Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:42:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Bill Tillman <btillman99@yahoo.com> To: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Anyone Tried to use iPXE to boot with iSCSI? Message-ID: <1348101748.73587.YahooMailNeo@web120801.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <cfb526db98bc6085c6747103ca6cd611@dweimer.net> References: <cfb526db98bc6085c6747103ca6cd611@dweimer.net>
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=0A=0A----- Original Message -----=0AFrom: dweimer <dweimer@dweimer.net>=0A= To: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>=0ACc: =0ASent: Wednes= day, September 19, 2012 1:53 AM=0ASubject: Anyone Tried to use iPXE to boot= with iSCSI?=0A=0AI was just trying some proof of concept testing to see if= I could get a system booting with no local disk using iSCSI running from m= y FreeNAS box.=0A=0AI got started, by first booting a 9.1-RC1 CD, into live= CD, created a /tmp/iscsi.conf used kldload to load the iscsi initiator, co= nnected to the target, created a gpt boot partition, swap partition and jus= t a single / volume using remianing space.=A0 Copied the bootcode, created = the file system, extracted the system etc.=A0 Created a loader.conf file, a= dded the iscsi_initiator_load=3D"YES" option, copied my /tmp/iscsi.conf fil= e to the new file system at /etc/iscsi.conf created a /etc/fstab file using= the gpart labels to mount / and swap partitions.=0A=0ABooted the system fr= om the iPXE.iso, ran the necessary configuration options, connected to the = iscsi volume, and booted from it.=A0 It does launch the bootcode, as expect= ed, and then breaks failing to mount root.=0A=0AWhoch I actually expected, = I have proved I can install to an iSCSI volume, I can connect to that iSCSI= volume prior to loading the kernel, and load the kernel from it.=0A=0AWhat= I can't seem to find any information on is how to mount iSCSI volumes at b= oot on FreeBSD, so that the kernel can mount the root partition.=A0 Does an= yone have any idea how to do this, or if its even possible?=0A=0A-- Thanks,= =0A=A0 Dean E. Weimer=0A=A0 http://www.dweimer.net/=0A___________________= ____________________________=0Afreebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list= =0Ahttp://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions=0ATo unsubsc= ribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"=0A=0A=0A= Interesting project you've got there. I can't say mine is similar but I do = have a machine which I'm using as a router which boots disklessly. Running = 8.3-STABLE amd64, in fact I just rebuilt the world on both the server which= serves this puppy it's OS and the /diskless partition where this puppy get= 's it's boot up from. Booting by pxe is not an easy thing to do. The docs a= re terrible and out of synch with the latest versions of the OS. I think th= ere may have been some improvments on that end but it's still kind of a sea= t of the pants operation. I had several contacts in #FreeBSD on FreeNode wh= o told me they had many diskless servers running yet when pressed for how t= hey did it the answers they gave were vague and ambiguous, that is if they = answered at all. I did finally find a site which explained most of it in an= almost clear manner, but even that site was filled with typos and out of d= ate information. The router I've built is great...no disks at all and until the reboot a few weeks ago it had been running 24/7 for 276 days= ...without one failure. We watch lots of NetFlix movies here, sometimes two= or three at a time with my teenage kids here with their laptops. And I can= still enjoy a quick download or two in my lab while all this bandwidth is = being served.
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