Headless Debian Installation - Revision history

Adj: /* DHCP server setup */

2014-05-20T15:02:27Z

DHCP server setup

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:02, 20 May 2014
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	option option-238 ac:11:0:9:2:24:a:4D:61:63:20:48:44:5F:4E:42:53:0:0:0:0:2:27:43:6C:69:65:6E:74:49:6D:61:67:65:73:0:4D:61:63:20:4E:43:20:23:31:0:4E:65:74:42:6F:6F:74:20:48:44:2E:69:6D:67:5F:73;		option option-238 ac:11:0:9:2:24:a:4D:61:63:20:48:44:5F:4E:42:53:0:0:0:0:2:27:43:6C:69:65:6E:74:49:6D:61:67:65:73:0:4D:61:63:20:4E:43:20:23:31:0:4E:65:74:42:6F:6F:74:20:48:44:2E:69:6D:67:5F:73;
	}		}

			Well, you could try that. And it might work with ISC DHCP version 3. Not with version 4, though. Stay tuned...

	=== Make installer files available by TFTP ===		=== Make installer files available by TFTP ===

Adj: /* DHCP server setup */

2014-05-20T14:15:54Z

DHCP server setup

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:15, 20 May 2014
Line 22:		Line 22:
	}		}

	Now, for a sensible machine, this would convince the firmware to TFTP a file called "yaboot" from 172.16.0.1. But, apparently, Apple is ''special'' and needs extra DHCP tweaking to get this to work. So, see http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/analysis.html for the goods on this. (I admit to being quite confused. Watching the all the traffic between the Xserve and [[sacredchao]] in Wireshark, I could plainly see what looked like a complete DHCP transaction. But it was never followed with a TFTP of the yaboot binary from the TFTP server. Thank you so much, Apple.) So, try changing it to read more like this:		Now, for a sensible machine, this would convince the firmware to TFTP a file called "yaboot" from 172.16.0.1. But, apparently, Apple is ''special'' and needs extra DHCP tweaking to get this to work. So, see http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/analysis.html for the goods on this. (I admit to being quite confused. Watching the all the traffic between the Xserve and [[sacredchao]] in Wireshark, I could plainly see what looked like a complete DHCP transaction. But it was never followed with a TFTP of the yaboot binary from the TFTP server. Thank you '''so''' much, Apple.) So, try changing it to read more like this:

	host kallisti {		host kallisti {

Adj: /* DHCP server setup */

2014-05-20T06:02:46Z

DHCP server setup

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:02, 20 May 2014
Line 22:		Line 22:
	}		}

	Now, for a sensible machine, this would convince the firmware to TFTP a file called "yaboot" from 172.16.0.1. But, apparently, Apple is special and needs extra DHCP tweaking to get this to work. So, see http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/analysis.html for the goods on this. (I admit to being quite confused. Watching the all the traffic between the Xserve and [[sacredchao]] in Wireshark, I could plainly see what looked like a complete DHCP transaction. But it was never followed with a TFTP of the yaboot binary from the TFTP server. Thank you so much, Apple.) So, try changing it to read more like this:		Now, for a sensible machine, this would convince the firmware to TFTP a file called "yaboot" from 172.16.0.1. But, apparently, Apple is ''special'' and needs extra DHCP tweaking to get this to work. So, see http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/analysis.html for the goods on this. (I admit to being quite confused. Watching the all the traffic between the Xserve and [[sacredchao]] in Wireshark, I could plainly see what looked like a complete DHCP transaction. But it was never followed with a TFTP of the yaboot binary from the TFTP server. Thank you so much, Apple.) So, try changing it to read more like this:

	host kallisti {		host kallisti {

Adj: /* DHCP server setup */

2014-05-20T05:50:39Z

DHCP server setup

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
+ }
-Now, for a sensible machine, this would convince the firmware to TFTP a file called "yaboot" from 172.16.0.1.  But, apparently, Apple is special and needs extra DHCP tweaking to get this to work.  So, see http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/analysis.html for the goods on this.  (I admit to being quite confused.  Watching the all the traffic between the Xserve and [[sacredchao]] in Wireshark, I could plainly see what looked like a complete DHCP transaction.  But it was never followed with a TFTP of the yaboot binary from the TFTP server.  Thank you so much, Apple.)
+Now, for a sensible machine, this would convince the firmware to TFTP a file called "yaboot" from 172.16.0.1.  But, apparently, Apple is special and needs extra DHCP tweaking to get this to work.  So, see http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/analysis.html for the goods on this.  (I admit to being quite confused.  Watching the all the traffic between the Xserve and [[sacredchao]] in Wireshark, I could plainly see what looked like a complete DHCP transaction.  But it was never followed with a TFTP of the yaboot binary from the TFTP server.  Thank you so much, Apple.)  So, try changing it to read more like this:
 === Make installer files available by TFTP ===

Adj: /* DHCP server setup */

2014-05-20T05:19:11Z

DHCP server setup

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:19, 20 May 2014
Line 21:		Line 21:
	# comment the previous two lines disable TFTP boot of this system		# comment the previous two lines disable TFTP boot of this system
	}		}

			Now, for a sensible machine, this would convince the firmware to TFTP a file called "yaboot" from 172.16.0.1. But, apparently, Apple is special and needs extra DHCP tweaking to get this to work. So, see http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/analysis.html for the goods on this. (I admit to being quite confused. Watching the all the traffic between the Xserve and [[sacredchao]] in Wireshark, I could plainly see what looked like a complete DHCP transaction. But it was never followed with a TFTP of the yaboot binary from the TFTP server. Thank you so much, Apple.)

	=== Make installer files available by TFTP ===		=== Make installer files available by TFTP ===

Adj: /* Boot loader config tweaks */

2014-05-19T23:55:29Z

Boot loader config tweaks

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:55, 19 May 2014
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	label=touchless		label=touchless
	initrd=/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz		initrd=/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz
	initrd-size=28652 # this value was computed by dividing the uncompressed size of the initramfs image (find with "gzip -l") by 1024 and rounding up.		initrd-size=28652 # this value was computed by dividing the uncompressed size of the initramfs image (find with "gzip -l") by 1024 and rounding up to the next integer.
	append="priority=low --"		append="priority=low --"
	read-only		read-only

Adj: /* Getting ready for the install */

2014-05-19T21:43:02Z

Getting ready for the install

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:43, 19 May 2014
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	* Power cables, Ethernet cables		* Power cables, Ethernet cables

	== ~~Getting~~ ~~ready~~ ~~for~~ the ~~install~~ ==		== Preparing to boot the network installer ==
			=== DHCP server setup ===
	* Get DHCP configured to hand an IP address to the Xserve, default route, DNS settings, and TFTP boot info to the Xserve. Here's the snipped from my dhcpd.conf file:		Get DHCP configured to hand an IP address to the Xserve, default route, DNS settings, and TFTP boot info to the Xserve. Here's the snipped from my dhcpd.conf file:
	host kallisti {		host kallisti {
	# Apple Xserve G5 s/n QP5260YBSLZ		# Apple Xserve G5 s/n QP5260YBSLZ
Line 20:		Line 21:
	# comment the previous two lines disable TFTP boot of this system		# comment the previous two lines disable TFTP boot of this system
	}		}

⚫	* Put the following files in the TFTP server's root directory. These can be retrieved from http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc64/netboot/
			=== Make installer files available by TFTP ===
		⚫	Put the following files in the TFTP server's root directory. These can be retrieved from http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc64/netboot/
	vmlinux		vmlinux
	initrd.gz		initrd.gz
Line 27:		Line 30:
	boot.msg		boot.msg

			=== Fixing up the firmware situation for the installer ===
	At this point, if all goes as planned, netbooting the Xserve will get us up, into the Debian installer, and unable to talk to the network because the tg3 Ethernet adapters need non-free firmware blobs to work. This can be fixed like so:		At this point, if all goes as planned, netbooting the Xserve will get us up, into the Debian installer, and unable to talk to the network because the tg3 Ethernet adapters need non-free firmware blobs to work. This can be fixed like so:
	mv initrd.gz initrd.gz.orig		mv initrd.gz initrd.gz.orig
Line 39:		Line 43:
	gzip -9v ../initrd+firmware # leaves a new initramfs image for the boot loader to pick up		gzip -9v ../initrd+firmware # leaves a new initramfs image for the boot loader to pick up
	sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 -v -b ../initrd+firmware.gz /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz # put it where yaboot can get it		sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 -v -b ../initrd+firmware.gz /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz # put it where yaboot can get it

			And it might be nice to make sure we haven't inadvertently removed anything from the Debian-supplied initramfs image. Give this a go:
			diff -u <(lsinitramfs /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz~ \| tail -n+2 \| sort) <(lsinitramfs /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz \| tail -n+2 \| sort)
			If this returns any lines that begin with a '-', something was left out of the new initramfs image. Investigation is in order.

	'''Important Note:''' This will let the Debian installer talk to the network with the server's tg3 Ethernet adapters. The installed system will still need to have the non-free firmware packages installed in order to run.		'''Important Note:''' This will let the Debian installer talk to the network with the server's tg3 Ethernet adapters. The installed system will still need to have the non-free firmware packages installed in order to run.

			=== Boot loader config tweaks ===
			Add this stanza to the yaboot.conf downloaded from the Debian FTP mirror:
			image=/RackMac3,1/vmlinux
			label=touchless
			initrd=/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz
			initrd-size=28652 # this value was computed by dividing the uncompressed size of the initramfs image (find with "gzip -l") by 1024 and rounding up.
			append="priority=low --"
			read-only
			And change the value for "default" near the top of the file to "touchless" like so:
			default=touchless

Adj: /* First steps */

2014-05-16T21:00:45Z

First steps

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:00, 16 May 2014
Line 8:		Line 8:
	* Power cables, Ethernet cables		* Power cables, Ethernet cables

			== Getting ready for the install ==
	== First steps ==
	* Get DHCP configured to hand an IP address to the Xserve, default route, DNS settings, and TFTP boot info to the Xserve. Here's the snipped from my dhcpd.conf file:		* Get DHCP configured to hand an IP address to the Xserve, default route, DNS settings, and TFTP boot info to the Xserve. Here's the snipped from my dhcpd.conf file:
	host kallisti {		host kallisti {
Line 34:		Line 34:
	gzip -dc firmware.tar.gz \| tar xvvf - ./firmware-linux-nonfree_0.36+wheezy.1_all.deb # this has the tg3 firmware inside		gzip -dc firmware.tar.gz \| tar xvvf - ./firmware-linux-nonfree_0.36+wheezy.1_all.deb # this has the tg3 firmware inside
	cd prep-installer-initramfs-with-tg3-firmware		cd prep-installer-initramfs-with-tg3-firmware
	gzip -dc /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz.orig \| cpio -iv # unpack the initramfs archive		gzip -dc /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz.orig \| sudo cpio -iv # unpack the initramfs archive (run as root so included device files are created)
	dpkg-deb -x ../firmware-linux-nonfree_0.36+wheezy.1_all.deb . # unpack the non-free firmware package		dpkg-deb -x ../firmware-linux-nonfree_0.36+wheezy.1_all.deb . # unpack the non-free firmware package
	find * -depth -print0 \| cpio -o0a -R 0:0 -Hnewc > ../initrd+firmware		find * -depth -print0 \| cpio -o0a -R 0:0 -Hnewc > ../initrd+firmware

Adj: /* First steps */

2014-05-16T06:27:06Z

First steps

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:27, 16 May 2014
Line 40:		Line 40:
	sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 -v -b ../initrd+firmware.gz /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz # put it where yaboot can get it		sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 -v -b ../initrd+firmware.gz /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz # put it where yaboot can get it

	'''Important Note:''' This will let the Debian installer talk to the network with the server's tg3 Ethernet ~~adapaters~~. The installed system will still need to have the non-free firmware packages installed in order to run.		'''Important Note:''' This will let the Debian installer talk to the network with the server's tg3 Ethernet adapters. The installed system will still need to have the non-free firmware packages installed in order to run.

Adj: /* First steps */

2014-05-16T06:21:06Z

First steps

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:21, 16 May 2014
Line 39:		Line 39:
	gzip -9v ../initrd+firmware # leaves a new initramfs image for the boot loader to pick up		gzip -9v ../initrd+firmware # leaves a new initramfs image for the boot loader to pick up
	sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 -v -b ../initrd+firmware.gz /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz # put it where yaboot can get it		sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 -v -b ../initrd+firmware.gz /srv/tftp/RackMac3,1/initrd.gz # put it where yaboot can get it

			'''Important Note:''' This will let the Debian installer talk to the network with the server's tg3 Ethernet adapaters. The installed system will still need to have the non-free firmware packages installed in order to run.