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Date:      Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:44:15 +0000
From:      "Teske, Devin" <Devin.Teske@fisglobal.com>
To:        Nathan Whitehorn <nwhitehorn@freebsd.org>
Cc:        "Teske, Devin" <Devin.Teske@fisglobal.com>, Current Current <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>, "freebsd-arch@freebsd.org" <freebsd-arch@freebsd.org>, Devin Teske <dteske@freebsd.org>, Peter Grehan <grehan@freebsd.org>, Michael Dexter <editor@callfortesting.org>
Subject:   Re: [CFT] bsdinstall and zfsboot enhancements
Message-ID:  <C16AEFDB-8D6D-4DDB-9667-4D7D8F272F6E@fisglobal.com>
In-Reply-To: <52813E53.20403@freebsd.org>
References:  <C9783B1F-20EA-4C08-9947-70DF363E8B6A@fisglobal.com> <5275C597.6070702@freebsd.org> <97944047-D575-4E2E-B687-9871DFE058E3@fisglobal.com> <ABD90FE2-1540-410A-959E-D91D0BE811E3@freebsd.org> <52769CFE.5080707@freebsd.org> <5281340E.8080009@callfortesting.org> <F3512B82-7B2E-40D9-A513-C4C2430F9255@fisglobal.com> <52813E53.20403@freebsd.org>

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On Nov 11, 2013, at 12:30 PM, Nathan Whitehorn wrote:

> On 11/11/13 14:18, Teske, Devin wrote:
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA512
>>=20
>>=20
>> On Nov 11, 2013, at 11:46 AM, Michael Dexter wrote:
>>=20
>>=20
>> Hello all,
>>=20
>> I have been experimenting with various BSD and GNU/Linux boot media
>> under bhyve and noticed that we may want to accommodate the "LiveCD"
>> mode of the installer, which in turn requires the correct console.
>>=20
>> Currently, one is prompted for VT100 for installation but this does not
>> appear to work/stick for LiveCD mode.
>>=20
>> Can anyone verify this?
>>=20
>>=20
>> While I developed this patch...
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=3Dhttp://druidbsd.cvs.sf.net/=
viewvc/druidbsd/bsdinstall_zfs/usr.sbin%253A%253Absdinstall%253A%253Ascript=
s%253A%253Aconfig.patch?revision%3D1.10%26view%3Dmarkup&k=3D%2FbkpAUdJWZuiT=
ILCq%2FFnQg%3D%3D%0A&r=3DLTzUWWrRnz2iN3PtHDubWRSAh9itVJ%2BMUcNBCQ4tyeo%3D%0=
A&m=3DCRY%2BFNOe6Q01s5oKeCFeGOhE0bW%2BvEmw6GTjyy5eHFo%3D%0A&s=3D3e5345ea6b1=
3f84e719068bb993b66978f1971b648b430edfde9165677c279de
>>=20
>> Reasons exist to search for a better solution, see here:
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=3Dhttp://lists.freebsd.org/pi=
permail/freebsd-current/2013-November/046148.html&k=3D%2FbkpAUdJWZuiTILCq%2=
FFnQg%3D%3D%0A&r=3DLTzUWWrRnz2iN3PtHDubWRSAh9itVJ%2BMUcNBCQ4tyeo%3D%0A&m=3D=
CRY%2BFNOe6Q01s5oKeCFeGOhE0bW%2BvEmw6GTjyy5eHFo%3D%0A&s=3D9ebff0354adb26340=
06e52cb4c0048287b7518bd7f4defe420ce5f34675ce5cd
>> (and messages that follow it)
>>=20
>> Is modifying init(8) still the way to go? What modification do we want t=
o make?
>> I'll do the work if we can come to consensus.
>>=20
>> Or should we touch up the patch in some way to address the original conc=
erns?
>>=20
>=20
> I think modifying init is the way to go -- it keeps the install system fr=
om interfering with the installed one, as well as fixing this kind of issue=
 with moved hard drives or PXE booting or what have you. If we can provide =
a guarantee that any system that displays text has a working console (unles=
s explicitly configured not to), useability is improved.
>=20
> I would propose one of the following (and volunteer to write the code):
>=20
> Option A
> ------------
>=20
> 1. init checks if there is an entry in /etc/ttys for the terminal[s] corr=
esponding to the value[s] in kern.console

Is kern.console set by bhyve while NULL or unset when booting from
a physical PC (bare metal)?


> 2. If an entry for each console terminal exists in /etc/ttys, enable it
> 3. If not, invent one with a terminal type of "ansi"
>=20
> The one issue here is that someone may want to force a particular entry t=
o off and still have it be the kernel console. This is tricky. We could inv=
ent a new "status" field that is not "on" or "off" ("auto", maybe, or "ifco=
nsole"?). Which brings us to:
>=20

Trying to think of an edge-case where they would want to force it to off.
If the kern.console setting is only expected to be set via ... help me out =
here...

+ bhyve ?
+ pxe ?
+ what else ?

Then maybe the secret sauce shouldn't be in /etc/ttys, but in the value that
is passed in via kern.console (that is, ... of the above ruminated technolo=
gies
which allow you to customize the value?)



> Option B
> -----------
>=20
> Very similar to Option A, except only provide an automatic console using =
(2) and (3) if the "console" terminal is marked "on". This would increase t=
he magic attached to "console" in /etc/ttys, but fix the problem with (A).
>=20
> It's possible another approach would work as well. Does anyone have thoug=
hts on this?

If I'm not wrong, there's a third Option C that skirts the issue by bolster=
ing the ability
to change things for different needs.

That prior change that I had made to bsdinstall/scripts/config (iirc) was a=
 big agressive
because it tried to automatically figure things out.

If we simply made it a choice (a scriptable one), then that would solve the=
 problem for
the installation.

But for the LiveCD issue (Michael wants to bring up the installer's LiveCD =
via serial),
then perhaps we could solve it by using unionfs in the installer to make th=
e install
environment writable (and again, change on-the-fly for different needs).

Just a thought. Tell me if it's not an option ;D I won't mind.
--=20
Devin

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