installing with NFS?

[Shimon Lebowitz]

Hi,
I downloaded debian-31r1-s390-binary-1.iso and burnt it
on a CD, which I made available as an NFS export.

I then downloaded the Debian startup files for s390,
and IPL'd the debian-installer.

Now I have a problem, and maybe 2 of them. :)
1) The installer does not seem to recognize NFS.
13:14:27 Please select the file download protocol.
If unsure,select "http"; it is less prone to
problems involving firewalls.
13:14:27 Protocol for files download:
13:14:27 1. http [*] 2. ftp
13:14:27 Prompt: '?' for help, default=1>

Is it really not possible to use NFS to install Debian linux?

2) I don't know if this is a problem or not, but I will ask.
At an earlier stage, I gave the network parameters:
addresses, port info, IP, mask, gateway; but the network
is not working. Isn't it supposed to be up at this point,
when the installer wants to access a download mirror,
or does the network only get initialized later?

Thank you,
Shimon

[Shimon Lebowitz]

Hi again,

I am hoping that debian-s390 is the correct place to ask
about installation problems with this system, and that the
list is not only for kernel developers. If I am in the wrong
place, please let me know.

Now, regarding my installation problems...

I went back and did the network definitions all over,
and the net *did* come up. So scratch "problem 2". :-)

Using putty I logged in as installer. Using the install
menus, i went to the 'download installer components'
stage, but again, it only allows http and ftp, no sign of NFS.

I tried dropping into a shell to set up the NFS mount:
BusyBox v1.00-pre10 (Debian 20040623-1) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

~ # mkdir cdrom
~ # mount -t nfs 10.1.20.20:/cdrom /cdrom
mount: Mounting 10.1.20.20:/cdrom on /cdrom failed: No such device
~ #

I know this does work, because from another linux on the
same subnet (which successfully pinged both the debian installer
and the nfs host) I *was* able to perform the mount:
linux02:~ # mount -t nfs 10.1.20.20:/cdrom temp
linux02:~ # ls temp
. DEBIAN DOC MD5SUM.TXT POOL README.TXT README_M.TXT _DISK
.. DISTS INSTALL PICS README.HTM README_M.HTM TOOLS
linux02:~ #

Any help greatly appreciated!
Shimon