Local bootloader, Diskless NetBSD HOW-TO

Local bootloader

This is by far the most versatile and flexible boot method of them all. That's the good news. The bad news is that it requires some sort of local bootable media (hard drive, Zip drive, floppy drive, or tape drive). The bootable media available depends on your platform.

You can either install the bootloader and get the kernel off the diskless server (if your local media doesn't have enough capacity to hold the kernel), or have the bootloader and kernel reside on the local media.

Only the bootloader resides locally:
Note, this requires user intervention the first time the machine is booted after being reset or power-cycled, as you won't continue to be booting from the same media (the default behavior of the bootloader). This example is from an hp300, your behavior may differ depending on platform.
1. Install bootblocks on a local device (hard drive, floppy drive, or tape drive)
2. When the bootloader is done loading, type in the following command:
```
>> NetBSD/hp300 Primary Boot, Revision 1.9
>> (scottr@polka, Fri Mar 13 18:11:29 CST 1998)
>> HP 9000/340 SPU
>> Enter "reset" to reset system.
Boot: [[[rd0a:]netbsd][-s][-a][-d]] :- le0a:/netbsd [-s]
```
  Where le0 is the NetBSD device name for your ethernet card.
Now the bootloader will continue with the procedure outlined in the introduction. Whether the bootloader uses rarp&bootparams or bootp|dhcp&tftp depends on which platform you're using. This can be found in the Platform/daemon chart.
Continue on to setting up rarp
Continue on to setting up bootpd
Continue on to setting up dhcpd
Both bootloader and kernel reside on local media:
1. Install bootblocks, and filesystem on the media
2. Create a kernel that always looks for a diskless root:
```
config root on (network-device, e.g. ln0) swap on (etc.)
```
3. Move this kernel onto the media
Continue on to setting up bootpd
Continue on to setting up dhcpd

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