Irix 6 specific autoinstall - No CD

(This only works if the miniroot is in swap already.)
  1. Add "machine.domain.uci.edu root" to autoinst:~dcs/.rhosts so that the upgrading sgi 6.2 can rsh to it.

  2. Start the machine and interrupt the booting process by clicking on "Stop For Maintenance" and choose "command monitor".
    In the ">>" prompt, enter:
    boot -f dksc(0,1,8)/sash dksc(0,1,1)/unix root=dks0d1s1 initstate=2

  3. Within Inst
    Inst> admin

    Admin> sh

  4. Be sure to fill in the correct IP address and broadcast, in the lines below:
    # ifconfig ec0 128.200.xx.yy netmask 255.255.255.0
    broadcast 128.200.xx.255
    # route add default 128.200.xx.1
    # rsh 128.200.34.23 -l dcs 'cat /auto_install/Irix/selection' >> /tmp/selection
    # umount /root
    # mkfs -t xfs /dev/dsk/dks0d1s0
    # mount /dev/dsk/dks0d1s0 /root
    #echo '/dev/root / xfs rw,raw=/dev/rroot 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
    # exit

    Admin> exit

  5. Within inst:
    Inst> from dcs@128.200.34.23:/auto_install/Irix/uci-dist
    (enter 2 to ignore the COFF startup script)
    Inst> keep *
    Inst> admin
    Admin> load /tmp/selection
    Admin> ..
    Inst> go (this takes a long time)

  6. Quit Inst and reboot the machine. This step is important since the system builds a kernel when Inst is done.
    Inst> quit

  7. When prompted "Ready to restart the system. Restart? {(y)es, (n)o, (sh)ell, (h)elp}:", type "sh" to enter shell.

  8. Copy the production kernel to the miniroot image existent in the swap device.
    # cp /root/unix /unix
    # sync; sync; sync; exit

  9. In the Restart? {(y)es, (n)o, (sh)ell, (h)elp}:", type "sh" prompt, enter "y" to restart.

  10. Boot with that new kernel, inside the miniroot:
    boot -f dksc(0,1,8)sash dksc(0,1,1)unix root=dks0d1s1 initstate=1

  11. Interrupt the re-booting process by clicking on "Stop for Maintenance" and choosing "Command Monitor". Set up the interface if necessary:
    >> ifconfig lo0 127.0.0.1
    >> ifconfig ec0 128.200.xx.yyy netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 128.200.xx.255
    >> route add default 128.200.xx.1
    >> mount /dev/dsk/dks0d1s0 /root

  12. Finally, run the "after" configuration script:
    >> ln -s /root /a
    >> mkdir /generic-after
    >> echo '128.200.34.23 autoinst.acs.uci.edu' >> /etc/hosts
    >> mount autoinst.acs.uci.edu:/auto_install/generic-after/generic-after
    >> ln -s generic-after /tmp/generic-after
    >> /generic-after/after (this takes a long time)

  13. Reboot the machine -- preferably hard by pressing the reset key twice.

  14. For Security reason, remember to remove the entry that you added to the autoinst:~dcs/.rhosts, or remove the whole file if you created it.

http://www.nacs.uci.edu/support/dcs/automation/irix6-install-nocd.html
Nancy Yip, July 1, 1997

Jim Surlow, April 7, 1998