Include DSL

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I setup dsl linux which is only 50mb to boot of the fog pxe menu. Here is the link where I got the instructions http://wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=17156. This distro has Firefox and it boots pretty fast from pxe. DSL is based on knoppix linux. So, this could be used as a work around to access the fog console to send images if you do not have a working computer near by. This might be useful until there is a way to image through the pxe menu. Actually you might not need this feature now with this work around. Here is how I did it.

I downloaded dsl version dsl-4.4.10-initrd.iso and expanded the iso into a dsl folder on my desktop

(note: downloading the iso to your own server and then mounting it works too)

mkdir dslmount
mount -o loop -t iso9660 dsl-4.4.10-initrd.iso dslmount

On the fog server I created under the /tftpboot/fog folder dsl folder. Then I copied linux24 and minirt24.gz files to /tftpboot/fog/dsl folder. Make sure to check rights on the files so the rights are set to 777.

Then in my pxelinux menu settings (in the file /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default) I added the following:

LABEL DSL
    kernel fog/dsl/linux24
    append ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=fog/dsl/minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet
    BOOT_IMAGE=fog/dsl/knoppix
    MENU LABEL Damn Small Linux
    TEXT HELP
    Damn Small Linux provides a minimal Linux environment,
    with Firefox and other bare-bones utilities.
    This can be used to browse back to FOG from a
    PXE booted client, for example.
    WARNING: It may be advisable to password protect
    this menu option for security reasons
    ENDTEXT

I hope this helps.


It might be interesting to try to get Damn Small Linux - Not! (DSL-N) working from a PXE boot as well, because it includes more hardware support and a 2.6 kernel. I will try to get this working when I have some time at work... please add notes here if you get this working! One of the biggest problems I have with DSL PXE boot is that the USB drivers for the systems I've tried DSL with aren't recognized, so I can't type or use the mouse Ericgearhart 13:04, 16 July 2009 (MST)

P.S. see http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/dsl-n/download.html for details


It is also possible to netboot SystemRescueCD in a very similar way. This allows in-depth examination of the client machines.