[mythtv-users] PXE boot mythbuntu iso (14.04)

[Tim Draper]

---- On Fri, 01 Aug 2014 19:37:35 +0100 Henry Law <news at lawshouse.org> wrote ---- 


On 01/08/14 17:44, Tim Draper wrote: 
> Aside from actually resorting to finding a dvd burner and burning a disk 
> off, does anyone have any ideas to how i can get mythbuntu installed via 
> non-dvd methods? 
 
The whole subject of PXE booting Ubuntu (and presumably also Mythbuntu) 
is shrouded in mystery and confusion. I've not tried with Myth, but I 
did wrestle my way to getting Ubuntu to boot that way. There is still 
much mystery and I am still confused, but I have one way of making it 
work. I'll describe it in case it helps you. 
 
The tftp boot configuration file (in my case ./pxelinux.cfg/default from 
the tftp root) is this: 
 
 DEFAULT menu.c32 
 PROMPT 0 
 NOESCAPE 0 
 ALLOWOPTIONS 0 
 TIMEOUT 600 
 MENU TITLE Boot images 
 LABEL Ubuntu Install 
 kernel ubuntu-12.04.4-desktop-i386/vmlinuz 
 append boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=10.18.78.254:/home/iso/ubuntu- 
12.04.4-desktop-i386 initrd=ubuntu-12.04.4-desktop-i386/initrd.lz -- 
splash only-ubiquity 
 
The tftp root has subdirectory 'ubuntu-12.04.4-desktop-i386' in which is 
initrd.lz and vmlinuz, copied from the 12.04.4 directory tree. The IP 
address of the server on which this is all running in 10.18.78.254, and 
it exports the whole 12.04.4 tree by NFS; it's then picked up by the 
"netboot=nfs" and the "nfsroot" spec. 
 
"--splash" and "only-ubiquity" are magic spells I saw in one of the many 
articles I read about this; my setup works with them and I'm not about 
to take them out just to see what happens. 
 
I hope that helps. I share your pain ... 
 

Thanks for the help - looks like the 'desktop' version is more different to the 'alternative' than i originally thought; i setup the alternative ubuntu installer at work without any nfs usage; runs purely over tftp.
The 'desktop' version seems to need the nfs export for anything more than kernel and initrd loading.

My actual PXE server is Microsofts WDS service, with a modded F12 boot menu that runs under syslinux, which then chainloads the WDS F12 menu. I was trying to avoid using the NFS option as that then puts the images away from the WDS server (nfs is running on my linux server), and so having to keep track of two systems for deployment. Not my idea scenario, but i now have PXE booting mythbuntu.

Thanks again for the info
Tim

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