Install nodes with re-configured kernel image

[Brian Showalter]

--- Thomas Lange <lange at informatik.Uni-Koeln.DE> wrote:

> I just overlooked something. You boot a kernel that tries to mount
> the
> root file system via NFS (Root-NFS). That's not your new kernel,
> that's the fai install kernel. Check pxelinux config and watch the
> PXE/DHCP messages which kernel get loaded. Or try to cancel PXE
> boot
> by pressing ESC during the boot process. Or do you install the fai
> install kernel for your new system? You can't do this.

Hmmm, I actually tried turning off the PXE boot in the BIOS setup,
and still got the same results.  Yes, I'm trying to install the same
kernel that's used for the FAI install into the new system so that it
will use it for post-install booting.

Are you saying that *any* kernel that has CONFIG_ROOT_NFS set to "Y"
cannot be installed on the new system?  So if I want to make a custom
kernel and yet still take advantage of PXE booting and a NFS root for
the initial FAI install, the procedure would be something like this:

1. Configure a FAI install kernel with ROOT_NFS set to "Y" and
compile it into a .deb package using "make-kpkg --rootcmd fakeroot
-append-to-version -fai-install --revision 2 kernel-image".

2. Copy the kernel .deb to /usr/lib/fai/kernel.

3. Set the KERNELPACKAGE variable in /etc/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf
to use the new .deb.

4. For the new system's kernel I need to go back to the kernel
source, set CONFIG_ROOT_NFS to "N" and compile it into a fresh .deb
package with "make-kpkg --rootcmd fakeroot --append-to-version
-fai-client --revision 2 kernel-image".  I'm thinking that
"-fai-client" would be good to help distinguish the install kernel
from the client kernel.

5. Copy the second .deb to /usr/share/fai/files/packages.

6. cd to /usr/share/fai/files

7. Run dpkg-scanpackages packages /dev/null | gzip -9 >
packages/Packages.gz" to update Packages.gz.

8. Set up /usr/share/fai/package_config/DEFAULT to install the client
kernel package from the FAI_LOCAL_REPOSITORY.

9. Proceed with the PXE boot and install.

Am I on the right track here?