Re: want to setup FAI on a running server
On Sun, Oct 30, 2011 at 02:34:01AM -0400, J. Bakshi wrote:
> Dear All,
Hi!
> I have a running debain server which is doing many responsibilities,
> started from gateway, then apache,mysql,vsftpd,samba,git etc.. server
> and finally a DHCP too. I like to install the FAI ( Fully Automated Installation)
> too on this very server. http://fai-project.org
>
> I have some question in mind and like to solve it before going further.
>
> - I already have DHCP running. What modification should I add to work it with FAI ?
A couple of things. First of all, you need to tweak the dhcpd
configuration to allow PXE booting. Something along these lines:
next-server <<ip-address-of-FAI-server>>;
filename "pxelinux.0";
The 2nd thing is a bit more involved: For FAI to work correctly, the
DHCP server must hand out a name to each client which essentially
means that the DHCP needs to know about the clients. So each client
will need something like this in the DHCP configuration:
host the.example {
hardware ethernet 52:54:00:ee:d3:89;
fixed-address 10.11.10.128; # Fixed IP addresses
option host-name the-example; # Will be the hostname of the server
}
On a related note: How do you assign IP addresses? There are two
basic choices: Fixed IP addresses or Dynamic DNS. Fixed IP addresses
are faster to set up (and to get your head around), but not as
flexible as dynamic DNS.
> - How to disable the DHCP comes with FAI ?
Hm. FAI does not "come with" DHCP - but it does _depend_ on a DHCP
server for things to work. However, the DHCP server and FAI server do
not need to be on the same server.
PS: I feel that calling it a "FAI Server" is a bit of a meta
concept. On the technical level we have:
- a DHCP server
- a TFTP server
- a NFS server
which together make up an "FAI" server.
> - I like to provide debian, ubuntu as well as windows for the client. So How can I make the
> images and more than that how to configure so that during installation the kernel adjust
> itself with the client H/W. Clients are Desktop as well as laptop from different make and
> sometimes assembled too.
As for how to make the images, there are plenty of howto's out there.
But you probably will end up with a "boot menu" served out from the
FAI (a.k.a. TFTP) server. Our pxelinux.cfg/default includes stuff
like this:
label ubuntu-64
menu label Ubuntu 11.04 Live - 64 bit
kernel ubuntu-11.04/iso-amd64/casper/vmlinuz
append root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=X.X.X.X:/srv/tftp/ubuntu-11.04/iso-amd64 initrd=ubuntu-11.04/iso-amd64/casper/initrd.lz ip=dhcp quiet splash --
text help
Try out Ubuntu 11.04 without touching your hard disk
Requires 64-bit hardware
endtext
label memtest
menu label Memory Test
kernel memtest86+
text help
Find bad RAM chips
endtext
label rescue
menu label Debian Squeeze FAI Rescue (amd64)
kernel fai-squeeze/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64
append initrd=fai-squeeze/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64 ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=X.X.X.X:/srv/fai/nfsroot boot=live FAI_FLAGS=createvt FAI_ACTION=rescue
text help
Start up a decent-size nfs-mounted root file system to examine a broken system.
Switch to virtual terminal #2 to get a shell
endtext
label install
menu label Debian Squeeze FAI Install (amd64) - wipes everything
kernel fai-squeeze/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64
append initrd=fai-squeeze/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64 ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=X.X.X.X:/srv/fai/nfsroot boot=live FAI_FLAGS=reboot,createvt FAI_ACTION=install quiet
text help
Perform a fully automatic installation onto your system.
WARNING: THIS WILL WIPE EVERYTHING
endtext
The paths listed above are somewhat specific to our installation, but
should give you a general idea - dont forget to replace 'X.X.X.X' by
the appropriate IP addresses on your network.
> - clients must have firefox,filezilla,thunderbird etc.. for both linux and windows.
> How can I predefined it ? Linux has repos, but what should I do with windows ?
Windows? Dunno. Never needed it.
> - Is it possible to use the extended free partition to use for installation,
> with out touching the existing partitions and data ?
FAI is geared towards a clean install and will thus repartition the
disk by default. It might be possible to write a disk configuration
for it which leaves the existing partitions untouched, but I have
never tried that.
Either way, to make the resulting install bootable, it must be on a
primary partition - I doubt that extended partitions will suffice for
this (only 90% sure here - others are hereby invited to correct me if
I'm wrong)
> - In Linux; during installation it detects the installed window/Linux OS (if any) and
> add the grub.cfg accordingly. Is it possible with FAI ?
Probably. Assuming that the initial partitioning did not wipe out the
previous OS. You can have your own custom scripts run as part of the
installation which manipulate anything on the target system -
including tweaking the Grub/lilo configuration.
> Please guide me to have a start. A beginners guide (web link) is very much welcome.
FAI is fairly well documented : http://fai-project.org - but you
obviously have that URL already. Although it may not exactly be
targetted towards beginners ... :-S
Hope this helps
--
Karl E. Jorgensen
Reply to: