ZFS on root, serial console install

[Peter C. Lai]

> On Mon, 15 Feb 2010, Peter C. Lai wrote:
>
>> I did a pxeboot zfs-root install the other day.
>>
>> If you copy the dvd to an nfs export as the root mount, hack the
>> requisite
>> files to do serial console then you will drop to a login prompt when it
>> boots over pxe-tftp. Had no problems setting up zfs root install by
>> skipping sysinstall and fixit entirely: setup your ZFS root, then set
>> DESTDIR and use install.sh in the individual package dirs.
>
> In short, did you do what I did somewhat accidentally?  I did a netboot,
> set loader.conf to mount mfsroot as my root fs.  For reasons I'm still
> unclear on, it did not grab mfsroot and proceeded to try and mount root
> over nfs (which happened to be exported RO).  It seems like if my nfs was
> exported rw, I would have been running with all the tools I needed and the
> drives would be available to me...
>
> I'm going to try with rw nfs, currently the machine's locked up as it's
> confused about a ro root...
>
> Thanks,
>
> Charles

I didn't muck with the loader at all (well except for ZFS tuning). TBH, my
serial console is a hardware redirect that BIOS provides so I actually
just mdconfig'ed the ISO and exported that via NFS.

By booting NFS root RO, init will bail out before being able to run
sysinstall and somehow it will spawn getty instead, asking me to login.
Logged in as root and I dropped to /bin/tcsh.

>
>>
>> http://wiki.freebsd.org/RootOnZFS/GPTZFSBoot/RAIDZ2
>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 7:27 AM, Charles Sprickman <spork at bway.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Any hints on that one?
>>>>
>>>> I finally got around to getting dhcp/tftp/nfs setup on an internal
>>>> network
>>>> to perform normal installs (and with some pxelinux hackery, the
>>>> ability
>>>> to
>>>> boot a DOS disk or memtest86 disk images).
>>>>
>>>> Sysinstall in general is kind of an unweildy beast over serial, but
>>>> one
>>>> thing I was not able to accomplish was to get a shell (no extra
>>>> virtual
>>>> consoles on serial) or attempt any mounting of fixit media.  From my
>>>> last
>>>> install that put ZFS on root, I had to do quite a bit of tapdancing
>>>> since I
>>>> had no DVD or bootable USB media - lots of switching from the install
>>>> disk
>>>> to fixit, which brought me to many chicken and egg moments.  I did it
>>>> though...
>>>>
>>>> But remotely, I'm not seeing a good way to do this.  If mfsroot were
>>>> larger
>>>> and had more tools, then I'd be in business.  This is probably the
>>>> direction
>>>> I need to get shoved in.
>>>>
>>>> I've looked at some other options with pxelinux and perhaps booting
>>>> the
>>>> mini
>>>> ISO, but I'm not sure that gets me anywhere.
>>>>
>>>> Any tips?  This isn't a make or break situation, I live 15 minutes
>>>> from
>>>> the
>>>> colo...  It's more of a quest. :)
>>>>
>>>
>>> I would installl a small UFS FBSD system of 1 or 2 Gig on say ad0s1.
>>> That gives you more then the equivalent of a fixit CD. You then use
>>> this mini system as base to install the "real one" on the other
>>> slice(s)
>>>
>>> After having finished the install, you use fdisk to change the active
>>> slice to the new install and reboot.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> freebsd-stable at freebsd.org mailing list
>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable
>>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to
>>> "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Peter C. Lai
>> ITS Systems Administrator
>> Bard College at Simon's Rock
>> 84 Alford Rd.
>> Great Barrington, MA 01230
>> (413) 528-7428
>> peter at simons-rock.edu
>> _______________________________________________
>> freebsd-stable at freebsd.org mailing list
>> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable
>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to
>> "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
>>_______________________________________________
> freebsd-stable at freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"


-- 
Peter C. Lai
ITS Systems Administrator
Bard College at Simon's Rock
84 Alford Rd.
Great Barrington, MA 01230
(413) 528-7428
peter at simons-rock.edu