Linux netbooting: Difference between revisions

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Instructions follow on how to netboot using Ubuntu Linux.
Instructions follow on how to netboot using Ubuntu Linux.
=Server Setup=
==Setup DHCP==
[[/usr/local/etc/dhcp.conf]]


==Setup PXE==
=Client Setup=
==Setup Filesystem==
==Create Linux Kernel==
Useful information: [http://evanjones.ca/software/pxeimager-scratch.html Building PXE Imager from scratch]
 
To get a kernel up and running it needs firstly to boot itself and then run some file system drivers, or even network drivers in the case of NFS, to allow the file systems to mount and let the operating system boot normally. To do this the kernel needs to mount a RAM disk which contains all the drivers necessary for boot up. This RAM disk is called an initrd file or "initial ramdisk file" Below are the steps to firstly create the kernel with the necessary options then create a ramdisk file with the required drivers and finally configure the server to network boot this kernel


1) Use debian debootstrap tool to create basic filesystem.
'''I Build the kernel image'''


=Client Setup=
1) Start the kernel configuration program in /usr/src/<linux kernel version>
==Create Linux Kernel==


  sudo make menuconfig
  sudo make menuconfig
2) Set the following options on the kernel configuration menus


  Processor type and features  --->   
  Processor type and features  --->   
Line 19: Line 18:
  Device Drivers  --->
  Device Drivers  --->
   Networking support  --->  
   Networking support  --->  
  Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)  --->
    [*] Via Rhine support
   Networking options  --->
   Networking options  --->
    [*] Packet socket
     [*]IP: kernel level autoconfiguration                             
     [*]IP: kernel level autoconfiguration                             
       [*]    IP: DHCP support
       [*]    IP: DHCP support
Line 28: Line 30:
   <*> NFS file system support  
   <*> NFS file system support  
     [*] Root file system on NFS
     [*] Root file system on NFS
3) Make the kernel


  sudo make
  sudo make
4) Make the kernel image


  sudo make bzImage
  sudo make bzImage


which will give you your linix kernel image (bzImage) in /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.12/arch/i386/boot/
This will give you your linix kernel image (bzImage) in /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.12/arch/i386/boot/
 
5) Copy the kernel image to the server
scp bzImage djohnson@meshy.dhcp:~/vmlinuz.david
 
'''II Build the initial ramdisk file (initrd)'''
 
1) Make the kernel module drivers


  sudo make modules
  sudo make modules
2) Backup your current kernel modules (<current kernel version> is your current kernel e.g. 2.6.10-12
sudo cp -r /usr/modules/<current kernel version> /usr/modules/<current kernel version>.bak
3) Install the module drivers (note this will install all the drivers in the directory /lib/modules/<kernel version> If your current kernel version is the same as the kernel source you are building it will overwrite all your current kernel modules but step 2 would have created a backup - after this process however you will need to restore your original kernel modules using the backup


  sudo make modules_install
  sudo make modules_install
4) Create the initrd ramdisk image


  sudo mkinitrd -o initrd.img-2.6.12 2.6.12
  sudo mkinitrd -o initrd.img-2.6.12 2.6.12


==Create Linux File System==
The mkinitrd script does a few default things here. First it looks at /etc/mkinitrd/mkinitrd.conf to see which modules it must include. In the example above it will look in /lib/modules/2.6.12 to find all the modules to build into the initrd.img-2.6.12 file
Mount a separate partition
 
cd to a suitable place on the partition
5) Copy the initrd file to the server
 
scp initrd.img-2.6.12 djohnson@meshy.dhcp:~
 
'''III Setup the server to run the kernel with the initrd file'''
 
1) Login to the server containing these files
 
ssh name@server
 
2) Copy the kernel and the initrd file to the tftpboot directory
 
cp vmlinuz.david initrd.img-2.6.12 /export/tftpboot
 
3) Edit the pxelinux.cfg/defualt file to boot your new kernel
 
DEFAULT vmlinuz.david
APPEND ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=172.20.1.1:/export/linux/ubuntu ramdisk_size=16432 initrd=initrd.img-2.6.12
 
 
=Server Setup=
==Setup DHCP==
[[/usr/local/etc/dhcp.conf]]
 
==Setup PXE==
==Setup Filesystem==
Useful information: [http://evanjones.ca/software/pxeimager-scratch.html Building PXE Imager from scratch]
 
'''I Setup root file system'''
 
1) Use debian debootstrap tool to create basic filesystem.
 
sudo debootstrap breezy /home/yusuf/ubuntu ftp://ftp.is.co.za/ubuntu/
 
2) Copy the driver modules that were created in the client setup to the filesystem
 
cp -r /usr/modules/<current kernel version> /home/yusuf/ubuntu/lib/modules
 
3) chroot into new filesystem
 
sudo chroot /home/yusuf/ubuntu/
 
4) Setup a root passwd
 
passwd
password: <enter root password>
 
5) create apt source list
 
sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
 
6) Add packages
 
sudo apt-get update
 
sudo apt-get install ssh olsrd
 
7) Tar the filesystem
 
  sudo tar -cvjf ubuntu.tar.gz ./ubuntu/
 
8) Copy the filesystem to the server and un-tar
  scp ubuntu.tar.gz user@server:~
 
 
'''II Create root file system on the server'''
 
1) Login to the server containing these files
 
ssh name@server
 
2) Untar the root file system to the export directory
 
tar zxvf ubuntu.tar.gz /export/linux/
 
3) Restart one of the client machines and check that it boots successfully
 
 
''How to build a gutsy file system''
 
After chroot into file system
 
1) Remove udev
apt-get remove udev
 
2) Get slackware devices
 
[http://www.slackware.at/data/slackware-9.0/slackware/a/devs-2.3.1-i386-13.tgz Slackware devices]
 
Copy these to root of chroot environemnt
 
Untar in root
 
tar zxvf  devs-2.3.1-i386-13.tgz /
 
3) Change the policy of the init
 
 
Add /usr/sbin/policy.init.d
 
#!/bin/sh
exit 101
 
4) Add locale settings
 
/var/lib/locales/supported.d/
 
en
local
 
sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales
 
5) In you kernel configuraion
 
Under devices->character devices
[*] Unix98 PTY support
 
 
=Building a linux system from scratch=
 
==Adding dropbear support==
 
If you are logging in from bash
 
change the /etc/passwd file to:
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

Latest revision as of 17:08, 7 February 2008

Instructions follow on how to netboot using Ubuntu Linux.

Client Setup

Create Linux Kernel

To get a kernel up and running it needs firstly to boot itself and then run some file system drivers, or even network drivers in the case of NFS, to allow the file systems to mount and let the operating system boot normally. To do this the kernel needs to mount a RAM disk which contains all the drivers necessary for boot up. This RAM disk is called an initrd file or "initial ramdisk file" Below are the steps to firstly create the kernel with the necessary options then create a ramdisk file with the required drivers and finally configure the server to network boot this kernel

I Build the kernel image

1) Start the kernel configuration program in /usr/src/<linux kernel version>

sudo make menuconfig

2) Set the following options on the kernel configuration menus

Processor type and features  --->  
 Processor family: Pentium-Classic
Device Drivers  --->
 Networking support  ---> 
  Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)  --->
   [*] Via Rhine support
  Networking options  --->
    [*] Packet socket
    [*]IP: kernel level autoconfiguration                             
     [*]     IP: DHCP support
     [*]     IP: BOOTP support
     [*]     IP: RARP support               
File systems  ---> 
 Network File Systems  ---> 
  <*> NFS file system support 
   [*] Root file system on NFS

3) Make the kernel

sudo make

4) Make the kernel image

sudo make bzImage

This will give you your linix kernel image (bzImage) in /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.12/arch/i386/boot/

5) Copy the kernel image to the server

scp bzImage djohnson@meshy.dhcp:~/vmlinuz.david

II Build the initial ramdisk file (initrd)

1) Make the kernel module drivers

sudo make modules

2) Backup your current kernel modules (<current kernel version> is your current kernel e.g. 2.6.10-12

sudo cp -r /usr/modules/<current kernel version> /usr/modules/<current kernel version>.bak

3) Install the module drivers (note this will install all the drivers in the directory /lib/modules/<kernel version> If your current kernel version is the same as the kernel source you are building it will overwrite all your current kernel modules but step 2 would have created a backup - after this process however you will need to restore your original kernel modules using the backup

sudo make modules_install

4) Create the initrd ramdisk image

sudo mkinitrd -o initrd.img-2.6.12 2.6.12

The mkinitrd script does a few default things here. First it looks at /etc/mkinitrd/mkinitrd.conf to see which modules it must include. In the example above it will look in /lib/modules/2.6.12 to find all the modules to build into the initrd.img-2.6.12 file

5) Copy the initrd file to the server

scp initrd.img-2.6.12 djohnson@meshy.dhcp:~

III Setup the server to run the kernel with the initrd file

1) Login to the server containing these files

ssh name@server

2) Copy the kernel and the initrd file to the tftpboot directory

cp vmlinuz.david initrd.img-2.6.12 /export/tftpboot

3) Edit the pxelinux.cfg/defualt file to boot your new kernel

DEFAULT vmlinuz.david APPEND ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=172.20.1.1:/export/linux/ubuntu ramdisk_size=16432 initrd=initrd.img-2.6.12


Server Setup

Setup DHCP

/usr/local/etc/dhcp.conf

Setup PXE

Setup Filesystem

Useful information: Building PXE Imager from scratch

I Setup root file system

1) Use debian debootstrap tool to create basic filesystem.

sudo debootstrap breezy /home/yusuf/ubuntu ftp://ftp.is.co.za/ubuntu/

2) Copy the driver modules that were created in the client setup to the filesystem

cp -r /usr/modules/<current kernel version> /home/yusuf/ubuntu/lib/modules

3) chroot into new filesystem

sudo chroot /home/yusuf/ubuntu/

4) Setup a root passwd

passwd
password: <enter root password>

5) create apt source list

sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list

6) Add packages

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ssh olsrd

7) Tar the filesystem

 sudo tar -cvjf ubuntu.tar.gz ./ubuntu/

8) Copy the filesystem to the server and un-tar

 scp ubuntu.tar.gz user@server:~


II Create root file system on the server

1) Login to the server containing these files

ssh name@server

2) Untar the root file system to the export directory

tar zxvf ubuntu.tar.gz /export/linux/

3) Restart one of the client machines and check that it boots successfully


How to build a gutsy file system

After chroot into file system

1) Remove udev

apt-get remove udev

2) Get slackware devices

Slackware devices

Copy these to root of chroot environemnt

Untar in root

tar zxvf devs-2.3.1-i386-13.tgz /

3) Change the policy of the init


Add /usr/sbin/policy.init.d

  1. !/bin/sh

exit 101

4) Add locale settings

/var/lib/locales/supported.d/

en local

sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales

5) In you kernel configuraion

Under devices->character devices [*] Unix98 PTY support


Building a linux system from scratch

Adding dropbear support

If you are logging in from bash

change the /etc/passwd file to:

root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash