Re: Kickstart Woes Revisited

[Seth Alford <sethal yahoo com>]

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Earlier, Robert Parker wrote:
>Im having two issues:
>
> Problem #1:
>
> Im installing RH7.1 onto a Compaq Proliant 1850R
> server with three disks (raid-1 /, raid-5 /usr).  I
> want to simply have a single netboot.img floppy
> that has a modified SYSLINUX.CFG such that it
> immediately kicks off the ks.cfg on the floppy and
> performs an NFS install.  That much is simple, but
> here's the kicker: these Proliant 1850Rs have an
> integrated TI ThunderLAN (TLAN) interface and these
> interfaces are not supported by the default kernel
> in the netboot.img.  I don't want to have to pop in
> another driver disk when doing what I expect to be
> a completely handsfree (well, apart from popping in
> and out the floppy) installation, nor do I want to
> go the silly route of booting from cdrom then
> popping in the floppy and typing in "linux
> ks=floppy" in order to get the richer kernel used
> on the cdrom (I realize I could also use DHCP for
> this, but for various reasons which I wont go into,
> DHCP is absolutely verboten in this environment).
> I wouldnt mind a non-network install, with the
> ks.cfg and install RPMs on a CD-RW, but unhappily
> enough RH7.1 is on two cds now and as I mentioned,
> changing media during install is too inelegant for
> my purposes here.

Are you talking about the bootnet.img that's in
/images on the RH 7.1 cd1?  As nearly as I can
tell, there is a module in there for tlan.  Assume
you have cd1 mounted on /mnt/cdrom.  Try looking at
(WARNING: this script is untested:)

        cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/base
        ls stage2.img
        mkidr /tmp/stage2
        # Requires the loopback driver
        mount stage2.img /tmp/stage2 -o loop
        cd /tmp/stage2/modules
        gunzip < modules.cgz | cpio -it *tlan*

For me, it says:

        2.4.2-2BOOT/tlan.o

I've put my ks.cfg onto the initrd.img file, within
bootnet.img.  To do that, you need to do something
like (WARNING: again, this is an untested script
and incomplete script:)

        cp /mnt/cdrom/images/bootnet.img /tmp
        cd /tmp
        mkdir bootnet initrd
        # Again, you need the loopback driver
        mount bootnet.img bootnet -o loop
        gunzip < bootnet/initrd.img > initrd.img
        mount initrd.img initrd -o loop
        cp ks.cfg initrd/
        umount initrd
        gzip < initrd.img > bootnet.img/initrd.img
        # Edit bootnet/syslinux.cfg.  Modify
        # the stanza which loads the system to
        # have an append which includes:
        # "ks=file:/ks.cfg initrd=initrd.img"
        umount bootnet
        # Then dd the /tmp/bootnet.img to floppy

Yes, I know, you can just put ks.cfg onto the floppy,
but for various reasons this works better for me.

>
> So, Ive tried recompiling another kernel that only
> supports TLAN and other very basic stuff and
> slapping it on the floppy, but no dice, half the
> time the kernel wont boot.  Anyone have any ideas
> on how I can get TLAN support on a netboot.img
> floppy kernel (yes, Ive tried the kernels avalable
> at http://jpprime.free.fr/proliant/, and no, none
> of them have TLAN support)?  Perhaps someone who
> has a tried and true kernel config file that
> supports TLAN and yet is bootable from a
> netboot.img floppy?  Any other methods Im
> overlooking?

Yet another method that might work is to unpack
kernel source rpm from the RH 7.1 source cd.  That
rpm puts its cnofig files into
/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES.  There's one for the BOOT
kernel.  Modify that cnofig file.  Then build the
BOOT kernel using:

        cd /usr/src/redhat/SPECS
        rpm -bb --target=i386 kernel-2.4.spec

After a while, this will create a set of i386
kernels, including the BOOT kernel, under
/usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386.  Then, create a
new installation CD.  Follow Erik Troan's
(ewt redhat com) instructions as posted in:

http://www.redhat.com/mailing-lists/kickstart-list/msg00487.html

Erik's comments appear in the anaconda source.
anaconda interprets your kickstart file.

>
> Problem #2:
>
> Sor some odd reason, all the commands I place in
> the %post section which are directed to add a file
> or directory to the filesystem, always end up
> appending a "?" character to the end of the
> filename (regardless of whether its done chrooted
> or with --nochroot).  Heres an example:
>
> |
> |    %post
> |
> |     # Add another nameserver
> |     echo "nameserver 10.10.0.2" >>
/etc/resolv.conf
> |
>
> This will, after reboot, give me a file called
> "/etc/resolv.conf?" containing   "nameserver
> 10.10.0.2".  This also happens, as I mention, when
> I use the "%post --nochroot" directive with the
> /mnt/sysimage appended to the pathnames.
> Obviously, this also screws up any RPMs I might be
> installing in the %post section, no matter what
> their "--root" directive is set to.  So, uh, what
> gives here?  What am I doing wrong?  This didnt
> seem to happen the last time I mucked around with
> kickstart in the 6.1 days.

I haven't seen this, and I am copying files during
a non-chrooted %post install for use during a
chrooted %post install.

>
> Essentially, Ive got this pipedream that a Linux
> kickstart should be as easy or easier than a
> handsfree Solaris Jumpstart.  Crazy me.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
>
> Robert Parker

RedHat also has a kickstart-list, where topics
like this are discussed.  Maybe try posting
something there and see if someone responds?

--Seth
sethal yahoo com


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