NFS setup (like installfest) how to?

[Richard W Ernst]

First, I believe our usual installs from the server at our installfests
are FTP, not NFS.  Fairly easy to set up, even I did one at work.   I
just mounted the CD on the "server" under the default FTP directory
(/home/ftp?), and plugged in the correct ip address.  That's the simplest
way I can think of.

On the other hand, and I know this isn't what you asked, and it won't
allow simultaneous installs, but I have an alternative solution.  Buy, or
borrow (even from yourself) a standard IDE CD drive.  I've picked up 4x
at CCC for $15, and even fast ones sell for $30-40 or less.  Temporarily
install the CD in the system you want to install Linux.  Make yourself a
bootable DOS 5.25" diskette with standard IDE CD drivers on it.  Boot the
diskette, change to the CD DOSUTILS directory and run the AUTOBOOT.BAT
file and you're off an running.  If you really want it easier, put the
commands to do so in the diskette's autoexec.bat file.

Lastly, if you have partition magic, or use a basic linux tools bootable
diskette with fdisk on it, PRE-partition the drive to the way you want
it.  Seems to save time, especially with the new RH6.1 install that
doesn't give you standard FDISK option any more, just Disk Druid. 
Partition Magic is nice since it does all the formatting as well, so you
can skip that step during the actual install.  (You could be
partitioning/formatting one system, while actually doing the install on
another).

Hope this is helpful.

Rich

>> On Wed, Oct 20, 1999 at 10:49:11PM -0700, Ralph Shumaker wrote:
>> Alternatively, how do I set up NFS the way that it's done at the
>> installfests?  I would like to be able to NFS install rh5.2 through
BNC
>> to old 486 PCs.  I can put old 5"+ floppy drives in them.  I have old
>> HDs (<300M) to install on.  I have NICs I can put into each one.  But
I
>> cannot afford to buy a bunch of extras, at least not at first.
> 
> OK, let's say that I go and put "/mnt/cdrom (ro)" (Wouldn't the CD be
read
> only by default?) into my "/etc/exports" and restart (or start) the nfs
server.
>  After I throw the client PC onto the BNC network, how do I tell that
blank PC
> 1) to boot (on a 5.25" floppy)? 2) to install from the nfs served CD? 
I have
> plenty of NICs.  I do NOT have CDDs _nor_ 3.5" FDDs.





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