[Resolved][FC4] Missing documentation?

[Brian Fahrlander]

On Thu, 2005-06-16 at 14:51 -0500, Brian Fahrlander wrote:
>     I see on the Fedora site two manuals for installation, both written
> from the standpoint of an installer, doing an installation.  Maybe it's
> there and I've missed it, or it's called something else, but I can't
> find how to *set*up*the*network*install*machine.  Sure, I can FTP it,
> that's not hard, but I have perfect ISOs, and understand there's some
> 'magic' in making them remotely readably through loopback.
> 
>     Does anyone know where the docs are for that?  I'm fighting an old,
> tired CDROM that's taking TWO HOURS for each disk of the
> mediacheck...ugh.

   The documentation is, in fact missing (unless I'm supposed to look
for the pi symbol on the web page for access...) though there's a copy
of it on the manuals for RHEL 4.  Maybe it's an oversight, maybe a
Communist plot; I managed to get the NFS install working VERY WELL and
for the purpose of Google, I'm going to overview the process.  And,
yeah, it's bad form to reply to myself, but this'll ensure it stays with
the thread- the solution came in a private message.

    ISOs, once downloaded, can be mounted much like a partition:

    mount -o loop <ISO filename here> <mountpoint>

    Once done, it's attached to the filesystem like any other; a really
sweet trick that I'm very proud of.   Kinda like a really big floppy you
can download.  Good thinking, guys. Very handy, and very Unix.

    Assuming you have a running NFS server someplace, you're looking to
_combine_ all these images together into one directory, copying them
from these ISOs.  So pick a place with a lot of room, on an NFS share
and copy them like this:

    mount -o loop /home/brian/Desktop/Downloads/FC4-i386-
disc1.iso /mnt/temp
    cp -var /mnt/tmp/* /shares/iso/fc4
    umount /mnt/temp

    Repeat these steps as many times as you have disks, probably for
just 1-4. This will put the completed image in /shares/iso/fc4, which
your remote, about-to-be-startling machine can get to it.

    Follow the manual for the setup; using with "linux askmethod" so you
can specify the NFS method, call out the machine who's hosting the files
you created and tell it which share, and path, to it.

    The install start in text-mode, and begin to reveal itself as the
flashy, slick installer, if you've got the hardware for it.  And it
never gets ugly again. On the first boot, you'll get some questions and
such, then you're on your own and enjoying the hard work these people
have done.

    Show some respect!  Google before you ask; remember to say thanks.
I'm sure they never hear enough of it.  And as soon as you're confident
and things go smooth, help a newbie. Don't 'Bogart' the info, aye?

    Thanks again, guys; great job!

-- 
Karma: God's grace for unbelievers for doing the right thing, after all.
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Brian Fahrländer                 Christian, Conservative, and Technomad
Evansville, IN                                http://www.fahrlander.net 
ICQ: 5119262                                          AIM: WheelDweller
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