LinuxQuestions.org
Share your knowledge at the LQ Wiki.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Red Hat
User Name
Password
Red Hat This forum is for the discussion of Red Hat Linux.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 05-28-2004, 07:47 PM   #1
baz2
Member
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Posts: 73

Rep: Reputation: 15
kickstart network install of rh 9


I'm trying to automate the install of RH 9 over the network.

I'm almost there.

What I've been able to do so far:

1) Install over the network with a boot CDROM burned from the boot.iso file in the images directory.

2) Craft a ks.cfg that works except for pausing to ask for resolving dependencies.

3) Do it over the network with the boot CDROM and ks.cfg on a floppy.

Besides any help on 2) (though I'll do more research on my own into kickstart parameters), what I'm really asking for help on is how to do the network kickstart without the floppy.

I have the ks.cfg in the / directory of the NFS server that hosts the installation files. From what I'm reading, I should be able to do something like:

linux ks=IPADDRESS:/ks.cfg

where IPADDRESS is IP address of the NFS server. To repeat,

linux ks=floppy

works just fine. What I want to do is load the ks.cfg file from the NFS server.

What am I doing wrong?

-baz
 
Old 05-31-2004, 09:48 AM   #2
baz2
Member
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Posts: 73

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
To answer my own questions, if anyone is interested.

The root of my NFS server is exported. I've got to put that ks.cfg file in a directory that is exported. (duh!)

I need to add the "--resolvedeps" option to the %packages directory in my ks.cfg file to fully automate it.

I won't get to testing these tomorrow, but I expect them to fix my problems.
 
Old 01-21-2005, 12:55 PM   #3
twantrd
Senior Member
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Location: CA
Distribution: redhat 7.3
Posts: 1,440

Rep: Reputation: 52
I too need help with kickstart via NFS. I have no problem installing from just a plain floppy "linux ks=floppy". What's your progress on this?

-twantrd
 
Old 01-25-2005, 05:49 PM   #4
madcowjim
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jan 2005
Location: Happy Valley, USA
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.04
Posts: 9

Rep: Reputation: 0
Installing without a boot disk can be done with a PXE installation. I've never done it (I'm still figuring out the kickstart part), but I know a few people that have done it and they say it works great.

There's a good HOW-TO document on this:
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~alfw/PXE-Kickstart/

Have fun!
-jim
 
Old 01-26-2005, 03:57 AM   #5
Duudson
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2004
Distribution: RHEL3, FC3
Posts: 53

Rep: Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally posted by twantrd
I too need help with kickstart via NFS. I have no problem installing from just a plain floppy "linux ks=floppy". What's your progress on this?

-twantrd
ks=nfs:<IP Address of your NFS server>:/path/to/your/exported/kicstart.cfg
 
Old 01-26-2005, 02:52 PM   #6
twantrd
Senior Member
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Location: CA
Distribution: redhat 7.3
Posts: 1,440

Rep: Reputation: 52
Thanks for the reply. I tried that too but that didn't work. So for now, I'm just kickstarting via floppy.

-twantrd
 
Old 01-26-2005, 04:23 PM   #7
Duudson
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2004
Distribution: RHEL3, FC3
Posts: 53

Rep: Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally posted by twantrd
Thanks for the reply. I tried that too but that didn't work. So for now, I'm just kickstarting via floppy.

-twantrd
Really? Anything in the logs of the NFS server?

I really haven't tried it with RH9, but it works with RHEL3.

How about adding the kickstart file to the CD, and then ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg ?
 
Old 01-26-2005, 06:19 PM   #8
twantrd
Senior Member
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Location: CA
Distribution: redhat 7.3
Posts: 1,440

Rep: Reputation: 52
Pretty much I put my ks.cfg file (I specified my NFS server in the ks.cfg file) on a floppy then do a 'linux ks=floppy' and then it does the work. However, to do this I also need to create a network driver disk. That's how I've been doing it lately.

However, I don't want to use floppies anymore.

-twantrd
 
Old 01-26-2005, 07:02 PM   #9
madcowjim
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jan 2005
Location: Happy Valley, USA
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.04
Posts: 9

Rep: Reputation: 0
I'm confused...

Do you have to put your kickstart file in a folder called /kickstart and name it <IPADDRESS>-kickstart? I've seen that you're supposed to do this on several kickstart HOW-TOs (like here), but I'm starting to wonder if it even really matters as long as you specify it correctly on the installation command line. (Like I've seen here.) Can someone clarify this for me?

-jim

[EDIT] Oops hehe. I guess I answer my own question by reading down a bit further on the second link.

Last edited by madcowjim; 01-26-2005 at 07:04 PM.
 
Old 01-27-2005, 01:40 AM   #10
Duudson
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2004
Distribution: RHEL3, FC3
Posts: 53

Rep: Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally posted by twantrd
Pretty much I put my ks.cfg file (I specified my NFS server in the ks.cfg file) on a floppy then do a 'linux ks=floppy' and then it does the work. However, to do this I also need to create a network driver disk. That's how I've been doing it lately.

However, I don't want to use floppies anymore.

-twantrd
Is it possible for you to use PXE installation? It's pretty easy to setup.

btw when you say that you have exported root, do you mean / or /root? Can you mount that directory using some other computer?
 
Old 01-27-2005, 02:41 AM   #11
twantrd
Senior Member
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Location: CA
Distribution: redhat 7.3
Posts: 1,440

Rep: Reputation: 52
Yes, I would be very interested in PXE installation. You need tftp running or something right?

-twantrd
 
Old 01-27-2005, 05:54 AM   #12
Duudson
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2004
Distribution: RHEL3, FC3
Posts: 53

Rep: Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally posted by twantrd
Yes, I would be very interested in PXE installation. You need tftp running or something right?

-twantrd
I have tftp, dhcpd & nfs running on my installation server.

/etc/dhcpd.conf
ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
not authoritative;
allow booting;
allow bootp;
allow unknown-clients;
subnet 10.10.10.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 10.10.10.10 10.10.10.20;
filename "pxelinux.0";


/etc/xinetd.d/tftp
service tftp
{
socket_type = dgram
protocol = udp
wait = yes
user = root
server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
server_args = -s /install/tftpboot
disable = no
per_source = 11
cps = 100 2
flags = IPv4
}

/etc/exports
/install *(sync,ro,no_root_squash)

then my /install/tftpboot directory has pxelinux.0 file and directories :
kickstarts (here I keep all kickstartfiles for all servers)
msgs (here is the menu file that is displayed when I boot some server from network, it displays all different Linux versions I can install (and a couple for diskless booting)
OS (here are vmlinuz(s) & initrd(s))
pxelinux.cfg (here is one file, default)

And my default file has entries like this:
prompt 1
display msgs/boot.msg
label RHEL
kernel OS/RHEL.vmlinuz
append initrd=OS/RHEL.initrd.img ksdevice=eth0 ks=nfs:10.10.10.1:/install/tftpboot/kickstarts/RHEL.ks.cfg ramdisk_size=10000

I'm sure that there was few mistakes, but I'll correct them when I have access to my installation server.

Again I'm not sure if it will work with RH9, but it works with RHEL3.

Last edited by Duudson; 01-27-2005 at 06:25 AM.
 
Old 01-27-2005, 06:52 PM   #13
twantrd
Senior Member
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Location: CA
Distribution: redhat 7.3
Posts: 1,440

Rep: Reputation: 52
Thank you. I'll make sure I try that out when I perform another kickstart installation. THANKS!

-twantrd
 
Old 03-04-2005, 10:42 AM   #14
aufomechanic
Member
 
Registered: Sep 2004
Distribution: Make my own
Posts: 30

Rep: Reputation: 15
Else do this with dumps of disks from a working sys
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...light=diskless
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
network kickstart without dhcp server mancdaz Red Hat 9 01-28-2012 06:38 AM
How to specify Network Time Protocol Server in Kickstart script? EStester Linux - Enterprise 3 03-26-2005 02:46 PM
Using Kickstart --Prompt for Install Location? caps_phisto Fedora - Installation 1 01-12-2005 08:08 AM
KickStart Network install hasan Linux - Networking 1 04-29-2004 02:05 AM
rh9 kickstart post install help stockcowboy Linux - Newbie 1 12-05-2003 12:45 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Red Hat

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:47 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration