When I kickstart a system, I have the client mount the directory
containing the ISO images via NFS. This works very well, and there is no
need to mount the ISO image or copy the contents onto the server. I
would like to replicate this with Cobbler. An example import workflow
suggests that it is possible so I tried this:
==========
# mount -o ro,loop \
/appdata/osimages/redhat/iso/rhel-3-u9/rhel-3-u9-i386-as-disc1.iso
\
/mnt
# cobbler import --path=/mnt \
--name=rhel-3-u9 \
--available-as=nfs://filer-appdata01:/vol/dvol/appdata/osimages/redhat/iso/rhel-3-u9
---------------- (adding distros)
- scanning /mnt for architecture info
- creating new distro: rhel-3-u9-dosutils-autoboot-i386
- creating new profile: rhel-3-u9-dosutils-autoboot-i386
- scanning /mnt for architecture info
- creating new distro: rhel-3-u9-i386
- creating new profile: rhel-3-u9-i386
---------------- (associating kickstarts)
- using default kickstart file choice
- using default kickstart file choice
---------------- (syncing)
# umount /mnt
==========
I had a look around and it seemed as though everything was as I had
expected. So, I went on to add a second distro:
==========
# mount -o ro,loop \
/appdata/osimages/redhat/iso/rhel-5.2/rhel-5.2-client-i386-dvd.iso
\
/mnt
# cobbler import --path=/mnt \
--name=rhel-5.2-client \
--available-as=nfs://filer-appdata01:/vol/dvol/appdata/osimages/redhat/iso/rhel-5.2
---------------- (adding distros)
- scanning /mnt for architecture info
- kernel header found: kernel-headers-2.6.18-92.el5.i386.rpm
- creating new distro: rhel-5.2-client-i386
- creating new profile: rhel-5.2-client-i386
- scanning /mnt for architecture info
- kernel header found: kernel-headers-2.6.18-92.el5.i386.rpm
- creating new distro: rhel-5.2-client-xen-i386
- creating new profile: rhel-5.2-client-xen-i386
---------------- (associating kickstarts)
---------------- (syncing)
kernel not found: /mnt/dosutils/autoboot/vmlinuz, distro:
rhel-3-u9-dosutils-autoboot-i386
# umount /mnt
==========
Ooops...now my rhel-3 images are missing from /tftpboot and it did not
create a default PXE file. I think I understand the reason why this is
happening: as part of the sync, it wants to copy the kernel and initrd
from the source, but the source is no longer mounted. The work-around is
to manually copy the kernel and initrd from the CD/DVD somewhere Cobbler
can find them and use "cobbler distro add" but "import" is such a time
saver. Is there any possibility that this feature can be added?
Thanks,
Chris