I am remote booting a computer using linux via PXE.

The goal is to bring up the target computer just enough to run dd in order to download a complete disk image to the HD that is on that target computer.

Presently I have configured an installation that starts via PXE, then does a pivot root and mounts an NFS share on a server as its root directory. It then proceeds to boot using a standard rc.sysinit, with the various rc symlinks for services. At this point, it gets partway through the boot process, then reboots. I presume there is either some permissions problem or some incorrect/missing module someplace along the way.

This is far, far more than I need, given that what I want to do is copy a system image. What I really want is just enough rc.sysinit to discover the HD, then let me copy over the image.

However, rc.sysinit is complicated enough that it involves a great deal of study to figure out what has to be there and what can go - and I am positive that MOST of it can go.

So, my question is this. Has anyone here found it necessary to construct a very minimal rc.sysinit? What needs to be in it?