Diskless-root-NFS-other-HOWTO.pdf

Root over NFS − Another Approach

Table of Contents

Root over NFS − Another Approach. ................................................................................................................1

George Gousios, cs98011@icsd.aegean.gr. .............................................................................................1

1. Introduction. .........................................................................................................................................1

2. Setting up the serve.. ...........................................................................................................................1

3. Setting up the clients. ...........................................................................................................................1

4. Preparing the boot disk. .......................................................................................................................1

5. The magic time. ...................................................................................................................................1

6. Other Stuff. ..........................................................................................................................................1

7. Appendix. .............................................................................................................................................2

1. Introduction. .........................................................................................................................................2

1.1 The setting. .........................................................................................................................................2

1.2 The alternatives. .................................................................................................................................3

1.3 General Principles. .............................................................................................................................3

2. Setting up the serve.. ...........................................................................................................................4

2.1 Setting up the NFS server. .................................................................................................................4

2.2 Setting up the DHCP/BOOTP serve. ................................................................................................5

2.3 Preparing the base system. .................................................................................................................6

3. Setting up the clients. ...........................................................................................................................6

3.1 Errata. .................................................................................................................................................6

3.2 Fiddling with scripts and files!. .........................................................................................................7

How to setup a swap partition.. ...................................................................................................7

Modifying /etc/fstab. ...................................................................................................................8

Copying password files. ..............................................................................................................8

3.3 Booting the base system. ...................................................................................................................8

3.4 Configuring the system. .....................................................................................................................8

Configuring the language. ...........................................................................................................9

The X window system. ...............................................................................................................9

Configuring network access for KDE2. ....................................................................................10

4. Preparing the boot disk. .....................................................................................................................11

4.1 Building a kerne. .............................................................................................................................11

4.2 Creating the boot disk. .....................................................................................................................11

4.3 The kernel command line. ................................................................................................................12

5. The magic time. .................................................................................................................................12

6. Other Stuff. ........................................................................................................................................13

6.1 Contributors. ....................................................................................................................................13

6.2 Copyrights. .......................................................................................................................................13

6.3 Contacting the author. ......................................................................................................................13

6.4 Changelog. .......................................................................................................................................13

7. Appendix. ...........................................................................................................................................13

7.1 Appendix A − A script for creating host directories. .......................................................................13

7.2 Appendix B − A script to create the dhcpd.conf file using arpwatch. .............................................15

The arp.dat2dhcpd.conf script. .................................................................................................15

7.3 Appendix C − A sample XF86Config file. ......................................................................................16

Root over NFS − Another Approach

George Gousios, cs98011@icsd.aegean.gr

v1.0, 2001−09−12

This HOWTO does not intend to replace the existing Root over NFS Howto's. It is just another approach,

particularly useful in large system installations. It is the result of many days of trying to setup a system for

the University of the Aegean computer labs. The installation method described here is up and running. The

HOWTO is dedicated to all of those guys who programmed these exceptionally good OS and tools. Also

dedicated to all people that encouraged me to write it.

1. Introduction

· 1.2 The alternatives

1.1 The setting

· 1.3 General Principles

2. Setting up the server

· 2.2 Setting up the DHCP/BOOTP server

2.1 Setting up the NFS server

· 2.3 Preparing the base system

3. Setting up the clients

· 3.2 Fiddling with scripts and files!

3.1 Errata

· 3.3 Booting the base system

· 3.4 Configuring the system

4. Preparing the boot disk

· 4.2 Creating the boot disk

4.1 Building a kernel

· 4.3 The kernel command line

5. The magic time

6. Other Stuff

· 6.2 Copyrights

6.1 Contributors

· 6.3 Contacting the author

Root over NFS − Another Approach

Root over NFS − Another Approach

6.4 Changelog

7. Appendix

· 7.2 Appendix B − A script to create the dhcpd.conf file using arpwatch

7.1 Appendix A − A script for creating host directories

· 7.3 Appendix C − A sample XF86Config file

1. Introduction

This document does not resemble a common HOWTO, meaning referencing to general principles, but it is

rather an on−hand approach to a by nature complex matter. It borrows the structure of the current Root over

NFS , but differs from it in the following points:

It provides a working solution fom the distribution used. The distribution specific points should be

applicable to all major distributions (RedHat,SuSE,Debian).

· All steps are described in detail, letting the reader to adapt them to his own system. No scripts!

It uses more up to date tools, ex NFS v3.0, kernel 2.4.0, dhcp instead of bootparamd.

This HOWTO expects that you have a general knowledge of what you are up to, so first read the Diskless

Nodes HOW−TO.

1.1 The setting

It is a common case a University computer lab to have a lot PC's running Windows 98 or/and NT and a

powerful UNIX server to satisfy the need of an alternative operating environment. This UNIX server is most

of times idle or meerly accessed by telnet and running stupid tasks. On the other hand, students, especially

those attending a computer science department, feel like taking full advantage of it, just for fun or for

"educational purposes" (breaking in, hacking it...). The restrictive environment of telnet does not allow us to

enjoy the use of a power server.There are 2 alternatives to that:

Try to persuade the department' s headmaster to approve of the purchase of a bunch of new Unix

workstations.

Try to persuade the same guy to approve of transforming the server to a diskless node server.

The network at the computer lab consists of the following.

UNIX server: SUN Enterprise 3500 with 2 64 bit SPARC@366 Mhz processors and 512 MB of

memory. A real monster, isn't it?

"Dumb" target workstations: 60−70 PC's with variable configurations, ranging from PII 266 to PIII

450 with 64−128 MB RAM.

The task I had to accomplish was the following: Provide a complete working solution without new expenses

and without modifying anything but the necessary on the server.

7. Appendix

Root over NFS − Another Approach

1.2 The alternatives

Being the responsible for the project, I had to choose between a variety of solutions about it. I choose the

following, for the reasons illustrated:

The new 2.4 kernel: It provides a robust and fast solution, using less memory than the old 2.2 series.

If it is important for your users to attach devices to their PC's then it is the only solution. Also

provides NFS v3, and more efficient memory management.

The KDE 2.1.1 desktop environment: VERY stable, easy to use, Internet enabled, makes the

transition from Windows to Linux desktop almost effortless. GNOME + Afterstep is another option,

but not as mature as a solution as KDE.

SuSE 7.0 distribution: My favorite one, IMHO the most balanced between ease of use and

understanding of a Linux system structure.

1.3 General Principles

To be able to boot a Linux system, you have to provide it with the following:

The /sbin directory. There exists the init programm, which is responsible for starting other

programms and start up scripts during the boot process. Also, the /sbin directory contains the

startup scripts in the case of SuSE, some useful programms like the portmap programm and many

other programms that are needed before you mount the /usr directory.

The /lib directory. It contains the libc libraries that are absolutely necessary if your init is

dynamically linked.

· The /etc directory. It contains configuration files for most programms and the rc.d directories

that is the default for startup scripts.

The /bin directory. It contains file commands and shells for running startup scripts.

The /var directory. It is a spool area for programms that want to write somewhere. It is divided into

many subdirectories with alternate usability.

The /dev directory. It contains character and block special devices that allow programms to

communicate with the computers devices via the kernel.

You should notice that after a clean install, the total size of these directories is not that big, ranging from 30

to 40 MB. The main load of files exists in the /usr and /opt directories. So, it is possible to create a

directory for every diskless client containing the above listed directories and mount points for directories like

/usr that will be exported by the server. The boot process, as assumed by this document, is the following:

The user reboots the computer, and using a diskette boots the Linux kernel.

The kernel takes control of the system, identifies the system devices, and uses BOOTP to obtain the

IP address matching the NIC 's hardware address.

The init programm is started. Before switching to a run level, it calls a script described in the

/etc/inittab file. This script is responsible for building the library cache, initialise and mount a

swap file, load some system specific kernel modules and set the hostname.

The boot script finishes and the init programm switches to the specified runlevel. It starts to execute

the scripts located into the /etc/rc.d/rcX directory where 'X' is the name of the runlevel. These

scripts are responsible for starting the portmapper and mounting the NFS exported /usr, /home

and /opt directories.

To sum up, the system administrator has to do the following tasks:

Prepare a clean install of the system to be exported to the diskless hosts.

The user is able to login.

· Create the host specific directories

· Control what is going to be started during the diskless clients' boot proces

1.2 The alternatives

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