wraplinux nbi with 3.X kernel

[jov0]

Hello,
Does anyone know if it is still possible to make NBI images with the 3.X kernels. I used wraplinux in the past with 2.6 kernels, but with the 3.X kernels it downloads with iPXE and than the machines instantly reboots, no error messages. Any input or shared experience is greatly appreciated.

[mcb30]

(2014-07-10 19:45)jov0 Wrote:  Does anyone know if it is still possible to make NBI images with the 3.X kernels. I used wraplinux in the past with 2.6 kernels, but with the 3.X kernels it downloads with iPXE and than the machines instantly reboots, no error messages. Any input or shared experience is greatly appreciated.

NBI is a pretty old and obsolete format. Is there any reason why you don't just let iPXE load the kernel directly?

Michael

[jov0]

I am locked into supporting some older systems with Etherboot roms so I am limited to ELF and NBI formats. I talked to Peter A about wraplinux and was able to figure out that wraplinux binaries built on newer gcc versions did not function properly including those pre-compiled for Fedora and Ubuntu and also versions which I compiled. Using an older release, openSUSE 11.2, I was able to compile a functioning version of wraplinux. I have not gone back and determined the root cause of the issue during compilation. But you can make NBI and ELF images of 3.X PAE kernels.

[robinsmidsrod]

Why not compile iPXE as an ELF binary, chainload it with Etherboot and work normally from that point on? Using the details at https://gist.github.com/robinsmidsrod/4008017 to setup a DHCP chainload configuration should work.

[jov0]

(2014-12-03 15:50)robinsmidsrod Wrote:  Why not compile iPXE as an ELF binary, chainload it with Etherboot and work normally from that point on? Using the details at https://gist.github.com/robinsmidsrod/4008017 to setup a DHCP chainload configuration should work.

I did initially look into going down the chain loading path, but I opted against to keep the setup stupid simple due to scale. Also the folks that control the network chose to limit themselves by implementing infoblox.

[robinsmidsrod]

You shouldn't be using NBI support. It's a very old way of booting and is mostly obsolete. I don't think it's received any testing in the last few years. What are you trying to achieve with using NBI?

Most likely your binary is being detected as something else and iPXE tries to execute garbage data. Using imgstat before booting the kernel should probably tell you more.

[jov0]

Not sure how this thread was duplicated. It is a problem with compiling wraplinux on newer gcc versions. NBI and ELF formats still work great with iPXE.

http://forum.ipxe.org/showthread.php?tid=7399

[robinsmidsrod]

jov0: Merged them together now.