Charles Steinkuehler wrote:
> The chroot thing is a one-time deal to build a root image on the HDD. The
> part you're missing is I'm running LRP WITHOUT a ramdisk, more like
> conventional linux...hopefully I won't be burned at the stake.
Ahhhh.... Now I understand. Jeff was so gentle about it :)
Some one else had suggested trying to make LRP use a CDROM-based
filesystem; any have any ideas about that?
> David Douthitt wrote:
> > My thoughts on bootable CDROM distributions are:
> >
> > 1. Bootable CDROMs have a FIXED image to boot from, and thus are
> > single purpose systems.
>
> But that's what I want to change...you're still stuck with a fixed image
> when booting from CD-ROM, but the CD could do smart things based on the
> presence/absence of configuration files on the floppy, hard-disk,
> flash-disk, or other writable, non-volitle media.
I already have the use of "config.lrp" coded into Oxygen; it is
squirrelled away as it is found, and is loaded AFTER all other
packages have loaded. However, this only configures the loaded
packages; to configure WHICH packages actually get loaded requires a
different method. Right now, there is LRP= (fixed), PKGPATH= (also
fixed), and PKGLIST= (a changeable file perhaps?).
I'm thinking about this - basically, you'd need:
1. ...to have the floppy in the configuration to load from
(PKGPATH=/dev/fd0u1680:msdos)
2. ...to have intelligent reaction to a missing disk...
> The key to making this happen is getting a linuxrc that's smart (or
> flexible) enough to deal with whatever is required. The other missing piece
> is a way to communicate with the CD-ROM boot scripts.
That would be syslinux.cfg; what is needed (sounds like) is a way to
shift the entire "append=" line to another file...
> You can't change
> what's on the CD, so you either make some assumptions (like always load
> config info off a floppy, or a fixed set of devices) or you find a way to
> save some settings across a reboot (like the unused part of the CMOS ram)
> that all systems support.
CMOS? Uhoh.... sounds both fascinating and reckless and dangerous -
what a mix!
> > 2. To make the bootable CDROM configurable, user input is required -
> > which isn't nice in an unattended router.
>
> SOME input is required, but it doesn't have to come from the user. I'm
> envisioning a CD-ROM that when booted with a configured floppy will function
> as a normal LRP system, but when booted on it's own, comes up with some
> install scripts allowing you to:
>
> Install to a Hard-Disk
> Install to one (or more) floppies
> Create a configuration disk...boot the system with the CD and this disk,
> and you get a router/firewall
I like that idea!
> > I've been leaning towards a CDROM/floppy combination: you can
> > configure the floppy all you want, then load packages from the CDROM.
>
> This is what I'm talking about...
Um... not quite. You are talking about bootable CDROMs with a
configuration disk; I am talking about booting from floppy disk and
using the CDROM as a data disk. Your ideas are much more
revolutionary than mine.
> > I've also been considering (for a long time) using a CDROM to create a
> > TFTP and/or FTP and/or HTTP server with packages available; thus you
> > can put the CDROM in, boot, then go to another system, boot Oxygen on
> > it, and download all packages via the CDROM system on the network.
>
> Hmm...haven't thought about this sort of thing much. I guess I don't
> generally like the idea of my router or servers booting off the network.
> Having a resource to load packages from would be a good thing, but why not
> just have that out on the internet somewhere? Then everyone can use it...
You could do that too. The problem with that is:
* Security
- packages could be compromised
- source system could be compromised
- router (bridge?) would become visible to outside world, and would
be immediately known as a LRP-style router
* Availability: if the source goes down or changes IP, the router is
dead when it reboots.
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