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Mercutio879
4 Posts
0
1666
December 28th, 2012 11:00
Boot linux from NFS Share
I'm trying to convert a bunch of old workstations into diskless linux desktops. I've setup an NFS share on our VNXe3300 to host the files needed. However, after booting, the system is unable to connect to the NFS share to access the files.
I've already recompiled the kernel to include NFS boot functionality, and I am able to manually mount the share in a linux VM, but the desktops aren't able to boot successfully. They error out with:
RPC Failed: 5
From what I can tell, something in the negotiation between the Linux kernel and the VNXe3300 isn't working correctly. Anybody try this and able to get it working?
Shivanand1
70 Posts
1015
1
Posted January 18th, 2013 02:00
Boot from SAN is not supported for NFS, you need to use iSCSI for this.
Regards
Shivanand
umichklewis
4 Apprentice
•
1190 Posts
1015
1
Posted January 18th, 2013 11:00
The original poster is not trying to do a true boot from SAN, this is very different. With PXE functionality, you can bootstrap the Linux host, then mount the kernel via NFS. This host is indeed diskless, but not booting from SAN.
Can you check your kernel image for firewall/IP tables settings? You might be blocking the NFS ports with the configuration in your boot image.
Let us know if this helps!
cxCpyIzSVS12414
43 Posts
1015
1
Posted January 20th, 2013 07:00
The above configuration should work. It should be something outside VNXe causing the issue.
Hi,
I'm having the same problem.
I tested with Debian 7.0.2 and Ubuntu Server 12.04.3 LTS.
My PXE configuration is as follow:
DEFAULT c1
LABEL c1
MENU LABEL VMware
KERNEL vmlinuz-3.2.0-4-686-pae
APPEND root=/dev/nfs quiet initrd=initrd.img-3.2.0-4-686-pae nfsroot=10.180.21.10:/NetBoot ip=dhcp rw
10.180.21.10 is the VNX.
On the VNX side, I just created a File System and the NFS share.
The entire subnet has R/W permissions on the share.
If I mount it on a "live" Linux, it works as expected.
Can anyone give me any help?
Thanks in advance.
umichklewis
4 Apprentice
•
1190 Posts
1015
0
Posted November 26th, 2013 10:00
Check the NFS permissions on your export - you need to able root access on the NFS export, using the "root=IP Address"
option in the export entry. Sometimes, this trips people up.The permissions on the VNX are ok.
I can mount the share with no problems in a "live" environment.
Only when I try to mount during the PXE boot, it gives that error.
Now for the good news.
I tested it with CentOS 6.4 and it worked. It mounts fine during boot.
CentOS is using the 2.6.32 kernel. Ubuntu uses 3.8.0. Maybe that's the culprit.
Graeme6
66 Posts
1015
0
Posted January 2nd, 2013 03:00
Moved to VNXe Support Forum