network install floppy boot images

[Rick Stevens]

On Thu, 2006-02-02 at 14:48 -0800, Rick Stevens wrote:
> On Thu, 2006-02-02 at 15:22 -0600, Chris Hare wrote:
> > Hi all.
> >  
> > I can't seem to find the answer.  I have a small box here I need to
> > install on.  It has no CD-ROM, and I don't have a USB CD-ROM anyhow.  
> > It has a good network card in it, and I could do a network install if
> > I had a floppy boot image.  Can anyone provide any info on where to
> > get one?  I need it for AS v4.  
> >  
> > Another option is a FAT formatted USB attached hard disk with the CD
> > images extracted to it.  However, I can't find info on how to do this
> > either.  
> 
> If your machine can boot from USB, then go get a $35 128MB USB pen
> drive.  Find a machine that does have a CD on it, put the first CD in
> that drive AND plug in the USB pen drive.  Go to the CD's /images
> directory.  You'll find a file called "diskboot.img".  You need to copy
> that to the USB drive in raw mode.  If you're running Linux, the "dd"
> command will do it:
> 
> 	# dd if=diskboot.img of=/dev/sda
> 
> (assuming the pen drive is at /dev/sda).  If you're using Windows, you
> need to use a program such as rawrite (do a google search for that).
> 
> When you're all done, go to the machine you want to install on, plug in
> the pen drive and boot from it.  From there you can specify a network
> install.
> 
> This is all explained in the installation handbook:
> 
> http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/x8664-multi-install-guide/

I should have also added that if the machine CAN'T boot from USB, then
go get Smart Boot Manager (again, google for it).  It loads onto a
floppy and once it's booted, it can get to darned near anything on your
machine.

And, if I might suggest, go spend the money and get a USB CD-RW/DVD.
They're not that expensive and a really, really handy thing to have
around.  I have a USB/Firewire CD-RW/DVD+-RW that works terrific.  Yes,
it was about $150, but it's saved my bacon many times.

Rick's emergency toolkit:

	Floppy with Smart Boot Manager on it
	1GB USB pen drive
	USB/Firewire CD-RW/DVD+-RW drive
	Burned CDS:
		"RecoveryIsPossible" (RIP) CD
		UltimateBootCD (UBCD) CD
		System Rescue CD
		CDs or DVDs with all current RedHat, FedoraCore, CentOS,
		FreeBSD, NetBSD, GenToo, SuSE and darned near every
		other Unix/Linux permutation you can think of.

Yes, I'm a geek.  I also have shiny armor and a white steed!

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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-   "Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?"  "I don't remember"  -
-                            -- Chumbawumba, "Amnesia" (TubThumping) -
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