Depending on the operating system running on the machine to use as network installation source for openSUSE, there are several options for the server configuration. The easiest way to set up an installation server is to use YaST on SUSE Linux 9.3 and higher. On other versions of openSUSE, set up the installation source manually.
![]() | Tip |
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You can even use a Microsoft Windows machine as installation server for your Linux deployment. See Section 1.2.5, “Managing an SMB Installation Source” for details. |
YaST offers a graphical tool for creating network installation sources. It supports HTTP, FTP, and NFS network installation servers.
Log in as root
to the machine that should act as installation
server.
Install the yast2-instserver
package.
Start
+ + .Select the server type (HTTP, FTP, or NFS). The selected server service is started automatically every time the system starts. If a service of the selected type is already running on your system and you want to configure it manually for the server, deactivate the automatic configuration of the server service with
. In both cases, define the directory in which the installation data should be made available on the server.Configure the required server type. This step relates to the automatic configuration of server services. It is skipped when automatic configuration is deactivated.
Define an alias for the root directory of the FTP or
HTTP server on which the installation data should be found. The
installation source will later be located under
ftp://
(FTP) or under
Server-IP
/Alias
/Name
http://
(HTTP). Server-IP
/Alias
/Name
Name
stands for the name of the
installation source, which is defined in the following step. If you
selected NFS in the previous step, define wild cards and
export options. The NFS server will be accessible under
nfs://
.
Details of NFS and exports can be found in Chapter 21, Sharing File Systems with NFS.
Server-IP
/Name
![]() | Firewall Settings |
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Make sure that the firewall settings of your server system allow traffic on the ports for HTTP, NFS, and FTP. If they currently do not, start the YaST firewall module and open the respective ports. |
Configure the installation source. Before the installation media are copied to their destination, define the name of the installation source (ideally, an easily remembered abbreviation of the product and version). YaST allows providing ISO images of the media instead of copies of the installation CDs. If you want this, activate the relevant check box and specify the directory path under which the ISO files can be found locally. Depending on the product to distribute using this installation server, it might be that more add-on CDs or service pack CDs are required and should be added as extra installation sources. To announce your installation server in the network via OpenSLP, activate the appropriate option.
![]() | Tip |
---|---|
Consider announcing your installation source via OpenSLP if your network setup supports this option. This saves you from entering the network installation path on every target machine. The target systems are just booted using the SLP boot option and find the network installation source without any further configuration. For details on this option, refer to Section 1.4, “Booting the Target System for Installation”. |
Upload the installation data. The most lengthy step in configuring an installation server is copying the actual installation CDs. Insert the media in the sequence requested by YaST and wait for the copying procedure to end. When the sources have been fully copied, return to the overview of existing information sources and close the configuration by selecting
.Your installation server is now fully configured and ready for service. It is automatically started every time the system is started. No further intervention is required. You only need to configure and start this service correctly by hand if you have deactivated the automatic configuration of the selected network service with YaST as an initial step.
To deactivate an installation source, select the installation source to remove then select
. The installation data are removed from the system. To deactivate the network service, use the respective YaST module.If your installation server should provide the installation data for more than one product of product version, start the YaST installation server module and select
in the overview of existing installation sources to configure the new installation source.Setting up an NFS source for installation is basically done in two steps. In the first step, create the directory structure holding the installation data and copy the installation media over to this structure. Second, export the directory holding the installation data to the network.
To create a directory holding the installation data, proceed as follows:
Log in as root
.
Create a directory that should later hold all installation data and change into this directory. For example:
mkdir install/product
/productversion
cd install/product
/productversion
Replace product
with an abbreviation of
the product name and productversion
with a
string that contains the product name and version.
For each CD contained in the media kit execute the following commands:
Copy the entire content of the installation CD into the installation server directory:
cp -a /media/path_to_your_CD-ROM_drive .
Replace
path_to_your_CD-ROM_drive
with the
actual path under which your CD or DVD drive is addressed.
Depending on the type of drive used in your system, this can be
cdrom
,
cdrecorder
, dvd
, or
dvdrecorder
.
Rename the directory to the CD number:
mvpath_to_your_CD-ROM_drive
CDx
Replace x
with the actual number
of your CD.
On openSUSE, you can export the installation sources with NFS using YaST. Proceed as follows:
Log in as root
.
Start
+ + .Select
and and click .Select
.productversion
Select exports
man page.
Click
. The NFS server holding the openSUSE installation sources is automatically started and integrated into the boot process.If you prefer manually exporting the installation sources via NFS instead of using the YaST NFS Server module, proceed as follows:
Log in as root
.
Open the file /etc/exports
and enter the
following line:
/productversion
*(ro,root_squash,sync)
This exports the directory
/
to
any host that is part of this network or to any host that
can connect to this server. To limit the access to this server, use
netmasks or domain names instead of the general wild card
productversion
*
. Refer to the export
man
page for details. Save and exit this configuration file.
To add the NFS service to the list of servers started during system boot, execute the following commands:
insserv /etc/init.d/nfsserver insserv /etc/init.d/portmap
Start the NFS server with rcnfsserver start. If you need to change the configuration of your NFS server later, modify the configuration file and restart the NFS daemon with rcnfsserver restart.
Announcing the NFS server via OpenSLP makes its address known to all clients in your network.
Log in as root
.
Enter the directory
/etc/slp.reg.d/
.
Create a configuration file called
install.suse.nfs.reg
containing the following
lines:
# Register the NFS Installation Server
service:install.suse:nfs://$HOSTNAME/path_to_instsource
/CD1,en,65535
description=NFS Installation Source
Replace path_to_instsource
with
the actual path to the installation source on your server.
Save this configuration file and start the OpenSLP daemon with rcslpd start.
For more information about OpenSLP, refer to the package
documentation located under
/usr/share/doc/packages/openslp/
or refer to
Chapter 15, SLP Services in the Network. More Information about NFS is found in
Chapter 21, Sharing File Systems with NFS.
Creating an FTP installation source is very similar to creating an NFS installation source. FTP installation sources can be announced over the network using OpenSLP as well.
Create a directory holding the installation sources as described in Section 1.2.2, “Setting Up an NFS Installation Source Manually”.
Configure the FTP server to distribute the contents of your installation directory:
Log in as root
and install the package
vsftpd
using
the YaST package manager.
Enter the FTP server root directory:
cd /srv/ftp
Create a subdirectory holding the installation sources in the FTP root directory:
mkdir instsource
Replace instsource
with the
product name.
Mount the contents of the installation repository into the change root environment of the FTP server:
mount --bindpath_to_instsource
/srv/ftp/instsource
Replace
path_to_instsource
and
instsource
with values matching your
setup. If you need to make this permanent, add it to
/etc/fstab
.
Start vsftpd with vsftpd.
Announce the installation source via OpenSLP, if this is supported by your network setup:
Create a configuration file called
install.suse.ftp.reg
under
/etc/slp.reg.d/
that contains the
following lines:
# Register the FTP Installation Server
service:install.suse:ftp://$HOSTNAME/srv/ftp/instsource
/CD1,en,65535
description=FTP Installation Source
Replace instsource
with the
actual name to the installation source directory on your
server. The service:
line should be entered
as one continuous line.
Save this configuration file and start the OpenSLP daemon with rcslpd start.
![]() | Configuring an FTP Server with YaST |
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If you prefer using YaST over manually configuring the FTP installation server, refer to Chapter 23, Setting up a FTP server with YaST for more information on how to use the YaST FTP server module. |
Creating an HTTP installation source is very similar to creating an NFS installation source. HTTP installation sources can be announced over the network using OpenSLP as well.
Create a directory holding the installation sources as described in Section 1.2.2, “Setting Up an NFS Installation Source Manually”.
Configure the HTTP server to distribute the contents of your installation directory:
Install the Web server Apache as described in Section 22.1.2, “Installation”.
Enter the root directory of the HTTP server
(/srv/www/htdocs
) and create a
subdirectory that will hold the installation sources:
mkdir instsource
Replace instsource
with the
product name.
Create a symbolic link from the location of the
installation sources to the root directory of the Web server
(/srv/www/htdocs
):
ln -s/path_instsource
/srv/www/htdocs/instsource
Modify the configuration file of the HTTP server
(/etc/apache2/default-server.conf
) to make
it follow symbolic links. Replace the following line:
Options None
with
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
Reload the HTTP server configuration using rcapache2 reload.
Announce the installation source via OpenSLP, if this is supported by your network setup:
Create a configuration file called
install.suse.http.reg
under
/etc/slp.reg.d/
that contains the
following lines:
# Register the HTTP Installation Server
service:install.suse:http://$HOSTNAME/srv/www/htdocs/instsource
/CD1/,en,65535
description=HTTP Installation Source
Replace
instsource
with the actual path to the installation source on your server.
The service:
line should be entered as one
continuous line.
Save this configuration file and start the OpenSLP daemon using rcslpd restart.
Using SMB, you can import the installation sources from a Microsoft Windows server and start your Linux deployment even with no Linux machine around.
To set up an exported Windows Share holding your openSUSE installation sources, proceed as follows:
Log in to your Windows machine.
Start Explorer and create a new folder that will hold the
entire installation tree and name it INSTALL
,
for example.
Export this share according the procedure outlined in your Windows documentation.
Enter this share and create a subfolder, called
.
Replace product
product
with the actual
product name.
Enter the
INSTALL/
folder
and copy each CD or DVD to a separate folder, such as
product
CD1
and CD2
.
To use a SMB mounted share as installation source, proceed as follows:
Instead of copying physical media into your server directory manually, you can also mount the ISO images of the installation media into your installation server and use them as installation source. To set up an HTTP, NFS or FTP server that uses ISO images instead of media copies, proceed as follows:
Download the ISO images and save them to the machine to use as the installation server.
Log in as root
.
Choose and create an appropriate location for the installation data, as described in Section 1.2.2, “Setting Up an NFS Installation Source Manually”, Section 1.2.3, “Setting Up an FTP Installation Source Manually”, or Section 1.2.4, “Setting Up an HTTP Installation Source Manually”.
Create subdirectories for each CD or DVD.
To mount and unpack each ISO image to the final location, issue the following command:
mount -o looppath_to_iso
path_to_instsource
/product
/mediumx
Replace path_to_iso
with the path to your
local copy of the ISO image,
path_to_instsource
with the source directory of
your server, product
with the product name, and
mediumx
with the type (CD or DVD) and number of
media you are using.
Repeat the previous step to mount all ISO images needed for your product.
Start your installation server as usual, as described in Section 1.2.2, “Setting Up an NFS Installation Source Manually”, Section 1.2.3, “Setting Up an FTP Installation Source Manually”, or Section 1.2.4, “Setting Up an HTTP Installation Source Manually”.
To automatically mount the iso images at boot time, add the
respective mount entries to /etc/fstab
. An
entry according to the previous example would look like the
following:
path_to_iso
path_to_instsource
/product
mediumx
auto loop