xref: /src/distrib/notes/sun3/xfer

	$NetBSD: xfer,v 1.4 1998/01/09 18:47:39 perry Exp $	

Installation is supported from several media types, including:
	* Tape
	* NFS
	* CD-ROM
	* FTP

Note that installing on a "bare" machine requires some bootable
device; either a tape drive or Sun-compatible NFS server.

The procedure for transferring the distribution sets onto
installation media depends on the type of media.  Instructions
for each type of media are given below.

In order to create installation media, you will need all the 
files in this directory:
	.../NetBSD-_VER/sun3/

* Creating boot/install tapes:

Installing from tape is the simplest method of all.
This method uses two tapes; one called the "boot"
tape, and another called the "install" tape.

The boot tape is created as follows:

	cd .../NetBSD-_VER/sun3/installation/tapeimage
	sh MakeBootTape /dev/nrst0

The install tape is created as follows:

	cd .../NetBSD-_VER/sun3/installation/tapeimage
	sh MakeInstallTape /dev/nrst0

If the tapes do not work as expected, you may need to explicitly
set the EOF mark at the end of each tape segment.  It may also be
necessary to use the `conv=osync' argument to dd(1).  Note that
this argument is incompatible with the `bs=' argument.  Consult
the tape-related manual pages on the system where the tapes are
created for more details.

* Boot/Install from NFS server:

If your machine has a disk and network connection, but no tape drive,
it may be convenient for you to install NetBSD over the network.  This
involves temporarily booting your machine over NFS, just long enough
so you can initialize its disk.  This method requires that you have
access to an NFS server on your network so you can configure it to
support diskless boot for your machine.  Configuring the NFS server
is normally a task for a system administrator, and is not trivial.

If you are using a NetBSD system as the boot-server, have a look at
the diskless(8) manual page for guidelines on how to proceed with
this.  If the server runs another operating system, consult the
documentation that came with it (i.e. add_client(8) on SunOS).

Your Sun3 expects to be able to download a second stage bootstrap
program via TFTP after having acquired its IP address through RARP
when instructed to boot "over the net".  It will look for a filename
derived from the machine's IP address expressed in hexadecimal.  For
example, a sun3 which has been assigned IP address 130.115.144.11
will make an TFTP request for `8273900B'.  Normally, this file is a
symbolic link to the NetBSD/sun3 "netboot" program, which should be
located in a place where the TFTP daemon can find it (remember, many
TFTP daemons run in a chroot'ed environment).  The netboot program
may be found in the install directory of this distribution.

The netboot program will query a bootparamd server to find the
NFS server address and path name for its root, and then load a
kernel from that location.  The server should have a copy of the
netbsd-rd kernel in the root area for your client (no other files
are needed in the client root) and /etc/bootparams on the server
should have an entry for your client and its root directory.
The client will need access to the miniroot image, which can be
provided using NFS or remote shell.  If using NFS, miniroot.gz
must be expanded on the server, because there is no gzip program
in the RAMDISK image.  The unzipped miniroot takes 8MB of space.

If you will be installing NetBSD on several clients, it may be useful
to know that you can use a single NFS root for all the clients as long
as they only use the netbsd-rd kernel.  There will be no conflict
between clients because the RAM-disk kernel will not use the NFS root.
No swap file is needed; the RAM-disk kernel does not use that either.

* Install/Upgrade from CD-ROM:

This method requires that you boot from another device (i.e. tape
or network, as described above).  You may need to make a boot tape
on another machine using the files provided on the CD-ROM.  Once
you have booted netbsd-rd (the RAM-disk kernel) and loaded the
miniroot, you can load any of the distribution sets directly from
the CD-ROM.  The "install" program in the miniroot automates the
work required to mount the CD-ROM and extract the files.

* Install/Upgrade via FTP:

This method requires that you boot from another device (i.e. tape
or network, as described above).  You may need to make a boot tape
on another machine using the files in .../install (which you get
via FTP).  Once you have booted netbsd-rd (the RAM-disk kernel)
and loaded the miniroot, you can load any of the distribution sets
over the net using FTP.  The "install" program in the miniroot
automates the work required to configure the network interface and
transfer the files.

The preparations for this installation/upgrade method are easy; all
you make sure that there's some FTP site from which you can retrieve
the NetBSD distribution when you're about to install or upgrade.  You
need to know the numeric IP address of that site, and, if it's not on
a network directly connected to the machine on which you're installing
or upgrading NetBSD, you need to know the numeric IP address of the
router closest to the NetBSD machine.  Finally, you need to know the
numeric IP address of the NetBSD machine itself.