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netboot install of current

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Manuel Bouyer

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Apr 28, 2011, 7:25:38 AM4/28/11
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Hello,
so, how is one supposed to do a netboot install of NetBSD current these
days ? I'm doing:
load tftp:miniroot.kmod
boot tftp:netbsd

with i386 GENERIC, the kernel can't exec init because it doesn't have
EXEC_ELF32 included. With MONOLITHIC, the kernel doesn't mount the
ramdisk because modules are not enabled ...

--
Manuel Bouyer <bou...@antioche.eu.org>
NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la difference
--

--
Posted automagically by a mail2news gateway at muc.de e.V.
Please direct questions, flames, donations, etc. to news-...@muc.de

Jean-Yves Migeon

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Apr 28, 2011, 8:27:37 AM4/28/11
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On Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:25:38 +0200, Manuel Bouyer
<bou...@antioche.eu.org> wrote:
> Hello,
> so, how is one supposed to do a netboot install of NetBSD current
> these
> days ? I'm doing:
> load tftp:miniroot.kmod
> boot tftp:netbsd
>
> with i386 GENERIC, the kernel can't exec init because it doesn't have
> EXEC_ELF32 included. With MONOLITHIC, the kernel doesn't mount the
> ramdisk because modules are not enabled ...

You are not alone. I have not found a solution to this, except by
building a custom kernel with the ramdisk embedded for i386.

It's one of the reason why I asked for the GENERIC/MONOLITHIC modular
stuff settlement some time ago (for i386 and amd64), but never received
the ultimate decision of core@ on this (and as such: never brought
GENERIC i386 up to it and "retire" MONOLITHIC).

IMHO, this should really get fixed before branching -6.

--
Jean-Yves Migeon
jeanyve...@free.fr

Manuel Bouyer

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Apr 28, 2011, 9:28:53 AM4/28/11
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On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 01:27:37PM +0100, Jean-Yves Migeon wrote:
> On Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:25:38 +0200, Manuel Bouyer
> <bou...@antioche.eu.org> wrote:
> >Hello,
> >so, how is one supposed to do a netboot install of NetBSD current
> >these
> >days ? I'm doing:
> >load tftp:miniroot.kmod
> >boot tftp:netbsd
> >
> >with i386 GENERIC, the kernel can't exec init because it doesn't have
> >EXEC_ELF32 included. With MONOLITHIC, the kernel doesn't mount the
> >ramdisk because modules are not enabled ...
>
> You are not alone. I have not found a solution to this, except by
> building a custom kernel with the ramdisk embedded for i386.

I've hacked MONOLITHIC to add 'options MODULAR' for this myself.

>
> It's one of the reason why I asked for the GENERIC/MONOLITHIC
> modular stuff settlement some time ago (for i386 and amd64), but
> never received the ultimate decision of core@ on this (and as such:
> never brought GENERIC i386 up to it and "retire" MONOLITHIC).
>
> IMHO, this should really get fixed before branching -6.

looks like there is a netbsd-INSTALL.gz that could do it, but I didn't
try it (as I'm testing kernels, the ramdisk as a module is better ...)

Jarle Greipsland

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Apr 28, 2011, 9:02:59 AM4/28/11
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Manuel Bouyer <bou...@antioche.eu.org> writes:
> Hello,
> so, how is one supposed to do a netboot install of NetBSD current these
> days ?
tftpboot the netbsd-INSTALL kernel?
-jarle
--
"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they
are genuine." -- Abraham Lincoln

John Nemeth

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Apr 28, 2011, 10:28:11 AM4/28/11
to
On Sep 18, 8:01am, Manuel Bouyer wrote:
}
} so, how is one supposed to do a netboot install of NetBSD current these
} days ? I'm doing:
} load tftp:miniroot.kmod
} boot tftp:netbsd
}
} with i386 GENERIC, the kernel can't exec init because it doesn't have
} EXEC_ELF32 included. With MONOLITHIC, the kernel doesn't mount the

The obvious answer here is "load tftp:exec_elf32.kmod"

} ramdisk because modules are not enabled ...

MONOLITHIC should have options MODULAR. Just because most modules
are included doesn't mean it shouldn't have the ability to load
modules. I would call the fact that it doesn't have options MODULAR to
be a bug.

}-- End of excerpt from Manuel Bouyer

Manuel Bouyer

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Apr 28, 2011, 11:07:23 AM4/28/11
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On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 07:28:11AM -0700, John Nemeth wrote:
> On Sep 18, 8:01am, Manuel Bouyer wrote:
> }
> } so, how is one supposed to do a netboot install of NetBSD current these
> } days ? I'm doing:
> } load tftp:miniroot.kmod
> } boot tftp:netbsd
> }
> } with i386 GENERIC, the kernel can't exec init because it doesn't have
> } EXEC_ELF32 included. With MONOLITHIC, the kernel doesn't mount the
>
> The obvious answer here is "load tftp:exec_elf32.kmod"

how much modules do we need to load to do an install (it's not so easy to
type ...)
Also I find it a bit silly to not have this built in by default, when this is
the native exec format ...

Jean-Yves Migeon

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Apr 28, 2011, 1:04:08 PM4/28/11
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On Thu, 28 Apr 2011 07:28:11 -0700, jne...@victoria.tc.ca (John
Nemeth) wrote:
> On Sep 18, 8:01am, Manuel Bouyer wrote:
> }
> } so, how is one supposed to do a netboot install of NetBSD current
> these
> } days ? I'm doing:
> } load tftp:miniroot.kmod
> } boot tftp:netbsd
> }
> } with i386 GENERIC, the kernel can't exec init because it doesn't
> have
> } EXEC_ELF32 included. With MONOLITHIC, the kernel doesn't mount the
>
> The obvious answer here is "load tftp:exec_elf32.kmod"

Don't forget about EXEC_SCRIPT, and probably tmpfs might be needed
somewhere too, ffs, nfs... IIRC, miniroo.kmod has no module embedded;
you will need a couple extra modules to make it boot up to a
"functional" point, especially when the station has nothing installed on
it, or when modules are not accessible in their default path.

This can get a bit tedious and frustrating :)

--
Jean-Yves Migeon
jeanyve...@free.fr

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