From owner-freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jun 4 20:30:00 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-bugs@smarthost.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.FreeBSD.org [8.8.178.115]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C5863478 for ; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 20:30:00 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gnats@FreeBSD.org) Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (freefall.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206c::16:87]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A54D21A9E for ; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 20:30:00 +0000 (UTC) Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id r54KU0tS033084 for ; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 20:30:00 GMT (envelope-from gnats@freefall.freebsd.org) Received: (from gnats@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.14.7/8.14.7/Submit) id r54KU0Vu033061; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 20:30:00 GMT (envelope-from gnats) Resent-Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 20:30:00 GMT Resent-Message-Id: <201306042030.r54KU0Vu033061@freefall.freebsd.org> Resent-From: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org (GNATS Filer) Resent-To: freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org Resent-Reply-To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org, Antoine Beaupre Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 973A1D9 for ; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 20:20:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from anarcat@rtr0.koumbit.net) Received: from rtr0.koumbit.net (18.66.15.64.ic0-netel.koumbit.net [64.15.66.18]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 75FFB1A3B for ; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 20:20:30 +0000 (UTC) Received: from rtr0.koumbit.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by rtr0.koumbit.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id C93B2D07011 for ; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 16:20:29 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from root@localhost) by rtr0.koumbit.net (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) id r54KKTvd027268; Tue, 4 Jun 2013 16:20:29 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from anarcat) Message-Id: <201306042020.r54KKTvd027268@rtr0.koumbit.net> Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 16:20:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Antoine Beaupre To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org X-Send-Pr-Version: 3.113 Subject: misc/179312: PXE installer fails to boot without modification X-BeenThere: freebsd-bugs@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list Reply-To: Antoine Beaupre List-Id: Bug reports List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 04 Jun 2013 20:30:00 -0000 >Number: 179312 >Category: misc >Synopsis: PXE installer fails to boot without modification >Confidential: no >Severity: serious >Priority: medium >Responsible: freebsd-bugs >State: open >Quarter: >Keywords: >Date-Required: >Class: sw-bug >Submitter-Id: current-users >Arrival-Date: Tue Jun 04 20:30:00 UTC 2013 >Closed-Date: >Last-Modified: >Originator: Antoine Beaupre >Release: FreeBSD 9.1-RELEASE amd64 >Organization: Koumbit.org >Environment: -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 153296896 mai 29 17:02 FreeBSD-9.1-RELEASE-amd64-bootonly.iso SHA1: 2038a484ffeea3225e6d91bb1488e2548ac173bb FreeBSD-9.1-RELEASE-amd64-bootonly.iso >Description: There used to be a way to install FreeBSD through a PXE bootloader. That bootloader is still present in the ISO and while the article itself has disappeared (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/pxe/article.html), I assume that this capability was not lost in the 9.x series. PXE-based installs do not work out of the box in 9.1 anymore, a regression from 8.1 at the very least. >How-To-Repeat: Follow those instructions: http://freebsd.so14k.com/freebsd9_pxe.shtml >Fix: As you see in the above instructions, the user needed to comment out the following line in /etc/fstab: /dev/iso9660/FREEBSD_INSTALL / cd9660 ro 0 0 ... otherwise the boot fails. Having to modify that file means we need to duplicate all those files instead of being able to simply mount the ISO as a filesystem and offer it over NFS... But even then, this seems just like a crude workaround to a wider problem: in 8.1, the .ISO could be loaded directly into memory and boot properly through a local memory filesystem. That way, the .iso could be loaded directly from syslinux, for example with pxelinux and memdisk: LABEL FreeBSD-8.1-i386 MENU LABEL FreeBSD 8.1 i386 kernel memdisk append initrd=freebsd/FreeBSD-8.1-RELEASE-i386-bootonly.iso iso raw This doesn't work in 9.1 anymore, probably because the mfsroot file seems to be gone from 9.1. All this makes PXE-based FreeBSD deployments *much* harder and less attractive than before, because we need to setup a separate NFS server and hack at the files. >Release-Note: >Audit-Trail: >Unformatted: