From owner-freebsd-hackers Tue Feb 24 14:41:17 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id OAA25523 for freebsd-hackers-outgoing; Tue, 24 Feb 1998 14:41:17 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from tbird.cc.bellcore.com (tbird.cc.bellcore.com [128.96.96.114]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id OAA25461 for ; Tue, 24 Feb 1998 14:40:36 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from khansen@njcc.com) Received: from monolith.bellcore.com by tbird.cc.bellcore.com with SMTP id AA20813 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for ); Tue, 24 Feb 1998 17:44:15 -0500 Received: from kenh-1 (khansen.cc.bellcore.com) by monolith.bellcore.com (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA15727; Tue, 24 Feb 98 17:38:37 EST Message-Id: <34F34C72.3E22@njcc.com> Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 17:40:50 -0500 From: Ken Hansen Reply-To: khansen@njcc.com Organization: Dis X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (WinNT; U) Mime-Version: 1.0 To: Joe McGuckin Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: A web-based FreeBSD configuration tool. References: <199802242058.MAA24843@monk.via.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Joe McGuckin wrote: > > I think it would be neat ^^^^ Note: not needed, or useful, but neat! > if the install code had a www interface, so that I > didn't need to scrounge up a keyboard & monitor in install freebsd. Is it REALLY that hard to come up with a keyboard & monitor? > So, I'd put the boot floppy in the machine, hit reset, go over to my web browser > and type in http://install.freebsd.org. If the machine hadn't booted, I'd > get a web page from FreeBSD stating that. Once the machine had booted, > the next time a hit 'refresh' on the browser, I'd get the first page of the > install dialog. So not only must the install diskette handle umpteen disk drivers, nic drivers and a nice generic VGA driver, not to mention modem drivers and PPP support, and a fair sampling of FAQs and READMEs to support an installation, you feel it also "should" have a web server, for those few people that want to install an OS without having to "scrounge up a keyboard & monitor"? I don't know about your machines, but most of mine have 1.44 Meg floppies, and I would be hard pressed to think all that could fit on a 1.44 Meg floppy! > I think Cisco does something similar to this for their 'out-of-the-box' > configuration. I suspect that Cisco has more space dedicated to this process that 1.44 Meg, but I am aware that a simple web server can be coded, it is (IMHO) a non- trivial undertaking. Most PCs I am aware of require a video card (of some sort) and a keyboard, though I am aware that many of the newer BIOSs may alow you to skip the POST test of the keyboard (and video card?), but if the machine has problems, where do the console messages go? To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message