<?xml version='1.0' encoding='ISO-8859-1'?> <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"> <article> <articleinfo> <title>SLUG talk: Setting up a diskless Linux system</title> <author> <firstname>Ken Yap</firstname> </author> <pubdate>30th January 1998</pubdate> </articleinfo> <sect1 id="Why"> <title>Why network booting?</title> <para> <itemizedlist> <listitem> <para> No moving parts, less noise and power consumption </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> Centralised administration </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> No tampering </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> Standalone applications </para> </listitem> </itemizedlist> </para> </sect1> <sect1 id="How"> <title>How does it work?</title> <para> <orderedlist> <listitem> <para> Diskless computer (DC) broadcasts MAC address with bootp: Who am I? </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> DHCP server on S looks up DB: Your IP address is X.X.X.X, your server is S, your boot file is <filename>vmlinuz.myname</filename>, etc. </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> DC asks to load file from TFTP server on S: Please give me <filename>vmlinuz.myname</filename> </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> S: Here you are (<filename>/tftpdir/vmlinuz.myname</filename>) </para> <para> DC thinks a while (booting Linux). </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> DC: Please let me mount <filename>/</filename> with NFS </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> DC: Please let me mount other NFSes (<filename>/usr, /home/</filename>, etc) </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> S: Here you are </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> DC: Runs intended application </para> </listitem> </orderedlist> </para> <para> Network boot ROM contains code to do 1 and 3. </para> </sect1> <sect1 id="Server"> <title>Server setup</title> <sect2> <title>Bootpd setup</title> <para> <itemizedlist> <listitem> <para> (In 2003: DHCPD is preferred.) Install bootpd </para> </listitem> <listitem> <para> Edit <filename>/etc/bootptab</filename>, typical line </para> </listitem> </itemizedlist> </para> <para> <programlisting> xterm.ken.net.au:tc=.default:ht=ethernet:ha=08002BB7F380:\ ip=192.168.0.100:bf=vmlinuz.xterm </programlisting> </para> </sect2> <sect2> <title>Tftpd setup</title> <para> <itemizedlist> <listitem> <para> Install tftpd, make sure it's active in <filename>/etc/inetd.conf</filename>, typical line </para> </listitem> </itemizedlist> </para> <para> <programlisting> tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/tcpd in.tftpd /tftpdir </programlisting> </para> </sect2> <sect2> <title>Kernel image</title> <para> (In 2003: The preferred method is to download along with the kernel a ramdisk that sets up a initial root filesystem, which is then used to mount the real root filesystem. www.ltsp.org does it this way.) </para> <para> After building the kernel and ramdisk, run <filename>mkelf-linux</filename> from the Etherboot distribution on it. Install this <emphasis>boot image</emphasis> as <filename>/tftpdir/</filename><replaceable><bf attribute in bootptab></replaceable>. </para> </sect2> </sect1> <sect1 id="Netloader"> <title>Net loader</title> <para> A small program that runs as a BIOS extension, usually on an EPROM on the NIC. It handles the BOOTP query and TFTP loading and then transfers control to the loaded image. </para> <para> It uses UDP/IP protocols but the loaded image doesn't have to be Linux. The loaded image can be anything, even DOG. </para> <para> It can also be loaded from a floppy for testing and for temporary setups. </para> </sect1> <sect1> <title>RH5</title> <para> (In 2003: Details of RH5 setup too old to recommend and therefore removed.) </para> </sect1> <sect1 id="X-terminal"> <title>X-terminal</title> <para> The reason I started this. I had a 486DX2/66 left over from an upgrade and I wanted to have a quiet X-terminal while the server makes noise somewhere else. </para> <para> 486 or Pentium best. 16 MB should be the minimum. Put in the best video card you can get for it. Normal NIC should do. </para> <para> On the server, make sure the DC is matched by a clause in <filename>/etc/X11/xdm/Xaccess</filename> and comment out the <filename>:0</filename> in <filename>/etc/X11/xdm/Xservers</filename>. Then make sure that xdm is run from the init scripts. </para> <para> On the client, run <filename>X -query</filename> <emphasis remap="it">server</emphasis> </para> <para> You will get the xdm login box and then all your X clients will run on the server. </para> <para> I have been using this for several weeks now. </para> </sect1> <sect1 id="Other"> <title>Other applications</title> <para> You could netboot routers, print servers (but should not be spooling print server), standalone apps, etc. </para> </sect1> </article>
