[LUGSB] PXE Install Problems

[Ilya Sukhanov (dotCOMmie)]

Your problem would be easier to diagnose if you pasted your pxelinux.cfg/default

Douglas La Rocca wrote:
> [...] I'm trying to install
> linux on a laptop that doesn't have a CD-ROM or floppy disk drive. 

What about USB drive?

> I've
> gotten as far as getting the client to boot up a linux kernel
> (2.6.27-gentoo-r2 compiled on the server running Gentoo) but the process
> stops when it tries to mount NFS. I'm following the instructions here:
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/diskless-howto.xml.
> 
> I get the following error:
> 
> **Looking up port of RPC 100003/2 on 192.168.1.101
> rcpbind: server 192.168.1.101 not responding, timed out
> Root-NFS: Unable to get nfsd port number from server, using default
> Root-NFS: Server returned error -5 while mounting /diskless/192.168.1.102
> 
> I think that either the client's kernel isn't configured properly or
> the DHCP server on the host (gentoo 2.6.27-r2) isn't configured
> properly.

Client kernel looks ok.

I doubt your problem lies there. Your machine does get the initial DHCP request
(else you wouldn't see the kernel) so I'd assume it got the second one. Check
the DHCP server logs for more info. Its certainly possible that the first DHCP
request is sent by your dhcp server and the second by the router.

Can you paste your server exports and check your nfsd log for issues. Also try
mounting the NFS volume with a different machine. If you don't have one handy
just try mounting on NFS server.

> [...]
> I'm not sure if this helps at all, but the network setup I have here
> is the PXE host connected to a router (wireless) and the slave wired
> to the router. The router's IP is 192.168.1.1 locally, the host's is
> 192.168.1.101, and the client's is 192.168.1.102.
> 
> Is the problem due to the router and the DHCP server on the host
> giving out IPs in the same 'subnet' or whatever it is? (192.168.1.0)
> [...]

Most reasonable dhcp servers can be configured to ignore DHCP requests from some
MAC addresses, this allows multiple dhcp servers to "safely" work on same
network and not clash with each other. In practice its a horrible idea as it
makes configuration twice as complicated. Your case is temporary and manageable
so you might want to give it a shot. If you router does not support this you can
kill DHCP entirely while machine boots.

Anyway the best solution for you, is to not use DHCP past the PXE stage. You can
just statically assign the IP to your client machine using the "ip" linux boot
option. Just modify the ip option in your /diskless/pxelinux.cfg/default file.

You want something like:
ip=192.168.1.102::192.168.1.1:255.255.255.0:MyBootUpHostName:eth0:none




%<-----------{snip}------------->%

ip=<client-ip>:<server-ip>:<gw-ip>:<netmask>:<hostname>:<device>:<autoconf>

   This parameter tells the kernel how to configure IP addresses of devices
   and also how to set up the IP routing table. It was originally called
   `nfsaddrs', but now the boot-time IP configuration works independently of
   NFS, so it was renamed to `ip' and the old name remained as an alias for
   compatibility reasons.

   If this parameter is missing from the kernel command line, all fields are
   assumed to be empty, and the defaults mentioned below apply. In general
   this means that the kernel tries to configure everything using
   autoconfiguration.

   The <autoconf> parameter can appear alone as the value to the `ip'
   parameter (without all the ':' characters before).  If the value is
   "ip=off" or "ip=none", no autoconfiguration will take place, otherwise
   autoconfiguration will take place.  The most common way to use this
   is "ip=dhcp".

   <client-ip>   IP address of the client.

         Default:  Determined using autoconfiguration.

   <server-ip>   IP address of the NFS server. If RARP is used to determine
         the client address and this parameter is NOT empty only
         replies from the specified server are accepted.

         Only required for for NFS root. That is autoconfiguration
         will not be triggered if it is missing and NFS root is not
         in operation.

         Default: Determined using autoconfiguration.
                  The address of the autoconfiguration server is used.

   <gw-ip>   IP address of a gateway if the server is on a different subnet.

         Default: Determined using autoconfiguration.

   <netmask> Netmask for local network interface. If unspecified
         the netmask is derived from the client IP address assuming
         classful addressing.

         Default:  Determined using autoconfiguration.

   <hostname>    Name of the client. May be supplied by autoconfiguration,
         but its absence will not trigger autoconfiguration.

         Default: Client IP address is used in ASCII notation.

   <device>  Name of network device to use.

         Default: If the host only has one device, it is used.
              Otherwise the device is determined using
              autoconfiguration. This is done by sending
              autoconfiguration requests out of all devices,
              and using the device that received the first reply.

   <autoconf>    Method to use for autoconfiguration. In the case of options
                 which specify multiple autoconfiguration protocols,
         requests are sent using all protocols, and the first one
         to reply is used.

         Only autoconfiguration protocols that have been compiled
         into the kernel will be used, regardless of the value of
         this option.

                   off or none: don't use autoconfiguration
                 (do static IP assignment instead)
           on or any:   use any protocol available in the kernel
                    (default)
           dhcp:        use DHCP
           bootp:       use BOOTP
           rarp:        use RARP
           both:        use both BOOTP and RARP but not DHCP
                        (old option kept for backwards compatibility)

                 Default: any