linuxrc fails if "root" is not downloaded correctly

  • 3015617
  • 29-Jan-2007
  • 30-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management - ZDM6.5SP2 Imaging
Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management - ZDM6.5SP2 PreBoot Services (PXE)
Novell ZENworks 7 Desktop Management - ZDM7 Imaging
Novell ZENworks 7 Desktop Management - ZDM7 PreBoot Services (PXE)

Situation

If there is a problem with the TFTP downloading of "root", then when linuxrc is running, the process halts at the main menu

Resolution

The process of downloading the "root" file is not under the control of ZENworks, but linux itself. Customers who experience difficulties with this process are advised to make an enhancement request to SUSE Linux.
Workarounds: add the following commands to amend how linuxrc acts -
TFTPTimeout=(seconds) will increase the default timeout from 10 seconds to whatever is needed. The initrd and linux tftp download is 40 seconds, so use this as a guide.
Second, you can set the KBDTimeout=(seconds) to automatically input(simulate the enter key) the highlighted item. After a few screens, you will see that it takes the machine automatically to the TFTP server screen. This allows the machine to automatically check the TFTP server again for the boot/root file, download it, and apply any work to do again.
Linuxrc commands need to be added to initrd, see sections"Understanding ZENworks Partitions and Command Line Parameters" and"Modifying ZENworks Imaging Resource Files" in the online ZENworks documentation athttps://www.novell.com/documentation