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-
-
-
-NFS-Root Mini-Howto
-
-
-
-----
-
-!!!NFS-Root Mini-Howto
-
-!!Andreas Kostyrka, andreas@ag.or.atV8, 8 August 1997
-
-
-----
-''This Mini-HOWTO tries explains how to setup a ``disc-less'' Linux
-workstation, which mounts it's root filesystems via NFS.
-The newest version of this Mini-Howto can always be found in
-ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/NFS-Root or
-on any sunsite mirror NEAR YOU.''
-----
-
-
-
-
-!!1. Copyright
-
-
-*1.1 Contributors
-
-
-
-
-
-!!2. General Overview
-
-
-
-
-!!3. Setup on the server
-
-
-*3.1 Compiling the kernels
-
-*3.2 Creation of the root filesystem
-
-
-
-
-
-!!4. Booting the workstation
-
-
-*4.1 Using a boot rom
-
-*4.2 Using a raw kernel disc
-
-*4.3 Using a bootloader & ''RARP''
-
-*4.4 Using a bootloader without ''RARP''
-
-
-
-
-
-!!5. Known problems
-
-
-*5.1 /sbin/init doesn't start.
-
-*5.2 /dev troubles.
-
-
-
-
-
-!!6. Other topics
-----
-
-!!1. Copyright
-
-
-(c) 1996 Andreas Kostyrka (e9207884@student.tuwien.ac.at or
-andreas@ag.or.at)
-
-
-Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by their
-respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed
-in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as
-this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial redistribution
-is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like to be notified of
-any such distributions.
-
-
-All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating
-any Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice.
-That is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose
-additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules
-may be granted under certain conditions; please contact the Linux HOWTO
-coordinator at the address given below.
-
-
-In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as
-many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the
-HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute
-the HOWTOs.
-
-
-If you have questions, please contact Andreas Kostyrka
-<mailto:andreas@ag.or.at>, the author of this mini-HOWTO, or
-Tim Bynum, the Linux HOWTO coordinator, at
-<mailto:linux-howto@sunsite.unc.edu> via email.
-
-
-
-
-!!1.1 Contributors
-
-
-
-
-
-
-*Avery Pennarun <apenwarr@foxnet.net> (how to boot without __LILO__)
-*
-
-*
-Ofer Maor <ofer@hadar.co.il> (providing a better mini howto about setting up discless workstations.)
-*
-
-*Christian Leutloff <leutloff@sundancer.tng.oche.de> (providing infos about netboot.)
-*
-
-
-
-
-----
-
-!!2. General Overview
-
-
-Generally speaking there are the following problems for the
-workstation:
-
-
-*It must find out it's own IP-address, and if needed also the
-rest of the Ethernet configuration.
-*
-
-*It must know the ''NFS''-server and the mount path to it's root
-filesystem.
-*
-
-
-
-The current implementation of ''NFSROOT'' in the Linux kernel (as of
-1.3.7x) allows for
-the following ``solutions'':
-
-
-*The IP-address may be discovered by ''RARP'', or the full
-ethernet configuration may be passed to the kernel via kernel
-parameters by __LILO__ or __LOADLIN__.
-*
-
-*The ''NFS''-path to mount can be passed via kernel
-parameters. If this is not done, the kernel assumes the
-''RARP''-server also as ''NFS''-server, and uses compiled in default
-for the path part. (current default value in the kernel:
-/tftpboot/<''IP-address of the machine''>.)
-*
-
-*The client configuration may be discovered by ''BOOTP''.
-*
-
-
-
-Before starting to setup a discless enviroment, you should decide if
-you will be booting via __LILO__ or __LOADLIN__. The advantage of
-doing so is flexibility, the disadvantage is speed. Booting a Linux
-kernel without __LILO__ is faster. This may or may not be a
-consideration.
-
-
-
-----
-
-!!3. Setup on the server
-
-!!3.1 Compiling the kernels
-
-
-
-''RARP'' support in the kernel of the server will probably be a good
-idea. You must have it if you will boot without kernel parameters. On
-the other hand it doesn't help you, if the client isn't on the same
-subnet than the server.
-
-
-The kernel for the workstation needs the following as a minimum set
-compiled in:
-
-
-* ''NFS''-filesystem compiled in. (It doesn't need to have
-''ext2''-support compiled in, a module suffices.)
-*
-
-* ``Root on NFS'' must be enabled.
-*
-
-* The Ethernet driver for the network card of the workstation
-must be compiled in.
-*
-
-* Depending upon your needs you may have to include ''RARP'' or
-''BOOTBP'' support for NFS-Root. (By this I mean the questions that
-are asked after the NFS question in make config.)
-*
-
-
-
-If the workstation will be booted without kernel parameters, you need
-also to set the root device to :255. Do this by creating a dummy
-device file with mknod /dev/nfsroot b 0 255. After having
-created such a device file, you can set root device of the kernel
-image with rdev <''kernel-image''> /dev/nfsroot.
-
-!!3.2 Creation of the root filesystem
-
-
-!Copying the filesystem
-
-
-'' Warning: while these instruction might work for you, they are by
-no means sensefull in a production enviroment. For a better way to
-setup a root filesystem for the clients, see the NFS-Root-Client mini
-howto by Ofer Maor <ofer@hadar.co.il>.''
-
-
-After having decided where to place the root tree, create it with
-(e.g.) mkdir -p <''directory''> and
-tar cClf / - | tar xpCf <''directory''> -.
-
-
-If you boot your kernel without LILO, then the rootdir has to be
-/tftpboot/<''IP-address''>. If you don't like it, you
-can change it in the top Makefile in the kernel sources, look for a line like:
-NFS_ROOT = -DNFS_ROOT="\"/tftpboot/%s\""
-If you change this, you have to recompile the kernel.
-
-
-
-
-!Changes to the root filesystem
-
-
-Now trim the unneeded files, and check the /etc/rc.d scripts. Some
-important points:
-
-
-* One important thing is eth0 setup. The workstation comes up
-with a, at least partially, setup eth0. Setting up the
-IP-address of the workstation to the the IP-Address of the server
-is not considered a clever thing to do. (As it happened to the author
-on one of his early attempts.)
-
-*
-
-*Another point is the /etc/fstab of the workstation. It should
-be setup for nfs filesystems.
-
-*
-
-* __WARNING__: Don't confuse the server root filesystem and the
-workstation root filesystem. (I've already patched up a
-rc.inet1 on the server, and wondered why the workstation still
-didn't work.)
-*
-
-
-
-
-
-!Exporting the filesystem
-
-
-Export the root dir to the work station. See exports(5). You
-most likely will have to restart the nfsd/mountd after this change.
-Under !RedHat this can easily be done by typing
-/etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs stop ; /etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs start .
-
-
-
-
-!RARP setup
-
-
-Setup the ''RARP'' somewhere on the net. If you boot without a
-nfsroot parameter, the ''RARP'' server has to be the ''NFS''
-server. Usually this will be the ''NFS'' server. To do this, you
-will need to run a kernel with ''RARP'' support.
-
-
-To do this, execute (and install it somewhere in /etc/rc.d of
-the server!):
-
-
-/sbin/rarp -s <''ip-addr''> <''hardware-addr''>
-
-
- where
-
-; __ip-addr__:
-
-is the IP address of the workstation, and
-; __hardware-addr__:
-
-is the Ethernet address of the network card of
-the workstation.
-
-
-
-example: /sbin/rarp -s 131.131.90.200 00:00:c0:47:10:12
-
-
-You can also use a symbolic name instead of the IP-address, as
-long the server is able to find out the IP-address. (/etc/hosts
-or ''DNS'' lookups)
-
-
-
-
-!BOOTP setup
-
-
-For ''BOOTP'' setup you need to edit /etc/bootptab. Please
-consult the ''bootpd(8)'' and ''bootptab(5)'' man pages.
-
-
-
-
-!Finding out hardware addresses
-
-
-I don't know the hardware address! How can I find it out?
-
-
-* Boot the kernel disk you made, and watch for the line where
-the network card is recognized. It usually contains 6 hex
-bytes, that should be the address of the card.
-*
-
-* Boot the workstation with some OS with TCP/IP networking
-enabled. Then ping the workstation from the server. Look in
-the ARP-cache by executing:
-/sbin/arp -a
-*
-
-
-
-
-----
-
-!!4. Booting the workstation
-
-
-
-
-!!4.1 Using a boot rom
-
-
-
-As I have not used such a beast myself yet, I can give you only the
-following tips (courtesy of Christian Leutloff <leutloff@sundancer.tng.oche.de>):
-
-
-* You can't use ``normal'' bootroms.
-*
-
-* There is a netboot packet by Gero Kuhlmann, that provides
-for bootroms for Linux, and further information. netboot is
-available from the local Linux mirror, or as a Debian package
-(netboot-.4).
-*
-
-* Read the documentation coming with your boot rom carefully.
-*
-
-* You probably will have to enable the tftpd on the server, but
-this depends upon your boot rom's way of loading the kernel.
-*
-
-* ''Any informations on bootrom vendors of these Linux variety,
-mentioned above, as not everybody has access to prom burner :(
-(especially in europe, as I'm located there.) welcome, I'll include
-them then
here.''
-*
-
-
-!!4.2 Using a raw kernel disc
-
-
-
-If you have exported the root filesystem with the correct name for the
-default naming and your ''NFS'' server is also the ''RARP'' server
-(which implies that the boxes are on the same subnet.), than you can
-just boot the kernel by cating it to a disc. (You have to set the
-root device in the kernel to :255.) This assumes, that the root
-directory on the server is /tftpboot/''IP-Address''
-(this value can be changed when compiling the kernel.)
-
-!!4.3 Using a bootloader & ''RARP''
-
-
-
-Give the kernel all needed parameters when booting, and add
-nfsroot=<''server-ip-addr''>:<''/path/to/mount''>
-where ''server-ip-addr'' is the IP-address of your NFS-server, and
-''/path/to/mount'' is the path to the root directory.
-
-
-Tips:
-
-
-* When using __LILO__ consider using the ``lock'' feature: Simply
-type in once all the correct parameters and add
-``lock''. Next time when booting let LILO timeout.
-*
-
-* When generating a workstation specific boot disk, you can
-also use the append= feature in lilo.conf.
-*
-
-
-!!4.4 Using a bootloader without ''RARP''
-
-
-
-In addition to nfsroot give a
-nfsaddrs=<''wst-IP''>:<''srv-IP''>:<''gw-IP''>:<''netm-IP''>:<''hostname''>
-commandline argument for the kernel. The kernel will setup eth0
-with the given parameters:
-
-; __wst-IP__:
-
-machine's IP-Address
-; __srv-IP__:
-
-NFS-server IP-Address
-; __gw-IP__:
-
-gateway
-; __netm-IP__:
-
-netmask
-; __hostname__:
-
-machine name
-
-----
-
-!!5. Known problems
-
-
-
-
-!!5.1 /sbin/init doesn't start.
-
-
-
-A popular problem with /sbin/init is, that some (at least) current
-distributions come with /sbin/init dynamically linked. So you have to provide
-a correct /lib setup to the client. One easy thing one could try is replacing
-/sbin/init (for the client) with a statically linked ``Hello World'' program.
-This way you know if it is something more basic, or ``just'' a problem with
-dynamic linking.
-
-!!5.2 /dev troubles.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-If you get some garbled messages about ttys when booting, then you
-should run a MAKEDEV from the client in the /dev directory. There are
-rumors that this doesn't work with certain server oses which use
-64-bit dev numbers, should you run into this, please mail me with which os
-you have the troubles. A potential solution would be to create a small /dev
-ram disc early in the boot process, and reinstall the device nodes each time.
-
-
-
-----
-
-!!6. Other topics
-
-
-
-
-
-* There is BOOTP client:
-ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/system/Network/admin/bootpc.v045.tgz
-
-
-With initrd (which is included in Linux 2.), it could be made to work
-for diskless stations quite nicely. initrd is actually always an
-advanced option for more customized setups.
-
-
-
-
-*
-
-* For plain bootpd based boots this is actually probably not
-needed as Linux 2.0 contains also the option to use BOOTP instead of
-RARP. (To be more precise, you can compile both in the kernel, and the
-faster response wins.)
-
-*
-
-* In the Documentation directory of kernel source there is a file
-documenting NFS-Root systems.
-
-*
-
-* There is a patch floating around, that allows for swapping over
-NFS. It was send to me (during a private high workload phase), but I
-somehow managed to loose the mail. :(
-
- You can get it probably from
-http://www.linuxhq.com/ in the unofficial patches section.
-
-
-
-
-*
-
-* My PGP public key can be fetched by fingering andreas@ag.or.at.
-The fingerprint is: F1 F7 43 D5 07 C4 6C 87 BF 6B 33 A2 2C EE 5A F9.
-
-*
-
-----
+Describe [HowToNFSRoot]
here.
