PXE boot install of Bunsenlabs?

ghorvath · 2016-05-10 20:34:33

I wonder if it is at all possible. Debian can be installed by PXE:

https://wiki.debian.org/PXEBootInstall

Anyone tried to set up a PXE server from which a live CD can be booted?

(I burned two discs of the nonPAE iso, and none of them seems to be readable by CD readers in other machines, so I am looking for alternatives....)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-05-10 20:44:26

ghorvath wrote:

I am looking for alternatives

Install vanilla Debian using PXE boot and then download and run the netinstall script from the freshly installed (non-GUI) system:

wget https://github.com/bunsenlabs/bunsen-netinstall/archive/master.tar.gz
tar -xpf master.tar.gz
cd bunsen-netinstall-master
./install

https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-netinstall

Also, which program did you use to burn the CDs?

Did you check the SHA-256 before burning?

Are you sure the CD is not faulty?

ghorvath · 2016-05-11 05:06:12

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Also, which program did you use to burn the CDs?

maintenance
Xfburn, which comes with Bunsenlabs. :-)

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Did you check the SHA-256 before burning?

Yes, I did. I also checked that after burning the data on the CD is the same as in the iso. (They were not equal byte-by-byte---ISO was shorter---but after mounting them, they were equal. I think the difference came from somehow the lead-out of the CD, but I am not sure.)

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Are you sure the CD is not faulty?

No I am not. Somehow, in the past 7-8 years, I was unlucky with CDs and CD/DVD-readers of computers... :-(

Edit: Hm, apparently one of the discs boots on a desktop machine. Maybe those readers are more reliable?

Anyway, thanks for the advice. Does the netinstall script gives you exactly the same system as the ISO install?

I also wonder if it is possible to boot a live environment from PXE. If e.g. a machine that cannot boot from USB develops bad sectors at grub, or something similar?

Last edited by ghorvath (2016-05-11 05:37:12)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-05-11 06:36:24

ghorvath wrote:

Does the netinstall script gives you exactly the same system as the ISO install?

There may be a few packages here and there that are different but there is a BL metapackage in the pipeline [1] (or maybe even in the repositories already) that will correct any differences.

ghorvath wrote:

I also wonder if it is possible to boot a live environment from PXE. If e.g. a machine that cannot boot from USB develops bad sectors at grub, or something similar?

Again, I would recommend using the upstream tools for such a situation, these are exactly the sort of situations for which the netinstall script was created.

[1] https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-meta-all

EDIT: bunsen-meta-all is already in the repositories:
https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic … 817#p26817

Well done team, you are all awesome!

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2016-05-11 06:39:56)

johnraff · 2016-05-11 07:03:04

ghorvath wrote:

Does the netinstall script gives you exactly the same system as the ISO install?

Pretty much. The package install list is updated often to keep it in sync with the latest iso. There might be a few extra apps installed from the base Debian netinstall, but nothing to worry about.

PS The metapackage works by installing recommends so pulling in the package list this way will definitely give you some extra packages compared with an iso install. Again, only something to worry about if you are short of disk space.

Last edited by johnraff (2016-05-11 07:05:07)

#1 2016-05-10 20:34:33

PXE boot install of Bunsenlabs?

#2 2016-05-10 20:44:26

Re: PXE boot install of Bunsenlabs?

#3 2016-05-11 05:06:12

Re: PXE boot install of Bunsenlabs?

#4 2016-05-11 06:36:24

Re: PXE boot install of Bunsenlabs?

#5 2016-05-11 07:03:04

Re: PXE boot install of Bunsenlabs?

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