2 files changed, 272 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX b/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX
index e731196410b3..2ec174c992f1 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ mandatory-locking.txt
         - info on the Linux implementation of Sys V mandatory file locking.
 ncpfs.txt
         - info on Novell Netware(tm) filesystem using NCP protocol.
+nfsroot.txt
+        - short guide on setting up a diskless box with NFS root filesystem.
 ntfs.txt
         - info and mount options for the NTFS filesystem (Windows NT).
 ocfs2.txt
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/nfsroot.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/nfsroot.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..31b329172343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/nfsroot.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,270 @@
+Mounting the root filesystem via NFS (nfsroot)
+===============================================
+
+Written 1996 by Gero Kuhlmann <gero@gkminix.han.de>
+Updated 1997 by Martin Mares <mj@atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz>
+Updated 2006 by Nico Schottelius <nico-kernel-nfsroot@schottelius.org>
+Updated 2006 by Horms <horms@verge.net.au>
+
+
+
+In order to use a diskless system, such as an X-terminal or printer server
+for example, it is necessary for the root filesystem to be present on a
+non-disk device. This may be an initramfs (see Documentation/filesystems/
+ramfs-rootfs-initramfs.txt), a ramdisk (see Documentation/initrd.txt) or a
+filesystem mounted via NFS. The following text describes on how to use NFS
+for the root filesystem. For the rest of this text 'client' means the
+diskless system, and 'server' means the NFS server.
+
+
+
+
+1.) Enabling nfsroot capabilities
+    -----------------------------
+
+In order to use nfsroot, NFS client support needs to be selected as
+built-in during configuration. Once this has been selected, the nfsroot
+option will become available, which should also be selected.
+
+In the networking options, kernel level autoconfiguration can be selected,
+along with the types of autoconfiguration to support. Selecting all of
+DHCP, BOOTP and RARP is safe.
+
+
+
+
+2.) Kernel command line
+    -------------------
+
+When the kernel has been loaded by a boot loader (see below) it needs to be
+told what root fs device to use. And in the case of nfsroot, where to find
+both the server and the name of the directory on the server to mount as root.
+This can be established using the following kernel command line parameters:
+
+
+root=/dev/nfs
+
+  This is necessary to enable the pseudo-NFS-device. Note that it's not a
+  real device but just a synonym to tell the kernel to use NFS instead of
+  a real device.
+
+
+nfsroot=[<server-ip>:]<root-dir>[,<nfs-options>]
+
+  If the `nfsroot' parameter is NOT given on the command line,
+  the default "/tftpboot/%s" will be used.
+
+  <server-ip>   Specifies the IP address of the NFS server.
+                The default address is determined by the `ip' parameter
+                (see below). This parameter allows the use of different
+                servers for IP autoconfiguration and NFS.
+
+  <root-dir>    Name of the directory on the server to mount as root.
+                If there is a "%s" token in the string, it will be
+                replaced by the ASCII-representation of the client's
+                IP address.
+
+  <nfs-options> Standard NFS options. All options are separated by commas.
+                The following defaults are used:
+                        port            = as given by server portmap daemon
+                        rsize           = 4096
+                        wsize           = 4096
+                        timeo           = 7
+                        retrans         = 3
+                        acregmin        = 3
+                        acregmax        = 60
+                        acdirmin        = 30
+                        acdirmax        = 60
+                        flags           = hard, nointr, noposix, cto, ac
+
+
+ip=<client-ip>:<server-ip>:<gw-ip>:<netmask>:<hostname>:<device>:<autoconf>
+
+  This parameter tells the kernel how to configure IP addresses of devices
+  and also how to set up the IP routing table. It was originally called
+  `nfsaddrs', but now the boot-time IP configuration works independently of
+  NFS, so it was renamed to `ip' and the old name remained as an alias for
+  compatibility reasons.
+
+  If this parameter is missing from the kernel command line, all fields are
+  assumed to be empty, and the defaults mentioned below apply. In general
+  this means that the kernel tries to configure everything using
+  autoconfiguration.
+
+  The <autoconf> parameter can appear alone as the value to the `ip'
+  parameter (without all the ':' characters before).  If the value is
+  "ip=off" or "ip=none", no autoconfiguration will take place, otherwise
+  autoconfiguration will take place.  The most common way to use this
+  is "ip=dhcp".
+
+  <client-ip>   IP address of the client.
+
+                Default:  Determined using autoconfiguration.
+
+  <server-ip>   IP address of the NFS server. If RARP is used to determine
+                the client address and this parameter is NOT empty only
+                replies from the specified server are accepted.
+
+                Only required for for NFS root. That is autoconfiguration
+                will not be triggered if it is missing and NFS root is not
+                in operation.
+
+                Default: Determined using autoconfiguration.
+                         The address of the autoconfiguration server is used.
+
+  <gw-ip>       IP address of a gateway if the server is on a different subnet.
+
+                Default: Determined using autoconfiguration.
+
+  <netmask>     Netmask for local network interface. If unspecified
+                the netmask is derived from the client IP address assuming
+                classful addressing.
+
+                Default:  Determined using autoconfiguration.
+
+  <hostname>    Name of the client. May be supplied by autoconfiguration,
+                but its absence will not trigger autoconfiguration.
+
+                Default: Client IP address is used in ASCII notation.
+
+  <device>      Name of network device to use.
+
+                Default: If the host only has one device, it is used.
+                         Otherwise the device is determined using
+                         autoconfiguration. This is done by sending
+                         autoconfiguration requests out of all devices,
+                         and using the device that received the first reply.
+
+  <autoconf>    Method to use for autoconfiguration. In the case of options
+                which specify multiple autoconfiguration protocols,
+                requests are sent using all protocols, and the first one
+                to reply is used.
+
+                Only autoconfiguration protocols that have been compiled
+                into the kernel will be used, regardless of the value of
+                this option.
+
+                  off or none: don't use autoconfiguration
+                                (do static IP assignment instead)
+                  on or any:   use any protocol available in the kernel
+                               (default)
+                  dhcp:        use DHCP
+                  bootp:       use BOOTP
+                  rarp:        use RARP
+                  both:        use both BOOTP and RARP but not DHCP
+                               (old option kept for backwards compatibility)
+
+                Default: any
+
+
+
+
+3.) Boot Loader
+    ----------
+
+To get the kernel into memory different approaches can be used.
+They depend on various facilities being available:
+
+
+3.1)  Booting from a floppy using syslinux
+
+        When building kernels, an easy way to create a boot floppy that uses
+        syslinux is to use the zdisk or bzdisk make targets which use
+        and bzimage images respectively. Both targets accept the
+        FDARGS parameter which can be used to set the kernel command line.
+
+        e.g.
+           make bzdisk FDARGS="root=/dev/nfs"
+
+        Note that the user running this command will need to have
+        access to the floppy drive device, /dev/fd0
+
+        For more information on syslinux, including how to create bootdisks
+        for prebuilt kernels, see http://syslinux.zytor.com/
+
+        N.B: Previously it was possible to write a kernel directly to
+             a floppy using dd, configure the boot device using rdev, and
+             boot using the resulting floppy. Linux no longer supports this
+             method of booting.
+
+3.2) Booting from a cdrom using isolinux
+
+        When building kernels, an easy way to create a bootable cdrom that
+        uses isolinux is to use the isoimage target which uses a bzimage
+        image. Like zdisk and bzdisk, this target accepts the FDARGS
+        parameter which can be used to set the kernel command line.
+
+        e.g.
+          make isoimage FDARGS="root=/dev/nfs"
+
+        The resulting iso image will be arch/<ARCH>/boot/image.iso
+        This can be written to a cdrom using a variety of tools including
+        cdrecord.
+
+        e.g.
+          cdrecord dev=ATAPI:1,0,0 arch/i386/boot/image.iso
+
+        For more information on isolinux, including how to create bootdisks
+        for prebuilt kernels, see http://syslinux.zytor.com/
+
+3.2) Using LILO
+        When using LILO all the necessary command line parameters may be
+        specified using the 'append=' directive in the LILO configuration
+        file.
+
+        However, to use the 'root=' directive you also need to create
+        a dummy root device, which may be removed after LILO is run.
+
+        mknod /dev/boot255 c 0 255
+
+        For information on configuring LILO, please refer to its documentation.
+
+3.3) Using GRUB
+        When using GRUB, kernel parameter are simply appended after the kernel
+        specification: kernel <kernel> <parameters>
+
+3.4) Using loadlin
+        loadlin may be used to boot Linux from a DOS command prompt without
+        requiring a local hard disk to mount as root. This has not been
+        thoroughly tested by the authors of this document, but in general
+        it should be possible configure the kernel command line similarly
+        to the configuration of LILO.
+
+        Please refer to the loadlin documentation for further information.
+
+3.5) Using a boot ROM
+        This is probably the most elegant way of booting a diskless client.
+        With a boot ROM the kernel is loaded using the TFTP protocol. The
+        authors of this document are not aware of any no commercial boot
+        ROMs that support booting Linux over the network. However, there
+        are two free implementations of a boot ROM, netboot-nfs and
+        etherboot, both of which are available on sunsite.unc.edu, and both
+        of which contain everything you need to boot a diskless Linux client.
+
+3.6) Using pxelinux
+        Pxelinux may be used to boot linux using the PXE boot loader
+        which is present on many modern network cards.
+
+        When using pxelinux, the kernel image is specified using
+        "kernel <relative-path-below /tftpboot>". The nfsroot parameters
+        are passed to the kernel by adding them to the "append" line.
+        It is common to use serial console in conjunction with pxeliunx,
+        see Documentation/serial-console.txt for more information.
+
+        For more information on isolinux, including how to create bootdisks
+        for prebuilt kernels, see http://syslinux.zytor.com/
+
+
+
+
+4.) Credits
+    -------
+
+  The nfsroot code in the kernel and the RARP support have been written
+  by Gero Kuhlmann <gero@gkminix.han.de>.
+
+  The rest of the IP layer autoconfiguration code has been written
+  by Martin Mares <mj@atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz>.
+
+  In order to write the initial version of nfsroot I would like to thank
+  Jens-Uwe Mager <jum@anubis.han.de> for his help.