Current version of Linux Scripting Tools (using 2.4.x kernel)...

[Chris Cockerham]

I am implementing a staging environment for HP and non-HP machines using PXE, partimage, and the HP scripting tools.

FWIW, I'm staging Windows XP/2000/2003 boxes with NTFS partitions -- feels good doing this stuff from a PXElinux environment.

However, there is one piece of hardware (an Intel Pro/1000 CT integrated NIC) that isn't supported by the e1000.o module in the current 2.4.x kernel in the toolkit.

As an exercise, I compiled a base 2.6 kernel with the newest e1000.o module which does have support for this card. However, the other custom compiled modules for talking to the HP hardware (cpqci.o, etc.) aren't in a base 2.6 kernel install.

My question is two-fold:

1) Is there any move toward a later 2.4 kernel in the toolkit to support newer cards?

2) Is the source code for the "other" modules in the scripting toolkit available to try and get them to work with the 2.6 kernel?

I like the low-level control I have over the BIOS/ILO/Array with the current scripting toolkit, but this one NIC is keeping me from a single PXE image.

TIA

[Chris Davenport · Accepted solution]

The latest version of the toolkit is v1.3, recently released. The 1.3 toolkit includes a 2.6 kernel with the base drivers from HP integrated.

You should be able to use the same scripts you are currently using, with some minor integration work.

If the e1000 driver included in the 2.6 based toolkit v1.3 doesn't work, we can probably build one that will.

[Chris Cockerham]

Much obliged... It had been a couple of months since I downloaded the latest version from the web.

I made some quick changes to the bootstrap script in the ramdisk, and everything (so far) is working as expected. The intel card is recognized and able to pull the rest of the toolkit over the network via NFS at boot time.

Thanks for the quick response!