[et-mgmt-tools] cobbler-1.0.1-2 - build problem using koan

[Tom Brown]

> Yes.  DHCP is needed, since your system hasn't been assigned an IP 
> address and can only identify itself by MAC.  The network portion of 
> your kickstart file will ensure that a static IP will be assigned to 
> eth0 only AFTER the kickstart file has been downloaded.
>
>     * Set 'manage_dhcp=1' in /etc/cobbler/settings (or
>       /var/lib/cobbler/settings if using an older version of cobbler).
>     * In the dhcp template file (/etc/cobbler/dhcp.template) ensure
>       that you have configured a stanza for the subnet corresponding
>       to that of your provisioned system.
>           o E.g.
>                 + ...
>                 + subnet 10.x.x.x netmask 255.255.254.0 {
>                        option routers          10.x.x.253;
>                        option subnet-mask      255.255.254.0;
>                        filename                "/pxelinux.0";
>                        next-server             $next_server;
>                   }
>                 + ...
>           o Just be sure there are no 'range dynamic-bootp',
>             'default-lease-time', or 'max-lease-time' statements,
>             since you are probably concerned about dynamic IP
>             assignments in a prod environment.
>     * When provisioning your system with cobbler, specify *both* a MAC
>       address *and* an IP address, so that the host stanza in
>       /etc/dhcpd.conf is unique and not dependent upon dynamic options.
>
> Give it a whirl and reply with any updates. :)
>


OK thanks for the update i am a bit confused though as i thought that 
using koan i could _reinstall_ a system without the need for DHCP and 
PXE - The simple fact is that right now i cant use DHCP in this specific 
network and so using koan to rebuild, and thats the key i think i am 
rebuilding a current running OS not bare metal, to contact the cobbler 
server.

Koan contacts the cobbler server and i thought, and it seems correct, 
that it builds a minimal boot kernel, this boots with IP info and then 
the kickstart is downloaded negating the need for DHCP. I do similar 
things in another network to rebuild people's VM's running on laptops 
etc that are not covered in my DHCP setup and they rebuild fine, the 
only issue is that this is a new server and o cant seem to figure out 
whats wrong.

i'd like to know if i've had a misconception about koan all this time ;)

thanks