Thanks for this Carl. For myself, I was trying to store the ks.cfg file(s) on the NFS server. You definitely require a DHCP server to lease the client an address in order to connect to the NFS server. Putting the ks.cfg on the floppy provides this instead. Now I want to know why our Microsoft DHCP server doesn't respond to my client's request. Peter Matulis ext: 392 -> -----Original Message----- -> From: Carl Riches [mailto:riches@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] -> Sent: November 20, 2001 5:35 PM -> To: 'kickstart-list@xxxxxxxxxx' -> Subject: RE: 7.1 nfs install requires DHCP? -> -> -> On Tue, 20 Nov 2001, Taylor, ForrestX wrote: -> -> > > Subject: Re: 7.1 nfs install requires DHCP? -> > > -> > > -> > > > > In syslinux.cfg we can have: -> > > > > -> > > > > -> > > > > to boot without dhcp -> > > > > -------------------- -> > > > > label ks -> > > > > kernel vmlinuz -> > > > > append initrd=initrd.img ks=floppy -> > > -> > > And in ks.cfg there is this line: -> > > network --bootproto static --ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx --netmask -> > > 255.255.255.0 --gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.1 --nameserver -> xxx.xxx.yyy.yyy -> > > -> > > That will do it. At least we do it. -> > -> > Yes, that will give you a static IP address after -> installation, but as far -> > as I know, 7.1 still needs a DHCP address when you first -> boot from the -> > installation media. Do you have a DHCP server? -> > -> -> Not for kickstart. Here's the process we go through -> (cut-and paste from -> our kickstart installation log file): -> -> 1) In order to do a network installation using NFS, I needed -> to have the -> contents of the RedHat CD on an NFS server. I copied the -> contents of both -> of the RedHat 7.1 CDs to: -> -> nfsserver:/RedHat/7.1/OS_CD/ -> -> 2) I created a kickstart config file that had commands to -> configure the -> hardware, install specific RPM packages from the Red Hat Linux 7.1 -> distribution, install other RPM packages that we want as part of the -> default installation, and create directories, install -> configuration files -> and other tasks to tailor the Red Hat Linux 7.1 installation -> to fit our -> installation model. -> -> Here are the steps I took to create the kickstart config file: -> -> a) I installed the entire base Red Hat Linux 7.1 system on -> a typical PC. -> -> b) I removed these RPM packages from the system: -> -> openssh-askpass-gnome-2.5.2p2-5 -> openssh-askpass-2.5.2p2-5 -> openssh-clients-2.5.2p2-5 -> openssh-server-2.5.2p2-5 -> openssh-2.5.2p2-5 -> -> c) I ran this command to create a template config file: -> -> mkkickstart > ks.cfg -> -> I did this mainly to get the list of installed packages -> in the format -> that a kickstart file wants. In addition, this -> provides the template -> for placing the commands that direct the OS installation, disk -> partitioning and local configuration. -> -> d) I made the following changes to the template config file: -> -> - changed the installation method from "cdrom" to "nfs" -> and specified -> the NFS server and directory to mount; -> -> - specified the IP address, hostname, gateway and -> nameserver to use -> for network access; -> -> - specified the proper mouse type; -> -> - specified the proper disk partitions to use and how -> to mount them; -> -> - set up a dummy password for root rather than a real -> (encrypted) -> password -> -> - added lots of comments to describe what was going on -> in the file -> -> In addition, I created a "%pre" section that had commands to the -> "fdisk" program to erase and re-partition the disk. I -> also created a -> "%post" section that had the commands to save default -> configuration -> files, replace them with locally-modified versions, -> install other -> config files, create directories needed in our local -> environment, and -> turn on or off various daemons. -> -> I made two different versions of this config file, one -> for 9GB disk -> drives and one for 18GB disk drives. That is because the "%pre" -> section differs for each of these disk drives. -> -> The complete kickstart configuration files can be found -> at the end of -> this document. -> -> 3) I created an installation boot floppy that had networking -> code in it. -> The default installation boot floppy for Red Hat Linux does -> not have this -> code. Here is how I made this floppy disk: -> -> a) I put this CD in the CD-ROM drive on my Linux computer: -> -> Red Hat Linux 7 Operating System CD 1 Binary CD -> -> It was automatically mounted here: -> -> /mnt/cdrom -> -> b) I placed a blank floppy disk into the floppy disk drive on my -> computer. -> -> c) A binary image of the network-aware installation boot floppy is -> contained on the CD. When the CD is mounted on my -> Linux computer, -> the image file appears as: -> -> /mnt/cdrom/images/bootnet.img -> -> Here are the commands I used to copy this image onto the blank -> floppy disk: -> -> dd if=/mnt/cdrom/images/bootnet.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k -> -> This floppy disk is an MS-DOS format disk and can be -> manipulated -> using a Windows PC or using the "mtools" utilities under Linux. -> -> 4) I placed the kickstart config file on the "bootnet.img" -> installation -> disk that I just made. Here are the steps I took to do this: -> -> a) I put a copy of the kickstart configuration file: -> -> ks.cfg -> -> in my home directory on my Linux computer. -> -> b) I put the "bootnet.img" disk in the floppy disk drive -> of my Linux -> computer. -> -> c) I copied the kickstart configuration file onto the -> "bootnet.img" disk -> using these commands: -> -> cd ~/ -> mcopy ks.cfg a: -o -> -> 5) (omitted...deals with backups of existing machines) -> -> 6) I used the "bootnet.img" installation disk to boot the -> PC. This booted -> the PC into the initial RedHat installation screen. I entered the -> following command at this point: -> -> linux ks=floppy -> -> When the installation was done, a message displayed on the machine's -> console stating that the installation was complete, to -> remove the boot -> media from the drive and press the <Enter> key. I did all of this. -> -> 7) The machine rebooted to a graphical LILO screen. I let LILO -> automatically boot Linux and logged in as root. -> -> -> -> In the ks.cfg file, I set these values: -> -> # I N S T A L L A T I O N M E T H O D -> nfs --server aaa.bbb.ccc.xxx --dir /RedHat/7.1/OS_CD -> -> # N E T W O R K C O N F I G U R A T I O N -> network --bootproto static --ip aaa.bbb.ccc.yyy --netmask -> 255.255.255.0 --gateway aaa.bbb.ccc.nnn --nameserver -> aaa.bbb.ccc.zzz --hostname user.desktop.linux.machine -> -> # D E V I C E S P E C I F I C A T I O N -> device ethernet 3c59x -> -> along with all of the other specs for keyboard, mouse, language, disk -> partitioning, packages to install and pre- and post-processing. -> -> An entry for the machine to be kickstarted: -> aaa.bbb.ccc.yyy -> goes into the /etc/exports file of the nfs server (aaa.bbb.ccc.xxx). -> I also put entries into our DNS server for: -> -> aaa.bbb.ccc.yyy user.desktop.linux.machine -> -> Things then just work. No DHCP is involved in either kickstart or in -> routine operation. -> -> Carl G. Riches -> Software Engineer -> Department of Mathematics -> Box 354350 voice: 206-543-5082 or 206-616-3636 -> University of Washington fax: 206-543-0397 -> Seattle, WA 98195-4350 internet: -> riches@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -> -> -> -> _______________________________________________ -> Kickstart-list mailing list -> Kickstart-list@xxxxxxxxxx -> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/kickstart-list ->
