Date: 04 Jul 2003 10:14:58 -0400 From: Lowell Gilbert <freebsd-questions-local@be-well.no-ip.com> To: "Benjamin Polidore" <polidore@wpi.edu> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Diskless Operation Question Message-ID: <44d6gqs7j1.fsf@be-well.ilk.org> In-Reply-To: <20030702001945.M41376@wpi.edu> References: <20030702001945.M41376@wpi.edu>
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"Benjamin Polidore" <polidore@wpi.edu> writes:
> I have a dedicated FreeBSD 5.1 server, and I am experimenting with a WinXP /
> diskless-FreeBSD dual boot workstation.
I'm not running 5.1 myself, yet, but I'll drop in a few comments anyway.
> I have followed the instructions in the handbook and I get to a point that
> makes me think I have done somthing wrong with my diskless kernel.
>
> The workstation boots with an etherboot floppy, finds the dhcp server and
> downloads the kernel from NFS. It seems to contemplate loading the kernel for
> about 5 seconds then reboots.
>
> I have seen postings in the archives about recompiling the kernel with the
> proper CPUTYPE in /etc/make.conf.
>
> I have tried this and it makes no difference.
You wouldn't expect it to, in general. This was probably working around
a compiler bug that I *think* was fixed by the last gcc update.
> The only thing I have been considering is that I have a bunch of modules that
> were compiled & installed w/o CPUTYPE=p3, as they were imported with
> clone_root.
Maybe, but I'm skeptical.
> So the only solution I can think of is to recompile/install these modules with
> the proper CPUTYPE, but I'm not sure how to have make installkernel put the
> modules / kernel in /misc/diskless/boot instead of /boot?
If I recall correctly (which I might not; I still seem to be short of
caffeine this morning) this is normally done with a jail(8) environment.
> I won't need to do this with userland, will I? This would make diskless
> operation impossible for my situation.
Again, jail or chroot might be a good shortcut here. I think you're
right that it shouldn't be necessary, though.
> Below is a more detailed breakdown of what I am trying to do and some pieces
> of my config files.
>
> TIA-
> Ben Polidore
> polidore@wpi.edu
>
> --Hardware
> My server:
> Via C3 800
> "CPU: VIA C3 Samuel 2 (800.03-MHz 686-class CPU)
> Origin = "CentaurHauls" Id = 0x678 Stepping = 8
> Features=0x803035<FPU,DE,TSC,MSR,MTRR,PGE,MMX>" (from dmesg)
>
> My workstation: Pentium III 933
>
> --Configs
> *dhcpd.conf:
> option swap-path code 128 = string;
> option swap-size code 129 = integer 32;
> #snip
> host inferior {
> hardware ethernet 00:03:6d:00:18:40;
> fixed-address 10.0.0.100;
> next-server 10.0.0.1;
> filename "/misc/diskless/kernel";
> option root-path "10.0.0.1:/misc/diskless";
> option swap-path "10.0.0.1:/misc/diskless/netswap";
> option swap-size 128000;
> }
>
> *kernel config for DISKLESS:
> machine i386
> #cpu I486_CPU
> #cpu I586_CPU
> cpu I686_CPU
> ident DISKLESS
> maxusers 0
>
> options INET #InterNETworking
> options INET6 #IPv6 communications protocols
> options FFS #Berkeley Fast Filesystem
> options SOFTUPDATES #Enable FFS soft updates support
> options UFS_ACL #Support for access control lists
> options UFS_DIRHASH #Improve performance on big directories
> options MD_ROOT #MD is a potential root device
> options NFSCLIENT #Network Filesystem Client
> options NFSSERVER #Network Filesystem Server
> options NFS_ROOT #NFS usable as root device, requires
> options BOOTP
> options BOOTP_NFSROOT
> options BOOTP_COMPAT
> #that's all that seems pertinent
>
> -I have diskless root at /misc/diskless:
> [cash@boxH50:~]# ls /misc/diskless/
> bin conf kernel sbin tmp
> boot dev mnt stand usr
> cdrom etc proc swap.10.0.0.100 var
> compat home root sys
>
> -I compiled DISKLESS kernel like so:
> make buildkernel KERNCONF=DISKLESS CPUTYPE=p3
> #i also had CPUTYPE=p3 in make.conf
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