source: MondoRescue/branches/2.2.9/mindi/README.pxe@ 2353

$Id: README.pxe 2191 2009-05-06 23:56:55Z bruno $

README for mondo/mindi usage with PXE

mondorescue now supports the possibility to deploy mondo-images using the Pre eXecution Environment (PXE) standard.
As this README only focusses on the mondorescue part, please read how to do Linux deployments with pxelinux on http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php

To use it, please do the following on your deployment server:

Add the following line to your default file:
label mondo
        kernel vmlinuz-mondo
        append initrd=initrd-mondo load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=131072 rw root=/dev/ram iso acpi=off apm=off devfs=nomount exec-shield=0 pxe [prefix=machine] [ipconf=(ipdev:ipadr:netmask:broadcast:gateway|ipdev:dhcp)] [nfsmount=server:mountpoint] [nfspath=local_path] [ping=#] ...

ipdev is the device name (e.g. eth2)
ipadr is the IP Address (e.g. 192.168.1.1)
netmask is the Netmask (e.g. 255.255.255.0)
broadcast is the Network broadcast (e.g. 192.168.1.255)
gateway is the default gateway (e.g. 192.168.1.254)
dhcp is a keyword. Using it will provide all the previous 4 values to activate the LAN interface.
server is the ip addr of the NFS server
mountpoint is the mount point on the NFS server to use (should be in /etc/exports of the NFS server)
local_path is the local directory under which the mage was made (with the -d option)
rmadisk_size may have to be increase to 131072 on more recent distributions such as rhel 5
The [] mean this parameter is optional
The () mean that you have a choice with the '|' meaning 'or'

The initrd and kernel file come from the first bootable media 
created by mondoarchive. To get them, please issue:

# mount /path/to/mondorescue-1.iso /mnt/cdrom -o loop
# cp -a /mnt/cdrom/vmlinuz /var/tftpboot/vmlinuz-mondo
# cp -a /mnt/cdrom/initrd.img /var/tftpboot/initrd-mondo
# umount /mnt/cdrom

Thus the PXE ROM will boot mondo's kernel and mondo's initrd in memory and will append all the right configuration options (as you find in isolinux.cfg on the first bootable media) to which you need to add the keyword pxe.
(You need to have backup your data using the NFS option of mondoarchive)

If you used the -p option of mondoarchive, you may specify the real name of mondo images to use during restore. To do that use prefix=machine on the initrd line, after the pxe keyword, to load the ISO images saved with -p machine.
Without prefix keyword, the name of the images used during archiving with the -p option will be used (they may differ). If -p wasn't used then the name mondorescue-1.iso, ... will be used.

During boot mondorestore will start your NFS configuration and mount mondo's content from the network rather than from a physical media. You may alter the IP configuration stored from the original machine by passing the ipconf option describing respectively the IP address, netmask, broadcast and default gateway you want to setup for the machine, separated by ':'. Or alternatively, you may specify the dhcp keyword so that a DHCP request is made to get those information. In the 2 cases, you have to mention on which physical interface those parameters should apply. On some configurations, you may also want to increase the number of ping queries made before the NFS mount, which is of 3 by default, using the ping option and give the number you want. If you have a different NFS server for the deployment than for the archiving, you can also precise it through the nfsmount option. The structure on both server under the mountpoint has to be the same.

CAVEAT: the limit to the number of char on the append line is 255. Use symlinks to reduce the size of your path if needed.

Please report any problem around that tool to bruno@mondorescue.org

2009-05-07 nfspath added to allow redeployment from another NFS directory
2006-06-10 nfsmount added to allow redeployment from another NFS server
2006-06-02 ipdev added to allow redeployment on another interface
2005-12-18 new ipconf and ping option
2005-12-14 detailed explanations on where to find initrd and kernel