On Mon, 2001-11-12 at 06:09, Thomas Lange wrote: > > > I'm trying to set up a cluster of identical workstations to be a > > cluster. FAI seems waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to crazy to set up right > > now to me (especially after fighting through getting that nfs-root disk > > built = 6 hours of manual script editing and debugging). Does anyone > > Can you describe the problems inb more detail ? Why didn't you contact > me directly ??? 6 hours of debugging is to much !
Most of the 6 hours was spent just trying to figure out why when I tried to do it the dbootstrap way nothing was happening. I tracked it down to having to use "sid" instead of unstable, then I started to have downloading problems, since the script starts fresh every time it was wiping things and I changed that, which led to more isssues about symlinks and other things later on. Then I got into the config area and sort of just threw up my hands. What I need to see is basically a decision and action flow chart that FAI takes for configuration. I plan to fully understand the FAI system ... it's just too much that is unknown to me at the moment. > > I think you want to install a woody system with FAI. There were some > problems with FAI 2.2.2 and woody but most of them are fixed in the > new version in the CVS tree. But again, send an email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] and describe your problems. > > > > Otherwise I'm just going to build a complete nfs-root system with > > debootstrap on the master, boot nodes with rescue and root, nfs mount a > . > . > > lilo to reboot. If anyone has tips or suggestions or horror stories I'd > > also appreciate those. > > The fastest way to install machines is to fix the problem you have with > FAI. Writing your own install script will surely not lead to a > installed system in a short time. > > So please contact me. What I am going to do at the moment is take the core of the FAI idea (at least I think it's the core) and have systems mount the nfs-root that will be the new system, partition with sfdisk from a file (they are all identical so this is not an issue) make my raid drives, mount the target and un-tar the sytem, changing the config files in just a few places. It's really just a matter of what I can do the fastest at this moment. Like I said initially, FAI seems to be what I want in the future, it's just that the deadline came up too quickly and I'm more comfortable working with something I understand completely. For under 20 identical workstations once I have my shell script written it should be mostly painless, though I still have to manually config each box due to the network card issues so I'm already missing the put in a floppy and go philosophy of FAI. I actually hope to contribute to the project in the near future once I can fully grok it. --mike
