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Network HTTP Installation of SME - HowTo
Author: John H. Bennett III
<bennettj@thebennetthome.com> |
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Problem: You would like a
way to install or upgrade your SME server via HTTP. |
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STEP 1: HTTP server prep
| You need to copy the SME or Contribs.org CD to a HTTP server that is accessible. |
STEP 2: Bootdisk Creation
| First you must create a network bootdisk:
This can be done from a Windows or Linux machine. 1. Creation from
a Windows machine
OR Use the GUI located in the dosutils\rawritewin directory on the CD. Insert Floppy and SME CD into a windows PC 2. Creation from SME server Mount SME CD-ROM on server (mount /dev/cdrom)
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STEP 3: syslinux.cfg Modification
| syslinux.cfg is the file that determines
what to do once the system is booted. Below is an example of what mine
looks like with IP's removed and with comments added. prompt 1
- Provides the option to use an alternate install
method based on the values of the labels. (If you provide a value of
0, then the default action is automatically selected) Note: As you can see I have 6 boot options I can choose from. The only things that are different will be the IP address of my HTTP server, the location of the CD-ROM image files on the HTTP server, the name of the kickstart configuration file that will be used during the install or upgrade, and the network interface to use for the install. - This is optional. |
STEP 4: boot.msg
| boot.msg is a file that can be displayed upon
initial boot up from the diskette. On a normal SME installation, this
file isn't displayed, but it is on the boot disk. You can modify this
file or create a new one to suit your needs. It can be made to display
by modifying the syslinux.cfg. Below is the boot.msg file from a SME
boot disk. This is entirely optional. 0f 0e Welcome to the Contribs.org SME Server install program! Note: The control characters in front of some of the words change the color of the text. |
STEP 5: options.msg Creation
| You can create a file called options.msg
that can be displayed and used as a menu. You can also make this file
the default when displayed at boot time by modifying syslinux.cfg and
changing the display line to read display options.msg. This is
entirely optional. Below is
an example of what my options.msg looks like:
Note: The control characters in front of some of the words change the color of the text. Also notice that I am only displaying 4 of the 6 install options. In my testing, I found that you could name this file anything you wanted as long as you referenced it correctly in the syslinux.cfg file. The options.msg file seemed to be the default standard used based on some research I did and also from creating boot disks from standard Red Hat 7, 8, and 9 CD's. |
STEP 6: Kickstart Configuration file - New install
| The configuration file for the kickstart
process is what tells the system what to do during the install or upgrade
process. Below is an example of
my kickstart configuration file for a new SME installation with comments added. If you look in
the root directory on a normal install, you will find a file called
anaconda-ks.cfg. The below configuration file was taken directly from
that file and from some information contained in the ks_stub.cfg file, then
slightly modified to suit my needs for new installs.
install |
STEP 6a: Kickstart Configuration file - upgrade
| I had some initial issues trying to get
an upgrade to work. Basically, what I did was modify the standard
ks_stub.cfg file to suit my needs. Below is an example of my kickstart configuration file
for SME upgrades with comments added. I have tested this by upgrading
from SME 5.5 and 5.6.
Note: There are some posts on the forums that suggest you upgrade to 5.6 first, then upgrade to 6.x.
#------------------------------------------------------------ |
STEP 5: Final Words of Wisdon
| That should be it. If you follow
the above examples, you should be able to create your own HTTP install or
upgrade to suit your SME 6.x. environment During an install, you should have to do the following: Press Enter to accept End User License Agreement During an upgrade, you should have to do the following: Press Enter to accept End User License Agreement Lastly, when editing the various unix-style files, it's best to either do
it on a unix-type machine or use a unix editor that runs under windows.
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Note: The steps listed above may not be the best way to create an HTTP installation or upgrade environment, but this is what is working for me. There have been several inquiries on how to get this setup, so I have shared what I did to make it work for me.