[arch-releng] Arch Linux Netboot Live System
Hello everybody, I am not sure if this is the right place to ask, so feel free to redirect me if you have a better address. The "Arch Linux Netboot Live System" [0] allows to boot Arch Linux install media directly from internet. At the moment the iPXE image chainloads a syslinux image providing a graphical menu. The culprit is loading kernel and initramfs from WAN - tftp is horribly slow if latency increases. My suggestion is to drop syslinux completely and just use iPXE. Latest development releases from git do have a menu system [1] and iPXE itself is capable of loading kernel and initramfs via http (or https or whatever you prefer), decreasing boot time dramatically. The only drawback is that iPXE does not have a graphical menu interface... But who cares - it just has to work reliably, no? ;) Let me know if you need help implementing this or if you are need any more information. [0] https://releng.archlinux.org/pxeboot/ [1] http://ipxe.org/cmd/menu -- main(a){char*c=/* Schoene Gruesse */"B?IJj;MEH" "CX:;",b;for(a/* Chris get my mail address: */=0;b=c[a++];) putchar(b-1/(/* gcc -o sig sig.c && ./sig */b/42*2-3)*42);}
Am 31.01.2013 12:01, schrieb Christian Hesse:
The "Arch Linux Netboot Live System" [0] allows to boot Arch Linux install media directly from internet. At the moment the iPXE image chainloads a syslinux image providing a graphical menu. The culprit is loading kernel and initramfs from WAN - tftp is horribly slow if latency increases.
We use HTTP exclusively, no TFTP at all. Slowness in the transfer may be due to the iPXE network driver performance.
My suggestion is to drop syslinux completely and just use iPXE. Latest development releases from git do have a menu system [1] and iPXE itself is capable of loading kernel and initramfs via http (or https or whatever you prefer), decreasing boot time dramatically.
We would need to port all config files to iPXE. I am rather comfortable with the syslinux syntax and we use similar configurations as the CD. Other than more maintenance effort for me, I do not see an advantage in using iPXE over pxelinux.
Thomas Bächler <thomas@archlinux.org> on Thu, 2013/01/31 13:14:
Am 31.01.2013 12:01, schrieb Christian Hesse:
The "Arch Linux Netboot Live System" [0] allows to boot Arch Linux install media directly from internet. At the moment the iPXE image chainloads a syslinux image providing a graphical menu. The culprit is loading kernel and initramfs from WAN - tftp is horribly slow if latency increases.
We use HTTP exclusively, no TFTP at all. Slowness in the transfer may be due to the iPXE network driver performance.
My suggestion is to drop syslinux completely and just use iPXE. Latest development releases from git do have a menu system [1] and iPXE itself is capable of loading kernel and initramfs via http (or https or whatever you prefer), decreasing boot time dramatically.
We would need to port all config files to iPXE. I am rather comfortable with the syslinux syntax and we use similar configurations as the CD.
Other than more maintenance effort for me, I do not see an advantage in using iPXE over pxelinux.
Uh, you are right... pxelinux output flashed by too fast and I hit a very slow mirror I think. So sorry for the noise, anything is just fine. ;) -- main(a){char*c=/* Schoene Gruesse */"B?IJj;MEH" "CX:;",b;for(a/* Chris get my mail address: */=0;b=c[a++];) putchar(b-1/(/* gcc -o sig sig.c && ./sig */b/42*2-3)*42);}
participants (2)
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Christian Hesse
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Thomas Bächler