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====== Booting via iSCSI ======

This tutorial describes a simple three-step process for getting your first iSCSI-booting operating system up and running.  The three stages are:

  * [[#Preparing the operating system image]]
  * [[#Transferring the operating system image to an iSCSI target]]
  * [[#Booting the operating system from the iSCSI target]]

===== Preparing the operating system image =====

The first stage is to prepare the operating system image for iSCSI boot.  This generally involves installing an iSCSI initiator and adjusting a few configuration parameters.  Instructions are available for

  * [[#Fedora Core 5]]

==== Fedora Core 5 ====

These instructions assume that you have an installation of Fedora Core 5 on a local hard disk.  We will make this installation iSCSI-boot-capable, then copy it to a remote iSCSI target and boot from it.

Start by installing the kernel-devel and dkms packages:

  yum install kernel-devel
  yum install dkms

The kernel-devel package must match the version of your currently running kernel, which you can check using

  rpm -q kernel-devel
  uname -r

You will need to install the iSCSI initiator, the iSCSI Boot Firmware Table utilities, and the iSCSI-capable mkinitrd, which you can find at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=177003&package_id=203976&release_id=447506

Download and install (using ''rpm -Uvh'') the ''dkms-ibft'', ''dkms-iscsi_sfnet'', ''ibft'', ''linux-iscsi'', and ''mkinitrd-iscsi'' RPMs.

If all has gone well, you should now be able to test loading the iSCSI initiator and iBFT kernel modules using

  modprobe iscsi_sfnet
  modprobe ibft

You need to mark the network device that you will be using for boot.  Edit ''/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0'' (assuming that ''eth0'' is your boot network device), and append the line

  DEVICETYPE=boot

Lastly, you need to rebuild the initrd to include the iSCSI kernel modules, using

  /sbin/mkinitrd -f --force-iscsi /boot/initrd-`uname -r`.img `uname -r`

You can now proceed to 

===== Transferring the operating system image to an iSCSI target =====

===== Booting the operating system from the iSCSI target =====

Trace: • derekpryor • willem • gpxeprogflow • acknowledgements • gdbstub • iscsi_create_via_linux • winvista • mdc_sandbox • notes • elf-ebi-initramfs-lnxi-howto • implementation_details • vmwarebios • debian_and_ubuntu • commandline • winbootibft • debian_lenny_iscsi • win2k8_iscsi_install • irc_logs_for_e820_issue