install from usb key? (Slightly OT)

[Furnish, Trever G]

Thanks for the pointers!

I'm actually hoping though to find something that understands ISOs
without requiring them to be unpacked, so that the contents of the
memory key would be multiple ISOs and floppy images.  I'd like to be
able to still use the usb key for simple file storage as well.

For booting the floppy images, this seems promising:
http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/grub_intro?page=0%2C1

I'm a bit confused about the knoppix references in that article, but
hopefully that's just because I haven't looked closely enough at the way
knoppix works yet.  Haven't actually tested *any* of this yet, even the
memdisk usage -- sort of afraid of screwing up the usb key -- but I
guess it's time to plunge in and see what works.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: redhat-list-bounces at redhat.com 
> [mailto:redhat-list-bounces at redhat.com] On Behalf Of Ryan Golhar
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 11:45 AM
> To: 'General Red Hat Linux discussion list'
> Subject: RE: install from usb key? (Slightly OT)
> 
> I have a smaller version of this working now.  I have a 64 MB 
> usb key that contains a linux boot disk.  The kickstart 
> configuration file on it is set up to automatically begin an 
> automated NFS installation.  I suppose you can set it up to 
> use different kickstart files to install different 
> images...Its all in the config file on the boot image.  
> Here's the steps I used:
> 
> a.	Format the USB stick as one big FAT partition: "mkdosfs
> /dev/sdb1"
> b.	Copy everything from the CD's isolinux dir to the memory stick.
> You can omit isolinux.bin, boot.cat, and TRANS.TBL
> c.	Rename isolinux.cfg to syslinux.cfg
> d.	Copy the initrd.img from /images/pxeboot to the memory stick.
> (At present I believe the two initrd.img's are the same)
> e.	Modify syslinux.cfg
> f.	Make the memory stick bootable: "syslinux /dev/sdb1".  Remember
> to unmount the memory stick prior to performing this.  
> g.	Boot from stick
> 
> The syslinux.cfg file is what you want to take a look at.  
> Set up your parameters for booting there and you should be all set.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: redhat-list-bounces at redhat.com
> [mailto:redhat-list-bounces at redhat.com] On Behalf Of Furnish, Trever G
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 11:22 AM
> To: redhat-list at redhat.com
> Subject: install from usb key? (Slightly OT)
> 
> 
> I have an 8GB usb key.  I'd like to be able to do an 
> automated install of RHEL4 from it.  But I'd also like to 
> boot other ISOs from it as well.
> Anyone have any ideas or pointers even for where to start 
> looking for info on doing that?
>  
> Note, I already know how to build a custom kickstart CD -- 
> that's not what I need help with.
>  
> I'm looking for a way to put multiple, completely unrelated 
> ISO images on a single USB key and then have a boot-loader 
> that lets me choose between them, then boot from them as 
> though the CD was in the drive.
>  
> For example, here are possible ISO images and floppy disk 
> images I would like to store on the USB key and boot from:
>  
> - custom kickstart iso image to do an automated install of redhat
> - per-server boot floppy image (as produced using mkbootdisk)
> - SystemRescueCD iso image (http://www.sysresccd.org)
> - msdos floppy disk image to boot memtestx86
> - "Ultimate Bood CD for Windows" (http://www.ubcd4win.com)
>  
> So basicly I need some way to select from among multiple boot 
> sectors (grub would probably be fine) and some way to 
> determine those boot sectors (this is where i'm lost).
>  
> Any ideas?
> 
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