[feature] add exiting machines

[khb]

This is a request for enhancement.

My employer has vast brownfields we'd like to import into MAAS. The largest stumbling block appears to be the lack of a supported way to add running systems into MAAS. While we could hack into the database, we'd much prefer a supported approach.

The GUI *does* have Nodes->Add Hardware->Machine. However, only the mac address and power-type are enterable. We'd like to import the same data we'd get had we gone all the way through deploy (so we'll have a single database to reflect the machines ownership, inventory, etc.)

API and CLI support are must haves, GUI optional (scripting the tens of thousands of machine adds is far more appealing than doing it via the GUI). However, GUI support would be a kindness, especially for the initial usage (PoC, small Production, etc.)

[khb (khbkhb)]

sorry for the typo s/exiting/existing/

[Björn Tillenius (bjornt)]

Thanks for your feature request, please could you start a thread over on our Discourse (https://discourse.maas.io) to discuss the feature?