[mythtv-users] Mythbuntu 9.04, Boot On LAN, DHCP c\o pfSense

[Mike Perkins]

Tortise wrote:
> Finally got this booting
> 
> Server MCC:
> Diskless Server:
> Select CPU architecture of your clients: i386
> Apply  (Wait hours!)
> Choose image
> i386
> Commit changes (use the underlying defaults)
> 
> pfSense:
> DHCP Server serving IP's to named MAC addresses
> Enable Network booting
> Server address: {Whatever}
> Enter the IP address from the network boot server:   /ltsp/i386/pxelinux.0
> 
> Frontend(s)
> Enable PXE boot on LAN function (details depend on system - either using motherboard BIOS if there or BootonLAN capable NIC)
> Seem to boot into a generic image.
> 
> At the moment I have two diskless front ends and both will boot at same time.  Kewl.
> 
> Presumably they each have their own Desktop, file set, config etc(?)
> 
> Now need to presumably configure each with vdpau etc.  I guess I have to add in JYA's repo into synaptic with his keys etc into each 
> frontend.
> 
> Nice to get rid of the greatest FE noise, the HDD's.  Boot speed is also better than HDD, which was a pleasant surprise!  Some 
> smarts don't seem to be there, for example typing sensors usually gives a prompt telling what to install, however not so in the 
> images. 
> 
You probably ought not to be booting LTSP clients if you want them to run 
mythfrontend. Since all LTSP processes effectively run on the server, you would 
be faced with running several mythfrontends on the same host, which could get 
interesting. Not to mention, LTSP uses the remote X functionality to display the 
desktops on the thin clients, and myth does too much for that to work properly. 
I know, I've played around with that in the past.

It is perfectly possible to serve both from the same system, however. I run a 
host which serves both LTSP clients and a diskless mythfrontend.

I think you should be booting minimyth (http://minimyth.org/) for your front 
ends. It is a relatively straightforward matter to add in the required files 
alongside those installed by the LTSP functions. You would also need to add 
extra lines to dhcp.conf to handle your dedicated mythfrontend clients. Because 
of this, I don't let my pfSense firewall run the dhcp, it's all handled by the 
master server, which in any case has to run tftpboot and other services for the 
thin clients. This has the added advantage of keeping the configuration all on 
one machine.

Hope this helps.

-- 

Mike Perkins