Subject: MTFTP, PXE, remote boot, and all that jazz

From: Tripp Lilley <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 16:01:23 -0400 (EDT)

I've looked on altavista for multicast TFTP (RFC 2090) implementions and
have come up with not so much (though I admit my choices of search terms,
and my lack of patience for wading through results, may be the cause).

Are there any decent Linux clients? Linux servers?

I saw reference to an I-D for what appeared to be a *different* MTFTP than
that documented in 2090, that was somehow connected with the Intel PXE
(Pre-boot Execution) stuff and remote booting. Does the PXE/DMI remote
boot firmware support 2090-style MTFTP? Something different? Are there
docs hiding somewhere on DMI and the remote boot implemented in the Intel
motherboards?

I looked for a relevant working group whose mailing list I ould peruse,
but saw none that jumped out at me (though, again, I may be blind and/or
stupid).

Thanks!

--
   Tripp Lilley  *  [email-masked]  *  http://stargate.sg505.net/~tlilley/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Perl is the preferred programming language of the Libertarian Party,
   Python that of the Democratic Party, and C that of the Republican Party.

---

From: Marc Blanchet <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 22:34:59 -0400

mailing list:
   send a "subscribe REMOTE_BOOT" message to: [email-masked]

regards, Marc.

>but saw none that jumped out at me (though, again, I may be blind and/or

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From: Marc Blanchet <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 22:34:59 -0400

mailing list:

regards, Marc.

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From: Harald Tveit Alvestrand <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 09:12:02 +0200

>and my lack of patience for wading through results, may be the cause).

The more probable reason is that RFC 2090 was a half-baked idea, and most 
people who considered implementing it found (either while reading the specs 
or while trying it out) discovered the problems with it.

(Problem set includes:
- TFTP's problems wrt security and flow control
- multicast address management
- lack of rules for handling failing master clients
There are surely more.)

                         Harald A

--
Harald Tveit Alvestrand, Maxware, Norway
[email-masked]

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From: Harald Tveit Alvestrand <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 09:12:02 +0200

(Problem set includes:

                         Harald A

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From: Tripp Lilley <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 15:44:30 -0400 (EDT)

> or while trying it out) discovered the problems with it.

All right, I can accept all of this :-) Are there any recommended
alternatives? My application is (as you might have guessed) blasting
identical drive images (several hundred MB) to about 90 machines coming up
around the same time. Is there a multicast bulk transfer protocol that
would be good for this? Obviously, reliable transfer is an issue :-)

BTW: In my limited current application, all of the machines are on the
same IP subnet.

Thanks!

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From: Tripp Lilley <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 15:44:30 -0400 (EDT)

Thanks!

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From: "Perry E. Metzger" <[email-masked]>
Date: 23 Sep 1999 16:49:03 -0400

> would be good for this? Obviously, reliable transfer is an issue :-)

There is an RFC (RFC1235) for an easy to implement experimental
protocol called CFDP which might be the trick for you. It is not a
general solution but it probably will do what you are looking for in
this particular instance.

Perry

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From: "Perry E. Metzger" <[email-masked]>
Date: 23 Sep 1999 16:49:03 -0400

Perry

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From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 16:46:11 -0700 (PDT)

You might want to use bpbatch, a free utility that uses multicast tftp
and pxe to send boot images (or entire hard drive images).

-- Oscar Stiffelman

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From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 16:46:11 -0700 (PDT)

-- Oscar Stiffelman