Network (PXE) boot

[pwatk]

I haven't tried this yet but I'd like to know if it is possible to PXE boot the livecd using the 'from=' option to find the contents of the disc from an nfs share or ftp etc.

Thanks.

[JRD]

For now : no
For the next system of boot CD, yes it could be an option. What is difficult is finding a way to have the network running (driver) and the network configured (IP, mask, route, ...) in the initrd. Not sure it will be an option for 13.2 as it is a difficult task.

[pwatk]

I've done some digging and apparently the LLS already supports booting from http but it would be nice if we could support nfs, ftp and smb as well.

I'm not saying I know anything here but I'd like to make some suggestions:
Exclude all wireless drivers (not required)
Explicitly required a dhcp server (static addresses can be handled on the server end)
Add boot options e.g. netboot={nfs,ftp,http,smb} netip=192.168.x.x netsrc=/srv/salix/{salixlive.iso}, or something similar.

Thanks.

[JRD]

Ok, but why ?
Why discard wireless drivers ?
Why the need of a DHCP server ?

And also...why do you need to boot using PXE ?
I'm ok with this and could handle this for the next live version. But I need to understand the need to boot into PXE.

[pwatk]

Why discard wireless drivers ?

Not required for PXE boot so there's no need to put them in the initrd, I was only referring to the initrd!

Why the need of a DHCP server ?

You need DHCP to PXE boot anyway so there's no need to add configuration for static addresses for the client. I'm only suggesting this to make things easier (if it makes things easier)!

And also...why do you need to boot using PXE ?
I'm ok with this and could handle this for the next live version. But I need to understand the need to boot into PXE.

I'm setting up a server as a learning exercise. I've been meaning to do this for a long time so I thought I'd start with something interesting, a PXE server. I've already installed Salix from the installation disc in an NFS share but once I'd finished it dawned on me that networking booting the LiveCD would be amazingly useful and save making USB sticks and discs all the time.
I admit there is a large amount of want versus need here but I'd be willing to help with testing etc.

[JRD]

If you could help with testing...then maybe I could work on it then. I'm interresting in such things, even if I'm not so sure that many people will use it. Few is enough :p

[pwatk]

Even more of a reason for me to brush up on my networking skills

[pwatk]

I setup a basic apache web server last night and successfully booted Slax across the network. The salixlive initrd is missing udhcpc from busybox but I'm going to rebuild it just to get it working .

I still think this will be a lot better with support for NFS, SMB and FTP as not everyone wants to setup a web server just to PXE boot.

One additional thing, the from= option allows for specifying the ISO image to be loop mounted during the boot sequence. I haven't tried this over the network (I will later) but this would be a nice feature to keep for 13.2.

This is how I boot salixlive from my USB stick using extlinux:

Code: Select all

label salix
  menu label Salix Live Xfce 13.1.2
  kernel /salixlive/vmlinuz
  append initrd=/salixlive/initrd.gz vga=791 root=/dev/ram0 rw quiet lang=en_GB.utf8 keyb=uk 4 toram numlock=off synaptics=off from=/salixlive-xfce-13.1.2.iso

[schlawi54]

Probably, FAI is a great option for installation and/or live media.

FAI-CD: Installation from CD, DVD or USB stick
FAI-CD is the easy way to start with FAI.
Perform a FAI installation from CD-ROM without setting up an install server. FAI-CD puts all data needed for a fully automatic installation on a CD. So no network is needed and you can install the whole system from CD. The script creates an ISO image that includes the nfsroot, the configuration space and a partitial Debian mirror.

…and…

FAI is a non-interactive system to install, customize and manage Linux systems and software configurations on computers as well as virtual machines and chroot environments, from small networks to large-scale infrastructures and clusters.
It's a tool for unattended mass deployment of Linux. You can take one or more virgin PC's, turn on the power, and after a few minutes, the systems are installed, and completely configured to your exact needs, without any interaction necessary.
Motto: Plan your installation, and FAI installs your plan.

Check out screen shots. http://fai-project.org/slideshow/

I'll try the demo CD and report.

*edit*

FAI Installation Steps
* Network boot via PXE
* Receive configuration data via HTTP, NFS, svn or git
* Run scripts to determine FAI classes and variables
* Partition local hard disks and create RAID, LVM configuration and the file systems
* Install and configure software packages
* Customize OS and software to your local needs
* Reboot freshly installed machine

[pwatk]

Believe it or not Slackware includes support for unattended network installation via a kickstart-style answer file.

Sadly the Salix Installation scripts (which are modified Slackware installation scripts) don't include the network installation options. I tried to start a mailing list topic to have these reinstated but it seams to have been miss-understood or ignored.

I'm more interested in network installation either via the LiveCD or the installation discs (preferably both) rather than unattended installation though.