kickstart and network configuration

[Klaus Steden]

> I am having an issue with using a single kickstart for two different models
> of similar hardware (IBM Blade Center model 8678 and model 8832). 
> Apparently,
> the newer model flips its concept of what is the primary ethernet, causing
> eth1 to come up instead of eth0.  Since both interfaces actually have link
> state on them, I can't just "not specify" and expect the right one to be
> chosen.  So, I am trying to find a better way to adapt to the hardware.
> 
> First off, the line "network --bootproto dhcp --device eth1" is required to
> get the newer blades to boot.  However, it will break the older blades.
> 
> I wondered if there was a way to not specify the network and maybe set it
> up in the %PRE section or something.  When exactly does the %PRE section
> get executed anyways?  Does it get executed with every reboot until after
> the packages are installed?  Is it only once?
> 
> What I am looking for is a more generic way to set up the network to the
> way I want it so that the kickstart will work.  What I do know is the
> serial numbers of the old blades (we only have a handful of them), so I
> could have the network set up one way by default, and a different way if
> one of the serial numbers show up... I have access to the serial number
> in the kickstart (already verified that).
> 
Ah yeah, I've run into that before with the Blade Center. IIRC, there was
actually a firmware patch from IBM to fix that, but I am not 100%.

I think there is a setting for anaconda to choose the NIC that is linked
automagically - but I can't remember the exact parameter setting. Does someone
else out there remember, or am I blowing smoke on this one?

You could simply specify 'ksdevice=eth<N>' in your boot command line and it
will figure out the rest ... to further automate it, adjust your boot media's
selection list to have one for the 8667 (ksdevice=eth1) and one for 8832
(ksdevice=eth0).

hth,
Klaus