A simpler integration with Omni when dedicated server host supports iPXE with DHCP

[adamlundrigan]

I have been testing out Omni with dedicated servers from Latitude.sh, who support iPXE-based custom images.

These are the pages I found relating to PXE/iPXE:

• https://docs.siderolabs.com/omni/omni-cluster-setup/registering-machines/register-a-bare-metal-machine-pxe-ipxe
  References using a Matchbox PXE server

• https://docs.siderolabs.com/omni/omni-cluster-setup/setting-up-the-bare-metal-infrastructure-provider
  Is focused around creating a system to auto-provision new bare-metal machines into Omni?

which I had trouble figuring out how to make that work with Latitude. So, as one is apt to do in these times, I asked Claude:

help me figure out how to connect some bare metal machines to Sidero Omni

the machines will be at Latitude, which supports iPXE with DHCP
https://www.latitude.sh/docs/servers/custom-images

Relevant links:
https://docs.siderolabs.com/omni/omni-cluster-setup/registering-machines/register-a-bare-metal-machine-pxe-ipxe
https://docs.siderolabs.com/talos/v1.7/platform-specific-installations/bare-metal-platforms/pxe

I would very much like to not have to run a local booter/matchbox to do the provisioning, eg: as this prescribes:
https://docs.siderolabs.com/omni/omni-cluster-setup/setting-up-the-bare-metal-infrastructure-provider

and it cut straight to what I needed

Great news — you can do this without running a local matchbox/infrastructure provider! Since Latitude supports iPXE with DHCP, you can leverage the Talos Image Factory to serve your boot assets directly from the internet. Here's the approach:

which is, essentially, this:

#!ipxe
dhcp
chain --replace --autofree https://pxe.factory.talos.dev/pxe/YOUR_SCHEMATIC_ID/TALOS_VERSION/metal-amd64

I popped that into the iPXE section of the Latitude server creator and it just worked.

Not sure if the Omni docs are the right place for this information, or Latitude.sh's documentation, or both.