NFS mount RPC error when loading kernel after PXE boot(was "Re: Vbox/PXE booting works (fwd)")

[Daniel Braniss]

> Hi Danny and all,
> 
> This does indeed work as advertised, thanks for pointing me at this 
> information.
> 
> The new issue I'm dealing with is that the pxe boot loader now happily 
> runs, gets all the appropriate DHCP options and then stalls trying to 
> mount the NFS share to pull the kernel from. I've verified that the NFS 
> configuration works, both using a separate physical machine and by 
> firing up the VM I'm trying to PXE boot with the fixit CD and mounting 
> the share from the fixit shell i.e. the problem seems to be localised to 
> the boot loader.
> 
> When pxe booting, it gets to printing the "pxe_open:" lines with correct 
> server addr, path and gateway IP. It then stalls for a few mins where 
> you would normally see the spinning "|" character, and then prints "NFS 
> MOUNT RPC error: 60". It then appears to keep trying to load the kernel 
> without success for a substantial period of time (more than 10 mins). It 
> eventually gives up and dumps me at the loader prompt i.e.
> 
> can't load 'kernel'
> Type '?' for a list of commands, 'help' for more detailed help.
> OK
> 
> Looking at tcpdump on the NFS server, I see a number of UDP 
> request/replies between port 1023 on the VM and port 111 on the server. 
> After about 5 such exchanges, the Vm tries directing queries from port 
> 1023 to port 2304 on the server which triggers ICMP port unreachables to 
> go back.
> 
> I also tested with pxeboot binaries from 7.3, 8-stable and head - all 
> have the same problem.
> 
> Has anyone seen this behaviour before? What am I doing differently that 
> stops me from being able to do this whilst others seem to be able to?

have you tried your pxe/diskless outside vmware?

danny