DiskLess

From Bubble

Description

See the description on ReseauCitoyen: RC:DiskLess

Install Instructions

From the INSTALL.bulles file:

Diskless distribution based on uClibc buildroot
===============================================

$Id: INSTALL.bulles,v 1.2 2003/05/10 14:19:00 pvanhaes Exp $

Philippe.Vanhaesendonck@topgame.be

Background
----------

The objective of this distrubution is to be able to run a Wireless node on a
diskless computer.

The configuration will be typically:
    LocalLan <---> Node <---> WirelessLan

The kernel & disk image is booted from the LocalLan, the default firewall setup
does not forward anything from the WirelessLan to the LocalLan

Alternatively, you can build a bootbale CD-ROM or a CF-Card image.
In that case, you do not need a NIC for the LocalLan

Access to the node is done via ssh

The WirelessLan can be a WireLess device or a NIC connected to a wireless
bridge (LinkSys Wet11)

The kernel is compiled with most of the network drivers as modules. If space is
an issue, just keep the ones you need!

The distribution does not attempt to access any local disk, so it can be
easily tested on any computer.

Pre-requisites on the Build system
----------------------------------

* mknbi for etherboot images
    apt-get install mknbi

* syslinux for PXE boot loaders, ISOLinux CD-ROM or SysLinux images
    apt-get install syslinux

* wget for the buildroot
    apt-get install wget

* Disk space needed for the build: 800MB

Pre-requisites on the LocalLan (Only for NetBoot)
------------------------------

(Can be on the Build System)

* dhcp (or bootp) configured for network boot

* tftpd (HPA's tftp server recommended for PXE boots)
    apt-get install tftpd-hpa

Pre-requisites for the node
---------------------------

* 16 MB RAM

* One NIC/Wireless for the WireLess Lan

If we need to NetBoot:

* One NIC for the LocalLan

* NetBoot enabled -- several possibilities:
    - LocalLan NIC can NetBoot
    - BIOS can NetBoot
    - Use a floppy to NetBoot (!)

Install
-------

!You do not and sould not be root to build this distribution!

The distribution need to know at least which network interfaces needs to be
configured.

* copy bulles.cfg.distr to bulles.cfg and review it ;-)

If you want to add additional files/scrits, the directory tree under
    sources/local_skeleton
will be copied to your iamge.
This directory is not touched during upgrades.

Make all the stuff, and go for a beer:
    $ make

After some time you should get the kernel and root filesystem

Post-Install
------------

Once your system is running, you can:

* Generate ssh keys
    # ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh_host_rsa_key  -N  -t rsa
    # ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh_host_dsa_key  -N  -t dsa

Once this is done, transfer the file to your build system to make them
'permanent' -- e.g.:
    # scp /etc/ssh_host_* <user>@<host>:<buildroot>/sources/local_skeleton/etc

Re-building an image
--------------------

If you make changes to the 'skeletons' and want to re-build the image:
    $ make rootclean && make

Packages Installed
------------------

    Linux 2.4.20 with wireless patches
    Busybox 0.61-pre
    uClibc 0.9.19
    zlib 1.1.4 (ssh)
    openssl 0.9.7a (ssh)
    openssh 3.5p1
    iptables 1.2.8
    kernel-aodv 2.0.1
    pcmcia-cs 3.2.3
    wireless_tools 26

Todo
----
    radvd for IPV6

History
-------

10-May-2003 Moved all the specifics to config file...
27-Apr-2003 Improved config file
            iptables 1.2.8 (GFR)
22-Apr-2003 Support for bootables CD
21-Apr-2003 First public release

[edit]