Re: Fetching bootloader from network location

["Ben Holland" <user=122@nabble.blu.org>]

 Basically from what I read, you want exactly what pxe is doing. if you go to 
http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php that is PXE in a nutshell, there are cd's 
that you can create based on specs from that particular web page. Perhaps 
you could explain a bit further why PXE is imposable, and what you would be 
doing. Thanks ~Ben 

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 11:46 AM, <[hidden email]> wrote: 

> 
> > Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2008 09:32:41 -0400 
> > From: "Jeffrey Finkelstein" <[hidden email]> 
> > Subject: Fetching bootloader from network location 
> > To: [hidden email] 
> > Message-ID: 
> >       <[hidden email]> 
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 
> > 
> > I have been charged with the task of determining whether it is 
> > possible to boot from a network location without using PXE, and I 
> > would like to know if anyone else has any information on the subject. 
> > 
> > Essentially the task is this: Given a Mandriva boot.iso CD-ROM image, 
> > is it possible to edit one of the isolinux.cfg entries so that when a 
> > system boots from the disk, the isolinux bootloader fetches another 
> > bootloader from a tftp server, essentially chainloading from a network 
> > location? I can't seem to find a way to put this sort of thing into 
> > action. 
> > 
> > The best resource I've found for this is a website describing the 
> > automatic install process for Mandrakelinux: 
> > http://members.shaw.ca/mandrake/drakx/HTML/section3.html
> > 
> > Has anyone seen anything like this? 
> 
> I haven't done this in a few years so the information I tell you may be a 
> bit stale. 
> 
> What you want to do is find some sort of "netboot" program that can run 
> from a floppy or CDROM. (Or USB drive I guess.) 
> 
> Then using DHCP you create a record that points to a boot server and 
> directory running TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) 
> 
> The boot loader uses DHCP to configure the network cared (You can assign 
> specific IP addresses in the DHCP server by MAC address) 
> 
> On the machine that has the TFTP server you copy the network bootable 
> kernel to the correct directory. Make sure that the 'root' partition is 
> set in the kernel or passed as a DHCP parameter. 
> 
> Using NFS, export the shared root file system from a centralized server, 
> typically the one with TFTP, but not necessarily. 
> 
> Create a /tmp directory in RAM or export a different NFS share for each 
> client. i.e. "mount nfserver:/clientmp0 /tmp" "mount nfserver:/clientmp1 
> /tmp" etc. 
> 
> Now, depending on your distro, you may need to create a separate /var 
> directory or symlink subdirectories like /var/log to /tmp/var/log. 
> 
> Its a pita to setup for the first time, but it is doable. 
> 
> 
> -- 
> This message has been scanned for viruses and 
> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is 
> believed to be clean. 
> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Discuss mailing list 
> [hidden email] 
> http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>