Share the live CD over NFS to netinstall clients

[Alkis Georgopoulos]

Στις 23-12-2009, ημέρα Τετ, και ώρα 22:44 +0200, ο/η Jonathan Carter
έγραψε: 
> * alkisg: perhaps the liveDVD could be configured to install remote
> systems via netboot. This may need some further investigation. At the
> worst, a wiki page on how to configure it manually would be good. A
> script could be included to simplify things.

I found this wiki page which describes how to do it:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LiveCDNetboot

I made a script which hopefully completely automates the process.

To make the method more suitable for a live environment, I changed it to
use dnsmasq-base, which is already included on the live Ubuntu CD, and
which has the additional benefit that it can function as a proxyDHCP
server:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/ProxyDHCP
...and whose tftp server works with symlinks, saving space/RAM.

So, the steps to netboot the client(s):
1) Boot a "server" with the live Karmic/Lucid desktop (ed)Ubuntu CD,
2) Run this command on the live session:
  wget http://users.sch.gr/alkisg/tosteki/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2525.0;attach=1421 -O /tmp/livecd-netboot && sudo sh /tmp/livecd-netboot
3) Then power on the clients and select "Boot from network", they should
boot off of the live CD that is published via NFS.

Internet connectivity is needed on the "server", because the script
temporarily installs nfs-kernel-server.
Also, make sure that you have an *external* DHCP server in the local
network (e.g. a router). 
It's also possible (though not recommended for novice users) to run the
script in a normal Ubuntu installation (i.e. not from a live session).

Happy holidays to all,
Alkis