Slackware 14.1 (Kernel panic) PXE + DHCP + NFS
 

Hi guys,
i am a brazilian user of slackware since longe time ago.
This days i try to figure out a way to start a diskless Slackware 14.1 client from a PXE + DHCP + NFS, without success. I can do this using a specific old 2.6 kernel, but in Slackware 14.1, i can’t figure out a way.

My PXE config sounds like:
DEFAULT pxelinux.cfg/vmlinuz-2.6 ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.80:/tftpboot/specific-distro vga=791 init=/etc/rc.d/rc.S quiet rw

So if i change the old specific kernel (vmlinuz-2.6) to the new one Slackware 14.1 kernel (vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17) on PXE server, clients cant start due to a kernel panic error.

In Slackware 14.1 i will need a initrd/ramdisk?

Using the old “vmlinuz-2.6″ i dont need any extra initrd/ramdisk, just the kernel.

Any possible solutions to this?

Thanks to you attention and sorry to my bad english.

Hard for me to help without more information about the kernel panic. The one time that I had set this up was to do the install over the network to a machine that didn't have a working CD-ROM drive.

If you need more details i can provide them to you. Just talk me what you need and i will do. Need to solve this, i am trying since 4 days ago. :(

Please help me with this.

Hi,

You might need both NFS and TFTP services enabled and configured in order to achieve this project.

The last time that I tried booting a LiveCD over the network, I forgot the NFS part for example.

All configuration part are correct. PXE, DHCP and NFS are correct. If i use the old kernel (like i said before), clients can boot normal from network. When i try to the new one Slackware 14.1 kernel (3.10.17), clients have a error.

So, if i use "vmlinuz-2.6" all is ok, if i change to the "bzImage-3.10-17", have a error. And yes, i put the correct name in the config file.

Someone can help me with this?

Please provide the error that you see.

1) - Using PXE config (default) with the "vmlinuz-2.6" kernel, the client can successful boot from network (image1.png)

/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg# ls -la
total 12276
drwxrwxrwx 2 1000 users 4096 Mar 22 21:36 ./
drwxrwxrwx 11 root root 4096 Apr 21 2010 ../
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 135 Sep 3 2008 default*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3278832 Jan 3 2008 vmlinuz-2.6*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3278832 Oct 12 2007 vmlinuz-2.6.21*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 5995104 Oct 23 20:47 vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17*

/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg# cat default
DEFAULT pxelinux.cfg/vmlinuz-2.6 ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.80:/tftpboot/linux-distro vga=791 init=/etc/rc.d/rc.S quiet rw

---

2) - Using PXE config (default) with the "vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17" kernel, the client can't successful boot from network (image2.png)
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg# ls -la
total 12276
drwxrwxrwx 2 1000 users 4096 Mar 22 21:36 ./
drwxrwxrwx 11 root root 4096 Apr 21 2010 ../
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 135 Sep 3 2008 default*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3278832 Jan 3 2008 vmlinuz-2.6*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3278832 Oct 12 2007 vmlinuz-2.6.21*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 5995104 Oct 23 20:47 vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17*

/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg# cat default
DEFAULT pxelinux.cfg/vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17 ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.80:/tftpboot/linux-distro vga=791 init=/etc/rc.d/rc.S quiet rw

---

I read some documents and some of this make reference to a special initrd when using new kernels. This is true?
Why i can boot without any initrd using the old "vmlinuz-2.6"?
How can i use the new one kernel "vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17" in this PXE setup without erros?

CONFIG_NFS_ROOT does not appear to be compiled into the Slackware64 14.1 huge kernels. (It wasn't built into the 13.37's huge-2.6.37.6 kernel, either.)

You'll have to compile your own or create an initrd that does the NFS mount for you.

Richard, i think this is not a x64 version of kernel, this is a x32 version. But anyway, this was the best information so far. I will try to compile the vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17 with CONFIG_NFS_ROOT enabled and configured. I will do this now!
I'll be back shortly with news.

Richard, after long time compiling the vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17, with CONFIG_NFS_ROOT=y actived, i have same error. See the image (image003.png).

below is the part of .config file used to compile the vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17 kernel:
---
CONFIG_NETWORK_FILESYSTEMS=y
CONFIG_NFS_FS=y
CONFIG_NFS_V2=y
CONFIG_NFS_V3=y
# CONFIG_NFS_V3_ACL is not set
CONFIG_NFS_V4=y
CONFIG_NFS_ROOT=y
CONFIG_NFS_SWAP=y
# CONFIG_NFS_V4_1 is not set
# CONFIG_NFS_USE_LEGACY_DNS is not set
CONFIG_NFS_USE_KERNEL_DNS=y
CONFIG_NFSD=y
CONFIG_NFSD_V3=y
# CONFIG_NFSD_V3_ACL is not set
CONFIG_NFSD_V4=y
# CONFIG_NFSD_FAULT_INJECTION is not set
---

Any trick to solve the problem?

Reading some texts i discover that in the new kernels, the "CONFIG_NFS_ROOT" has changed to "CONFIG_ROOT_NFS". I will try it now. :)

Oops. My bad.

Sorry about that.

The problem was SOLVED, need to recompile the kernel with things like:

CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP
Build in support for the cient 's network card (Network device support ---> Select your card driver).
Build in support for the BOOTP protocol (Networking options ---> IP: kernel level autoconfiguration ---> IP: BOOTP support).
Build in support for NFS and root over NFS (File systems ---> Network File Systems ---> NFS file system support and File systems ---> Network File Systems ---> NFS file system support ---> Root over NFS).
Build in support for loopback devices (Block devices ---> Loopback device support).
IP Kernel level Autoconfiguration

Thanks to all replys, i hope this can help other peoples with same problem.

Exactly the same problem, but CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP=y didn't help me. Here is the portion of my config:

CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP=y
CONFIG_VIA_RHINE=y
CONFIG_IP_PNP_DHCP=y
CONFIG_NFS_FS=y
CONFIG_NFS_V2=y
CONFIG_NFS_V3=y
CONFIG_NFS_V4=y
# CONFIG_NFS_V4_1 is not set
CONFIG_ROOT_NFS=y

Could you post the complete config ?

Wow ! It should be "root=/dev/nfs", not "root=/dev/nfsd" in kernel boot options (PXE). But it worked before !?
Anyway, no CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP=y is required. The only 5 changes to config-huge-3.10.17 are:

Network Support - Network Options (* IP: kernel level autoconfiguration ; * IP: DHCP support)
Device Drivers - Network Device Support - Ethernet Driver support (* Via Rhine support) - my Ethernet adapter
File Systems - Network File Systems (* Root file system on NFS)