[ILUG] automated network installs

[Wynne, Conor]

OOh another thought, stick the files on an NFS/FTP/HTTP share on your LAN,
and do a network install. NFS installs are piss easy and will save you the
monkey onsite to change the CD's

If you really dont want the hassle of having someone put the boot floppy in,
then you could use PXE enabled nics to find DHCP/Bootp or whatever, or go
buy one of them remote lights out cards, I'm sure there are many more
options. 

CW

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Just a thought, I noticed in Mandrake that at the end of the install, it
gives you the option to save you install config or something -> I keep
meaning to put that floppy drive back in the box so I haven't tested it yet,
and yes if you have a DHCP server on your LAN/HAN, then you've no worries
about ipconflicts or whatever, you could always leave the hjostnames as the
default localhost.localdomain and change them aprez match. 

Aprez install, you ssh etc etc... [once you figure out which IP is which :)]
I'm sure some wee genius on this list can expand on that. I'd like to know
meself actually. 

CW

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AJ McKee stated the following on Wed, Jun 19, 2002 at 09:29:51PM +0100 :
> >Monkey place cd in drive
> >power cycle
> >box installs itself with out user intervention
> >I can then log in via ssh and finish off install etc..
> >At some point onsite monkey has to remove the cd form drive
> >proably prior to finishing the installs
> 
> The question I would like to this are, how are you going to asign the ip
> address automatically, is it a dhcp client. If so how will you know what
th
> eip addy will be or can you have it mail you when its back up so you can
ssh
> into it. Probally a really simple solution to this just always wondered
how
> you would really do it. Interesting original question though.

In a lan enviroment you could use DHCP and stuff and it would be fine.
See the fai package in debian, which can automate a whole install.
My problem is that I need to do this over a WAN link so stuff like
DHCP and NFS are out.

I was planning to hard code the ip addr etc onto the CD I ship to each
site. CD would be left with system and used in case of a need for
disaster recovery.

Colin

-- 
"Design" is like a religion - too much of it makes you inflexibly and
unpopular.
		Linus Torvalds