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Network HTTP Installation of SME Server 7.x - HowTo - Draft Author: John H. Bennett III
<bennettj@johnbennettservices.com> |
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Problem: You would like a
way to install or upgrade your SME server via HTTP. |
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Assumptions:
You have two hard drives already
installed in the server.
To do's:
Further testing of upgrades - Seems
to work fine on my test servers for software RAID 1
Test with only 1 hard drive
Test with 3 hardrives (raid 5)
Test with 4 or more harddrives (raid
6)
STEP 1: HTTP server preperation
| You need to
copy the SME Server 7.x CD to a HTTP server that is accessible. I
created an Ibay called sme7. After you copy the files, make sure to: chown -R admin.www * chmod -R 750 * |
STEP 2: Files Preparation
| For this network install to work with SME
Server 7.x, you will need to make and use a bootable CD. First you need to extract the directory isolinux from the /images/boot.iso file. This can be in a few ways. I tested with winimage, isobuster, and by creating a cd from the boot.iso. Next, you need to copy the extracted directory to your SME or other RHEL server. |
STEP 3: isolinux.cfg Modification
| ioslinux.cfg is the file that determines
what to do once the system is booted from cd. Below is an example of what mine
looks like with IP's removed and with comments added. default linux - The default
action to take if the enter key is pressed or if the timeout value expires Legend: Note: As you can see I have 10 boot options I can choose from. The major differences are the name of the kickstart configuration file that will be used during the install or upgrade, and whether to install via the GUI or text method. |
STEP 4: boot.msg
| boot.msg is the file that is displayed upon
initial boot up from CD. You can modify this file or create a new one
to suit your needs. Below is the boot.msg file from the SME
Server Boot.iso file.
Note: The control characters in front of some of the words change the color of the text. |
STEP 5: options.msg example
| You can create a file called options.msg
that can be displayed and used as a menu. You can also make this file
the default when displayed at boot time by modifying isolinux.cfg and
changing the display line to read display options.msg. This is
entirely optional. Below is the options.msg file from the SME
Server Boot.iso file. 00 09Installer Boot Options 07 If installing on an i586 machine, substitute 0fi586 07 for 0flinux 07 for all the options listed on this page. - To disable hardware probing, type: 0flinux noprobe <ENTER> 07. - To test the install media you are using, type: 0flinux mediacheck <ENTER> 07. - To enable rescue mode, type: 0flinux rescue <ENTER> 07. Press 0f<F5> 07 for more information about rescue mode. - If you have a driver disk, type: 0flinux dd <ENTER> 07. - To prompt for the install method being used on a CD-ROM install, type 0flinux askmethod <ENTER> 07. - If you have an installer update disk, type: 0flinux updates <ENTER> 07. - To test the memory in your system type: 0fmemtest86 <ENTER> 07. (This option is only available when booting from CD.) 02[F1-Main] [F2-Options] [F3-General] [F4-Kernel] [F5-Rescue] 07 Note: The control characters in front of some of the words change the color of the text. In my testing, I found that you could name this file anything you wanted as long as you referenced it correctly in the isolinux.cfg file. The options.msg file seemed to be the default standard used based on some research I did and also from creating boot disks from standard Red Hat 7, 8, and 9 CD's. |
STEP 6: Kickstart Configuration file - New install
| The configuration file for the kickstart
process is what tells the system what to do during the install or upgrade
process. Below is an example of
my kickstart configuration file for a new SME installation with comments added. If you look in
the root directory on a normal install, you will find a file called
anaconda-ks.cfg. The below configuration file was taken directly from
that file. install Note: I have not yet fully understood how the LVM really works,
but the above settings for the partitions and volume groups seem to work
fine on my test systems using either IDE or SCSI drives. SATA drives
not tested as I don't have any. |
STEP 6a: Kickstart Configuration file - upgrade
| I had some initial issues trying to get
an upgrade to work. Basically, what I did was modify the standard
ks_stub.cfg file to suit my needs. Below is an example of my kickstart configuration file
for SME upgrades with comments added. I have tested this by upgrading
from SME 5.5 and 5.6.
upgrade Note: I have not yet fully understood how the LVM really works, but
the above remarks for the settings for the partitions and volume groups seem to work fine on
my test systems using either IDE or SCSI drives. SATA drives not
tested as I don't have any. |
STEP 7: ISO Creation
| Once you have your files the way you
want, you need to create an ISO. The ISO needs to be created on the
Linux server referenced in step 2. The files you should have on your linux server are: BOOT.CAT The command to create the ISO from SME is: mkisofs -o name_of_your.iso -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table The_directory_where_your_files_are Example - (mkisofs -o test.iso -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c
isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table /root/isoimage) |
STEP 8: Burn ISO and test
| Use your favorite CD/DVD ROM burning
software and burn your ISO to CD and test. It should work, if you have followed all of the steps above. |
STEP 8: Final Words of Wisdom
| That should be it. If you follow
the above examples, you should be able to create your own HTTP install or
upgrade to suit your SME 7.x. environment During an install or upgrade, you should only have to do the following: Choose OK to reboot Lastly, when editing the various unix-style files, it's best to either do
it on a unix-type machine or use a unix editor that runs under windows.
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Note: The steps listed above may not be the best way to create an HTTP installation or upgrade environment, but this is what is working for me. There have been several inquiries on how to get this setup, so I have shared what I did to make it work for me.
References:
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/LVM-HOWTO/index.html
http://syslinux.zytor.com/iso.php#how