Network Installation using PXE Boot
 

Hello

I am attempting to do a network installation of Fedora Core 4 without having to use floppies or CD's.

Using a Dell OptiPlex GX520 booting from the NIC. DHCP options are set to point the PXE booting Dell to a TFTP server containing the pxelinux.0 file and the pxelinux.cfg file (see below):

******************* pxelinux.cfg/default **********************
default linux
serial 0,38400n8
label linux
kernel vmlinuz
append ksdevice=eth0 console=tty0 load_ramdisk=1 initrd=initrd.img network noprobe ks=nfs:10.10.10.10:/path/to/ks.cfg

**********************************************************

The system PXE boots, loads the pxelinux.0 file and launches into the setup. At the "Choose a language" screen (the very first screen) where it is supposed to begin answering the prompts using the ks.cfg file (created with the Kickstart Config Utility) it just sits there waiting and I have to do a manual installation.

It seems as though it's not finding the ks.cfg file. So, I started going through the process manually and when I was prompted for the installation type, I selected NFS. Once I did that, I was prompted to select the type of NIC that I was using.

That being the case, I'm figuring that when the Linux setup is launched, it is at that point no longer connected to the network and therefore cannot connect to the NFS server to get the ks.cfg file. If that is true, then how can I specify the type of NIC from the beginning so that it connects and is able to grab the ks.cfg? If I select a driver from the list, the Broadcom Tigon 3 Ethernet driver seems to work just fine. So, is there a way that I can just tell it from the beginning to load that driver and use it to get the ks.cfg and do the unattended install?

So far, the network installation part is working fine and I can PXE boot into setup and go through the installation manually. The only piece I'm missing is getting it to grab and use the Kickstart file.

Another thing...most of the documentation I've seen on setting up DHCP refers to a Linux-based DHCP server. We're using Win2K DHCP server for this, so if there are other options that I need to specify or whatever, please let me know. I have option 66 set as the TFTP server IP and option 67 is the path to the pxelinux.0 file.

I've checked permissions on the all files and directories in question (pxe kernel, kickstart file, base files, etc.) and they're all wide open for the moment to ensure that's not an issue.

I think I've covered all the pertinent info, but please feel free to ask for clarification on anything.

Feedback and/or ideas are most appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

__________
Daniel J. Carrington
dcarrington@discounttireco.com

Hi

I am trying the same thing, but not as far as you. Could you give me advise on the dhcpd.conf side?

The pc im using gets the ip address from the server, and then it cant find the tftp server or something. Just does TFTP ......

Gives me errors like: PXE-E32: TFTP open timeout.

Could you give me atvise please?

icedude

I wish I could help with that part, but we're not using a dhcp.conf. Our DHCP servers are Win2K. I have seen other documentation out there that talk about how to set up the dhcp.conf, though. For Win2K, I've set options 66 and 67 (boot file server & filename respectively). But I don't think that applies if you're using a Linux-based DHCP server.

Sorry, I guess I'm not much help there.

was this issue ever solved? I have the same exact problem. The last time this happened it turned out to be a botched driver in the vmlinuz that comes in the isolinux directory of the boot CD. Unfortunately, using any other vmlinuz results in a boot media/install media mismatch. If anyone has clues here, I'd be forever grateful.

ugh. I figured out my problem. I had updated all of the files in my PXE hierarchy, but forgot to change the initrd symlink. It was pointing at the fc3 initrd instead of fc4. Once I changed that, everything worked. Hope someone finds this useful.

Thanks for following up with your solution.

I just wish that worked in my case. :-(

We were never using FC3, so all of our files were already FC4 and I'm still having this problem.

But then, now it also tells me (during a manual install) that it can't find the hard disk on my Dell OptiPlex GX520. Red Hat finds it....Suse finds it...but FC4, no dice!!

Diskless Boot - Network Booting Service Wizard Error
 

I am trying to set up PXE Boot.

Got through most of the steps, but I am now getting an error from the Network Booting Service Wizard at the dialog called "Enter the NFS information".

I enter the IP, and the directory, and hit "forward".

Then I get the following error regarding the directory I put in:
"The diskless directory must be NFS exported, and contain a boot directory".

Both of these conditions are true, but I still get this error, so I am unableto complete the diskelss environment.

Can anyone help me get through this error?
Has anyone bumped into this problem before?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Rob