On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 04:34, Chris Tillman wrote; > > I don't know if anyone tried NFS installs, but they should work > > in theory. zImage.initrd or zImage plus a separate initrd (if > > this is possible on your arch) over bootp/dhcp/tftp/whatsoever > > works. > We definitely need testing in this area.
Hi there, I'm new to the list, so sorry if I'm going on about stuff already covered in the docs. Having installed over 100 Solaris machines via jumpstart, a handful of RedHat boxen via kickstart and now 3 Debian boxes by FAI :-) I say that PXE installs are magic, and perhaps the easiest of the lot to set up. This would be the best way to operate an NFS install. PXE is supported on most new motherboards that come with built in network ports. I'd be more than happy to work together to make a `debian-install-server' package or something like that, that installs all of the relevant packages (tftp-hpa, dhcp, nfs-user-server, etc ...), as well as providing "Wizard" debconf front-ends to make it as easy as possible to guide network admins through the fiddly process of setting up mirrors, NFS roots, etc. It would all be focused for PXE - as that's fast becoming a standard on x86, x86_64 and ia64 hardware. Of course, old BOOT PROMs, and other, similar, native network boot systems for other architectures, like Sun's `boot net - install' would fit in too. The idea would be to make it really easy to install one master machine from the CD, which acts as the apt proxy, nfs server, etc for the clients to be built. It could also serve as root servers for diskless workstations - eg, ultra low-cost Mini-ITX systems - which support PXE. I've been investigating FAI recently for a network I'm in the process of building, but I've been a little disappointed - it's quite far behind - notably, debconf support is absent, as is the ability to install to a chroot. I refactored the disk partitioning script the other day to include support for setting up RAID and LVM volumes at installation time, but no-one on the list even responded to me! The system as it stands is IMHO like a direct thoughtless rip-off of Solaris' Jumpstart. What is the scope of d-i? Really, the default install process should leave you with a file to let you perform it again automatically, a la kickstart or Jumpstart. I'd also like to integrate some kick-ass :-) installer into the Vserver project (http://www.linux-vserver.net/ - like a soup-ed up version of *BSD jails, or user-mode-linux, but with virtually no overhead). Can d-i be used as a better version of debootstrap for chroot servers like this? Does d-i have a list of release goals anywhere? -- Sam Vilain, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nothing motivates a man more than to see his boss putting in an honest day's work. - from _Murphy's Laws on Technology_ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
