Booting from a USB drive key

Some applications require the use of a writable medium. While booting from CD is not suitable for this purpose, a USB drive key provides the ideal medium for this type of activity.

To set up a USB drive key to boot the Toolkit environment:

1. Create a FAT file system. In this example, the USB drive key is /dev/sda:

   cd toolkit/

   mkdosfs -I /dev/sda

2. Use SYSLINUX to install the ldlinux.sys bootloader:

   ./boot_files/syslinux /dev/sda

3. Copy the boot and Toolkit files to the USB drive key:

   mount /dev/sda /mnt/usbkey/

   cp boot_files/syslinux.cfg boot_files/vmlinuz boot_files/initrd.img /mnt/usbkey/

   cp -a scripts/ /mnt/usbkey/

   cp -a utilities/ /mnt/usbkey/

   cp -a linux_unattend/ /mnt/usbkey/

4. Customize the scripts for your environment:

   vi /mnt/usbkey/linux_unattend/rhel4/syslinux-rh.cfg

   In the syslinux-rh.cfg file, be sure to modify the sstk_script boot option parameter to refer to your customized script.

   vi /mnt/usbkey/syslinux.cfg

   vi /mnt/usbkey/scripts/install_rhel4.sh

   Be sure to modify the syslinux.cfg and install_rhel4.sh files to refer to your network server.

5. Copy the bootdisk image from the Red Hat CD:

   cp RHEL4-i386-AS-disc1.iso/images/diskboot.img /mnt/usbkey/linux_unattend/rhel4/

   umount /mnt/usbkey/

6. Test the USB boot process:
   1. Insert the USB drive key in the server. If the server already has a C drive, change the IPL order to ensure that the USB drive key boots before the C drive of the primary controller. After the drive key boots, the syslinux information and a Boot: prompt appears.
   2. At the Boot: prompt, press the Enter key. A progress bar and the Toolkit boot messages appear. After processing is complete, the /custom.sh script on the USB drive key is executed.

The drive key has been successfully prepared.