path: root/contrib/mkQNXnbi/README

mkQNXnbi is a quick hack to generate tagged images from QNX boot images.

To boot a QNX client with Etherboot you have to consider the following:
1. You MUST have another QNX box running in the network to provide the
   root filesystem and the license info to the client. QNX cannot use
   e.g. NFS for its root filesystem, as it needs to load a valid license
   from a file on the root fs before being able to start TCP/IP. This
   would lead to a chicken-and-egg problem.
2. The Net task normally determines the size of its internal tables from
   the actual number of licensed nodes. Since this information is not
   available at boot time when booting from the network, you will have
   to set the max. number of nodes as well as a valid netmap entry for
   the node providing the root filesystem as an option to Net in the
   build file.
   See examples/ws.etherboot and fill in the <blanks>.
3. The client does not need a TCP/IP license in order to boot.
4. You can use the boot-server OS of your choice. If you choose to use
   QNX as boot server, the server of course needs a TCP/IP run-time
   license.  In this case you have the option of creating the boot image
   on-the-fly and use the macro $(netmap) instead of a hard-coded MAC
   address.
   See examples/ws.etherboot.on-the-fly and fill in the <blanks>.
   A template bootptab for the QNX bootp server is placed in the
   examples directory.
5. mkQNXnbi expects the QNX image to be supplied on stdin and generates
   the tagged image to stdout. This can be overridden on the command line
   using the options -i <input-file> and -o <output-file>.

mkQNXnbi can be compiled using e.g. Linux/gcc or on QNX using Watcom C
(or gcc, if you have it - see http://w3c.teaser.fr/~jcmichot/)

Bug-reports to <al@alarsen.net>

2002-01-25
Anders Larsen
<al@alarsen.net>