[WBEL-users] install whitebox via knoppix!
gregwm
whitebox@greatlakedata.com
Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:04:24 -0600
On Thu, 2004-07-29 at 15:18, Chad Walstrom wrote:
> In order to limit your upgrades to security packages for sarge, you need
> to subscribe to the security announcements email list for Debian and
> manually populate your local archive with affected packages.
that's the clincher that kept me in the whitebox camp, regardless that
remote installs were to be a fair effort. that effort spent, i'm
posting the procedure for posterity..
i managed to remotely install whitebox on a customer's new machines from
far away, and without burning or sending the whitebox CDs!
in theory i coulda just done a net install. but i didn't want to munge
with my customer's server to setup a netboot. i did try anaconda's ftp
install method. one bad rpm checksum and it just gave up without a
retry.
i figured a knoppix CD ought to provide an adequate base for an ISO
install. well it wasn't as easy as i thought it ought to be. but now
it can be, if somebody is willing to roll in fixes for the anaconda bugs
and incompatibilities i found.
concept outline:
+ download ISOs via rsync, plus enough packages to run yum
+ use rpm to unpack the packages
+ use yum to pull in enough to run anaconda
+ use a knoppix CD to wake up the new bare metal
+ install ISOs using anaconda
+ yum update
never mind that i downloaded far more packages via rsync than were
necessary to run yum. at first i hadn't even thought of using yum, too
bad, would've saved me some time. i included X and VNC, though i never
got them working. i'd started to include enough to have a bootable
installer, though i ended up chrooting on top of knoppix.
if you want to talk about fine tuning the process, how about if somebody
segregates the essential smarts in anaconda and makes them available to
yum, so i don't need to run yum twice, nor download any ISOs. or
alternatively fix anaconda to be as robust as yum while working from a
remote yum repository mirror.
anyway, here's how i did it. or to be more accurate these are the notes
i kept, which were intended to be the significant net result of all my
thrashings as i laboured to make it work. in other words, no
guarantees, and the usual yatta yatta disclaimers..
prepare this on existing (rh9) box:
mkdir -p /b/iso/whitebox
rsync -vSPa\
rsync://mirror.physics.ncsu.edu/whitebox/3.0/en/iso/i386/liberation-respin1-\*\
/b/iso/whitebox
mkdir -p /b/installer/whitebox/var/cache/yum/base/packages
mkdir -p /b/installer/whitebox/var/cache/yum/updates-released/packages
mkdir -p /b/installer/whitebox/usr/src/redhat
rsync -vSPa\
--include=anaconda-9.1.2-2.RHEL.WB2.src.rpm \
--include=anaconda-9.1.2-2.RHEL.WB2.i386.rpm \
--include=anaconda-runtime-9.1.2-2.RHEL.WB2.i386.rpm \
--include=rpm-4.2.2-0.14.WB1.i386.rpm \
--include=rpm-python-4.2.2-0.14.WB1.i386.rpm \
--include=rhpl-0.110.4-1.i386.rpm \
--include=popt-1.8.2-0.14.WB1.i386.rpm \
--include=elfutils-0.94-1.i386.rpm \
--include=elfutils-libelf-0.94-1.i386.rpm \
--include=modutils-2.4.25-12.EL.i386.rpm \
--include=shadow-utils-4.0.3-20.i386.rpm \
--include=glibc-2.3.2-95.20.i386.rpm \
--include=glibc-common-2.3.2-95.20.i386.rpm \
--include=libgcc-3.2.3-39.i386.rpm\
--include=libpng-1.2.2-24.i386.rpm \
--include=libxml2-2.5.10-6.i386.rpm\
--include=libxml2-python-2.5.10-6.i386.rpm\
--include=laus-libs-0.1-56RHEL3.i386.rpm \
--include=krb5-libs-1.2.7-24.i386.rpm \
--include=XFree86-libs-4.3.0-62.EL.i386.rpm \
--include=XFree86-libs-data-4.3.0-62.EL.i386.rpm \
--include=fontconfig-2.2.1-8.0.i386.rpm \
--include=dev-3.3.12-1.i386.rpm \
--include=pam-0.75-54.i386.rpm \
--include=openssl-0.9.7a-33.4.i386.rpm \
--include=iproute-2.4.7-11.30E.1.i386.rpm \
--include=initscripts-7.31.13.EL-1.WB2.i386.rpm \
--include=SysVinit-2.85-4.2.i386.rpm \
--include=sysklogd-1.4.1-12.1.i386.rpm \
--include=kudzu-1.1.22.2-1.i386.rpm \
--include=libgcj-3.2.3-39.i386.rpm\
--exclude=\*\
rsync://mirror.physics.ncsu.edu/whitebox/3.0/en/updates/i386/\
/b/installer/whitebox/var/cache/yum/updates-released/packages
rsync -vSPa --include=bash-2.05b-29.i386.rpm\
--include=bogl-0.1.9-27.i386.rpm\
--include=booty-0.31.1-1.i386.rpm\
--include=beecrypt-3.0.1-0.20030630.i386.rpm\
--include=basesystem-8.0-2.noarch.rpm\
--include=filesystem-2.2.1-3.i386.rpm\
--include=findutils-4.1.7-9.i386.rpm\
--include=coreutils-4.5.3-26.i386.rpm\
--include=chkconfig-1.3.8-3.i386.rpm\
--include=e2fsprogs-1.32-15.i386.rpm\
--include=mktemp-1.5-18.i386.rpm\
--include=hwdata-0.98-1.noarch.rpm\
--include=tzdata-2003c-1.noarch.rpm\
--include=parted-1.6.3-29.i386.rpm\
--include=procps-2.0.13-9.2E.i386.rpm\
--include=psmisc-21.3-1.RHEL.0.i386.rpm\
--include=python-2.2.3-5.i386.rpm\
--include=pyxf86config-0.3.5-1.i386.rpm\
--include=pygtk2-1.99.16-8.i386.rpm\
--include=pygtk2-devel-1.99.16-8.i386.rpm\
--include=pygtk2-libglade-1.99.16-8.i386.rpm\
--include=atk-1.2.4-3.0.i386.rpm\
--include=gtk+-1.2.10-27.1.i386.rpm\
--include=gtk2-2.2.4-4.0.i386.rpm\
--include=glib-1.2.10-11.1.i386.rpm\
--include=glib2-2.2.3-2.0.i386.rpm\
--include=zlib-1.1.4-8.1.i386.rpm\
--include=bzip2-1.0.2-11.i386.rpm\
--include=bzip2-libs-1.0.2-11.i386.rpm\
--include=cracklib-2.7-22.i386.rpm\
--include=cracklib-dicts-2.7-22.i386.rpm\
--include=libacl-2.2.3-1.i386.rpm\
--include=libattr-2.2.0-1.i386.rpm\
--include=libjpeg-6b-30.i386.rpm\
--include=libtiff-3.5.7-13.i386.rpm\
--include=libglade2-2.0.1-3.i386.rpm\
--include=libtermcap-2.0.8-35.i386.rpm\
--include=freetype-2.1.4-4.0.i386.rpm\
--include=XFree86-Mesa-libGL-4.3.0-35.EL.i386.rpm\
--include=db4-4.1.25-8.i386.rpm\
--include=sed-4.0.7-3.i386.rpm\
--include=gmp-4.1.2-5.i386.rpm\
--include=gpm-1.19.3-27.2.i386.rpm\
--include=gdbm-1.8.0-20.i386.rpm\
--include=gawk-3.1.1-9.i386.rpm\
--include=grep-2.5.1-16.i386.rpm\
--include=info-4.5-3.i386.rpm\
--include=newt-0.51.5-1.i386.rpm\
--include=expat-1.95.5-6.i386.rpm\
--include=mount-2.11y-31.1.i386.rpm\
--include=pango-1.2.5-2.0.i386.rpm\
--include=which-2.14-7.i386.rpm\
--include=words-2-21.noarch.rpm\
--include=setup-2.5.27-1.noarch.rpm\
--include=slang-1.4.5-18.i386.rpm\
--include=ncurses-5.3-9.3.i386.rpm\
--include=termcap-11.0.1-17.1.noarch.rpm\
--include=readline-4.3-5.i386.rpm\
--include=mingetty-1.06-1.i386.rpm\
--include=pcre-3.9-10.i386.rpm\
--include=ethtool-1.8-2.i386.rpm\
--include=net-tools-1.60-20.i386.rpm\
--include=iputils-20020927-11.i386.rpm\
--include=util-linux-2.11y-31.1.i386.rpm\
--include=yum-2.0.4-2.WB1.noarch.rpm\
--include=gettext-0.11.4-7.i386.rpm\
--include=zip-2.3-16.i386.rpm\
--exclude=\*\
rsync://mirror.physics.ncsu.edu/whitebox/3.0/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/\
/b/installer/whitebox/var/cache/yum/base/packages
rpm -Uvh --root=/b/installer/whitebox\
/b/installer/whitebox/var/cache/yum/*/packages/*
ln -s /sbin/e2label /b/installer/whitebox/usr/sbin/e2label
edit /b/installer/whitebox/etc/yum.conf, hardcode $releasever
chroot /b/installer/whitebox
LC_ALL=C yum install gnupg grub vnc vnc-server openssh-server
fix booty bug:
edit /b/installer/whitebox/usr/lib/booty/butil.py, replace line 152:
#path is None
return "Sublime Booty Linux"
anaconda's attempt to protect the iso partition fails, so don't:
edit /b/installer/whitebox/usr/lib/anaconda/partitions.py, comment out line 944:
#request.setProtected(1)
edit /b/installer/whitebox/usr/lib/anaconda/packages.py:
anaconda's attempt to launch syslog fails, so don't:
comment out lines 794,919,1185:
#syslog.start (instPath, syslogname)
#syslog.stop()
#syslog.stop()
this umount will crash, so don't! at line 1038 comment out:
#if usbWasMounted:
# isys.umount('/proc/bus/usb', removeDir = 0)
# # see if unmount suceeded, if not pretent it isnt mounted
# # because we're screwed anywyas if system is going to
# # lock up
# if iutil.isUSBDevFSMounted():
# usbWasMounted = 0
edit /b/installer/whitebox/usr/sbin/anaconda:
make exceptions non-fatal, comment out line 1078:
#sys.excepthook = lambda type, value, tb, dispatch=dispatch, intf=intf: handleException(dispatch, intf, (type, value, tb))
prevent anaconda from forcing text mode:
(well i was trying to get a vnc graphic install working, but sigh, never did)
at line 805 comment out:
#if (display_mode == 'g' and method and
# (method.startswith('ftp://') or
# method.startswith('http://') or
# method.startswith('hd://') or
# method.startswith('oldhd://'))):
# dup_log(_("Graphical installation not available for %s installs. "
# "Starting text mode.") % (string.split(method, ':')[0],))
# display_mode = 't'
# time.sleep(2)
we're done with the RPMs, no need to xfer them:
mv /b/installer/whitebox/var/cache/yum\
/b/installer/whitebox.var.cache.yum
i had my customer do this on the new machines:
boot knoppix3.4 CD.
launch terminal window.
Xvnc :1&
DISPLAY=:1 xterm&
so i could do the rest myself:
(find new machine's DHCP interaction in server log)
(ssh to firewall with port forwards for new machines)
(attach vncviewer)
parted
(telling disk druid to format partitions will hang, do it here now)
mkpartfs primary ext2 0 9000 (/)
mkpartfs primary ext2 9000 10025 (installer, then swap)
mkpartfs primary ext2 10025 <max> (/v)
mkdir -p /b/installer/whitebox
mkdir -p /v
mount /dev/hda2 /b/installer/whitebox
mount /dev/hda3 /v
mkdir -p /v/iso/whitebox
rsync -vSPaxessh <prepbox>:/b/iso/whitebox/\
/v/iso/whitebox
rsync -vSPazessh <prepbox>:/b/installer/whitebox/\
/b/installer/whitebox
cp -b /etc/resolv.conf /b/installer/whitebox/etc/resolv.conf
umount /v
chroot /b/installer/whitebox
mount -n -t proc /proc /proc
LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5 /usr/lib/python2.2/pdb.py /usr/sbin/anaconda --headless --text --method=hd:///dev/hda3:ext2/iso/whitebox
work with installed system before booting:
mkdir /a1
mount /dev/hda1 /a1
chroot /a1
edit /etc/fstab for the following changes:
revert the installer to my swap partition:
parted
rm 2
mkpartfs primary linux-swap
i really wanted ext3, but knoppix parted wouldn't do it:
tune2fs -j /dev/hda1
tune2fs -j /dev/hda3
why not run yum update before booting:
rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY
rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY-whitebox
yum update
implant other config stuff, then boot!
bon appetit,
greg