Diskless Workstation - impossible to install

["Valerio Pachera" <sirio81@gmail.com>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Valerio Pachera <sirio81@gmail.com>
Date: 2008/10/20
Subject: Re: Diskless Workstation - impossible to install
To: lista debian-edu progetto <debian-edu@lists.debian.org>


Hi all, I make a summary of the problems I got with debian-edu.

I had an old debian-edu installation that I moved in a virtualized envirorment.
After a dist-upgrade the TC stoped to wirk fine: they load but when I
try to login it fails and enter in a kind of loop mvoing from the
black screen to the logn screen.

I made a new installation on a small server (amd64 dual core).
TC were working fine just after the installation.

I wanted to have also the DWS (diskless workstations) but
ltsp-make-client was stopping

 Setting up education-tasks (0.822.0.edu.etch.3) ...
 + chroot /opt/ltsp/i386 tasksel install education-workstation

To complete the installation I had to
 chroot  /opt/ltsp/i386
 aptitude install debian-edu-archive-keyring
 aptitude install education-workstation

After it, ltsp-make-client had worked.
Oded Naven helped me in that and prepeared a scpirt that should work
form the beginning skipping these 3 steps (I can't attach it or the
mail gets blocked). Unfortunatly I
didn't have time to test it form the beginning but I used to complete
the installation.

Fine, I added "nfsroot=/opt/ltsp/i386" to
"/var/lib/tftpboot/ltsp/i386/pxelinux.cfg/default" like the wiky says.
Question: why can't the script take care of that?

Then I added my workstation to dhcpd.conf and set the right next server;
I edited /etc/ecports substituting "@workstations" with
"10.0.2.0/255.255.254.0" so I don't have to add the machined in LWAT.

And it works: the DWS load fine and I can log into it.
After that I tried to run again the TC and i got a bad surprise: IT'S
AMAZING SLOW (something like 10 minutes) AT LOADING AND THE LOGIN
FAILS.

Please...give a good suggestion...I have no idea what can be wrong.

ANOTHER NOTE:
i installed the new kernel in in the LTSP envirorment and run
"/usr/sbin/ltsp-update-kernels". This command overwrite
"/var/lib/tftpboot/ltsp/i386/pxelinux.cfg/default" so I had to add again
"nfsroot=/opt/ltsp/i386" to "/var/lib/tftpboot/ltsp/i386/pxelinux.cfg/default".
It's not necessary that it gets overwritten. Can you fix this?


Sorry if I repeat it but I REALY NEED THE TC TO WORK.
Probably some file gets misconfigured during the DWS creation process.

Thank you.