Specifications
Remote Booting Linux on Intel Processors (CERN Variant)
Concurrent Technologies Page 2 of 30
• Floppy drive
• Either Red Hat Linux 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.0, 9.0, RHE3
• Network connection between the Client and Server boards
• Keyboard, mouse and monitor
Hardware Set-up
Hardware set-up is quite simple. Just plug the Concurrent Technologies processor boards into a chassis. If
using external drives, connect the P2 breakout (if using a VME board) or the transition module (if using a
CPCI board) to the slot corresponding to the Server processor board at the back of the chassis and plug in
the hard drive, CD-ROM, and floppy drive using a ribbon cable.
If using a mass storage module on VME, just slide the mass storage module in next to the Server processor
board and plug a ribbon cable into the back of the chassis connecting the two boards.
Plug in the mouse, keyboard, and monitor and connect both boards to the local network.
Discussion
This application note assumes the client system is self-contained and does not have any external drives
attached. The examples below assume the Server has an IP address of 192.67.84.170, as depicted in the
figure below.
Figure 1. Schematic overview of system set up.
Installing and Configuring the Linux Server Tools on the Server
1. If Linux is not already installed on the workstation then install Red Hat Linux; see the
Concurrent Technologies application note entitled “Red Hat Linux 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 8.0
Installation” for instructions on how to do this.
2. Login to the Server as root.
3. The standard installation of Red Hat Linux will not include the server tools required to
perform a network boot. A few additional tools need to be installed, a DHCP server, a TFTP
server and some Etherboot utilities. At CERN all the rpm packages are available from
“/afs/cern.ch/project/linux/redhat/cern/7.3.1/i386/RedHat/RPMS/”. Type the following in a
shell to set the RPMSHOME environment variable,
• “declare RPMSHOME=
/afs/cern.ch/project/linux/redhat/cern/7.3.2/i386/RedHat/RPMS/”
4. To install the TFTP server Type the following commands,
Network
Server
Client
(Remote Boots From Server)
Hard Drive
+
Red Hat
Linux
VP 315 02x
VP 110 01x
IP=192.67.84.170