Split between initramfs and nfsroot in FAI

[Torsten Schlabach]

Dear list!

Doing some debugging right now, it would be helpful for me to understand
one particular issue when it comes to the sequence of events during a
FAI installation.

Actually, I understand that the FAI installation proecess is based on
the Debian live system and that the Debian live system is based on
initramfs. So IIUC, what will happen on the install client is:

1. kernel is loaded.
2. initramfs including Debian live system is loaded and the Debian live
system is started.
3. The nfsroot is mounted via NFS and made the root filesystem,
replacing the live system root file system which is in the initramfs.
4. The installation script starts which will mount the config space,
then perform the actual installation.

Assuming this is about right, I wonder:

1. Is the network configuration done in step 2 (i.e. entirely inside the
initramfs) or is there any re-configuration of the network settings
after the root filesystem change? (Obviously, /etc/hosts will be a
different one after the root filesystem has been changed to the NFS
mounted one, but I am more after ipconfig stuff.

2. What do we need the NFS mounted root filesystem for? What does it
contain what the initramfs does not contain? Couldn't the initramfs just
contain the necessary scripts to mount the config space and perform the
installation, doing away with the need for the NFS root filesystem at all?

Regards,
Torsten