Jay Lee wrote:
Michael Stiller wrote:
Have you considered using PXE booting? It's a bit of a pain to setup
the first time but once you have it, you'll not remember how you lived
without it. There's nothing better than doing a "nothing but net"
install in front of someone who's never seen one before to impress
them. And not having to go searching for boot media all the time is
nice too.
I've decided I'd rather boot a CD than change BIOS settings twice.
I don't know what install environments folk actually use, but I envisage
1. An install lab where machines are mass-installed before dispatch to
the workplace
2. Tutorial labs for testing: not a lot different
3. In situ, perhaps at a "remote site."
4. Vendor place, may be akin to 1, maybe per-client setup.
Some folk might be happy with machines that boot from CD (or USB); those
would set them that way and boot from CD (or USB).
I imagine vendors, and maybe large users, might have a Linux (or DOS)
program that updates the BIOS after installation, to get it into a
standard known configuration. Those wouldn't be concerned with the need
to turn PXE (or CD booting) off, but for some it's time better not spent.
For my purposes, I'm happy to have CD booting but not network booting
enabled. What if you plugged an install server into my LAN? I might well
shoot you (out the door), but that's too late.
In some of thse cases, plugging a laptop into the LAN to function as an
install server would be a good way to go: I'd be pretty happy with CD
booting, especially as not all machines do PXE (and some older ones do
it badly).