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3. Remote tarball

This chapter describes a slight variation on the basic method for installing a new disk image on a NetWinder. It is useful if there is not enough disk space on the NetWinder to hold both the compressed and uncompressed images.

3.1 Requirements

This method requires sufficient space on the NetWinder to stored the new, uncompressed disk image (about 650 MB for build #12). The NetWinder must also have network connectivity (ethernet) - the nwconfig program can used to configure IP address and other parameters.

In addition, a second computer is needed to hold the compressed disk image (about 250 MB). This can be another unix machine, or a Windows machine - anything capable of communicating with the NetWinder via ethernet. Configuration of the remote system is not covered in much detail here.

3.2 Preparation

On the NetWinder, a disk partition should be freed up. This process is described in detail in section 2.2 of the previous chapter. In the following examples, it will be assumed that an empty partition has been mounted on /mnt/hda3.

The `other computer' (hereafter called the server) also needs to be set up. The compressed disk image should be downloaded to this server machine. The image should then be made available to the NetWinder by putting it into an NFS share (for unix systems) or into a public folder (for Windows machines). Unix shares are normally listed in the /etc/exports file, while Windows handles it by right-clicking on the directory name and changing the properties.

The NetWinder must then be configured for access to the (remote) compressed disk image. The process depends on the type of server being used.

Unix server

The following commands show how to mount a remote NFS server so that theNetWinder can access its files. Replace 192.168.1.2 with the IP address of the server and replace /exportname with the actual name of the exported filesystem. This must match the name given in the /etc/exports file on the server.

        mkdir /mnt/server
        mount 192.168.1.2:/exportname /mnt/server

To verify proper operation, use the command ls /mnt/server - you should see the compressed disk image in the listing.

Windows server

In the case of a Windows machine acting as the server, you will have created a shared folder with a name such as SHARE. You can access this share from your NetWinder using the smbmount command. Substitute the Windows computer's name for COMPUTER, and specify your windows USERNAME and WORKGROUP as well. You'll be prompted for your password.

        mkdir /mnt/server
        smbmount //COMPUTER/SHARE /mnt/server -U USERNAME -W WORKGROUP

In case of difficulty, consult the smbmount man page. To verify that it is working correctly, enter the command ls /mnt/server - you should see the compressed disk image in the listing.

3.3 Image installation

The proceedure for installing the image is nearly the same as that described in the basic method, except that the image now streams over the ethernet from the server system. The commands for installation are as follows.

        cd /mnt/hda3
        tar zxpf /mnt/server/YourImage.tar.gz

Replace YourImage with the name of the compressed disk image that you downloaded to the server. The process will nominally take about 10 minutes, but it depends on how much traffic is on the network. You can monitor progress by switching to another terminal or window and using the df command.

3.4 Post installation

Please refer to sections 2.4 and 2.5 in the previous chapter for the post-installation instructions. Note that it is essential to update the etc/fstab file before attempting to boot the new image.


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