Installing Fedora Core 5 Using PXE Images

— filed under: fedora howto, fedora, network based, howto, install, PXE, FC5

This howto explains setup of grub or lilo to run a Fedora Core 5 install on an existing system. At the end you will have a fresh install of Fedora Core 5 over your existing install of Linux. This howto should help you get FC up and running from most any Linux distro without writing any media.

This doc should be considered a work in progress. It is a BETA, DO NOT USE! even though you should still be able to get up and running with this.

Stop now... you don't want to do this. You will get no help. Use at your own risk. With that said... here is the goodness:

Step 1. Obtain the Needed PXE Images

Images for Fedora Core 5 x86:

http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/i386/os/images/pxeboot/

Images for Fedora Core 5 x86_64:

http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/x86_64/os/images/pxeboot/

Note: You will need both initrd.img and vmlinuz. See Step 2 (Install Images) for my preference of how to obtain and install the images.

Step 2. Install Images

The images need to be installed in /boot or where your LILO or Grub looks for images. Check to make sure the permissions match existing kernels and other data in the same location. I name my images initrd.img.fc5.pxe and vmlinuz.fc5.pxe to keep things sain. I will use this naming in the rest of this howto. If you don't use my naming convention or are not able to, use a simple name that does not exist already.

Example Fedora /boot Permissions:

drwxr-xr-x root root system_u:object_r:boot_t .
-rw-r--r-- root root system_u:object_r:boot_t vmlinuz-2.6.15-1.1831_FC

Example Centos /boot Permissions:

drwxr-xr-x root root system_u:object_r:boot_t .
-rw-r--r-- root root system_u:object_r:boot_t vmlinuz-2.6.9-22.ELsmp

Example Debian (woody) /boot Permissions:

drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Sep 30 19:36 .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 678495 Jul 13 2001 vmlinuz-2.2.17

This is my personal way to get the images onto a running server. This needs to be done as root.

mkdir /newsystem
cd /newsystem
wget http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/i386/os/images/pxeboot/initrd.img
wget http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/i386/os/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz

Note: If you want x86_64, you need to change the i386 to x84_64 in the url.

cp vmlinuz /boot/vmlinuz.fc5.pxe
cp initrd.img /boot/initrd.img.fc5.pxe

Note: This method should set the correct permissions on the new images. This is a result of using copy (cp) and not move (mv). You should also check this on your server using ls (ls -al).

Step 3a. Configure Boot Loader for New Images

Warning!

I have been testing this doc and ran into a problem. I think it was caused by a slow/bad mirror. It might be a good idea to pick a mirror you know and can trust to serve your install or setup your own. I just had a failed install and I think it was due to a bad mirror. I will try to research this more.

You will need to configure your boot loader for the new PXE images.

Full Grub examples are available in the in 'Examples' section. You should check them. I have not included everything you will need in this section. I am making the assumption you know how to use your boot loader.

The following is an example kernel config line for grub:

kernel /vmlinuz.fc5.pxe

If you are using LILO, you must run the following as root or your system will most likely fail to boot:

lilo

If you have configured everything correctly, you should see something like the following:

Added Linux *
Added Centos
Added LinuxOLD

The entry with the asterisk (*) is what is set to boot by default. I personally reboot the server into the old kernel after making changes. Then I adjust the config more to boot the PXE images. You may do whatever you would like

Step 3b. Configure Boot Loader to Boot the PXE Images

To be able to boot the images you have just installed, you must configure your boot loader to do so. As backround, Grub uses ordering as default and it starts at zero (0). LILO uses labels. If you followed my installation instructions, the Label for the Fedora PXE image is 'Fedora'. I am assuming you have configured the Fedora PXE images where Grub will see them as item one (1). Count the 'title' lines, starting at zero (0), to confirm where you configured the images at. Adjust your settings as needed.

LILO Example:

default=Fedora

GRUB Example:

default=1

If you are using LILO, you must run the following as root or your system will most likely fail to boot:

lilo

If you have configured everything correctly, you should see something like the following:

Added Linux
Added Fedora *
Added LinuxOLD

Step 4. Backup Plan

Have one of these... or do not proceed. As this should be an interactive install (using local mouse, keyboard and monitor,) you can always boot the old kernel and try again.

Step 5. Double Check, Reboot

Double check your boot loader and make sure it is set to load the PXE images. Check my 'Examples' against your settings.

Step 6. Run Install

If you made it this far, you should be able to get everything up and running. Select your install type, etc. I recommend doing an 'minimal install' and then installing everything else later. This just help make sure the 'netinstall' has less of a chance to fail and force you to start over. After the system is installed and running on it's own, installing stuff with yum is easy enough.

Note: You will need a mirror. You can setup your own or use a public one.

Fedora Core Mirrors:

http://fedora.redhat.com/download/mirrors.html

An example full path to the mirror for an i386 Fedora Core 5 install is:

ftp://ftp.linux.ncsu.edu/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/i386/os/

So the protocol would be 'FTP', the server would be 'ftp.linux.ncsu.edu' and the path would be '/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/i386/os/'. You may use whatever source you would like... this is just the first server on the mirror list at the time of writting.

Step 7. Run Update; Install Software

At this point, you may install whatever you would like. I would run an update as the first order of business. This will get you the most recent kernel and other needed updates. The following command will get you started:

yum update

After the update, you should reboot to load up the new kernel. After the reboot, install whatever you would like. The following command will get you started:

yum grouplist

Pick what you want and install. If you want a GUI right away, you could use something like the following to do so:

Please note: This is based on the thought you have done a 'minimal' install.

yum groupinstall "GNOME Desktop Environment"

Want KDE?:

yum groupinstall "KDE (K Desktop Environment)"

You most likely want features provided by non-standard repos. I will include more information later. To get Livna installed:

rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-5.rpm

Troubleshooting:

If you added the PXE images correctly, you should still be able to boot back to the old kernel. Do this and try again. You must know if your boot loader expects /boot or not. I will be adding much more here after I test and test again.

Examples:

LILO:

image=/boot/vmlinuz.fc5.pxe
        label=Fedora
        read-only
        initrd=/boot/initrd.img.fc5.pxe

Grub:

(This assumes '/boot' is root (hd0,0))

title Install Fedora (PXE)
	root (hd0,0)
	kernel /vmlinuz.fc5.pxe
        initrd /initrd.img.fc5.pxe

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