Novell Linux Point of Service provides the boot image files required to boot Point of Service terminals from the network or CD. The boot images are summarized in Table 4-1.
Table 4-1 Point of Service boot images
|
Image |
Description |
|---|---|
|
DiskNetboot Image Description Tree: /opt/SLES/POS/system/disknetboot-version/ Binary Files: initrd-disknetboot-version-date.gz initrd-disknetboot-version-date.kernel. kernel_ version Image Specification Document: /opt/SLES/POS/system/templates/support/disknetboot.xml |
DiskNetboot includes all the files and directories (including partitioning and boot loader installation) required to boot disk-based and diskless Point of Service terminals from the network. Novell Linux Point of Service includes binary versions of the first and second stage boot images used to PXE boot Point of Service terminals. IMPORTANT:The boot images must be copied to the Administration Server’s /opt/SLES/POS/rsync/boot directory as initrd.gz and linux before Point of Service terminals can use the images to boot. For more information on this procedure, see Copying Boot Images to the Administration Server’s RSYNC Directory. |
|
CDBoot Image Description Tree: /opt/SLES/POS/system/cdboot-version/ Binary File: /opt/SLES/POS/image/cdboot-version-date.gz Image Specification Document: /opt/SLES/POS/system/templates/support/cdboot.xml |
CDBoot includes all the files and directories required to boot diskless and preinstalled disk-based systems from CD. To boot diskless systems, the image loads RAM disks from a fixed CD image file. Novell Linux Point of Service includes a binary version of the CDBoot image that is used to boot Point of Service terminals from a CD. This image must be combined with a client image and the config.image configuration file to create CD that can be used to boot Point of Service terminals. For information on creating CDBoot images, see Section 10.1, Building a CDBoot Image. |
The following sections provide more information on each type of boot image.
Point of Service terminals that boot from the network or hard disk require a first and second stage boot image. The first stage boot image, initrd.gz, is the bootstrap image used to PXE boot Point of Service terminals. The second stage boot image, linux, provides the Linux kernel. These images are loaded when the Point of Service terminal boots. The system then becomes network-capable and loads one of the client images over TFTP. For more information on the boot process, see Section 3.6.1, Network PXE Boot.
The initrd and kernel images loaded by each Point of Service terminal are determined by the Distribution Container object (scDistributionContainer) in which its associated client image object (scPosImage) is located. The scInitrdName and scKernelName attributes in the scDistributionContainer object define the initrd and kernel images for the container. All Point of Service terminals that load client images located within the Distribution Container use the designated boot images at load time.
Novell Linux Point of Service provides default versions of the first and second stage boot images. The initrd.gz image is provided as /opt/SLES/POS/image/initrd-disknetboot-version-date.gz. The linux image is provided as /opt/SLES/POS/image/initrd-disknetboot-version-date.kernel.kernel_version. You can use these default images to boot your Point of Service terminals or you can create your own boot images using the DiskNetboot Image Description Tree.
NOTE:To customize the boot images, you would clone the DiskNetboot Image Description Tree, make any required modifications, then build the images. When you use the --build command with the DiskNetboot Image Description Tree, ImageBuilder generates the first and second stage boot images. For more information on this procedure, see Section 8.4, Building Images with scr or Section 9.4, Building Images with xscr.
Whether you use the boot images provided with Novell Linux Point of Service or create your own, you must copy the images to the /opt/SLES/POS/rsync/boot/ directory on the Administration Server before running posSynchImages.pl on the Branch Server. The first stage boot image (initrd-disknetboot-version-date.gz) must be copied to the RSYNC directory as initrd.gz. The second stage boot image (initrd-disknetboot-version-date.kernel.kernel_version) must be copied to the RSYNC directory as linux. For specific instructions on this procedure, see Copying Boot Images to the Administration Server’s RSYNC Directory.
The default boot images provided with Novell Linux Point of Service are ext2 images. If journaling is needed on disk-based systems, the scDiskJournal attribute of either the scCashRegister or the scWorkstation must be set to TRUE (case is important). This setting directs the Point of Service terminal to extend the file system to ext3 when the images are deployed.
In environments where no network infrastructure is available to boot Point of Service systems over the LAN, you can use boot CDs. Boot CDs are also required to deploy POSBranch Servers.
Point of Service terminals that boot from CD require a minimal Linux system image (CDBoot), a Linux system client image (Minimal, Java, Browser, or Desktop), and a config.image configuration file that controls whether the client image is written into a RAM disk or if it must be placed on the hard disk of the booting node. For more information on the CDBoot process, see Section 3.6.2, CDBoot
The CDBoot components must be packaged in an ISO 9660-compliant CD image and burned to CD. For detailed information on generating the CDBoot files and creating the ISO image, see Section 10.1, Building a CDBoot Image.