06-08-2004
Trying to explain it all in a forum post is going to be very difficult but I will try to get you going in the write direction and give you some pointers.
First, understand how kickstart works. Redhat and other sites have plenty of docs on this subject.
Make sure you don't have a competing dhcp/bootp server on that segment of the network. If you do, you will never be able to guarantee your PXE clients get an address and boot from your server.
If you install RedHat, /root/anaconda-ks.cfg is a complete kickstart file based on the system you just installed. It's a helpful starting point
Once you have mastered that stuff, figure out how dhcp and tftp work. Not too difficult. I can't remember off the top of my head but certain tftp programs work better then others. Look at the PXE docs to see what is recommended.
H. Peter Anvin (spelling?) - you know the guy who's name pops up when ever you start linux - has some pretty detailed docs on the vmlinux and initrd stuff. I think there is a link off kernel.org. He also has a home page somewhere with tons of usefull stuff on building boot images (you know, for your PXE clients). Just search for his name.
At this point you should be ready to put all the pieces together. This is the hardest part. You have to build some images and serve them up. Basically you create a conf file that looks at the incoming DHCP/bootp request, decides if it should server out a menu or just grant an address, then "pushes" the image to the client.
I know this is not a step by step procedure but that would be pages and pages of material. Get started and when you hit a roadblock just post it and someone will be able to help you. There is a lot of trial and error in setting up a PXE server, but that is how you learn.
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LEARN ABOUT DEBIAN
mklnim
MKLNIM(1) General Commands Manual MKLNIM(1)
NAME
mklnim - make Linux Netinstall Image
SYNOPSIS
mklnim outputfile [path-to-cdrom]
DESCRIPTION
mklnim is a shell script that takes a SuSE, TurboLinux or a RedHat CDROM, or equivalent disk directory, and creates a network bootable
image (NBI) that can be used with Etherboot (http://etherboot.sourceforge.net/) or Netboot (http://www.han.de/~gero/netboot.html). This
NBI, when booted via the network, will make the target computer behave just as if a CDROM boot (TurboLinux), or a floppy boot (RedHat and
SuSE) had been selected. A conventional install can be done from this point onwards.
There are several occasions when this technique is useful: 1. It can be used to quickly boot a target computer when the floppy loading is
very slow. 2. In the case of TurboLinux, it loads the CDROM initial ramdisk which does not require any further floppy loading. In the case
of RedHat, it only loads the floppy initial ramdisk which does not contain the material in the supplementary floppy, and may require more
floppy insertion. 3. It can start the install from a floppy of any size, not just 1.4 MB, or even from a floppyless machine, if one has a
boot ROM (providing no further floppy access is required). 4. It could be used as part of an automatic installation process.
Naturally, all this assumes that the infrastructure for diskless booting (bootp and tftp servers) has been set up.
BUGS
If supplementary floppies are required, this script doesn't include that material in the network boot image. Please feel welcome to fix
this problem.
SEE ALSO
Etherboot tutorial at http://etherboot.sourceforge.net/
COPYRIGHT
mklnim is under the GNU Public License
AUTHOR
Ken Yap (ken_yap@users.sourceforge.net)
DATE
Version 0.4 April 2000
25 April 2000 MKLNIM(1)