RE: Kickstart via PXE/NFS

[<secroft micron com>]

Could you post your ks.cfg file, specifically the networking section. I have seen this, even when the kernel loads correctly, because the networking information is incorrect.

---

From: kickstart-list-bounces redhat com [mailto:kickstart-list-bounces redhat com] On Behalf Of SSTinsley upsfreight com
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 4:43 AM
To: Discussion list about Kickstart
Cc: kickstart-list redhat com; kickstart-list-bounces redhat com
Subject: RE: Kickstart via PXE/NFS

kickstart-list-bounces redhat com wrote on 
05/14/2007 04:14:11 PM:

> You still have never answered the question. 
 We are trying to help 
> you here.  It doesn't matter whether 
or not your second NIC is 
> plugged in, it does however matter whether or 
not it is on the same 
> bus as the NIC you are pxebooting from.  As 
for why it works in pxe 
> and doesn't work in kickstart, they are two 
entirely different 
> systems.  pxe comes from the system BIOS, and 
the kickstart 
> installer comes from RHEL.  The reason this is 
important is because 
> RHEL 4 + enumerates the bus differently (and 
according to Red Hat 
> properly) than either pxe or previous RHEL 
versions. 
>   
> As for "complicated", my time goes back to building 
"unattend.txt" 
> files for Windows 95 (and every version since), and 
kickstart is FAR
> more powerful and easier to use than any of the windows 
technologies
> that are included with the OS.  And if you don't like 
kickstart, try
> using YAST sometime, that will make you old before your 
time. 
>   
> This list is very helpful and has gotten many people to quality 
> build setups, but disparaging the tool that we are trying to help 
> you deploy isn't going to win friends or help. 
>   
> At the end of the 
day, if you don't like anaconda, do something 
> about it.  It's open 
source and you can dive in and fix the things 
> you don't like, and 
submit the patches upstream.  There are many 
> things *I* would like 
to see changed, but I don't have the time to 
> write a patch, so I have 
to live with it or work around it.  At 
> least now I can make the 
changes if I wanted to... Sure wish I could
> have done that in Windows 10 
years ago when I was trying to get an 
> unattend.txt file to bring up a 
backup domain controller that wasn't
> online with the primary since it 
hadn't been built yet and was 
> located in a different state. 
>   
> Chip 

I appreciate your time and 
help. Just a bit frustrated after working on this for 2 solid days 
and watching the PC boot about 50 times. 

If you want free software to be successful, 
the standard answer can't be "fix it yourself if you 
don't like it". Many people, like me are not programmers. 
You don't want me in messing with code. 
People will eventually go where they can find someone to supply the fix. 
In my case, that is 
RedHat. And I have a 
case open with them. I was hoping I might get the problem solved faster 
going 
this route. 

kickstart-list-bounces redhat com wrote on 05/14/2007 04:01:42 
PM:

> For the second interface, try turning it off in the bios. I 
believe 
> you're running into an enumeration problem with the onboard 
NIC's. 
> Whether you have it plugged in or not, it is probably where the 
issue is. 
>   
kickstart-list-bounces redhat com wrote on 05/14/2007 04:03:21 
PM:

> I had a similar issue.  I had only one NIC cabled to the 
switch.  
> The initial DHCP request was successful but it would fail 
on finding
> the ks.cfg file. 
> 
  
> I ended up turning off all the NICs 
in the bios and this helped. 
> 
  
>   

I disabled the second interface in the bios as suggested. No 
difference. Let me describe 
what happened and 
show you the anacaonda log and you may see why this is so puzzling. 

The process up through the kernel load works fine. The 
initial DHCP request shows up on the 
network 
snoop, the pxelinux downloads. I get the PXE menu and kick off the auto 
install. 
The kernel and initrd download 
successfully. Here is the cmdline passed to the kernel based 
on the contents of /proc/cmdline. 

initrd=rhel_v4/initrd.img ks=http://10.1.1.253/redhat/ks_rhel_v4.cfg 
BOOT_IMAGE=rhel_v4/vmlinuz 

On the screen, I 
see the initial Anaconda screen with various messages on loading drivers. 
Then 
a message is displayed that DHCP is 
attempting to start eth0. It fails and the net config screen 
appears. I set it for DHCP again. No luck. Here is what 
shows up in the anaconda log after several 
DHCP 
attempts from the network config screen. 

 only have one network device: eth0 
* sending dhcp request through device eth0 
* waiting for link... 
* 0 
seconds. 
* running dhcp for eth0 
* pump told us: No DHCP reply received 
* eth0 isn't a wireless adaptor 
* waiting for link... 
* 5 
seconds. 
* running dhcp for eth0 
* pump told us: No DHCP reply received 
* waiting for link... 
* 5 
seconds. 
* running dhcp for eth0 
* pump told us: No DHCP reply received 
* waiting for link... 
* 5 
seconds. 
* running dhcp for eth0 
* pump told us: No DHCP reply received 
* waiting for link... 
* 2 
seconds. 
* no DNS servers, can't look up 
hostname 
* ks location: 
http://10.1.1.253/redhat/ks_rhel_v4.cfg 
* 
transferring http://10.1.1.253//./redhat/ks_rhel_v4.cfg to a fd 
* failed to retrieve 
http://10.1.1.253///redhat/ks_rhel_v4.cfg 
* 
trying to mount CD device hda 
* trying to mount 
CD device scd0 
* going to set language to 
en_US.UTF-8 

I finally assign the IP address 
statically on the network config screen. Anaconda moves 
on to ask for the location of the RedHat image. I supply the NFS 
information to get the 
release. Here is the odd 
part. Anaconda again shows that it is running DHCP to start 
interface eth0 even though I just supplied the static 
information. I am still snooping 
the network 
and I see this DHCP request and the same IP gets assigned that I had 
statically entered earlier. Anaconda then starts an 
interactive install. 

* trying to mount CD 
device hda 
* trying to mount CD device 
scd0 
* going to set language to 
en_US.UTF-8 
* setting language to 
en_US.UTF-8 
* 164 keymaps are 
available 
* need to set up 
networking 
* going to pick 
interface 
* going to do 
getNetConfig 
* sending dhcp request through 
device eth0 
* waiting for link... 
* 0 seconds. 
* running 
dhcp for eth0 
* doing kickstart... setting it 
up 
* waiting for link... 
* 0 seconds. 
* starting to 
STEP_URL 
* going to do nfsGetSetup 
* mounting nfs path 
10.1.1.253:/export/redhat/rhel4.0_ES_U5 
* 
mounting nfs path 10.1.1.253:/export/redhat/rhel4.0_ES_U5 
* mounted 10.1.1.253:/export/redhat/rhel4.0_ES_U5 on 
/mnt/source 
* can access 
/mnt/source/RedHat/base/stage2.img 

So, with 
only one interface active in the BIOS, why do the first several DHCP attempts 
fail, 
showing no network traffic at all? Then 
this last DHCP request shows up on the network and 
succeeds. However, at this point it is too late as the process is 
past the point where 
the kickstart file needs 
to be retrieved. Crazy!!

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