READ ONLY FORUM: m23 :: makes software distribution easy

jggpc · Joined: 22 Apr 2010 Posts: 9

As mentioned in my other question, we are rolling our own custom installation cd for the clients.

Facts about my network. I do not control DHCP, nor DNS. We have multiple sites globally, with a huge range of DHCP address blocks, all controlled using Active Directory. I also have a pre-existing FDS (389) tree in place to authenticate my existing Linux/UNIX sytems.

What I need to know is, how can I use the server system without it controlling DHCP? I have tried to shut the service down already, but it fails.

Hauke · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 1072

Scenario: There is an existing DHCP server in your network, that distributes network settings (IP, netmask, ...) to all your computers and an m23 server, that should install the clients.

Problem: The installation of the m23 clients doesn't work, because the other DHCP server assigns the network settings faster that the m23 server.

Reason: The m23 server needs to assign the IP and other network settings to let the client boot and install via the network. If these settings are distributed by another DHCP server, the client cannot find the m23 server, cannot download the network bootimage and cannot be installed. This cannot be changed generally, because there are standards in the network and boot protocols, that define a standardised network booting procedure.

The other DHCP server can be deactivated

Solutions:

Disable the other DHCP server for the MAC addresses of the clients you want to install (at least) during the operating system installation.
Or: Reconfigure the DHCP server to make it send its network settings with a delay of 2 seconds, to give the m23 server the chance for answering earlier.
Or: Deactivate the other DHCP server during the operating system installation with m23.

The other DHCP server CANNOT be deactivated

In this case you need to adjust the configuration of the other DHCP server manually and set up a TFTP server if necessary. Have a look into the documentation of your DHCP and TFTP servers for correct configuration.

Choose "gPXE/DHCP" at "Boottype" when adding a new client in the m23 webinterface. Assign the computer name the DHCP server will give to the client at "Client name".
Configure the DHCP server to send the same client name, that was entered in the m23 webinterface, to the m23 client.
The kernel name the DHCP server transfers to the client needs to be m23pxeinstall-i386 (for 32 bit computers) or m23pxeinstall-amd64 (for 64 bit computers).
The DHCP server must hand out the following kernel parameters to the m23 client:

Code:

m23server="m23 server hostname or IP" devfs=nomount vga=normal load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=[b]45000[/b] initrd=initrd.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw

Replace m23 server hostname or IP with the computer name (resolvable by the m23 client) (FQDN) or the IP of the m23 server. In addition, you may need to adjust 45000 with the current value from the file /m23/inc/kernelRamDisk.inc.
Set up the DHCP server to let the m23 client download and start the PXE kernel (/m23/tftp/m23pxeinstall-i386 or /m23/tftp/m23pxeinstall-amd64) and the PXE initrd (/m23/tftp/initrd-i386.gz or /m23/tftp/initrd-amd64.gz) from the m23 server.
You may need to set up a TFTP server on the same machine as your DHCP server, if you cannot configure the DHCP to let the m23 clients download the boot files from the m23 server. You can take the files from the directory /m23/tftp/ as basis for your configuration.

Please visit the (German) Support für m23, Linux und OpenSource von goos-habermann.de, if you need commercial support for set up and configuration of m23 or other OpenSource components
_________________
Hauke Goos-Habermann
- project leader m23 (http://m23.sf.net) -
Jabber: dodgerm23@jabber.org

Schulung, Entwicklung und Support zu m23 und anderen OpenSource-Produkten: www.goos-habermann.de

Auch DU kannst etwas gegen Softwarepatente tun! www.patentfrei.de

jggpc · Joined: 22 Apr 2010 Posts: 9

Neither of those are a possibility currently. I am investigating if another method can be imployed here.

Hauke · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 1072

You can boot the clients from the m23 client boot CD and adjust the boot parameters as in the my post before.
_________________
Hauke Goos-Habermann
- project leader m23 (http://m23.sf.net) -
Jabber: dodgerm23@jabber.org

Schulung, Entwicklung und Support zu m23 und anderen OpenSource-Produkten: www.goos-habermann.de

Auch DU kannst etwas gegen Softwarepatente tun! www.patentfrei.de