Provided by: fai-server_5.0.3ubuntu1_all bug

NAME

       fai-chboot - manage the network boot configuration files

SYNOPSIS

       fai-chboot [OPTION]... KERNELNAME HOST...
       fai-chboot -l[e|d|t|o|g] [PATTERN]
       fai-chboot -e HOST...
       fai-chboot -d HOST...
       fai-chboot -c HOST|TEMPLATE HOST|TEMPLATE...
       fai-chboot -i [OPTION]... HOST...
       fai-chboot -I [OPTION]... HOST...

DESCRIPTION

       This command creates the configuration files for network booting using pxelinux and DHCP.

       KERNELNAME  is the file name of the kernel that will be booted. This kernel will mount the
       root filesystem via NFS. You can add additional kernel  parameters  and  define  some  FAI
       specific  flags.  For  each  host  one configuration file is created. The file name of the
       configuration file is its IP address in upper case hexadecimal or its MAC address with the
       prefix "01-". HOST can be a host name, an IP or a MAC address or the keyword "default".

OPTIONS

       -B     Set default values for FAI_FLAGS. This is the same as -f verbose,sshd,reboot

       -c     Copy  an existing config file to one or more hosts or templates and enable them for
              network booting.

       -C CFDIR
              Use CFDIR as the configuration directory. Default is /etc/fai. You can also set the
              environment variable FAI_ETC_DIR.

       -D DIR Set  the  directory for the network boot configuration to DIR. The default value is
              /srv/tftp/fai/pxelinux.cfg/.

       -d     Disable the PXE configuration for the specific HOST. This renames the  config  file
              adding the suffix .disable to it, making PXE boot fall back to the default.

       -e     Reenable network booting for HOST. This renames the config file removing the suffix
              .disable from it, so the next time it uses its own PXE configuration.

       -E     Add FAI_FLAG initial. This causes setup-storage to disable  preserving  partitions.
              This may erase (therefore option E) data on the disk.

       -f fai_flags
              Set FAI_FLAGS. The flags must be comma separated.

       -F     Set default values for FAI_FLAGS. This is the same as -f verbose,sshd,createvt

       -h     Show simple help and version.

       -i     Set  parameters  for booting the FAI install kernel (proper initrd, boot from nfs).
              This does not set FAI_ACTION

       -I     Same as -i but also sets FAI_ACTION=install. So a fully automatic installation will
              be performed. ATTENTION! This will erase most of the data on the local disks of the
              install clients.

       -k parameters
              Set kernel append parameters.

       -l     List the configuration for all hosts in short format. If  PATTERN  is  given,  list
              only hosts matching PATTERN. Lists hostname, FAI_ACTION, kernel name and IP address
              in hex. Use -le, to list only enabled hosts, -ld to list only disabled  hosts,  -lt
              to  list  only  templates,  -lo  to  list  only  hosts that do not match any of the
              previous categories, and -lg to list the configuration for all  hosts,  sorted  and
              ordered  by groups (enabled, disabled, templates, others).  Note that a combination
              of multiple -l options is not supported and that in listing mode  no  other  action
              will be performed.

       -L     List  the  configuration for all hosts. Also list the kernel append parameters.  If
              PATTERN is given, list only hosts matching PATTERN.

       -n     Do not create configuration but show what would be  done.  This  also  enables  the
              verbose flag.

       -o     Do  localboot via PXE. Do not boot via network card, but use next boot device which
              is specified in the BIOS. Normally this is the local disk.

       -p     Preserve existing config files. The default is  to  overwrite  an  existing  config
              file.

       -P     Add  the  pxelinux  option  IPAPPEND  6  to  the config file. This will add the two
              variables BOOTIF and SYSUUID to the kernel command line, that are also  defined  as
              variables inside FAI.

              Example:
                   BOOTIF=01-08-00-27-12-34-56
                   SYSUUID=00234567-1111-2222-3333-123456789000

       -s SUFFIX
              Use SUFFIX to determine which kernel and initrd to use.

       -S     Same as -i but also sets FAI_ACTION=sysinfo.

       -u URL Set  FAI_CONFIG_SRC to URL. Setting this variable is mandatory for the operation of
              FAI. See fai.conf(5) for the format of this variable.

       -U URL Add URL to kernel and initrd file names. lpxelinux.0  can  use  FTP  and  HTTP  for
              getting these files.

       -v     Create verbose output.

EXAMPLES

       fai-chboot -l
              List     the    configuration    for    all    hosts.     fai-chboot    -FSPv    -u
              nfs://faiserver/srv/fai/config atom02 The host atom02 will  boot  the  FAI  install
              kernel but with FAI_ACTION sysinfo.

       fai-chboot -l tmpl
              All templates are lsited.

       fai-chboot -IBPv -u nfs://faiserver/srv/fai/config atom02
              The  host atom02 will be installed. ATTENTION! All data on the local hard disks are
              lost in most cases, because we want to install a new system. After the installation
              the host automatically reboots.

       fai-chboot -vSP -s2.6.18-4-amd64 faiserver
              Booting kernel vmlinuz-2.6.18-4-amd64
               append initrd=initrd.img-2.6.18-4-amd64 ip=dhcp

              faiserver has 1.2.3.4 in hex 01020304
              Writing file /srv/tftp/fai/pxelinux.cfg/01020304 for faiserver

       fai-chboot -IFv -u nfs://faiserver/srv/fai/clusterconf node03
              node03  will be installed using the configuration space /srv/fai/clusterconf, which
              is mounted from faiserver via NFS.

       fai-chboot memtest86+ atom02
              The host atom02 will boot the memory test. Install the package memtest86+ and  copy
              the executable memtest86+.bin to /srv/tftp/fai without the .bin suffix.

       fai-chboot -o default
              All  hosts,  that  do  not  have a PXE configuration for their IP-address will do a
              localboot, i.e. booting from local disk.

       fai-chboot -vc lenny64 james007
              This command will tell the host  james007  to  use  the  template  called  lenny64.
              Beforehand,   you   have   to   manually   create  the  template  and  save  it  to
              /srv/tftp/fai/pxelinux.cfg/lenny64.tmpl.

       fai-chboot -iFPv atom02 atom03 dom kueppers
              The hosts atom02, atom03, dom and  kueppers  will  boot  the  FAI  install  kernel.
              FAI_ACTION  will not be set unless specified with option -k or -I. You can also use
              the script class/LAST.var on the install server to set FAI_ACTION.

       NOTES  Currently only PXE boot is supported.

SEE ALSO

       /usr/share/doc/syslinux/pxelinux.doc.gz The pxelinux documentation.

       This program is part of FAI (Fully Automatic Installation). See the FAI  manual  for  more
       information on how to use fai-chboot. The FAI homepage is http://fai-project.org.

AUTHOR

       Thomas Lange <lange@informatik.uni-koeln.de>