SUMMARY: V480 jumpstart from Linux boot server

The one response I've received suggested that this wasn't worth my time,
and to use "boot net:dhcp - install".  I'm pursuing that now.  Howard &
Noordergraaf's _Jumpstart Technology_, ISBN 0-13-062154-4, gives
instructions for setting up the Solaris DHCP server; my situation only
gives me access to the ISC DHCP server.  An example using the ISC DHCP
server is here:
http://www.isc.org/ml-archives/dhcp-server/2001/01/msg00223.html.  It
appears the process requires (and the example uses) features only
available in the ISC DHCP 3.0, whereas RH7.3 ships with DHCP2.0.  RH9.0
ships with ISC DHCP 3.0 native.  I've just built DHCP3.0 for RH7.3;
contact me if you need the it-compiles-but-I-won't-say-more SRPM file.

    - Stephen

-----Original Message-----
I'm installing a v480 on a subnet without any other Solaris boxes, so
I'm trying to jumpstart it from a Linux box.  The OS I'm installing is
Solaris 2.8 12-02 copied from the DVD.  The Linux OS is RH7.3, with
kernel patched to 2.4.20-18.7.  The NFS export is read-only, UID 0
mapped to UID 0, i.e., unmapped.  I've watched the jumpstart sequence
with ethereal, using a capture filter that looking for any packet with
the Solaris box's ethernet address.  The RARP/ARP happen correctly, the
TFTP works, BOOTPARAM returns the correct root file system to mount, and
then thousands of NFS packets go by.  On the serial line console (there
is no graphics card on this machine) I see

2ae00 100 Mbps FDX Link up
SunOS Release 5.8 Version Generic_108528-13 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.

I've tried the serial console connected both to a Microsoft PC and to a
Cyclades console server (different cables are required, so that's not a
common element).  The last transaction ethereal sees to this machine is
an NFS lookup for ioctl.syscon to which the Linux box responds, after
which the console is utterly hung: break no longer works to get me back
to the "{0} ok" prompt.  I've tried removing the ioctl.syscon file with
no change in behavior other than failed attempts to create that file on
the read-only file system.  I've installed the ce device driver patch on
the Tools/Boot tree.  I've seen mention of the problem with get_netmask,
but because I don't see any ICMP traffic, I don't think that's the
problem.  As it is, the system does have a working netmask, because,
even with the console hung, I can ping it from other subnets.  I've also
tried replacing the binary for get_netmask with the binary for
/bin/true, with no change in behavior.

The man page for init(1M) is insufficiently clear to me to allow me to
predict the next step that init may be attempting.  The behavior is
consistent with a hypothesis that the console (and consequently, init)
hang occurs in the serial line device driver.

A boot from DVD media succeeds in getting to the installation query
prompts, but I don't see a way to get that to use the bootparamd service
or any of the rest of our automated install system.

Your suggestions are most welcome.

    - Stephen P. Schaefer

-----Original Message-----
From: Phillip Smith [mailto:psmith@bio.indiana.edu]
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 3:23 PM
To: Stephen Schaefer
Subject: Re: V480 jumpstart from Linux boot server

I can tell you from experience that you will spend a lot of wasted time
trying to get this to work.  If you search on google in regards to linux
and jumpstart, you'll find a number of websites with write-ups on how it
should work.  Linux NFS sends packets in a reverse order, which confuses
the Solaris client.  I managed to get it to work, once, after a lot of
trial and error with different Linux kernel versions compiled with
different options (2.4.18 through 2.4.20).  But even that was
inconsistent across jumpstart clients.

If you must use x86 hardware for your jumpstart server, I would
recommend Solaris x86 or FreeBSD.  Using another Solaris Sparc machine
would save you a lot of hassle, though.  If you have one on another
subnet, you can use the new DHCP method, assuming you have a DHCP server
available.  "boot net:dhcp" I believe.

Hope this helps.

-phillip
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