FC6 (&7) netboot

Mon Apr 30 22:30:07 UTC 2007

On 4/30/07, Stefan van der Eijk <stefan at eijk.nu> wrote:
> On 4/30/07, Kam Leo <kam.leo at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 4/30/07, Stefan van der Eijk <stefan at eijk.nu> wrote:
> > > On 4/30/07, Kam Leo <kam.leo at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > On 4/30/07, Stefan van der Eijk <stefan at eijk.nu> wrote:
> > > > > On 4/30/07, Kam Leo <kam.leo at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > On 4/30/07, Stefan van der Eijk <stefan at eijk.nu> wrote:
> > > > > > > Hi,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I'm trying to get FC6 working on a diskless system. I hope this is the
> > > > > > > correct list to discuss this topic, if not please ignore this message.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > As I mentioned, I'm trying to get FC6 to work in a diskless system. To
> > > > > > > do this I first installed FC6 in a VMware (with disk). I'm using that
> > > > > > > as the "example" system.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I'm following the instructions provided in the documentation of the
> > > > > > > system-config-netboot-0.1.41-1.FC6 package. After rsyncing over the
> > > > > > > files to the NFS server, setting up DHCP and TFTP servers it's time
> > > > > > > for the first attempt. The diskless client is a vmware, confgured to
> > > > > > > boot over the network (PXE).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > With the first attempt, the system stops with the following error:
> > > > > > > "Mounting rot filesystem: /nfsroots/fc6-diskless/root from 192.168.254.254
> > > > > > > mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on
> > > > > > > 192.168.254.254:/nfsroots/fc6-diskless/root,
> > > > > > > missing codepage r other error
> > > > > > > In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try dmesg | tail  or
> > > > > > > so."
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > For screenshot see: http://eijk.homelinux.org/~stefan/fc-diskless/1.jpg
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > As mentioned in
> > > > > > > http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Diskless_Frontend#Redhat_and_Fedora_Core
> > > > > > > /sbin/mount.nfs is missing in the initrd.img. This patch adds it
> > > > > > > (although I'm not sure if mount.nfs4 should be added too):
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > # diff -ur /usr/share/system-config-netboot/diskless/updateDiskless.orig
> > > > > > > /usr/share/system-config-netboot/diskless/updateDiskless
> > > > > > > --- /usr/share/system-config-netboot/diskless/updateDiskless.orig
> > > > > > >  2007-04-29 23:18:24.000000000 +0200
> > > > > > > +++ /usr/share/system-config-netboot/diskless/updateDiskless
> > > > > > > 2007-04-29 23:18:50.000000000 +0200
> > > > > > > @@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
> > > > > > >  done;
> > > > > > >  #/bin/cp "$ROOT"/usr/share/hwdata/pcitable $MNTPOINT/usr/share/hwdata/ || die;
> > > > > > >  # disklessrc now uses modules.pcimap, not pcitable
> > > > > > > -BINS="/sbin/busybox.anaconda /sbin/insmod /sbin/modprobe /sbin/rmmod
> > > > > > > /sbin/dhclient /bin/bash /bin/mount /sbin/route /sbin/ip /usr/bin/expr
> > > > > > > /sbin/lspci /sbin/ifconfig /sbin/consoletype /sbin/pivot_root
> > > > > > > /bin/hostname /bin/domainname /usr/bin/host"
> > > > > > > +BINS="/sbin/busybox.anaconda /sbin/insmod /sbin/modprobe /sbin/rmmod
> > > > > > > /sbin/dhclient /bin/bash /bin/mount /sbin/mount.nfs /sbin/mount.nfs4
> > > > > > > /sbin/route /sbin/ip /usr/bin/expr /sbin/lspci /sbin/ifconfig
> > > > > > > /sbin/consoletype /sbin/pivot_root /bin/hostname /bin/domainname
> > > > > > > /usr/bin/host"
> > > > > > >  # Set up links to all the busybox functions -
> > > > > > >  # may be different for different versions of busybox!
> > > > > > >  if [ ! -e $ROOT/sbin/busybox.anaconda ]; then
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > 2nd attempt ended with it complaining that it couldn't pivot_root.
> > > > > > > Seems that /.oldroot directory isn't created. For screenshot see:
> > > > > > > http://eijk.homelinux.org/~stefan/fc-diskless/2.jpg
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > After making that directory it also complains that /.snapshot isn't
> > > > > > > made either. Starting udev takes ages,
> > > > > > > http://eijk.homelinux.org/~stefan/fc-diskless/3.jpg
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I didn't wait for it to finish, just made the directory on the NFS
> > > > > > > server and reset the vmware.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > http://eijk.homelinux.org/~stefan/fc-diskless/4.jpg
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > After re-reading the .html pages in
> > > > > > > /usr/share/doc/system-config-netboot-0.1.41/ I followed the
> > > > > > > instructions to create a client. Changed the pxe config to reflect
> > > > > > > this.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > label fc6
> > > > > > >         KERNEL vmlinuz
> > > > > > >         APPEND initrd=initrd.img root=/dev/ram0 init=disklessrc
> > > > > > > NFSROOT=192.168.254.254:/nfsroots/fc6-diskless ramdisk_size=19102
> > > > > > > ETHERNET=eth0 SNAPSHOT=fc6-diskless
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > resulting in this: http://eijk.homelinux.org/~stefan/fc-diskless/5.jpg
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > added "ramdisk_blocksize=1024", from
> > > > > > > http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Diskless_Frontend#Redhat_and_Fedora_Core
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The end result is a FC6 diskless client that hangs on starting udev.
> > > > > > > http://eijk.homelinux.org/~stefan/fc-diskless/6.jpg
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I'm wondering what I've missed in the documentation and what I'm doing
> > > > > > > wrong. I feel that I'm already correcting too many things myself -->
> > > > > > > this stuff should be made in a way that it just works and is trivial
> > > > > > > to set up. As the package version/release is still the same in
> > > > > > > rawhide, I guess this same package is going to be shipped with FC7.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > What would be the best way to move forward? Shall I start with filing
> > > > > > > some bugreports? Or is this not the right time to do so (freeze for
> > > > > > > fc7)?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > with kind regards,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Stefan van der Eijk
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Have you considered using Linux Terminal Server,
> > > > > > http://sourceforge.net/projects/ltsp/ ?
> > > > >
> > > > > No, I didn't, I was expecting (!!) that the redhat tools would be able
> > > > > to do the job.
> > > >
> > > > Wait a second! Where does it state that the fedora Project offer a
> > > > diskless client. It is certainly not listed in their download section.
> > >
> > > Hmmm. strange, as the software I was trying to use is part of fedora's
> > > main (or is it called core?) distro. Check:
> > >
> > > http://ftp.surfnet.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/distr/fedora/6/i386/os/Fedora/RPMS/system-config-netboot-0.1.41-1.FC6.noarch.rpm
> > >
> > > or I must be mistaken that this not part of the fedora project.
> > > Perhaps you can explain it to me, I'm new here.
> >
> > Because you were having such difficulty reading and comprehending I
> > thought you would appreciate a turnkey solution or pre-built
> > distribution.
>
> :-) I guess I was hoping that the system-config-netboot package would
> be a turnkey solution  from Fedora / RedHat. After the troubles I've
> been having with it, I wonder if anybody has had any success with it.
> Seems that it's not in RHEL5 either.
>
> > If not, feel free to browse the RHEL manual,
> > http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/pdf/rhel-sag-en.pdf.
>
> Thanks for the link.
>
> Seems that I didn't mis anything in there. Still don't understand why
> the snapshot/files file doesn't get created here.
>
> > > > > Are there ltsp packages available in Fedora or would I need to cook my own?
> > > > Did you try the LSTP project's home page? I found this there:
> > > > http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/DownLoads#Ltsp_5_on_Other_distributions
> > > >
> > > > Or try this howto:
> > > > http://osl.birzeit.edu:8080/wiki2/index.php/LTSP_guide_on_Fedora
> > > >
> > > > If you are not satisfied with that solution take a look at the Ubuntu
> > > > canned solutions, Edubuntu 6.10 or 7.04 (just released),
> > > > http://www.edubuntu.org/ .
> > >
> > > :-) Being a seasoned Mandriva user, now looking into fedora as it's
> >
> > So you're a short timer!
>
> Yes. Just evaluating if Fedora will work for me, since Mandriva
> doesn't for this stuff. With Mandriva the client system comes up fine,
> but dhcp can't be used for bringing up the NIC in the final system.
> i.e. there are 3 points when the system can ask for information from
> the dhcp server --> PXE stage, initrd stage (to mount the nfsroot) and
> final system (service network start). Seems the last one needs to be
> static, otherwise the nfsroot is killed when the dhcp client starts.
> Perhaps this is solved with Fedora.

You need to have a separate lan for the clients. That is, two separate
ethernet ports on the server. One port goes to the outside world. The
other goes to serve the clients. The server is also the router for the
clients.

> > > also a rpm based distro, I wasn't expecting to be pointed to an other
> > > distro that quickly on this list :-).
> >
> > The first two references are for Fedora. If Fedora Core offered an
> > LTSP distribution I would have pointed you directly to it.
> I thought so too :-)
>
> I had a brief look at LTSP when I was trying to get this working on
> Mandriva. They have something called draktermserv to setup ltsp. First
> impression of that tool was that it would take quite some effort to
> get it to work properly. It also wasn't  high priority for the
> maintainers of the package.
>
> > I gave you the other references because I want people to use GNU/Linux. The
> > distribution is a matter of preference. Personally, I like Fedora;
> > others find it too technical.
>
> :-) I don't mind things being too technical, as long as I'm able to
> get fixes back upstream. Seems that hasn't been happening with this
> fedora package (comments on the mythtv wiki never made it back into
> fedora).
>
> > > Perhaps I could try iscsi too, how hard would it be to setup an iscsi
> > > target on my storage server and install a diskless FC6 client on it?
> >
> > You are the determining factor. Have fun!
>
> Sure, thanks! :-)
>
> regards,
>
> Stefan
>
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