Kickstart via PXE/NFS

[Callahan, Tom]

Adding ksdevice=xxx to the append line for the boot should get rid of the interface options. Kickstart doesn't know the config until after it brings the interface up.

As far as nfs not working, check to make sure the host is in dns, as we all know the rules of nfs and hostnames. You should still see traffic but its worth a try.

Also, add ip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx , dns=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx and gateway=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx to the kernel append line to force dns,gateway,etc. I find that kickstart works much better that way.



================================
Sent from my wireless handheld device.

Tom Callahan    

-----Original Message-----
From: kickstart-list-bounces at redhat.com <kickstart-list-bounces at redhat.com>
To: kickstart-list at redhat.com <kickstart-list at redhat.com>
Sent: Mon May 14 09:19:55 2007
Subject: Kickstart via PXE/NFS


I am attempting to install RHEL ES V4 U5 on a Dell 2950 server. I am using a Sun server as the DHCP/TFTP/NFS server supplying all data to complete the install. I am able to start the PXE boot. The Dell server is able to download the pxelinux image and also read the pxelinux.cfg file. Here is the cfg file I am using. 

# Perform a local boot by default 
default installauto 
# Always prompt 
prompt 1 
# Display the bootup message 
display pxeboot.msg 
# Boot automatically after 30 seconds in tenths of a second 
timeout 300 
label local 
        localboot 0 
label rescue 
       ipappend 2 
       kernel rhel_v4/vmlinuz 
       append initrd=rhel_v4/initrd.img rescue 
label installauto 
        ipappend 2 
        kernel rhel_v4/vmlinuz 
        append initrd=rhel_v4/initrd.img ks=nfs:10.1.1.253:/export/redhat/ks_rhel_v4.cfg ksdevice=bootif 

The kernel image loads from the server via tftp. The initial blue startup screen appears at the start of installation. That is where things start to go wrong. 

First, even though I have designated KS to use the boot interfaces in the cfg file, I still get an interface selection screen at the start of the install. Why is the selection necessary? Why is the iterface not being set from the hsdevice option in the CFG file? 

Second, after selecting the interface, I switch to virt console 2 and see the message that the install is attemting to get the ks_rhel_v4.cfg file and the nfs URL is displayed. At the time this is happening I have a network snoop at the Sun server. There is no NFS traffic showing up from the Dell. I am snooping based on the Dell's MAC address. The output on the virt. console indicates that the cfg file cannot be loaded. The network interface is operable on the Dell. I can ping the configured address from the Sun DHCP server. I can also boot the Dell in rescue more and NFS mount the directory that contains the cfg file and also the directory that contains the operating system image. Any ideas why this installation will not complete? 
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