The problem is DHCP. Easy things first: are you certain you have the
correct MAC address for the given client? If you do not, then you would
see precisely this kind of behavior.
The DHCP server will not recognize the host as the one with that particular
hardware address, which means that it will not hand out the group information,
as that is the only host in the group. Because it doesn't hand out the
next-server and filename parameters, the installer will make two assumptions:
first, that the DHCP server itself is the "next-server"; and second, that
the value for "filename" is /kickstart/W.X.Y.Z-kickstart, where W.X.Y.Z is
the IP address the client received.
Try the kickstart again and do a tail -f /var/log/messages on the DHCP
server and see whether the MAC address of the requesting client matches what
you have specified for ncd2. I'm guessing that it doesn't, but if it does
then we'll need to take a look at your entire dhcpd.conf (but don't post it
if you have any public IPs in it!)
============================================================================
As for creating a bootable CD, and the attendant speed benefits, I suggest
taking a simpler approach. If you have a Red Hat Linux CD-ROM, then you
already *have* a bootable CDROM. Boot from the CDROM, shove a floppy with
ks.cfg on it, then type "linux ks=floppy". Nothing says that the ks.cfg file
must reside on a boot floppy, or that if it is on a boot floppy, that one
must necessarily boot from it.
If you are doing occasional kickstarts, this approach seems the most
reasonable. If you are doing large-scale deployments (you'll have to
decide for yourself what "large-scale" implies), then I'd say that a custom
CD is only preferable for cases where the installations on being done on
many different networks -- something a chain store's point of sale systems,
for example. You could just send the CD to a store manager with instructions
to turn on the system, stick the CD in, and get out of the way.
If, on the other hand, a large-scale deployment is happening on your own
network(s), I would argue that network installation is far more
administratively efficient. If you have the right hardware, you could even
dispense with local media (floppies, CDs) entirely and use PXE to provide
a kickstart-ready install image over the network.
On Sat, Nov 11, 2000 at 12:03:04PM -0800, Mike Lewis declared the following:
>
> I'm trying to get started with kickstart on RH7.0. I've read the relevant
> sections in the RH7.0 reference guide, searched DEJA, searched the
> kickstart-list archives at Redhat, searched the redhat-list at moongroup
> (thanks Chuck !). There are a couple of questions / problems that I am
> having:
>
> 1) I've setup dhcpd.conf with the following: (and restarted dhcpd)
>
> group {
> filename "/U1/kickstart/ks.cfg";
> next-server 192.168.1.1;
> server-identifier 192.168.1.1;
>
> host ncd2 { hardware ethernet 00:a0:24:ea:05; }
> }
>
> When I boot from my kickstart boot diskette (created from RH7.0 respin
> bootnet.img), I get "Error opening kickstart file /tmp/ks.cfg: no such file
> or directory". If I go to alt-F3, I can see the following:
>
> sending dhcp request through device eth0
> nodns is 0
> reverse name lookup worked
> bootp: no bootfile received
> ks server: 192.168.1.3:/kickstart file: 192.168.1.104-kickstart
>
> >From the RH reference guide, this seems like the dhcp server is not sending
> the information in the 'group' section of the dhcpd.conf. Therefore, the
> dhcp server (192.168.1.3) is where the install is looking for
> 192.168.1.104-kickstart.
>
> What have I missed here ?
>
>
>
> 2) I've seen references in the kickstart-list archives about making a
> bootable CD and using it rather than the bootable floppy as it would be
> faster. However I've not yet found how to go about making a bootable CD
> that looks like the floppy.
>
>
> Thanks for any help or pointers to more information,
> Mike
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Kickstart-list mailing list
> Kickstart-list@xxxxxxxxxx
> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/kickstart-list
--
Randolph R. Russell Phone: 919-547-0012 x333
Instructor/Consultant FAX: 919-547-0024
Red Hat, Inc. Email: rrussell@xxxxxxxxxx
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