Upgrading kernel used in PXE boot

[Eric Smith]

Cris Rhea wrote:
>> From: Eric Smith <eric at trueblade.com>
>> Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:50:09 -0500
>> Subject: Re: Upgrading kernel used in PXE boot
>>
>> Eric Smith wrote:
>>> So my question is:  How do I create a new initrd.img and vmlinuz (that 
>>> came in the isolinux directory) to be a new kernel?  It's apparently not 
>>> as simple as copying these files from a running system.
>> And yes, I realize this might not be the best list for this question, 
>> but it's the best I could think of, since people here are no doubt 
>> familiar with the issue.  If you know of a better venue for this 
>> question, please let me know.
>>
>> Eric.
> 
> I haven't used the tools the others have suggested, but since you're in a 
> PXEboot environment, yes, it can be as simple as using the vmlinux and
> initrd.img file from a patched/running system...
> 
> The tough part is always making the ramdisk image-- getting all the correct 
> drivers included... you seem to have figured this part out already...

Actually, the hard part is getting all of the drivers together!  But 
with the information below, I think I can slog through it.

> For example, in my situation (fighting an Anaconda bug), I boot an older release,
> then upgrade at the end of the install process:
> 
> default linux
> label linux
>         kernel vmlinuz-4.4vault
>         append initrd=initrd.img-4.4vault load_ramdisk=1 ksdevice=eth0 ks=ftp://clustersw/ks/ks-wsnode-4.4vault.cfg
> 
> I used to do this all the time when people built monolithic kernels to handle new/oddball
> hardware. Now, you just need to make sure the right modules are available in the 
> ramdisk image.
> 
> There may be other gotchas along the way (it may complain that the booted kernel doesn't
> match the distribution), but if your goal is to have a new kernel booted to start
> the install process, this should do it...
> 
> HTH.

That does help, Cris.  I've been unable to find a FC6 respin (which I'd 
rather use, as I think the default driver set with the new kernel will 
work for me), so if I can get this procedure working, I'll be all set. 
Thanks!

Eric.