LCSR supplies a network boot server for bootstrapping PCs and Suns without the need for physical media. This service is available for a select set of vlans on the Rutgers CS subnets and a select set of boot images. If you'd like an additional CS subnet or image to be added to the server, please contact Douglas Motto.
To accomplish this, there is a php script running on the netboot machine. This machine is currently located in my room. It modifies a dhcp server configuration file which tells the machine which file to try to bootstrap. This boot image is retrieved via tftp on the netboot machine. The netboot machine serves the image from an nfs partition mounted from filer2.srv.lcsr.rutgers.edu:/vol/vol1/tftpboot/netboot/. Further installation for Solaris and Fedora take place via ftp,http, and nfs.
Adding new pxeboot images requires adding a configuration file, a pxeboot directory, pxe configuration file, kernel and possibly initial ram disk. The image configuration file is located in netboot:/var/image/image_cfg/. Take a look at other files for examples. The pxeboot directory holds the rest of the files. The pxeboot directories are located on filer2.srv.lcsr:/vol/vol1/tftpboot/netboot/i386/linux/. A new directory should be created and the only necessary file that must be included is "pxelinux.cfg", which is the pxe configuration file, Duh!!!. If you want it to do anything, you should probably include a kernel to load as well as an initial ram disk image, if appropriate. There's ram disk size limitations. To get around this look at the other pxelinux.cfg files for kernel append options.
Solaris images requires faking a Jumpstart install. I haven't done this in awhile and don't remember off the top of my head.
Every network that the netboot server supports uses the tmp.vlan#.lcsr.rutgers.edu hostname and address for that vlan. Don't use this address as a permenant address. To add a new subnet, you need to add a vlan configuration file in netboot:/var/image/vlan_cfg. Look there for examples.
