how to : Boot Redhat RHEL 4 AS from USB Hard Drive

[nilesh vaghela]

Boot Redhat RHEL 4 AS from USB Hard Drive

This document are totally based on the reference from
http://simonf.com/usb/ < http://simonf.com/usb> and
http://www.benusa.com/linux/boot.htm . Without Simon Ilyushchenko and
Allen Benusa, I won't be able to make RedHat RHEL 4 bootable from
external USB Drive.

Keyword: USB EXTERNAL REDHAT LINUX RHEL BOOT INITRD INSTALL

     1. Install RedHat RHEL 4 AS to the USB Hard Drive

Boot RHEL4 Installation CD, enter "expert". Partition your USB Hard
drive manually. In my case, I created 1GB /dev/sda1 mounted as /boot and
/dev/sda5 mounted as / (root), I also have /dev/sda7 SWAP partition.

After installation, boot from the RHEL4 Installation CD again, type
"linux rescue", don't let the installer mount the USB hard drive
partitions.


     2. Mount partitions


mount /dev/sda5 /mnt/source
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/source/boot
chroot /mnt/source


     3. Restore initrd image


cp /boot/initrd-2.6.9-5.EL.img /tmp/initrd.gz
cd /tmp
gunzip initrd.gz

mkdir /tmp/a
cd /tmp/a
cpio -i < /tmp/initrd
(Output: 2078 blocks)


     4. Edit init script to load USB drivers


vi /tmp/a/init

#!/bin/nash
mount -t proc /proc /proc
setquiet
echo Mounted /proc filesystem
echo Mounting sysfs
mount -t sysfs none /sys
echo Creating /dev
mount -o mode=0755 -t tmpfs none /dev
mknod /dev/console c 5 1
mknod /dev/null c 1 3
mknod /dev/zero c 1 5
mkdir /dev/pts
mkdir /dev/shm
echo Starting udev
/sbin/udevstart
echo -n "/sbin/hotplug" > /proc/sys/kernel/hotplug
echo "Loading scsi_mod.ko module"
insmod /lib/scsi_mod.ko
echo "Loading sd_mod.ko module"
insmod /lib/sd_mod.ko
echo "Loading libata.ko module"
insmod /lib/libata.ko
echo "Loading ata_piix.ko module"
insmod /lib/ata_piix.ko
echo "Loading jbd.ko module"
insmod /lib/jbd.ko
echo "Loading ext3.ko module"
insmod /lib/ext3.ko

*
##############################

########
echo "*** Loading usb-storage ***"
insmod /lib/usb-storage.ko
echo "*** Loading usb-uhci ***"
insmod /lib/ehci-hcd.ko
echo "*** Sleeping 5 seconds ***"
/bin/sleep 5
*

/sbin/udevstart
echo Creating root device
mkrootdev /dev/root

*
echo "*** Reread partition table ***"
/sbin/sfdisk -R /dev/sda
*

umount /sys
echo Mounting root filesystem
mount -o defaults --ro -t ext3 /dev/root /sysroot
mount -t tmpfs --bind /dev /sysroot/dev
echo Switching to new root
switchroot /sysroot
umount /initrd/dev


     5. Copy USB drivers



cd /lib/modules/2.6.9-5.EL/kernel/drivers
cp usb/host/ehci-hcd.ko /tmp/a/lib
cp usb/storage/usb-storage.ko /tmp/a/lib
cp scsi/scsi_mod.ko /tmp/a/lib
cp scsi/sd_mod.ko /tmp/a/lib


     6. Copy executables and dependent libraries



ldd /bin/sleep
ldd /sbin/sfdisk
cp /lib/tls/libm.so.6 /lib/tls/librt.so.1 /lib/tls/libc.so.6
/lib/tls/libpthread.so.0 /tmp/a/lib/tls
cp /lib/ld-linux.so.2 /tmp/a/lib/
cp /bin/sleep /sbin/sfdisk /tmp/a/bin/


     7. Re-Make the init image


cd /tmp/a
find . | cpio -c -o | gzip -9 > /boot/usbinitrd.img
(output: 6077 blocks)


     8. Edit grub.conf to boot from the new usbinitrd.img


vi /boot/grub/grub.conf

Reboot your system, Modify your BIOS to make USB Drive boot first, Enjoy!


     Questions?


Email me: liul...@gmail.com

Lijian Liu,
Sendmail, Inc.

--
Nilesh J. Vaghela
9327218003
Redhat Channel Partner and Training Partner
Baroda office:
25, IInd floor, The Emperor, Fatehgunj,Vadodara.

--
Nilesh Vaghela
ElectroMech
Redhat Channel Partner and Training Partner
74, Nalanda Complex, Satellite Rd, Ahmedabad
25, The Emperor, Fatehgunj, Baroda.
www.electromech.info

[Rahul Patel]

Sir, i was already mailed it on sept 18th 2006
plz search this subject for ur accout:rhel4_on_usb_hdd

--
Rahul Patel
Assistant Network Engg.-Jindal Saw Ltd.
Believe Everything Trust Nothing.

[Vadodara General Linux User Group]

Thanx Rahul,

But some body ask me and without searching much I proivded the data
which I had.

Thanx for clarity.

I also request you all to search first VGLUG and google than ask the
question.

Nilesh J. Vaghela
ElectroMech

[LOKESH GAGNANI]

please send the how to partition the disk and which partitiion to make to install mandrake linux 2007

---

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[Jigish Gohil]

On 11/13/06, LOKESH GAGNANI <lokesh_...@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
> please send the how to partition the disk and which partitiion to make to
> install mandrake linux 2007

If you are in or around Baroda, you can visit our office, we can show
you how to install any Linux distribution.

Till then google "mandriva installation guide" turned up this:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mandriva-Linux-2007-Installation-Guide-37819.shtml

Cheers!

Jigish
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