make-fai-nfsroot - create the FAI nfsroot directory

make-fai-nfsroot [options]

Create the FAI nfsroot directory as pointed by $NFSROOT in the config_file. This directory is necessary for the installation of Debian on remote clients using the FAI package. The config_file location is discussed in the OPTIONS below.

The exit code returned is 0 if all commands to build the root directory exited successfully and >0 if an error occurs.

-c CFDIR

Use CFDIR as configuration directory. Default is /etc/fai.

-f config_file

Not supported any more. Use option -c instead.

-K

Remove all kernels from NFSROOT, then install a new kernel into the nfsroot (like -k)

-k

Install a new kernel from $KERNELPACKAGE into the nfsroot and resetup BOOTP and DHCP environments in /boot/fai.

-v

Create verbose output on stdout.

-r

Attempt to recover a previously failed run of this command.

If you do not use NFS, you may still use the NFSROOT directory as a staging point for building the base installation tarball.

CAUTION! This is an advanced feature. You should be willing to open up an editor and browse the make-fai-nfsroot code to understand what each task does and how your use of the recovery option can be impacted by fiddling around with the stamp files.

You can call make-fai-nfsroot with the '-r' option to attempt a recovery of a previous run. As tasks are completed, stamp files are generated in /var/run/fai/make-fai-nfsroot. As each task is called in recovery mode, the stamp file is checked. If it exists, the task is skipped. This will save you much time during your initial install and debug phase. It is not a very sophisticated mechanism but it can help you on updating the nfsroot as well. For example, if you want to update the kernel that is installed, remove the following stamp files: install_kernel_nfsroot_stamp, setup_bootp_stamp, setup_dhcp_stamp.

The order in which the stamp files are created are as follows:

call_debootstrap_stamp

Debootstrap was called successfully.

create_base_stamp

Created after successfully calling debootstrap plus a couple of other tasks.

upgrade_nfsroot_stamp

The packages in $NFSROOT have successfully been upgraded with apt.

add_packages_nfsroot_stamp

New packages have been installed with apt as specified by the $NFSPACKAGES environment variable in /etc/fai/fai.conf.

copy_fai_files_stamp

FAI copies a base of files to the NFSROOT directory.

setup_ssh_stamp

The SSH environment is set up. You could probably remove this stamp alone to refresh your ssh setup.

create_nfsroot_stamp

This stamp file is created when all the preceeding steps have been taken. You have a base nfsroot directory. All you need now is the kernel and the BOOTP or DHCP setup.

install_kernel_nfsroot_stamp

The kernel you specified in $KERNELPACKAGE has been installed.

setup_bootp_stamp | setup_dhcp_stamp

Your kernel was either BOOTP or DHCP. The appropriate setup has been completed.

This program is part of FAI (Fully Automatic Installation). See the FAI manual for more information on how to use make-fai-nfsroot. The FAI homepage is http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai.

make-fai-bootfloppy(8), exports(5), nfsd(8), fai-setup(8)

The FAI configuration file.

The configuration file for make-fai-nfsroot.

Copy this file to the NFSROOT.

Stamp files used for recovery.

Thomas Lange <lange@informatik.uni-koeln.de>