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Date:      Fri, 19 May 2000 10:41:10 -0400 (EDT)
From:      John Baldwin <jhb@FreeBSD.org>
To:        jmutter <jmutter@ds.net>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   RE: Jumpstart/Kickstart for FreeBSD?
Message-ID:  <20000519144021.CJXK22611.mail.rdc1.va.home.com@john.baldwin.cx>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.4.10.10005190204590.2954-100000@s1.ds.net>

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On 19-May-00 jmutter wrote:
> 
> As most of you already know Jumpstart is a highly automated install
> process for Solaris, Linux has Kickstart.  Does FreeBSD offer something
> similar?

You can script sysinstall.  Read the sysinstall(8) manpage for more
details.

> I'm in a situation where I'll most likey be able to sell a FreeBSD
> solution to a rather large .com if I can come up with an automated/highly
> customized install procedure.

If you use a script, then you can automate the sysinstall side of the
boot process.  If you want to have some real fun, and if the machines
you are using have PXE-enabled network cards, then you can use PXE to
boot customized install kernels (that don't do the userconfig since you
would have already configured them) and then run the scripted sysinstall
to actually install the machines.  In theory then, all you would have to
do is turn on the machine, let the installation run, and then swing by
and reboot all the machines when they are finished installing.  Wouldn't
even require any disks.  Note that to do this you would need to use a
recent 4.x snapshot (or wait for 4.1) as PXE was added to 4.x after 4.0
was released.

> The idea, for those who don't know, is to easily create a farm of several
> dozen identical servers.  What build solutions are others using in large
> environments?
> 
> Please CC me on all replies as I'm not currently subscribed to this list.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jim

HTH.

-- 

John Baldwin <jhb@FreeBSD.org> -- http://www.FreeBSD.org/~jhb/
PGP Key: http://www.cslab.vt.edu/~jobaldwi/pgpkey.asc
"Power Users Use the Power to Serve!"  -  http://www.FreeBSD.org/


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