Re: problem using netboot and root nfs

[markus@infoscape.com]

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Martin Dudle writes:
 > i'm stuck with the following problem:
 >
 > using netboot 0.6.1 to boot a 2.0.30 kernel via network. root filesystem
 > gets mounted by nfs. the whole thing actually works to the point
 > after root filesystem was mounted by the client. i took a look
 > to the kernel sources. there i saw that (since execute_command is NULL)
 > it tries to execve() /etc/init, then (if it fails) /bin/init, then
 > /sbin/init. /sbin/init should be executed since it's on the root fs.
 > unfortunately it isn't. i don't get any error messages, too.
 > next in the kernel comes a while(1) loop that tries to execute
 > /bin/sh (using kernel_thread()). but not shell ever gets started.
 > kernel_thread() seems to work since it returns pids that increase and
 > make sense.

I would suspect, that something with the configuration of your root
filesystem is wrong. The most common mistakes are:

  - you do not have a private copy of the /, /etc, /var, ... directories

  - your /dev directory is missing entries for /dev/zero and/or
    /dev/null or is sharing device entries from a server that uses
    different major and minor numbers (i.e. a server that is not
    running Linux).

  - your /lib directory is missing libraries (most notably libc*
    and/or libm*) or does not have the loader files ld*.so*

  - you neglected to run ldconfig to update /etc/ldconfig.cache or you
    do not have a configuration file for ldconfig.

  - your /etc/inittab and/or /etc/rc.d/* files have not been
    customized for the clients.

  - your kernel is missing some crucial compile-time feature (such as
    NFS filesystem support, booting from the net, transname
    (optional), ELF file support, networking support, driver for
    your ethernet card).

Good luck and let us know, if there is something else, that I forgot
to mention.


Markus

--
Markus Gutschke                         Internet: markus@infoscape.com
Infoscape, Inc                          Phone:    +1-415-537-3778
657 Mission Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94105

Disclaimer: The above message represents my personal opinion; It does
            not constitute an offical statement by Infoscape!

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