NetBSD/distrib/notes/pmax/xfer

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First-time installation on a bare machine is not supported, because most
DECstations do not have any suitable load device. Some versions of
DECstation PROMs are buggy and will not boot via TFTP/bootp; still
other versions are buggy and do not boot via MOP.
The only DECstation with a floppy-disk drive is the Personal Decstation,
and that device is not supported as a boot device.
The recommended installation procedure is to boot a miniroot via TFTP,
or to use a "helper" system to write a miniroot onto a disk, move that
disk to the target installation system, and then boot the miniroot.
Once the miniroot is booted, a disklabel should be written.
At that point,
Installation is supported from several media types, including:
NFS partitions
FTP
Tape
The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets
for installation depend on which method of installation
you choose. The various methods are explained below.
To prepare for installing via an NFS partition:
Place the NetBSD software you wish to install into
a directory on an NFS server, and make that directory
mountable by the machine which you will be installing
NetBSD on. This will probably require modifying the
/etc/exports file of the NFS server, and resetting
mountd. Both these actions will require superuser
privileges on the NFS server. Note the numeric IP address
of the NFS server. If the NFS server is not on a network
which is directly attached to the NetBSD machine, you must
also note the numeric address of the router closest to the the
new NetBSD machine.
If you are using a diskless setup to install NetBSD on
your machine, you can take advantage of the fact that
the above has already been done on your machine's server.
So, you can conveniently put the NetBSD filesets in your
machine's root filesystem on the server where the install
program can find them.
Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next
step in the installation process, preparing your
system for NetBSD installation.
To prepare for installing via FTP:
NOTE: this method of installation is recommended
only for those already familiar with using
the BSD network-manipulation commands and
interfaces. If you aren't, this documentation
should help, but is not intended to be
all-encompassing.
The preparations for this method of installation
are easy: all you have to do is make sure that
there's some FTP site from which you can retrieve
the NetBSD installation when it's time to do
the install. You should know the numeric IP
address of that site, the numeric IP address of
your nearest router if one is necessary
Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next
step in the installation process, preparing your
system for NetBSD installation.
To prepare for installing via a tape:
To install NetBSD from a tape, you need to somehow
get the NetBSD filesets you wish to install on
your system on to the appropriate kind of tape,
in tar format.
NOTE: the tape devices with which NetBSD/pmax is
beleived to work is the DEC TK-50. This is a very slow
device. Installation via disk or network is recommended
if at all possible.
If you're making the tape on a UN*X system, the easiest
way to do so is:
tar cvf <tape_device> <files>
where "<tape_device>" is the name of the tape device
that describes the tape drive you're using (possibly
something like /dev/nrst0, but we make no guarantees 8-).
Under SunOS 5.x, this would be something like /dev/rmt/0mbn.
Again, your mileage may vary. If you can't figure it out,
ask your system administrator. "<files>" are the names
of the "set_name.nnn" files which you want to be placed
on the tape.
Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next
step in the installation process, preparing your
system for NetBSD installation.