A short loop operators can repeat across a rack — without standing up a cloud bare-metal service.
Add or import the server, store BMC credentials, and bind via probe or OOB DHCP lease match so the chassis is real in inventory.
The control plane asks copper_bmc to attach an ISO from the OOB media server and set boot order — then reset the host into the live image.
From the live OS, run your automation, lay out disks (software RAID in the open edition), and write a raw Ubuntu cloud image Copper already understands.
FAQ
Copper is Veratype Lab’s software-defined infrastructure product for bare metal: inventory the fleet, control BMCs over Redfish, boot via virtual media, and write Ubuntu raw cloud images — without requiring OpenStack Ironic.
Ironic is a full bare-metal provisioning service inside the OpenStack ecosystem. Copper is a small, opinionated control plane plus OOB agent aimed at halls that need inventory and BMC-driven installs without operating that larger stack.
When PortFast is off, spanning-tree delays often break or stall PXE. Copper’s primary path attaches install images as Redfish virtual media served on the OOB network. Data DHCP can still carry PXE next-server and boot-file settings when your fabric supports them.
Yes. That split is intentional: copper_bmc serves images and speaks Redfish next to the hardware; the control plane can stay on a more restricted network. Poll mode lets the agent dial the control plane when the control plane cannot reach the OOB island.
Virtual media has been tested on Supermicro X12 and X13 and on HPE Gen10, Gen11, and Gen12. Other vendors that follow the Redfish virtual media spec may work but are not claimed as tested.
Today the write path targets Ubuntu cloud images in raw format. qcow2 and other formats are not supported in this edition. Bake packages and users into a custom raw cloud image if you need a richer first boot.
No. Both are Veratype Lab products, but they solve different problems. Verazentrix is about remote access and ZTNA on existing firewalls. Copper is about bare-metal inventory and BMC-driven provisioning. There is no runtime dependency between them.
BMC usernames and passwords stay in the control plane database. The agent does not store them; each command includes the credentials needed for that Redfish call.
Copper has an open-source edition focused on the toolkit described here (including software RAID). Hardware RAID controller support is part of the commercial edition. Request a walkthrough for licensing and support options.
Work with Veratype Lab
Tell us about your BMC vendors, whether the hall is air-gapped, and how you install OS images today. We will arrange a walkthrough.