====== Debian installers over PXE ======

====== Debian Lenny Netinstall ======

Setting up Debian for PXE-boot of the netinstall is one of the simplest PXE installer setups. Debian has a tarball containing all files you need, and the tarball also give valuable hints on possible boot-commands.

A Debian netinstall PXE-boot requires no files on NFS, it simply requires two files on TFTP: the kernel, and the netinstall initrd.gz file. Everything else is pulled in from the initrd.

Of course, one may set up a local mirror of the archives needed for the full install. I prefer having a fully up-to-date system after install and not worry about mirroring, so instead I wait the extra time it takes to use my internet-link to pull the data down during install instead.

I prefer to get the tarball, poke around in it a bit to see if any new options have been added to the boot configurations before tying it together. If you want to get only the files you need, they are available at your
favorite Debian mirror in the debian-installer directory under images/netboot. You want the files "linux" and "initrd.gz".

===== x86 (32bit) =====

Fetch the tarball, unpack it, and place the two files where they belong. I use the Norwegian mirror, replace as applicable.

<code>
rm -rf /tmp/pxetmp
mkdir /tmp/pxetmp; cd /tmp/pxetmp
wget ftp://ftp.uio.no/debian/dists/lenny/main/installer-i386/20090123lenny6/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
tar zxvf netboot.tar.gz

mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/debian/lenny/i386
cp /tmp/pxetmp/debian-installer/i386/initrd.gz /var/lib/tftpboot/debian/lenny/i386
cp /tmp/pxetmp/debian-installer/i386/linux /var/lib/tftpboot/debian/lenny/i386
</code>

With basis in my PXE menu setup, the following is added to my menus/debian.cfg:

<code>

LABEL lenny_i386_install
        MENU LABEL ^1 Debian Lenny i386 Netinstall
        KERNEL debian/lenny/i386/linux
        APPEND vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/i386/initrd.gz  --
        
LABEL lenny_i386_expert_install
        MENU LABEL ^2 Debian Lenny i386 Expert Netinstall
        KERNEL debian/lenny/i386/linux
        APPEND priority=low vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/i386/initrd.gz  --

LABEL lenny_i386_rescue
        MENU LABEL ^3 Debian Lenny i386 Rescue mode
        KERNEL debian/lenny/i386/linux
        APPEND vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/i386/initrd.gz rescue/enable=true --

</code>

===== amd64 (64bit) =====

Fetch the tarball, unpack it, and place the two files where they belong. I use the Norwegian mirror, replace as applicable.

<code>
rm -rf /tmp/pxetmp
mkdir /tmp/pxetmp; cd /tmp/pxetmp
wget ftp://ftp.uio.no/debian/dists/lenny/main/installer-amd64/20090123lenny6/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
tar zxvf netboot.tar.gz

mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/debian/lenny/amd64
cp /tmp/pxetmp/debian-installer/amd64/initrd.gz /var/lib/tftpboot/debian/lenny/amd64
cp /tmp/pxetmp/debian-installer/amd64/linux /var/lib/tftpboot/debian/lenny/amd64/
</code>

With basis in my PXE menu setup, the following is added to my menus/debian.cfg:

<code>
LABEL lenny_amd64_install
        MENU LABEL ^4 Debian Lenny amd64 netinstall
        KERNEL debian/lenny/amd64/linux
        APPEND vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/amd64/initrd.gz  --

LABEL lenny_amd64_expert_install
        MENU LABEL ^5 Debian Lenny amd64 Expert Netinstall
        KERNEL debian/lenny/amd64/linux
        APPEND priority=low vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/amd64/initrd.gz  --

LABEL lenny_amd64_rescue
        MENU LABEL ^6 Debian Lenny amd64 Rescue mode
        KERNEL debian/lenny/amd64/linux
        APPEND vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/amd64/initrd.gz rescue/enable=true --

</code>