Re: [Sheflug] NFS the hard way

[James Wallbank <nospam [at] lowtech.org>]

Hi Everyone,

Yeah!!!! :-)

Done it! An NFS server from a floppy boot!

The problems I was having all stemmed from the fact that portmap 
wasn't running on tomsrtbt, and frequently I was booting with 
floppies that didn't have enough features to get networking up. And a 
load of other stuff as well. Thanks for your suggestions. In the end 
I tracked down an "NFS on a floppy HOWTO" which helped almost as much 
as you did!

The answer (specifically) was this:

1 Make a net.i boot disk from a Slackware 7.1 CD. (The net.i boot 
disk has a few ethernet drivers in - including the right ones!)

2 Make a text.gz root disk from the same CD.

3 Copy portmap, rpc.nfsd and rpc.mountd to a blank floppy.

4 Boot the potential client with tomsrtbt, which can ping, but can't serve nfs.

5 Boot the server with the Slackware disks, then change the text.gz 
disk for the portmap & co. disk.

6 Mount the target disks on the client with tomsrtbt, mount the 
source on the server with Slackware.

7 Make an appropriate /etc/exports on the server and enable 
networking with ifconfig and route.

8 Ping the server from the client to check everything (the server can't ping!)

9 cd /floppy on the server and ./portmap, ./rpc.mountd and ./rpc.nfsd 
(in that order).

10 Mount the server:/source from the client (as appropriate for your 
/etc/exports) and get copying!

This method is good for backing up ANY hard disk from ANY OS for 
which you've got kernel support or modules to suit. When you thinck 
about it, it solves LOADS of problems. Installing laptops with no CD? 
No problem! Cloning your h/d? Similarly simple! Just boot with the 
three floppy set and you can mount the h/d remotely.

My recommendation? Get a crossover cable right away - disk 
duplication can be fun!

Cheers everyone, I really appreciate your help.

James
=====
-- 
who: James Wallbank
org: Redundant Technology Initiative
tel: +44 114 2495522
fax: +44 114 2495533
eml: rti [at] lowtech.org
web: www.lowtech.org
loc: Access Space
      1 Sidney Street
      Sheffield
      S1 4RG
      UK
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