While the mirror files are downloading is a good time to configure the server. Open /etc/fai/sources.list and configure one section to point to your local FAI server; this is what the client machines will use. See /usr/share/doc/examples/etc/sources.list for help with this.

Next, edit /etc/fai/fai.conf. In this example, the mirror server is Windbag, configured to use FTP. You may choose FTP, HTTP, or NFS:

installserver=windbag
mirrorhost=$installserver

# if your server has multiple network cards, specify
# the correct one here SERVERINTERFACE=eth0

FAI_DEBMIRROR=$mirrorhost:/files/scratch/debmirror # the fai-setup script will create the "fai" user
LOGUSER=fai
FAI_LOGPROTO=ftp
# Name of log-server. If undefined, the install server will be used.
LOGSERVER=windbag
# writable directory on remote server, when using FTP protocol
LOGREMOTEDIR="upload"
# password for login to log server, when using FTP protocol
LOGPASSWD=

# the configuration space on the install server
FAI_CONFIGDIR=/usr/local/share/fai
# the location of the config space, as seen by the install client
# it can also be overwritten with T170 via BOOTP
FAI_LOCATION=$installserver:$FAI_CONFIGDIR
# the local configuration directory on the install client
FAI=/fai

# the type of operating system (linux, sunos)
OS_TYPE=`uname -s | tr /A-Z/ /a-z/`

Finally, edit /etc/fai/make-fai-nfsroot.conf. NFS is the fastest method for the client installations, the FAI server installation requires it, and you'll still have the option to use FTP or HTTP for the client installation.

NFSROOT_ETC_HOSTS="192.168.1.100 $mirrorhost"
FAI_DEBOOTSTRAP="sid file:/files/scratch/debmirror"

Now run the fai-setup script:

# fai-setup

This will take awhile, as it needs to build a nice chrooted NFS filesystem, generate SSH keys, and copy lots of files. When it is all finished, your FAI server is ready to go. Come back next week to learn how to configure and perform the client installation.

Next: Resources »