This document describes how to boot the Dachstein LRP distribution over a network using Etherboot to perform the boot loading.
The benefits of this method include....
The reliance on floppy media is removed.
The speed of reboots - ~3 seconds to transfer the image. (For LRP developers - this speed and ease of booting could assist development)
A possible reduction in hardware.
With a serial console it becomes a compact setup.
Once the boot code is on the NIC, it can be used to boot anything suitable.
Admittedly, the thought of your secure firewall being dependent on a tftp server may seem contradictory but the *stein distributions close all external connections during the bootup sequence. This should be no worse than any of the internal services running already and assumes that you can trust your internal network but, as always, be aware of the risks
The reasons for this approach are many, for me it was the extension of a motherboard resuscitation project ( in other words I had the eprom burner already ) but other uses for netbooting come to mind, such as Ken Yaps rundown on booting Tomsrtbt CD Section 6.1 testing your machines memory, also Section 6.2 or the LTSP Project for a terminal project.
The Dachstein distribution also comes in a CD version so perhaps with a bit of tweaking this could be configured to allow netbooting.
I have used the 1.680 meg floppy image for this exercise.
This document is copyrighted (c) 2000 Glenn McKechnie and is distributed under the terms of the Linux Documentation Project (LDP) license, stated below.
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No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted. Use the concepts, examples and other content at your own risk. As this is a new edition of this document, there may be errors and inaccuracies, that may of course be damaging to your system. Proceed with caution, and although this is highly unlikely, the author(s) do not take any responsibility for that.
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You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before major installation and backups at regular intervals.
This is the first release in Docbook format.
The latest version of this document can obtained from the HowTo directory at my site.
The original html version of this document can be viewed at the netboot page.
None of this would be possible without the work of the Etherboot and Dachstein authors and their contributors.
No names, therefore no ommissions, but still a heartfelt Thank You to all concerned. The wide availability of this and other similarly open source material is tremendous.
Comments on this Guide may be directed to Glenn McKechnie <graybeard(a)users.sourceforge.net>
If you can identify any errors, have suggestions or any material that would improve this page then feel free to contact the current maintainer. Your corrections, additions or experiences can then be included directly into this document.
There are no translations of this document but if anyone feels the need then feel free to do so, just be sure to let me know the url for reference purposes.