[CentOS] Re: centos] Kickstart from FTP or USB

Sat May 28 01:34:58 UTC 2005
Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org>

On Sat, 2005-05-28 at 00:19 +0100, Lee W wrote:
> Thanks, an interesting article.  Although not really what I am looking for.
> The official RH docs talk about the installer retrieving the location of 
> the config file via the "filename" attribute supplied  in the DHCP 
> request.

Yes.  DHCP is the successor to BOOTP that offers a superset of its
functionality.  But in the original BOOTP functionality, you would pass
the filename the BOOTP client would retrieve from a TFTP server so it
could boot.  The file was then booted.

This is how we have been installing workstations/servers in the UNIX
world for 2+ _decades_ -- BOOTP+TFTP (plus, typically, an NFS mount).
The PC only adopted it in more recent years.

E.g., Microsoft Remote Installation Services (RIS) sets up the same
thing (although uses a SMB mount after the BOOTP+TFTP).

> As I have router that gives out all my DHCP leases I am unable 
> to use this method.  I was really asking if there is a way to just 
> specify where the file is in a similar vain to ks=floppy (my machine is 
> an ITX box that doesn't have onboard FDD controller, so this is of no 
> use).  It just seems strange to me that a network boot cd is provided by 
> you are unable to specify a config file.
> Hope none of that sounds like a moan, as that isn't how it was intended.

The problem with most NFRs (NAT/Forwarding/Routers aka "Not a Freak'n
Router" for slang ;-) is that their DHCP implementions only do a subset
of BOOTP.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith                                     b.j.smith at ieee.org 
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