Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:59:05 -0400 From: "Brian A. Seklecki (CFI NOC)" <seklecki@noc.cfi.pgh.pa.us> To: Free BSD Questions list <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: PXE + sysinstall(8) install.cfg: DHCP Attribute to map install config/policy to system MAC? Message-ID: <4BCF5909.2060703@noc.cfi.pgh.pa.us>
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All:
The install.cfg mechanism is pretty wicked.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a really efficient way
to provide new clients (or class of clients) an install.cfg
without rebuilding an MFSROOT image.
At least with pxeboot(8), in TFTP-only-mode, using
dhcpd.conf(5) client{} entries, there isn't a way
to differentiate policies.
It's just going to go looking for /boot/loader.rc
and /boot/loader.conf from wherever DHCP told PXE
to fetch pxeboot(8) from.
From there, you need to custom compile a 5 meg
mfsroot image for each [class of] client.
With an NFS stage-2 boot, I suppose you could set:
option root-path "/export/${client}Root" etc.,
but then your 5 meg mfsroot is just extracted
1-per-client.
Still seems a bit ugly. It seems like we could teach
sysinstall(8) to fetch install.cfg by some standard
mechanism.
Possibly a TFTP or NFS URL passed from the DHCP server
-> boot loader -> kernel sysctl -> sysinstall(8).
For example, the Sun SPARC4s would TFTP fetch their
stage 1 boot loader via TFTP with a filename req
of their MAC address in HEX format, so one could
just put symlinks in place.
Thoughts or other ideas?
~BAS
PS: our in-tree tftpd(8) is an unending source of sorrow and misery and
clinical despair. ports/net/freebsd-tftp is a lifesaver (it actually
has debugging)
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