Bug#408340: PPPoE instructions proposal - installation guide
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Package: installation-guide
Severity: normal
Hello,
I have written some text that should explain how a user can do installations
via PPPoE.
Comments are welcome. Text is attached.
Notes:
- - this is only the text itself, no formatting information.
- - I guess it would be nice if some minimal info was in the syslinux boot time
info, but I haven't digged into that; help is appreciated
- --
Regards,
EddyP
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"Imagination is more important than knowledge" A.Einstein
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Starting with Etch, it is possible to install Debian via a PPPoE connection which can be configured directly in the installation environment.
In order to install via PPPoE the following steps must be followed after booting from an appropriate CD image[1]:
At the boot prompt append the following text: "modules=ppp-udeb". This also means that you need to specify the boot method.
E.g.: an installation done in graphical mode via a PPPoE connection, a like the following should be type at the boot prompt:
installgui modules=ppp-udeb
This will make sure the module doing the PPPoE configuration (ppp-udeb) will be loaded and no additional handwork will be necessary.
Follow the regular steps in configuration. At some point D-I will perform a hardware detection of the components in order to identify Ethernet cards. After this, the Installer will probe all the Ethernet interface in an attempt to find a PPPoE concentrator (a kind of server which handles PPPoE connections).
It is possible that the concentrator will not to be found at the first attempt. This can happen occasionaly on slow or loaded networks or with faulty servers. In most cases, if the attempt is repeated (select "Configure and start a PPPoE connection" from the main menu), the concentrator detection will succeed.
After a concentrator is found, the user will be prompted to type the login information (the PPPoE user name and the password).
At this point D-I will use the provided information to establish the PPPoE connection. If the correct information was provided, the PPPoE connection should be configured and the installer should be able to use it to connect to the Internet and install (if needed) packages through it. If the login information is not correct or some error appears, the installer will stop, but the configuration can be attempted again by selecting the menu entry called "Configure and start PPPoE networking".
[1] The businesscard image is the smallest image that contains the ppp-udeb module which is responsible for PPPoE configuration. In other words, this is the smallest image that can provide PPPoE configuration from the D-I environment. Larger images should be able to do the right thing, too.
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