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Network: Diskless Booting II: Setting up the client(last edit: 2001-05-01)
Setting up the client
As far as I know there are two ways of booting your client: via 'netboot' or via
'etherboot'. You can find netboot in the '/usr/src/sys/i386/boot/netboot' dir
providing that you have installed the 'sys' source. I didn't use netboot and
I won't discuss it here.
You don't realy install the Etherboot on your system, you just get the source
and you install it in a bootrom or on a floppy. You can get the source via the
etherboot port which is '/usr/ports/net/etherboot'. Just type a 'make'. After
the make you should have at least the following dirs:
/usr/ports/net/etherboot/work/etherboot-4.7.22
/usr/ports/net/etherboot/work/etherboot-4.7.22/src
/usr/ports/net/etherboot/work/etherboot-4.7.22/src/bin32
First of all you have to edit the following file:
'/usr/ports/net/etherboot/work/etherboot-4.7.22/src/Config'
Here is an example of a working version:
---
#Booting
CFLAGS32+= -DNO_DHCP_SUPPORT -DASK_BOOT=0 -DANS_DEFAULT=ANS_NETWORK
#Kernel images
CFLAGS32+= -DELF_IMAGE -DAOUT_IMAGE -DIMAGE_FREEBSD
#Console
CFLAGS32+= -DCONSOLE_DUAL -DCOMCONSOLE=0x3F8 -DCONSPEED=9600
#Tweaking
CFLAGS32+= -DBACKOFF_LIMIT=7 -DUSE_INTERNAL_BUFFER
# These flags affect the loader that is prepended to the Etherboot image
LCONFIG+= -DMOVEROM
# you should normally not need to change these
RM= rm -f
TOUCH= touch
CC32= gcc
LD32= ld
SIZE32= size
AR32= ar
RANLIB32= ranlib
# If you use egcs or gcc-2.8, using -Os may help to reduce the code size.
# Otherwise use -O2 (under no circumstance use -O3 or above!).
CFLAGS32+= -O2 -g -fstrength-reduce -fomit-frame-pointer -m386
# Squeeze the code in as little space as possible.
CFLAGS32+= -malign-jumps=1 -malign-loops=1 -malign-functions=1
CFLAGS32+= -Wall -W -Wno-format -Wno-unused
ASFLAGS32=
LDFLAGS32+= -N -Ttext $(RELOCADDR) -e _start
LDBINARY32= -oformat binary # flag for headerless binary
---
All the options are explained at the top of the file but I've copied the ones
I've used for you:
-DNO_DHCP_SUPPORT- Use BOOTP instead of DHCP
-DASK_BOOT=n - Ask "Boot from Network or from Local? " at startup,
timeout after n seconds (0 = no timeout)
-DANS_DEFAULT=ANS_NETWORK
- Assume Network to previous question
(alternative: ANS_LOCAL) on timeout or Return key
-DAOUT_IMAGE - Add a.out kernel boot support (generic)
-DELF_IMAGE - Add generic ELF kernel boot support (recommended)
-DIMAGE_FREEBSD - Add FreeBSD image loading support (requires at least
-DAOUT_IMAGE and/or -DELF_IMAGE)
-DCONSOLE_DUAL - set for CRT and serial console, see comment at
-DANSIESC and -DGFX
-DCOMCONSOLE - set port, e.g. 0x3F8
-DCONSPEED - set speed, e.g. 57600
-DBACKOFF_LIMIT - sets the maximum RFC951 backoff exponent to n.
Do not set this unreasonably low, because on networks
with many machines they can saturate the link
(the delay corresponding to the exponent is a random
time in the range 0..3.5*2^n seconds). Use 5 for a
VERY small network (max. 2 minutes delay), 7 for a
medium sized network (max. 7.5 minutes delay) or 10
for a really huge network with many clients, frequent
congestions (max. 1 hour delay).
-DUSE_INTERNAL_BUFFER
- Define to keep buffers internal to Etherboot space
(recommended). Undefine to put some buffers below
0x10000 which may interfere with other programs.
Making a floppy
Make sure there is a good 1.44MB floppy in the diskdrive. Go to the dir
'/usr/ports/net/etherboot/work/etherboot-4.7.22/src'
and type 'gmake bin32/[NICTYPE].fd0'. Replace the [NICTYPE] with your nic. If
you have an NIC with a RealTek chip and a floppy drive situated at 'fd0' then
it would be: 'gmake bin32/rtl8139.fd0'. Note that there is no file called
'bin32/rtl8139.fd0', this is because the '.fd0' indicates which destination to
use. Your floppy has been created if the gmake finishes without errors .
Making a kernel
You NEED to make a new kernel for the client because you have to specify some
bootp options (and while youre at it you can stip those options out which aren't
relevant for the client). Copy your kernel file to a new one, strip irrelevant
options and add the following:
options BOOTP # Use BOOTP to obtain IP address/hostname
options BOOTP_NFSROOT # NFS mount root filesystem using BOOTP info
options BOOTP_NFSV3 # Use NFS v3 to NFS mount root
options BOOTP_COMPAT # Workaround for broken bootp daemons.
options BOOTP_WIRED_TO=fxp0 # Use interface fxp0 for BOOTP
Set the device at 'BOOTP_WIRED_TO=' to the correct one. In case of a RealTek
chip use: 'BOOTP_WIRED_TO=rl0'. Make the new kernel, do
a 'configure [KERNEL NAME]', 'make depend' and a 'make' DON'T DO a 'make install'
because you'll override your kernel. Copy the
'/usr/src/sys/compile/[KERNELNAME]/kernel' file to your rootfs dir (in this
case we had specified the dir '/usr/diskless').
Making a rootfs
You have to make copy or you have to copy a part of your filesystem to the
rootfs dir you've specified. In this case that would be '/usr/diskless' the
size of your rootfs depends entirely on what you would like te do with the
diskless client. I've managed to strip the rootfs to 16MB but then it does
only a 'ls', 'tar', 'mount' and some other basic thing. If you don't know
what you need then start with a full copy of your own filesystem. In any case
make sure you've changed the following files to apply to your client:
/[rootfs]/etc/crontab
/[rootfs]/etc/exports
/[rootfs]/etc/fstab
/[rootfs]/etc/group
/[rootfs]/etc/hosts
/[rootfs]/etc/hosts.allow
/[rootfs]/etc/inetd.conf
/[rootfs]/etc/master.passwd
/[rootfs]/etc/passwd
/[rootfs]/etc/rc.conf
/[rootfs]/etc/resolv.conf
And offcourse all files which are important for the programs you want to run or
are running.
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