From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Oct 17 14:10:13 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 20C8337B401 for ; Thu, 17 Oct 2002 14:10:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail.ruhr.de (in-ruhr4.ruhr.de [212.23.134.2]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 9DFDE43E91 for ; Thu, 17 Oct 2002 14:10:07 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from ue@nathan.ruhr.de) Received: (qmail 30146 invoked by uid 10); 17 Oct 2002 21:10:03 -0000 Received: from nathan.internal (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by nathan.internal (8.12.6/8.12.6) with ESMTP id g9HL36p7079769 for ; Thu, 17 Oct 2002 23:03:06 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from ue@nathan.internal) Received: (from ue@localhost) by nathan.internal (8.12.6/8.12.6/Submit) id g9HL36uj079768 for freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG; Thu, 17 Oct 2002 23:03:06 +0200 (CEST) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 23:03:06 +0200 From: Udo Erdelhoff To: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Please review: new handbook chapter on serial install Message-ID: <20021017210306.GA74874@nathan.internal> Mail-Followup-To: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG References: <20021015195849.GA76747@nathan.internal> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20021015195849.GA76747@nathan.internal> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4i Sender: owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Here's version two: - correct the typos noticed by various people - cut down on the use of 'you' - generally tried to chat less and include more information Index: chapter.sgml =================================================================== RCS file: /home/ncvs/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/serialcomms/chapter.sgml,v retrieving revision 1.66 diff -u -r1.66 chapter.sgml --- chapter.sgml 30 Sep 2002 15:33:26 -0000 1.66 +++ chapter.sgml 17 Oct 2002 20:17:19 -0000 @@ -2609,6 +2609,162 @@ attach a monitor into it. You might also try installing an AMI BIOS. + + + + + Udo + Erdelhoff + Contributed by + + + + Using a Serial Console to Install &os; + + With only a little bit of work, it is also possible to + install a &os; system over a serial + console. The boot loader and the kernel used on the + installation floppies support a serial console, just like + their big counterparts that are installed on your hard disk. + In other words, the only requirements for using a serial + console to install &os; are a suitably configured system + (as described in ) + and a boot medium that contains the right version of + boot.config. + + In theory, this could be a remotely mounted root file + system for a diskless installation, a modified installation + CD/DVD, or a modified boot floppy. The easiest solution (and + the only one described in this chapter) is to create a + modified boot floppy. This is the only variant that can be + produced with the GENERIC kernel and tools available on a &os; + box after a standard installation. Please note that this does + NOT mean that all files have to be + installed from floppy, it is still possible to use a CD-ROM, + DVD-ROM, or an internet connection to get the files for the + distributions and packages. + + The official way of creating a modified boot floppy is to + modify the scripts and Makefile used by + make release. This is not required if the + only change is the addition of a + boot.config file on the boot floppy. The + boot floppy consists of two parts, the boot sector/loader and + the installation kernel. The latter is stored in a small UFS + file system that can be modified and manipulated with all the + usual tools. This includes the creation of + boot.config. The only requirement is a + system that can mount, read, and write &os; file systems. As + a rule of thumb, this means another &os; system. Once you + have this, it is rather easy to create a modified + boot.flp for installation over a serial + console: + + + + Create floppy disks from the + kern.flp and + mfsroot.flp images. + + + + Insert the floppy disk with the + kern.flp into the drive. + + + + Mount the file system which is on + kern.flp, create a suitable + boot.config, and unmount the + disk: + + &prompt.root; mount /dev/fdX /mnt +&prompt.root; echo -P > /mnt/boot.config +&prompt.root; umount /mnt + + + + Connect your serial console to the new FreeBSD system, + just as explained above. + + + + Insert the modified kern.flp into + the disk drive of the new FreeBSD system and reboot it. + + + + After a while, you should see activity on your serial + console, probably the spiner, followed by the + usual start messages from the kernel. With two minor + exceptions, you can use &man.sysinstall.8; just as if you + were installing FreeBSD with a conventional set-up: + + + + &man.sysinstall.8; cannot start the emergency + holographic shell on an additional VTY because there is + only one serial console. + + + + There is an additional dialog at the start of + &man.sysinstall.8;: + + /stand/sysinstall running as init on serial console + +These are the predefined terminal types available to +sysinstall when running stand-alone. Please choose the +closest match for your particular terminal. + +1 ...................... Standard ANSI terminal. +2 ...................... VT100 or compatible terminal. +3 ...................... FreeBSD system console (color). +4 ...................... FreeBSD system console (monochrome). + + 5 ...................... xterm terminal emulator. + + + + Once &man.sysinstall.8; has finished extracting all the + distributions, it will ask you if you want to change your + settings. You will have to do this because the newly + installed system is not configured for a serial console + yet. The following settings may need to be changed: + + + + In order to allow log-ins over the serial console, a + &man.getty.8; must be running on the + ttyd0. To do this, select + Configuration, then + TTYs, and change the settings for + ttyd0. The + status must be set to on, the terminal + type must match your particular serial + console. + + + + Check the boot.config and + /boot/loader.conf of the newly + installed &os; system to make sure that it will use a + serial console during startup. To do this, select + Fixit from the main menu, then + shell. + sysinstall will put + console="comconsole" into + /boot/loader.conf but it will not + create /boot.config. This may need + to be adjusted to fit the specific requirements for the + new system. + + + + Once you have finished these steps, quit + sysinstall and watch your new &os; + system start with a serial console. + -- "Finish the following setence: All power corrupts, absolute power..." "...is even more fun." "Correct." To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message