[arch-releng] Archlinux automated via PXE

[Simo Leone]

I added a few things to make serial console work over PXE/IPMI recently...
so at least you can do manual installs that way.

On Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 16:27, Thomas S Hatch <thatch45 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 4:10 PM, Nico Schottelius <
> nico-archlinux-releng at schottelius.org> wrote:
>
> > Good morning devs,
> >
> > I'm running a big pool of Linux installations in the ETH Zurich [0]
> > and from time to time I am interested in giving Archlinux a try
> > for a big installation.
> >
> > But the lack of a very easy automated way to retrieve networking
> > images, like provided with OpenBSD or Debian & variants, makes
> > me drop back (cuni [0] got a list of easily netinstallable Os).
> >
> > I'm aware that I can download the ISO, grab the kernel + initrd
> > and have it running, but it's a pretty cumbersome approach.
> >
> > Thus I'd like to discuss whether there is no easy way to provide
> > kernel + initrd in a standard location?
> >
> > Secondly I'd be interested in seeing a standard way on how to
> > automate the installation, which could probably a wikipage
> > "Archlinux in big environments".
> >
> > I'm wondering what your opinions are regarding those two topics
> > and whether there'll be some changes mid term that may make
> > archlinux able to be a canditate for automatic installations.
> >
> > Have a nice evening,
> >
> > Nico
> >
> > [0] cuni: http://www.nico.schottelius.org/software/cuni/
> >
> > --
> > PGP key: 7ED9 F7D3 6B10 81D7 0EC5  5C09 D7DC C8E4 3187 7DF0
> >
>
> I really need to get my stuff on this out into the wild, I use ramdisk
> network boots, I had to modify the mkinitcpio but it works amazingly well.
> So I never install systems, I just reboot them into new root images.
>
> The problem is that I need to refine it a great deal.
>
> If you are however interested in automating virtual machine installs you
> can
> use varch:
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Varch
>
> Sorry I don't have this stuff out yet, I won't have time to do it for at
> least 3 or 4 months, but I am happy to field questions!
>
> Also, are you using puppet? I could not live without it in the datacenter.
>
> -Thomas S Hatch
> -Arch Linux Trusted User
>