Re: SV: Local Hard Drive Boot

Thanks a lot; I'm still working on it, but so far this approach looks 
like it will do exactly what I'm trying to do.  I certainly appreciate 
the help.

Any other tips or comments, anyone?

Eliassen Einar (ErgoGroup) wrote:
> 
> I dont think my way is recommended...but it works. (a newbie's try :) )
> 
> I use my own script for installing Grub on the harddisk.
> 
> I've made an installimage I use for installing everything automatic.
> The installimage is a 'telnet connection' only image I made with PXES. I
> added mkdosfs,a newer tftp program (for scripting purposes), sfdisk and
> Grub.
> I also include the files 'stage1' and 'stage2' for Grub in the image. I
> modified the starttext file in the image to start my installscript instead
> of the telnet bit.
> 
> I then stripped it down for any files I didnt use...like rdesktop and
> drivers I dont use. The final image comes to about 3MB.
> Then I make a script that loads the ide-driver, runs sfdisk to make a
> partition and formats it with mkdosfs (FAT16).
> After formatting I mount the disk, make directories,copy the grub-files to
> the right directories and run grub in batchmode to install itself.
> 
> Then I need to download the actual PXES image I'm gonna use together with a
> kernel file. Here's why I use another tftp program....scripting purposes.
> I prompt for an IP adress to download the image from. This for my own use of
> mobile installations (will explain this if anyone wonders). You can hardcode
> this if you want.
> 
> I download the kernel, PXES image and grub.conf via TFTP.
> 
> I then unmount the disk...do a few sync's...and you're done.
> 
> 
> To sum it all up...the installation progresses like this:
> 
> Thin client boots up via PXE
> Runs installimage
> Installimage automaticly makes a new partition (deleting everything else on
> drive!),formats it, installs grub,downloads the the thin client image to
> disk and then unmounts. Sync.
> 
> Done.
> 
> I bet there are better ways out there to handle this. But I consider myself
> just a little above the average Linux newbie...so this is what I came up
> with.
> 
> But the installation is totally automated (except for typing in the IP if
> you dont choose to hardcode it) and takes less than 1 minute on a 10 Mbit
> LAN.
> 
> 
> You can make several installimages with different images for different
> hardware. This way you can have a installmenu to choose from when the client
> first boots up.
> 
> 
> I've also made 'updatescripts' on the clients. It basicly mounts the disk
> and downloads a new image...just like the installscript...except for the
> partitioning and formatting. This gives me the ability to just telnet into a
> client and update it with a new image. More on that if anyone wants more
> info :)
> 
> 
> This is how I've done it. I had to have some kind of automation for my use.
> We're gonna install several thousand clients this summer...all with harddisk
> installation. And some of the people helping with installing dont have any
> knowledge of Linux, and they don't need it with this automation :)
> 
> 
> Note: This works on HP t5300 too! HP's thin clients have Windows CE (shrug)
> installed on a 32 MB compact flash chip. Loading the ide-disk driver makes
> this chip a harddrive. So we use both old PCs and new thin client hardware
> with this install method. :)
> 
> 
> I can help out making this work for you if you get stuck on anything....
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Einar Eliassen
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Opprinnelig melding-----
> Fra: Phil Regier [mailto:[email protected]] 
> Sendt: 29. juni 2004 19:01
> Til: '[email protected]'
> Emne: [pxes-devel] Local Hard Drive Boot
> 
> 
> I know this is a feature of PXES, but I'm having a hard time finding the 
> right documentation, and am kind of at a loss; this is the first time 
> I've actually used PXES (and I *do* like what I see; great project!)...
> 
> What is the recommended way to set up a local HDD boot?  I think I can 
> do it by setting up syslinux manually and copying the files over, but 
> this doesn't quite seem right; is there a better way, and preferably a 
> way that can be done automatically, as a network mini-install to hard 
> drive?  Ideally, I want to be able to boot clients to a PXE server, but 
> with the option to move them to another network (without access to the 
> server) and keep their last configuration whenever necessary.
> 
> Thanks for any tips...
> 
> 
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