Slackware 13.0slackware-13.0

Wed Aug 26 10:00:38 CDT 2009
Slackware 13.0 x86_64 is released as stable!  Thanks to everyone who
helped make this release possible -- see the RELEASE_NOTES for the
credits.  The ISOs are off to the replicator.  This time it will be a
6 CD-ROM 32-bit set and a dual-sided 32-bit/64-bit x86/x86_64 DVD.
We're taking pre-orders now at store.slackware.com.  Please consider
picking up a copy to help support the project.  Once again, thanks to
the entire Slackware community for all the help testing and fixing
things and offering suggestions during this development cycle.
As always, have fun and enjoy!  -P.

4 files changed, 1242 insertions, 0 deletions

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+

+PXE: Installing Slackware over the network

+==========================================

+

+

+Introduction

+------------

+

+    When the time comes to install Slackware on your computer, you have a 

+limited number of options regarding the location of your Slackware 

+packages.  Either you install them from the (un)official Slackware CDROM or 

+DVD, or you copy them to a pre-existing hard disk partition before starting 

+the installation procedure, or you fetch the packages from a network server

+(using either NFS, HTTP or FTP protocol).

+

+    The number of available options for booting your Slackware installer is 

+similarly limited: either you boot your computer from the bootable first 

+CDROM of the Slackware CD set, or from the DVD, or using a USB stick.  There

+is even loadlin, the DOS based Linux starter, but lets not concern ourselves

+with the past today. Slackware 12.0 abandoned the floppy boot altogether.

+

+    What if your PC is lacking a CDROM drive and refuses to boot from a USB

+stick?  Brands of PCs are on the market today (ultra-portable laptops for

+instance) that are unable to install Slackware the traditional way.  However,

+these machines are commonly equipped with network peripherals, like bluetooth, 

+wireless and wired network cards.  How to solve this dilemma? Buy an external

+CD drive?

+

+    Well, there is another way of booting your computer that the Slackware 

+installer supports.  That is the 'network boot'.  Network boot, or PXE boot,

+requires support from your computers network card and BIOS.  

+Also, instead of installing packages from a Slackware CDROM set or DVD, you

+will need a network server that can instruct your computer how to fetch those

+packages from the network.

+

+    In this README, I will show you how to perform an installation that uses

+the network as the carrier medium, with a server on the local network that

+holds the boot kernel and the root filesystem (which contains the setup

+program), and also has all the Slackware packages.  This means, there is no

+need for a floppy or CDROM drive.

+

+    Be warned: setting it all up is not trivial, and you need more than a 

+beginners level of Linux knowledge, but this text and the accompanying 

+example scripts in the last section should get you up and running even if 

+you do not completely understand what is going on :-)

+

+

+PXE boot explained

+------------------

+

+    The commonly used method of booting a computer over the network is 

+called PXE or 'Preboot Execution Environment'.  If you want your computer to 

+boot using PXE, it needs a network card with PXE-capable firmware, and a 

+BIOS that supports network boot.  Most modern network cards (and computers) 

+sold on the market today support this.  When a computer boots from the 

+network, it is the network card that downloads the bootloader, kernel and 

+a filesystem - any Operating System that might already be installed on the 

+computer will be untouched.  You can just as well boot a diskless computer 

+using PXE - in fact this is how Thin Clients and the Linux Terminal Server 

+Project work.

+

+    Of course, the other end of the network needs our attention, too.  A 

+PXE server needs to be available on the local network.  The PXE firmware in 

+your computers network card will contact this server in order to fetch some 

+kind of bootable program code and bootstrap itself.  What happens after the 

+computer boots up has no longer anything to do with the PXE boot stage, it

+is the bootstrapping process were interested in.

+We will cover the requirements for such a server in one of the next 

+paragraphs.

+

+

+The stages of a Slackware PXE install

+-------------------------------------

+

+    The Slackware network installation process will be roughly as follows:

+

+(1) You start the computer that is going to receive Slackware

+

+(2) On startup, you make sure you select network boot in the BIOS startup -

+    either by activating a custom startup sequence, or by entering a boot menu

+    after pressing a function key like 'F12', or else by preselecting network

+    boot as first option in the BIOS.

+

+(3) When the computer boots, the network card activates its PXE code and 

+    tries to contact a PXE server.  When such a server exists on the LAN,

+    it will tell the card where to download a piece of bootable code, an

+    Operating System kernel (the Slackware Linux kernel) and an initial

+    ramdisk (aka initrd - the compressed root-filesystem image where the

+    setup program, libraries and kernel modules are stored).

+    You will see a page full of mumbo-jumbo as the card broadcasts on the

+    LAN, and probes for possible candidate configurations to download;

+

+(4) If a willing PXE server is found, your computer's network card will 

+    then download a kernel and initrd, boot the Linux kernel, unpack the

+    initrd into a ramdisk and start the Slackware installer's initialization

+    sequence.  

+

+    This is where you'll be in familiar territory again, since this is exactly 

+    what happens if you had booted from a CDROM or a floppy.  But the fun is 

+    not over...

+    Since we booted the computer using code that did not originate from our 

+    computer, we will have to fetch the remainder of the data - the Slackware 

+    packages - from the network as well.  It's just that the freshly booted 

+    Linux kernel has no idea how it came to be running on the computer: you 

+    will have to initialize the network all over again.  The network card's

+    PXE firmware has done its job and is no longer in the picture.  So:

+

+(5) We need to load a kernel driver for our network card and locate a network 

+    server that holds the Slackware package tree.  Currently, you can choose

+    between installing from a NFS server, a Samba server or a HTTP/FTP

+    server.  Before starting cfdisk and setup, we need to run the ('pcmcia'

+    and/or) 'network' command to probe the network card and load a suitable

+    driver.  If your network card is not supported by any of the available

+    drivers, you are out of luck and will have to rethink your options.

+

+(6) From here on, installation proceeds as usual, under the condition that 

+    you select 'Install from NFS (Network File System)', 'Install from

+    FTP/HTTP server' or 'Install from Samba share' as the source of the

+    Slackware packages.

+

+

+Workstation requirements

+------------------------

+

+As stated before, the requirements for the computer you want to install 

+Slackware on, are as follows:

+

+(1) Network card (non-wireless) with PXE firmware, supported by Slackware

+

+(2) PC BIOS allowing to select 'network boot'

+

+    No other requirements have to be met for a network install, other than 

+those you'd already have to meet in order to be able to install and run 

+Slackware.

+

+

+Server requirements

+-------------------

+

+    This is the interesting part (well in my opinion at least - many people 

+consider this as a dark art).  A PXE Server is really a mix of several 

+components.  We need:

+

+(1) A service that understands the BOOTP protocol.  BOOTP is a network 

+    protocol somewhat like DHCP, and it is used by the PXE firmware to 

+    broadcast on the network its desire to find a suitable server to download 

+    the bootstrap code from.  The DHCP Server packages that are part of

+    Slackware fulfill this requirement, since they talk BOOTP as well as DHCP.

+    The packages are dhcpd and dnsmasq; pick the one you like most.

+

+(2) A download service for the bootstrap code.  A TFTP (trivial file 

+    transfer protocol) server is needed for this.  Slackware ships with an 

+    implementation of a TFTP server called tftpd-hpa which does what we need.

+

+(3) And for the Slackware installer, a NFS, HTTP, FTP or Samba server is

+    required because we must perform a network install.  We can use

+    Slackware's stock NFS, HTTP, FTP or Samba server for this.

+

+

+Configuration of the BOOTP/DHCP/TFTP/NFS services

+--------------------------------------------------

+

+    We'll look at how to set up the DHCP, TFTP and NFS services on a 

+Slackware computer so that they work together as a PXE server. It is left as

+an excercise for the user to find out how to configure Apache (HTTP) or

+proftpd (FTP) in case installation over HTTP or FTP is preferred.  In later

+examples, I will assume that the following URL's are valid for your HTTP/FTP

+server:

+        http://192.168.0.1/mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0

+        ftp://192.168.0.1/pub/mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0

+

+    The server will run all required services, i.e. acts as the LANs 

+DNS, DHCP, TFTP and NFS (or HTTP/FTP/Samba) server.  If you decide to

+separate DHCP and TFTP services onto two different servers (it does not

+matter where the NFS/HTTP/FTP/Samba server runs), I have included information

+about what you should be aware of in the next section on DHCP.

+

+    For ease of instruction, I will make a number of assumptions.  These 

+assumptions are reflected in IP addresses and address ranges that I use in 

+my examples, in the names of directories, computers and network domains.  

+This means that if you use the examples in this article, you should make 

+certain that you replace all occurrences of these specifics with values 

+that apply to your own network.

+

+(*) Our example network uses IP addresses in the range of 192.168.0.0 to 

+    192.168.0.254.  This is equivalent to a network range 192.168.0.0/24 or 

+    192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0.

+

+(*) Our network server will have the IP address of 192.168.0.1 and the 

+    default gateway is 192.168.0.10.  Server and gateway can be (but do not 

+    need to be) the same physical machine.

+

+(*) The IP address range that the DHCP server will use for leasing to 

+    DHCP/BOOTP enabled computers is 192.168.0.50 to 192.168.0.100.

+    This leaves enough room to have lots of machines with fixed IP addresses,

+    if you need them.

+

+(*) The DNS domain will be "my.lan".

+

+(*) Directories are used as follows:

+    Top level of the complete Slackware 13.0 directory tree (excluding the 

+    source code if you're short on disk space) is 

+    "/mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0"

+

+(*) The directory where we store the boot files for the TFTP server is 

+    "/tftpboot/slackware-13.0"

+

+

+DHCP

+----

+

+    You probably already have a DHCP server running on your network.  You 

+can try and modify its configuration so that it will do want we want, or if 

+that is impossible (for instance because the DHCP server is running on your 

+DSL/Cable router) you could consider disabling that and setting up a 

+Slackware DHCP server for your LAN with much enhanced functionality.

+

+    Slackware includes the ISC DHCP server package (dhcpd).  Two example 

+"/etc/dhcpd.conf" configuration files for this DHCP Server are included in the 

+last section of the article.

+

+    If you don't want to be bothered with fancy configurations but want a 

+quick solution that will just work for your network, use the first (simple) 

+example /etc/dhcpd.conf configuration file as well as the provided 

+/etc/rc.d/rc.dhcpd start script and you'll be up and running in minutes.  

+It requires no editing of files, the examples will work out of the box.

+

+    If you know what you're doing and understand (more or less) how the 

+DHCP server works, you can have a look at the second, more complex, 

+/etc/dhcpd.conf example which has more features and offers control over 

+what computers are allowed to do a network boot.

+

+    The rest of this chapter deals with the setup of a complex DHCP 

+configuration.

+

+    By default, we should not allow network boots in our network (which is 

+safer of course - imagine a computer that does an un-intended network boot 

+and suddenly finds itself running the Slackware installer!).  In the 

+/etc/dhcpd.conf configuration file, we add a 'group' section were we can add 

+those computers that we allow as network boot clients; the typical host 

+statement for a computer looks like this

+

+host t43 {

+    hardware ethernet 00:12:34:56:78:9a;

+    fixed-address 192.168.0.3;

+} 

+

+    Nothing spectacular; a computer is defined by the network card's 

+hardware address (MAC address) and we instruct the DHCP Server to always

+assign it the same IP address.  The boot-specific parameters are all contained

+in the 'group' block and look like this:

+

+group {

+  allow bootp;

+  next-server 192.168.0.1;

+  use-host-decl-names on;

+  if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient" {

+    filename "/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0";

+  }

+

+  host ABC {

+    .....

+  }

+

+  host XYZ {

+    .....

+  }

+}

+

+    This enables the DHCP server to detect network boot clients that use PXE 

+and serves them the PXElinux boot loader we make available at

+"/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0".  What this boot loader does will be explained

+further down the article.

+

+    The 'next-server' parameter contains the IP address of the TFTP server.  

+This will often be identical to the DHCP server's IP address, but if you 

+have a TFTP server that is running on a different IP address than the DHCP 

+server (i.e. they run on separate servers) you will have to add the remote 

+IP address instead, like this (assuming the TFTP server is running on IP 

+address 192.168.0.254):

+

+next-server 192.168.0.254;

+

+    If you are running a version of the 'ISC' dhcpd program that is >= 3.0.3,

+then the addition of a "next-server <ipaddress>;" line is mandatory.  For older

+releases this was only needed if the TFTP and DHCP Servers actually had 

+different addresses.

+

+    If you fail to set the 'next-server' address, the 'siaddr' field in the 

+data returned to the client is set to zero where in the past it would 

+default to the DHCP server's own IP address (which often happened to be the 

+IP address of the TFTP server as well).  The PXE client uses the 'siaddr' 

+field to determine the IP address of the TFTP server and so the PXE booting 

+will stall at the point of looking for a TFTP server.

+

+    If you are already using 'dnsmasq' as your DNS/DHCP server, then the 

+above instructions for the ISC DHCP server are not applicable to your 

+setup. Instead, you have to configure dnsmasq with this equivalent parameter:

+

+  dnsmasq --dhcp-boot=/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0,"192.168.0.1",192.168.0.1

+

+or add this line to your /etc/dnsmasq.conf:

+

+  dhcp-boot=/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0,"192.168.0.1",192.168.0.1

+

+The IP address "192.168.0.1" occurs twice; they should always be identical,

+and be the address of your TFTP server.

+

+

+TFTP

+----

+

+    The tftpd service is managed by inetd.  Enable the line for tftpd in 

+the file "/etc/inetd.conf" by removing the comment character at the beginning 

+of the line:

+

+  tftp  dgram  udp  wait  root  /usr/sbin/in.tftpd  in.tftpd -v -s /tftpboot -r blksize

+

+and reload inetd:

+

+  /etc/rc.d/rc.inetd restart

+

+We need to create the directory /tftpboot which will hold the bootstrap 

+files that tftpd will serve:

+

+mkdir /tftpboot

+

+    This directory is the root of a secure jail (the -s /tftpboot parameter 

+in /etc/inetd.conf).  The tftpd service is now configured and running.  We 

+just need to populate its root directory, but I"ll keep that for another 

+paragraph.

+

+As an alternative to in.tftpd, you may want to use the built-in tftp server

+of dnsmasq. If you are already using dnsmasq as your DHCP server, this would

+make sense.

+Add the two following commandline parameters to your dnsmasq commandline:

+

+  --enable-tftp --tftp-root=/tftpboot

+

+or add the following two lines to your /etc/dnsmasq.conf file:

+

+  enable-tftp

+  tftp-root=/tftpboot

+

+NFS

+---

+

+    You need to export the directory where you keep your local copy of the 

+Slackware packages, for instance by adding this to /etc/exports:

+

+/mirror/slackware      192.168.0.0/24(ro,sync,insecure,all_squash,subtree_check)

+

+If your Slackware packages are located somewhere below /mirror/slackware

+(like in our example network), the above line makes this directory tree

+available (read-only) to NFS clients in the local network defined by the IP

+address range 192.168.0.0/24.

+If you had to add this line to your /etc/exports file, you will need to

+restart the NFS server:

+

+  /etc/rc.d/rc.nfsd restart

+

+For simplicity's sake:

+The remainder of this chapter is a bullet list of the steps required if you

+just want to have this working and have no prior experience with NFS nor have

+such a server running at the moment (remember that any pathnames/IP addresses

+that are used here apply to our example network - adjust as needed):

+

+(*) Create a file named /etc/exports with the following content:

+

+      /mirror/slackware       192.168.0.0/24(ro,sync,insecure,all_squash)

+

+(*) The directory mentioned in /etc/exports is the target where

+    you copy (or move) your Slackware files to: The directory

+    "/mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0" should be the root of the Slackware

+    tree, containing such files as ChangeLog.txt and subdirectories like

+    "slackware" (or "slackware64" if you are working with the 64bit port)

+    and "kernels".

+

+(*) Make the NFS server startup script executable so that the NFS server 

+    will start on every boot:

+

+      chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.nfsd

+

+    Start the NFS server (so you don't have to reboot already):

+

+      /etc/rc.d/rc.nfsd start

+

+

+PXELinux configuration

+----------------------

+

+    The previous paragraph described in generic terms how to setup the TFTP

+service, but it did not tell you how to populate the TFTP directory structure.

+Network clients that request boot files from the TFTP server will receive

+the files that are present in this directory structure.

+

+    PXELinux is much like isolinux, which is the bootloader that is used 

+for the bootable Slackware CDROM #1.  In fact, both programs are written by 

+the same author and are available in Slackware via the syslinux package.  

+

+The tftp directory structure:

+

+    As you can see in the DHCP section, the DHCP server has been configured

+to offer any interested PXE client (i.e. your computers network card) the

+file "/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0" - this file contains the bootable code

+that first downloads and starts a Linux kernel, and then downloads and

+extracts the root filesystem containing the setup program and everything

+else that we need.  This filename "/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0" indicates

+a pathname relative to the root of the TFTP server.  The PXE client will

+use the tftp protocol to fetch this bootloader.  So this is what we do:

+create this directory "slackware-13.0" and copy the required files into it.

+First, the pxelinux bootloader itself:

+

+  mkdir /tftpboot/slackware-13.0

+  mkdir /tftpboot/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.cfg

+  cp /usr/lib/syslinux/pxelinux.0 /tftpboot/slackware-13.0/

+

+Also, we need the files from the Slackware CDROM that show the 

+informative messages in the beginning.  Assuming your local copy of the 

+Slackware release can be found in "/mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0"

+(change paths in the below commands if your location is different) :

+

+  cp /mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0/isolinux/message.txt /tftpboot/slackware-13.0/

+  cp /mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0/isolinux/f2.txt /tftpboot/slackware-13.0/

+

+Very important: we need the initial ramdisk image (initrd.img) and the pxelinux configuration file that contains the instructions for the PXE clients:

+

+  cp /mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0/isolinux/initrd.img /tftpboot/slackware-13.0/

+  cp /mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0/usb-and-pxe-installers/pxelinux.cfg_default /tftpboot/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.cfg/default

+

+And lastly, we need all the kernels that the Slackware installer lets you

+choose from:

+

+  cp -a /mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0/kernels /tftpboot/slackware-13.0/

+

+

+Trying it out

+-------------

+

+    You now have a fully configured PXE server.  Try it out!  Take a 

+computer that is able to do a network boot, start it, and watch it go 

+through the motions of contacting the PXE server, downloading the PXE boot 

+code and presenting you with the familiar Slackware installation screen! 

+From there on you're on familiar grounds: choose a kernel, and off you go.

+

+    If you're not familiar with network installations, here are some hints:

+

+    The installer uses UDEV to load the required driver(s) for your network

+card.  You can login as root, use (c)fdisk to create your partitions and

+start 'setup'.  By the time you get to the point where you select your

+preferred method of network installation, the installer will ask you to

+supply network configuration parameters (IP address, netmask, gateway).

+If a DHCP server was found on your local network, you will have the

+alternative option to use DHCP and automatically configure the interface.

+

+    ====================================================================

+    If for whatever reason you do not want to use UDEV, you can pass

+    the parameter 'noudev' at the boot commandline.  This will cause the

+    installer to fallback to the old behaviour where you have to load the

+    kernel driver for your network card yourself.  You do have to run

+    the command 'network' which is the interactive program that allows

+    you to pick a driver or let Slackware probe the card and load the

+    correct driver.  You can press 'L' to get a listing of all available

+    network drivers that you can select from (not all of them will be used

+    in the automatic probe).  If the network program fails to detect the

+    card, and you know what driver your card needs but don't see it listed,

+    you're out of luck!  If you forget to run the 'network' program before

+    you start 'setup', the network configuration dialog will run it when

+    the time comes, so that you do not have to start all over.

+    ====================================================================

+

+    Once you get to the SOURCE dialog, you can select either 'Install from NFS

+(Network File System)', 'Install from FTP/HTTP server' or 'Install from

+a Samba share' depending on which of those you have confgured for use

+and have available.  You will need to supply a couple of values for IP

+Addresses and the network server directory.

+

+As a first exercise, here are values to use with a NFS server (for our

+example network):

+

+Your IP Address (pick any unused): 192.168.0.111

+Your netmask:                      255.255.255.0

+The gateway:                       192.168.0.10

+NFS server address:                192.168.0.1

+Slackware directory on NFS server: /mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0/slackware

+

+Next, some values to use with a FTP server (for our example network):

+

+Your IP Address (pick any unused): 192.168.0.111

+Your netmask:                      255.255.255.0

+The gateway:                       192.168.0.10

+FTP server address:                ftp://192.168.0.1

+Slackware directory on ftpserver:  /pub/mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0

+

+Next, example values to use with a HTTP server (for our example network):

+

+Your IP Address (pick any unused): 192.168.0.111

+Your netmask:                      255.255.255.0

+The gateway:                       192.168.0.10

+HTTP server address:               http://192.168.0.1

+Slackware directory on webserver:  /mirror/slackware/slackware-13.0

+

+Finally, example values to use with a Samba share (for our example network):

+

+Your IP Address (pick any unused): 192.168.0.111

+Your netmask:                      255.255.255.0

+The gateway:                       192.168.0.10

+Samba share:                       //192.168.0.1/mirror

+Slackware directory on webserver:  /slackware/slackware-13.0

+

+    Note #1 - if you chose automatic network configuration using DHCP in an

+earlier step, you can probably use actual hostnames instead of IP addresses.

+This will depend on your LAN setup; if DHCP and DNS services are correctly

+configured, every network host will have a hostname that resolves to it's

+IP address.

+

+    Note #2 - in the case of the NFS server, you will have to supply the

+path to the Slackware package tree _including_ the '/slackware' subdirectory.

+For HTTP and FTP servers, it is sufficient to supply the root of the

+slackware-13.0 tree and leave the 'slackware' subdirectory out. The installer

+will figure out where the packages are.

+

+    From this point onwards, the installation proceeds just as when the 

+SOURCE would have been a CDROM.

+

+Good luck!

+Eric Hameleers.

+

+

+Example configuration scripts

+-----------------------------

+

+

+First example "/etc/dhcpd.conf"

+-------------------------------

+

+A simple /etc/dhcpd.conf for your DHCP Server where all computers are allowed

+to boot from the network using PXE.

+

+# dhcpd.conf

+#

+# Configuration file for ISC dhcpd

+#

+# If this DHCP server is the official DHCP server for the local

+# network, the authoritative directive should be uncommented.

+authoritative;

+ddns-update-style none;

+

+# Allow bootp requests

+allow bootp;

+

+# Point to the TFTP server:

+next-server 192.168.0.1;

+

+# Default lease is 1 week (604800 sec.)

+default-lease-time 604800;

+# Max lease is 4 weeks (2419200 sec.)

+max-lease-time 2419200;

+

+subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {

+    option domain-name "my.lan";

+    option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;

+    option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;

+    option domain-name-servers 192.168.0.1;

+    option routers 192.168.0.10;

+    range dynamic-bootp 192.168.0.50 192.168.0.100;

+    use-host-decl-names on;

+    if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient" {

+      filename "/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0";

+    }

+}

+

+

+Second example "/etc/dhcpd.conf:

+--------------------------------

+

+A more advanced /etc/dhcpd.conf file for your DHCP server where you can 

+specify exactly which computers are allowed to boot from the network using 

+PXE (but you will have to collect their MAC addresses yourself and put them 

+into separate host{} entries):

+

+# dhcpd.conf

+#

+# Configuration file for ISC dhcpd

+#

+

+# If this DHCP server is the official DHCP server for the local

+# network, the authoritative directive should be uncommented.

+authoritative;

+ddns-update-style none;

+

+# Ignore bootp requests:

+ignore bootp;

+

+# option definitions common to all configured networks...

+option domain-name-servers 192.168.0.1;

+

+subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {

+    option domain-name "my.lan";

+    option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;

+    option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;

+    option routers 192.168.0.10;

+    # We reserve the range 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.49 for static IP addresses

+    pool {

+      # Known clients (i.e. configured with a 'host' statement)

+      # that request an IP address via DHCP

+      range 192.168.0.50 192.168.0.100;

+      # Default lease is 1 week (604800 sec.)

+      default-lease-time 604800;

+      # Max lease is 4 weeks (2419200 sec.)

+      max-lease-time 2419200;

+      deny unknown clients;

+    }

+    pool {

+      # Guests

+      range 192.168.0.150 192.168.0.200;

+      # Default lease is 8 hours (28800 sec.)

+      default-lease-time 28800;

+      # Max lease is 24 hours (86400 sec.)

+      max-lease-time 86400;

+      deny known clients;

+    }

+}

+

+# Hosts which require special configuration options can be listed in

+# host statements. If no address is specified, the address will be

+# allocated dynamically (if possible), but the host-specific information

+# will still come from the host declaration.

+

+# Fixed IP addresses can also be specified for hosts. These addresses

+# should not also be listed as being available for dynamic assignment.

+# Hosts for which fixed IP addresses have been specified can boot using

+# BOOTP or DHCP. Hosts for which no fixed address is specified can only

+# be booted with DHCP, unless there is an address range on the subnet

+# to which a BOOTP client is connected which has the dynamic-bootp flag

+# set.

+

+# === Group definitions =============================================

+# Define groups of computers that you want to give special attention.

+

+group {

+  # Non-PXE machines

+

+  # Default lease is 1 week (604800 sec.)

+  default-lease-time 604800;

+  # Max lease is 2 weeks (1209600 sec.)

+  max-lease-time 1209600;

+

+  #host penguin {

+  #  hardware ethernet xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx;

+  #  fixed-address 192.168.0.2;

+  #}

+}

+

+group {

+  # PXEboot

+ 

+  # Default lease is 1 day (86400 sec.)

+  default-lease-time 86400;

+  # Max lease is 2 days (172800 sec.)

+  max-lease-time 172800;

+

+  # Allow bootp requests for this group:

+  allow bootp;

+

+  # Point to the TFTP server (required parameter!):

+  next-server 192.168.0.1;

+

+  # If you want to log the boot process, you will need to configure

+  # your logserver to allow logging from remote hosts.

+  #option log-servers 192.168.0.1;

+

+  use-host-decl-names on;

+

+  if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient" {

+    filename "/slackware-13.0/pxelinux.0";

+  }

+  else if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "Etherboot" {

+    filename "/slackware-13.0/kernels/hugesmp.s/bzImage";

+  }

+

+  host t43 {

+    # Add your computer's MAC Address here:

+    hardware ethernet yy:yy:yy:yy:yy:yy;

+    fixed-address 192.168.0.3;

+  }

+}  # end of PXEboot group

+

+

+RC script for DHCP

+------------------

+

+A Slackware start/stop script for the DHCP server that you can save as 

+"/etc/rc.d/rc.dhcpd".

+

+Don't forget to make the script executable:

+

+  chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.dhcpd

+

+You can add the following lines to /etc/rc.d/rc.local so that the DHCP 

+service starts when your server boots:

+

+if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.dhcpd ]; then

+  # Start the DHCP server:

+  /etc/rc.d/rc.dhcpd start

+fi

+

+This is the content of the file "/etc/rc.d/rc.dhcpd":

+

+#!/bin/sh

+#

+# /etc/rc.d/rc.dhcpd

+#      This shell script takes care of starting and stopping

+#      the ISC DHCPD service

+#

+

+# Put the command line options here that you want to pass to dhcpd:

+DHCPD_OPTIONS="-q eth0"

+

+[ -x /usr/sbin/dhcpd ] || exit 0

+

+[ -f /etc/dhcpd.conf ] || exit 0

+

+start() {

+      # Start daemons.

+      echo -n "Starting dhcpd:  /usr/sbin/dhcpd $DHCPD_OPTIONS "

+      /usr/sbin/dhcpd $DHCPD_OPTIONS

+      echo

+}

+stop() {

+      # Stop daemons.

+      echo -n "Shutting down dhcpd: "

+      killall -TERM dhcpd

+      echo

+}

+status() {

+  PIDS=$(pidof dhcpd)

+  if [ "$PIDS" == "" ]; then

+    echo "dhcpd is not running!"

+  else

+    echo "dhcpd is running at pid(s) ${PIDS}."

+  fi

+}

+restart() {

+      stop

+      start

+}

+

+# See how we were called.

+case "$1" in

+  start)

+        start

+        ;;

+  stop)

+        stop

+        ;;

+  restart)

+        stop

+        start

+        ;;

+  status)

+        status

+        ;;

+  *)

+        echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|status|restart}"

+        ;;

+esac

+

+exit 0

+

+

+========================================================

+Author:

+  Eric Hameleers <alien@slackware.com> 22-jul-2009

+Wiki URLs:

+  http://www.slackware.com/~alien/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=slackware:pxe

diff --git a/usb-and-pxe-installers/README_USB.TXT b/usb-and-pxe-installers/README_USB.TXT
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1f436ddc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usb-and-pxe-installers/README_USB.TXT
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+

+Installing Slackware using a bootable USB stick

+===============================================

+

+**WARNING:**

+  The procedure outlined below will destroy all data that is currently

+  stored on the USB stick you use to create a USB Slackware installer.

+

+

+Introduction

+------------

+

+    With the release of Slackware 12.0, the era of floppy-boot came to

+a definite end.  The reason is simple - the Linux 2.6 kernel will not

+fit on a single floppy, even in it's most condensed configuration.

+In this README, I will show you how to use a bootable USB stick to

+install Slackware.  This method - creating the USB equivalent of a

+boot/root floppy pair - is easy to use and fast. It requires that your

+computer is able to boot from USB-HDD.

+

+

+Booting the Slackware installer from a USB stick

+------------------------------------------------

+

+    The 'usbboot.img' file is a 25 MB small USB boot image that you can

+use to boot into the Slackware setup program.  The mini image does not

+contain any installable Slackware package.  In order to install Slackware

+you will need a local NFS/HTTP/FTP server or another Slackware package

+source like a prepared local harddisk partition.  This small image file

+works great, especially when you can't or don't want to use CDROM media

+as the carrier for the Slackware packages.

+The image is transfered to a USB stick in a matter of seconds.  Even the

+oldest and tiniest of USB drives is well suited for this purpose.

+

+    The usual way of installing Slackware from a network server repository,

+is to boot the Slackware CDROM, and run the ('pcmcia' and) 'network' script

+that load the drivers for your network card.  You need a working network

+card before running setup and go through the installation procedure.

+When you type 'pcmcia' and/or 'network', the Slackware installer would look

+for the appropriate driver files on an available CDROM, and if no CDROM

+is found it prompts you to insert floppy disks.

+

+    Now, with a boot from our USB stick we are assuming there is no CDROM 

+and no floppy drive available to us.  So, this USB boot image contains

+all the drivers you need and will not prompt you for additional 'floppies'.

+A consequence of adding all the network and pcmcia drivers to the USB image

+is that using a bootable USB stick is not a suitable method to install

+Slackware on old PCs that are low on memory!  The ramdisk will be more than

+30 MB in size, and you will need RAM for your kernel as well.

+

+

+Transfering the usbboot.img file to a USB device

+------------------------------------------------

+

+In order to create a bootable USB stick with the Slackware installer on it,

+copy the 'usbboot.img' file to a USB stick as follows:

+

+(1) In a Linux terminal if you're in X, or just from the console, change

+    directory to where the file 'usbboot.img' is located - you may have to

+    mount your Slackware CDROM or DVD first.

+(2) Insert a USB stick that is going to become your Slackware installer.

+    Note that all data the stick contains will be erased in the next steps!

+    You need to find out the device name for this USB stick.  Sometimes it

+    helps to run the command 'rescan-scsi-bus' if the USB stick is not 

+    being detected right away.

+    On systems without SCSI or SATA disks, the USB stick will usually be

+    assigned '/dev/sda' as the device name.  If '/dev/sda' already is your

+    SCSI or SATA hard drive, then '/dev/sdb' would become the device name

+    for the USB stick.  Be very convinced that you know which device name

+    represents your stick before you advance to the next step!

+(3) Transfer the image file to the USB stick using the 'dd' program.  In the

+    example command line below, I am assuming that the USB stick is known as

+    '/dev/sdx'.

+

+      dd if=usbboot.img of=/dev/sdx bs=512

+

+    Be careful about the device name for your USB stick!  The above 'dd' 

+    command will wipe out any existing data on the device, so you had better 

+    be sure that it is not the SATA hard disk you're targeting!

+

+

+Booting from the USB stick

+--------------------------

+

+    Your computer BIOS must support booting from USB HDD.

+

+    Plug the stick into your computers USB slot, and boot it up.  Make 

+sure you select boot from USB-HDD - how you do this is very dependent on 

+the type of computer you have.  Many computers will display a message 

+during the initial stages of the booting that says something like

+"Press [F12] for a boot device list".

+

+    The Slackware installer will start just like when you had booted from 

+a CDROM (maybe somewhat faster even).  Log in as root.  Start the install

+by partitioning your hard drive as usual, and running 'setup'.  If you want

+to install from a network server such as a NFS, HTTP or FTP server, you

+should run the commands 'pcmcia' (if your network card is a PCMCIA type)

+and/or 'network' prior to running 'setup' in order to load a driver for

+your network card.  If you want to install Slackware using a local hard

+disk partition in case you copied the content of the Slackware CDROMs/DVD

+there already, that is also an option.

+It would not make much sense to opt for the third install method to

+"use a CDROM" since we just abandoned the use of a CDROM medium :-)

+

+

+A remark about fdisk warnings

+-----------------------------

+

+    After writing the 'usbboot.img' to the USB stick, if you run fdisk -l 

+you will see alarming output like this:

+

+ This doesn't look like a partition table

+ Probably you selected the wrong device.

+ 

+    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System

+ /dev/sda1   ?     8563200     8326647  2088818490    1  FAT12

+ Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):

+      phys=(124, 38, 11) logical=(8563199, 1, 16)

+ Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:

+      phys=(344, 195, 26) logical=(8326646, 0, 49)

+ Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.

+

+... and so on, for partitions 2, 3 and 4 as well.

+

+    This is actually harmless.  The 'usbboot.img' file was copied to the

+raw device, it did not create partitions at all.  Fdisk reads the information

+in the first sector and incorrectly interprets that as a messed-up device.

+

+

+Restoring a USB stick to its original state

+-------------------------------------------

+

+    When you have used the small 25 MB image to create a USB installer, 

+your USB stick is no longer useful for anything else.  Any remaining 

+space on the stick (assuming you used a larger-than 25 MB stick for it) 

+is inaccessible.  Fortunately, it is easy to re-create a FAT partition on 

+the stick (thereby removing the Slackware installer of course) so that 

+the USB stick again becomes available for carrying around your data.

+

+    Take care about which device actually is your USB stick !!! The next 

+command will render all data on /dev/sdx inaccessible !!!

+

+(1) First, wipe the bootsector of the USB stick:

+

+      dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdx bs=512 count=1

+

+(2) Then, create a new FAT32 partition on the stick and write a FAT32 

+    filesystem on it (vfat or type b in fdisk terminology):

+

+fdisk /dev/sdx <<EOF

+n

+p

+1

+

+

+t

+b

+w

+EOF

+mkdosfs -F32 /dev/sdx1

+

+    The 10 lines starting with 'fdisk /dev/sdx <<EOF' and ending with the 

+    single word 'EOF' is actually one single command spread over ten lines,

+    including the two empty lines in the middle.  This format is called a

+    'here-document'.  It allows you to use a command which expects interactive

+    input in a non-interactive way.  If you're uncomfortable with the above

+    command you can just run

+

+      fdisk /dev/sdx

+

+    and create a partition interactively :-)

+

+==========================================================

+Author:   Eric Hameleers <alien@slackware.com> 22-jul-2009

+Wiki URL: http://www.slackware.com/~alien/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=slackware:usbboot

+

diff --git a/usb-and-pxe-installers/pxelinux.cfg_default b/usb-and-pxe-installers/pxelinux.cfg_default
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de1e34ccd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usb-and-pxe-installers/pxelinux.cfg_default
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+default huge.s
+prompt 1
+timeout 1200
+display message.txt
+F1 message.txt
+F2 f2.txt
+label huge.s
+  kernel kernels/huge.s/bzImage
+  append initrd=initrd.img load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 rw SLACK_KERNEL=huge.s
+label speakup.s
+  kernel kernels/speakup.s/bzImage
+  append initrd=initrd.img load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 rw SLACK_KERNEL=speakup.s
diff --git a/usb-and-pxe-installers/usbimg2disk.sh b/usb-and-pxe-installers/usbimg2disk.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d98e21de4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usb-and-pxe-installers/usbimg2disk.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,278 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# $Id: usbimg2disk.sh,v 1.2 2009/05/14 10:29:38 eha Exp eha $
+#
+# Copyright 2009  Eric Hameleers, Eindhoven, NL
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# Redistribution and use of this script, with or without modification, is
+# permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+#
+# 1. Redistributions of this script must retain the above copyright
+#    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+#
+#  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
+#  WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
+#  MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO
+#  EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+#  SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
+#  PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS;
+#  OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
+#  WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
+#  OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
+#  ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+
+# Paranoid as usual:
+set -e
+
+showhelp() {
+  echo "# "
+  echo "# Purpose: to use the content of Slackware's usbboot.img and transform"
+  echo "#   a standard USB thumb drive with a single vfat partition"
+  echo "#   into an alternative USB boot device for the Slackware installer."
+  echo "# "
+  echo "# Reason: some computers refuse to boot from a USB thumb drive if it was"
+  echo "#   made bootable by dumping 'usbboot.img' onto it."
+  echo "# "
+  echo "# Your USB thumb drive may contain data!"
+  echo "# This data will *not* be overwritten, unless you have"
+  echo "#   explicitly chosen to format the drive by using the '-f' parameter."
+  echo "# "
+  echo "# $(basename $0) accepts the following parameters:"
+  echo "#   -h|--help                  This help"
+  echo "#   -f|--format                Format the USB drive before use"
+  echo "#   -i|--infile <filename>     Full path to the usbboot.img file"
+  echo "#   -l|--logfile <filename>    Optional logfile to catch fdisk output"
+  echo "#   -o|--outdev <filename>     The device name of your USB drive"
+  echo "#   -u|--unattended            Do not ask any questions"
+  echo "# "
+  echo "# Example:"
+  echo "# "
+  echo "# $(basename $0) -i ~/download/usbboot.img -o /dev/sdX"
+  echo "# "
+}
+
+reformat() {
+  # Commands to re-create a functional USB stick with VFAT partition:
+  # Only parameter: the name of the USB device to be formatted:
+  TOWIPE="$1"
+
+  # Sanity checks:
+  if [ ! -b $TOWIPE ]; then
+    echo "*** Not a block device: '$TOWIPE' !"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # Wipe the MBR:
+  dd if=/dev/zero of=$TOWIPE bs=512 count=1
+
+  # create a FAT32 partition (type 'b')
+  /sbin/fdisk $TOWIPE <<EOF
+n
+p
+1
+
+
+t
+b
+w
+EOF
+
+  # Format with a vfat filesystem:
+  /sbin/mkdosfs -F32 ${TOWIPE}1
+}
+
+makebootable() {
+  # Only parameter: the name of the USB device to be set bootable:
+  USBDRV="$1"
+
+  # Sanity checks:
+  if [ ! -b $USBDRV ]; then
+    echo "Not a block device: '$USBDRV' !"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # Set the bootable flag for the first (and only...) partition:
+  /sbin/sfdisk $USBDRV -N1 <<EOF
+,,,*
+EOF
+}
+
+# Parse the commandline parameters:
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+  showhelp
+  exit 1
+fi
+while [ ! -z "$1" ]; do
+  case $1 in
+    -f|--format)
+      REFORMAT=1
+      shift
+      ;;
+    -h|--help)
+      showhelp
+      exit
+      ;;
+    -i|--infile)
+      USBIMG="$(cd $(dirname $2); pwd)/$(basename $2)"
+      shift 2
+      ;;
+    -l|--logfile)
+      LOGFILE="$(cd $(dirname $2); pwd)/$(basename $2)"
+      shift 2
+      ;;
+    -o|--outdev)
+      TARGET="$2"
+      TARGETPART="${TARGET}1"
+      shift 2
+      ;;
+    -u|--unattended)
+      UNATTENDED=1
+      shift
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "Unknown parameter '$1'!"
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+# Before we start:
+[ -x /bin/id ] && CMD_ID="/bin/id" || CMD_ID="/usr/bin/id"
+if [ "$($CMD_ID -u)" != "0" ]; then
+  echo "You need to be root to run $(basename $0)."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Prepare the environment:
+UNATTENDED=${UNATTENDED:-0}   # unattended means: never ask questions.
+REFORMAT=${REFORMAT:-0}       # do not try to reformat by default
+LOGFILE=${LOGFILE:-/dev/null} # silence by default
+
+# Sanity checks:
+if [ -z "$TARGET" -o -z "$USBIMG" ]; then
+  echo "*** You must specify both the names of usbboot.img and the USB device!"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f $USBIMG ]; then
+  echo "*** This is not a useable file: '$USBIMG' !"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ $REFORMAT -eq 0 ]; then
+  if ! /sbin/blkid -t TYPE=vfat $TARGETPART 1>/dev/null 2>/dev/null ; then
+    echo "*** I fail to find a 'vfat' partition: '$TARGETPART' !"
+    echo "*** If you want to format the USB thumb drive, add the '-f' parameter."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+else
+  if [ ! -b $TARGET ]; then
+    echo "*** Not a block device: '$TARGET' !"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+if mount | grep -q $TARGETPART ; then
+  echo "***"
+  echo "*** Please un-mount $TARGETPART first, then re-run this script!"
+  echo "***"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check for prerequisites:
+if [ ! -r /usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin -o ! -x /usr/bin/syslinux ]; then
+  echo "This script requires that the syslinux package is installed!"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Show the USB device's information to the user:
+if [ $UNATTENDED -eq 0 ]; then
+  [ $REFORMAT -eq 1 ] && DOFRMT="format and " || DOFRMT="" 
+
+  echo ""
+  echo "# We are going to ${DOFRMT}use this device - '$TARGET'."
+  /sbin/fdisk -l $TARGET | while read LINE ; do echo "# $LINE" ; done
+  echo ""
+
+  echo "***                                                       ***"
+  echo "*** If this is the wrong drive, then press CONTROL-C now! ***"
+  echo "***                                                       ***"
+
+  read -p "Or press ENTER to continue: " JUNK
+  # OK... the user was sure about the drive...
+fi
+
+# Initialize the logfile:
+cat /dev/null > $LOGFILE
+
+# If we need to format the USB drive, do it now:
+if [ $REFORMAT -eq 1 ]; then
+  echo "--- Formatting $TARGET and creating VFAT partition..."
+  if [ $UNATTENDED -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "--- Last chance! Press CTRL-C to abort!"
+    read -p "Or press ENTER to continue: " JUNK
+  fi
+  ( reformat $TARGET ) 1>>$LOGFILE 2>&1
+fi
+
+# Create a temporary mount point for the image file:
+mkdir -p /mnt
+MNTDIR1=$(mktemp -d -p /mnt -t img.XXXXXX)
+if [ ! -d $MNTDIR1 ]; then
+  echo "*** Failed to create a temporary mount point for the image!"
+  exit 1
+else
+  chmod 700 $MNTDIR1
+fi
+
+# Create a temporary mount point for the USB thumb drive partition:
+MNTDIR2=$(mktemp -d -p /mnt -t usb.XXXXXX)
+if [ ! -d $MNTDIR2 ]; then
+  echo "*** Failed to create a temporary mount point for the usb thumb drive!"
+  exit 1
+else
+  chmod 700 $MNTDIR2
+fi
+
+# Mount the image file:
+mount -o loop $USBIMG $MNTDIR1
+
+# Mount the vfat partition
+mount $TARGETPART $MNTDIR2
+
+# Check available space:
+USBFREE=$(df -k $TARGETPART | grep "^$TARGETPART" |tr -s ' ' | cut -d' ' -f4)
+IMGSIZE=$(du -k $USBIMG | cut -f1)
+echo "--- Available free space on the the USB drive is $USBFREE KB"
+echo "--- Required free space: $IMGSIZE KB"
+
+# Exit when the image size appears larger than available space:
+if [ $IMGSIZE -gt $USBFREE ]; then
+  echo "*** The USB thumb drive does not have enough free space!"
+  # Cleanup and exit:
+  umount -f $MNTDIR1
+  umount -f $MNTDIR2
+  rmdir $MNTDIR1 $MNTDIR2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Copy files to the USB disk in it's own subdirectory '/syslinux'
+echo "--- Copying files to the USB drive..."
+mkdir -p $MNTDIR2/syslinux
+cp -a $MNTDIR1/* $MNTDIR2/syslinux/
+rm -f $MNTDIR2/syslinux/ldlinux.sys
+
+# Unmount everything:
+umount -f $MNTDIR1
+umount -f $MNTDIR2
+
+# Remove the temporary directories:
+rmdir $MNTDIR1 $MNTDIR2
+
+# Run syslinux and write a good MBR:
+echo "--- Making the USB drive '$TARGET' bootable..."
+( makebootable $TARGET ) 1>>$LOGFILE 2>&1
+/usr/bin/syslinux -s -d /syslinux $TARGETPART 1>>$LOGFILE 2>&1
+dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=$TARGET 1>>$LOGFILE 2>&1
+
+# THE END