Skip to content

OSMC NFS mount

It looks like you need some systemd "magic" to successfully mount an NFS share on OSMC. Adding "x-systemd.automount,noauto" to the mount options in /etc/fstab did the trick for me.

  • Twitter
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • FriendFeed
  • Digg OSMC NFS mount
  • Mixx OSMC NFS mount
  • Bloglines OSMC NFS mount
  • Technorati OSMC NFS mount
  • Fark this: OSMC NFS mount
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at YahooMyWeb
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at Furl.net
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at reddit.com
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at blinklist.com
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at Spurl.net
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at NewsVine
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at Simpy.com
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount at blogmarks
  • Bookmark OSMC NFS mount with wists
  • wong it!
  • Bookmark using any bookmark manager!
  • Stumble It!
  • Print this article!
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Identi.ca

Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too)

It's quite easy actually, once you know where to look.

Just browse to http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/[version]/main/installer-[arch]/current/images/netboot/ubuntu-installer/[arch]/ - eg http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/intrepid/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/ubuntu-installer/i386/.

The two files "linux" and "initrd.gz" can be used with pxegrub to boot a PC with a fully-working Ubuntu-installer (text-mode). See my other posts about my diskless / network boot setup for details on how I configured the network booting part, based on dhcp, tftp and pxegrub.

Alternatively, if you have a CF card USB stick etc. with a working GRUB install, you can just copy the two files over there.

What I still haven't found is how to do an Ubuntu NFS install directly. For now I'm stuck with my diskless Ubuntu install procedure where I first do a hard disk install and then make it diskless.

Credits: the whole thing was inspired by this article.
  • Twitter
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • FriendFeed
  • Digg Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too)
  • Mixx Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too)
  • Bloglines Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too)
  • Technorati Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too)
  • Fark this: Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too)
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at YahooMyWeb
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at Furl.net
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at reddit.com
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at blinklist.com
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at Spurl.net
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at NewsVine
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at Simpy.com
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) at blogmarks
  • Bookmark Install Ubuntu without cd-rom over the network (Ubuntu netboot install, works for CF or USB too) with wists
  • wong it!
  • Bookmark using any bookmark manager!
  • Stumble It!
  • Print this article!
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Identi.ca

Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install)

Tonight I installed my first diskless Ubuntu system. The version I used is the latest available as of today, 7.04 "FeistyFawn". This article covers the client part.

My other diskless machines all run Gentoo (for the time being). I've described previously how I set up my SB 100, the rest of the setup was based on this article.

The following two articles were helpful:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/OnNFSDrive
http://developer.novell.com/wiki/index.php/Feisty/HOWTO:_Convert_Ubuntu_to_Diskless

However I found some of the info to be uncomplete or outdated.

From what I have read, unlike with Gentoo, it seems that there is no easy way to get a working diskless Ubuntu system directly. Instead, you have to install to a disk first, and then make your setup diskless. I did not really want to open the box, so I tried first to install on a 2 GB CF card, which didn't work because the card was full before the install completed (du now reports that the system is 2.1 GB big). So I ended up putting a disk in the box, and I ran a regular install.

Note: As in the SB100 article, 10.0.0.10 will be my dhcp/nfs/tftp server ('fileserver'). 10.0.0.30 will be the Ubuntu desktop.

Once that was completed, instead of rebooting as suggested by the installer, I opened a shell (gnome-terminal), and ran:
sudo su -
mkdir /mnt/tmp
mkdir /mnt/nfs
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/tmp
mount 10.0.0.10:/diskless/ubuntu /mnt/nfs
cp -a /mnt/tmp/* /mnt/nfs/

After that, there are just a couple of things that need to be changed:
chroot /mnt/nfs
mount -t proc proc proc
vi etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf

and make sure you have:
BOOT=nfs

then run:
update-initramfs -u

Now check what you have in /boot, and update your network boot config files accordingly. I use pxegrub, and here is how /boot/grub.lst looks like:
default 0
timeout 10
title=Diskless Ubuntu
root (nd)
kernel /diskless/tv/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=10.0.0.10:/diskless/tv ro quiet splash
initrd /diskless/tv/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic

Finally, don't forget to update etc/fstab and etc/network/interfaces. I've read several theories, here is what worked for me:

fstab:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
#
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/nfs / nfs defaults 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0

network/interfaces:
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 10.0.0.30
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 10.0.0.0
broadcast 10.0.0.255
gateway 10.0.0.1

(note: commenting out eth0 as suggested in some places made the system hang during the boot process.)
  • Twitter
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • FriendFeed
  • Digg Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install)
  • Mixx Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install)
  • Bloglines Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install)
  • Technorati Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install)
  • Fark this: Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install)
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at YahooMyWeb
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at Furl.net
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at reddit.com
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at blinklist.com
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at Spurl.net
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at NewsVine
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at Simpy.com
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) at blogmarks
  • Bookmark Diskless Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn NFS install) with wists
  • wong it!
  • Bookmark using any bookmark manager!
  • Stumble It!
  • Print this article!
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Identi.ca

Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100

Initially written on 2006-05-17

On my other (x86/amd64) diskless machines, I use PXE with pxegrub. My setup is quite similar to (and inspired by) this one.

Now, on sparc machines, there is no BIOS nor PXE. But you don't need all that, since you have the Open Boot... This is how I managed to make my Sunblade 100 totally diskless (using a "vanilla" kernel, the latest version being currently 2.6.16.16).

Note: In this example, 10.0.0.10 will be my dhcp/nfs/tftp server which I will refer to as 'fileserver'. 10.0.0.30 is the sunblade.

- when configuring the kernel:
[*] Default bootloader kernel arguments (ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=10.0.0.10:/diskless/sunblade)

(in "Networking" -> "Networking support" -> "Networking options")
[*]   IP: kernel level autoconfiguration
[*] IP: DHCP support
[*] IP: BOOTP support
[*] IP: RARP support

(in "File systems" -> "Network File Systems")
<*> NFS file system support
[*] Provide NFSv3 client support
[*] Root file system on NFS

Configure all other settings as you would do for a disk install, but make sure you compile your NIC driver in the kernel (not as module)

Then:
make
make modules_install
make tftpboot.img ROOT_IMG=/dev/null
(the resulting tftpboot.img will be in arch/sparc64/boot/tftpboot.img)

I copied tftpboot.img to fileserver as tftpimage-2.6.16.16, and added the following entry in my dhcpd.conf:
host sunblade {
hardware ethernet 00:03:BA:08:12:34;
fixed-address 10.0.0.30;
always-reply-rfc1048 on;
filename "sunblade/boot/tftpimage-2.6.16.16";
}


Finally, to net-boot your diskless Sunblade you'll need to enter
boot net:dhcp
in the Open Boot prompt. When you are happy with it, you can set it as default:
setenv boot-device net:dhcp cdrom disk net



Notes:

- apparently, instead of using make tftpboot.img you can just "elftoaout" vmlinux

- another alternative would be to use tilo, which comes with silo, to build the image
  • Twitter
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • FriendFeed
  • Digg Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100
  • Mixx Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100
  • Bloglines Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100
  • Technorati Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100
  • Fark this: Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at YahooMyWeb
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at Furl.net
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at reddit.com
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at blinklist.com
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at Spurl.net
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at NewsVine
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at Simpy.com
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 at blogmarks
  • Bookmark Diskless Linux on a Sunblade 100 with wists
  • wong it!
  • Bookmark using any bookmark manager!
  • Stumble It!
  • Print this article!
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Identi.ca