[Tfug] Debian install from a local fileserver

[Richard Rohrdanz]

I have spent many hours trying to do this install without success.
Maybe there is something unique about my setup.

Here are all the details: I am running a Windows XP SP1 machine which
connects to the Internet through an ISDN line (128Kbps). Other
machines on the LAN get to the Internet through Internet Connection
Sharing (ICS) from the Windows machine. Due to this arrangement I
cannot use DHCP.

I have Fedora Core 4 on a second machine (on the LAN) and it's running
NFS. Using the NFS Server Configuration window (not command lines) I
can verify that I am sharing 4 Debian ISO images (not the individual
files and folders) with all the hosts in read-only mode. Note that
this is NFS and not Samba. The ISOs are in directory:
/home/installmstr/DebianISOs
I know that's a long name with mixed case but that's what I'm using.

The third machine (also on this LAN) is the one I am trying to install
Debian on. Just to make sure the machines were all talking to each
other and to the Internet, I started an http: install earlier today.
The install was going along very nicely downloading packages from the
USC mirror but the projected duration of the download was over 9
hours! That's why I want to use my local machine.

The Windows machine (the gateway) is at 192.168.0.1. The Fedora NFS is
at 192.168.0.59. The third machine can be set to any IP address but I
have chosen 192.168.0.88 for it. There is no local DNS so I use
Qwest's servers (205.171.3.65 and 205.171.2.65).

The install progresses to the point where I choose 'fileserver' as the
source for the packages. The next screen asks for the directory
containing the mirror but none of the entries that I made will work.
Each time the install complains that it cannot find that directory.
What would be the exact entry for this?

My goal is to be able to do an NFS (not CD) type install on 7
computers that currently are running the same copy of Win98 SE.

I have lots of experience with Windows machines but I'm a newbie when
it comes to Debian/Linux so please don't assume I know anything more
about Linux than how to spell it.


--
Richard C. Rohrdanz
7225 W. El Camino del Cerro
Tucson, AZ 85745
(520) 743-7013
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