topic kickstart boot cd in Operating System - Linux

kickstart boot cd

Jason DePaul — Mon, 18 Oct 2004 14:16:08 GMT

Hi all:

I am in the processes of trying to build a kickstart boot cd that will do a ks=nfs:x.x.x.x/export

I need to assign a static ip address since we do use dhcp.

If I boot to a standard boot cd and enter the following at the linux: prompt everything is ok

linux: ks=nfs:x.x.x.x:/export/ks.cfg ksdevice=eth0 ip=x.x.x.x gateway=x.x.x.x netmask=x.x.x.x

however, if I try to modify the isolinux.cfg with the same parameters prior to burning the iso, and boot to the install, it does NOT properly locate the ks.cfg file. from another system, I can ping hte ip, but I just cannot get it to locate the nfs export

Any hints or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Re: kickstart boot cd

Steven E. Protter — Mon, 18 Oct 2004 14:44:11 GMT

Check the nfs permissions on the targe server:

/etc/exports

Its possible now to limit what IP addresses are allowed to make nfs connections. You may need to make sure the dhcp address you are getting is permitted on the nfs server.

exportfs -av

See if there are any errors.

If you can do an nfs mount from another machine just to verify nfs connectivity.

If there is a reject or failure, the /var/log/messages file on the target server should show it with some possibly useful information.

If you can do an ipconfig off this kickstart image, is the network mask compatible with the target server?

Is there a firewall between you and the server blocking the nfs ports?

SEP

Re: kickstart boot cd

Stuart Browne — Mon, 18 Oct 2004 17:49:55 GMT

I've done exactally what you're trying to do (give or take explicitly defining the IP adderss details) for a KS CD:

default linux ks=nfs::/var/ftp/pub/ks.cfg
display boot.msg
F1 boot.msg
label linux
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img

That's the content of my 'isolinux.cfg' file in the isolinux/ structure of the CD.

If something as simple as that is failing when booting from the CD, check the 2nd/3rd/4th VTY screens for error messages (ctrl-alt-F2, F3, F4 respectivly).

If it's failing, it will tell you why there.