Crack Rack for dummies

[Vicken]

Does anyone know where I can find linux Beowulf info that a dummy can understand. I found some links doing a search, but nothing a linux dummy can understand. Linux is like Rocket Scientist Talk to me.

Hey Russ, make an article on the software of that rack of yours will ya!

Thinking about making a 4 node crack rack.

 

[Russ]

I'm using Freesco on the nodes. If I can figure it out, anybody can.

http://www.linuxsupportline.com/~router

Russ, NCNE

 

[Russ]

PS: There are a couple of guys around here, Cory and LD come to mind, that actually know what they're doing. Me, I just keep at it until I beat the system in to submission.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Lord Demios]

Nah, we just fake it better then the rest.

Hey Vicken, the easiest thing to do is to either use Russ's little distro. Or you can get Linux Redhat, mandrake, or Suse. They are the easiest form on linux to learn. Then you just setup 4 machines with linux, and get one to start being a server. (Howto's a gallore for that, plus the IRC chat is usefull for asking questions)

LD

 

[Kilowatt]

Crack Rack's aren't for dummies.

If you can figure one out, and get it working in any type of configuration at all, you surely wouldn't be NO dummy.

I've been working on a "Hacked" version of CClinux with a 2.2.16 SMP kernel.
I've got it to boot up & configure it's own IP, but I can't get the Rc5 client (configured for buff-in/out in memory) on the same disk.
It's 200 some bytes to big to fit on a floppy.

But, I'm closing in on it!

 

[Russ]

HMM...I suppose I could zip up the pre-configured disks (Freesco and the dnet client) and make them available for download. What do you guys think?

Russ, NCNE

 

[Kilowatt]

That's what I was going to do too, when and if I ever get it working.

Seeing as I didn't "Hack" the Rc5 client, I don't see Dnet having a problem with it.
I did toss out the Docs folder, and configured the client with my email, but stopped there before actually running it so it didn't have a buff-in or any other files yet.

I made 4096k ram disks, that i'm sure would hold everything once it's in memory.

It's late, I just got home. I'll mess with it some more tomorrow, provided those nasty-ass customers leave me alone.

(see what you did Russ, You got me missing out on sleep thinking of a Rack of my own.)

 

[Mandrill]

Russ: That would be mucho appreciated. it would help us newbies by eliminating one thing that we could screw up on the way to rackateering nirvana. I, too, way back whenI used to play around with Linux used to beat it into submission. I'd finally get what I was trying to do to work and have very little clue as to what I did right

Now I am going to have to learn all over again

 

[mindless]

Russ,

Is it possible to use the distro you haave without a Linux server? Can I just have it point to another machine on the network with a pproxy runnig? Or would I need a server for it like you use?

 

[Russ]

mindless,

You can point it anywhere you want. The pointing is actually done with the second disk, the dnet client. You'd set up the ini file with the network IP address of the system running your pproxy. Like this:

[networking]
autofindkeyserver=no
keyserver=192.168.1.10 (substitute your address)

You must remember to save the ini to the floppy, though, because on a diskless node it would normally only load in RAM and you end up configuring it every time you boot.

The Freesco distro that I use to boot the nodes is self-sustaining. In other words, it doesn't need to communicate with a server to work. Initially, I actually had each of the slave nodes communicating directly with dnet.

Since all the nodes I'm running are ultimately connected to my DSL router, I have the Freesco boot floppy configured for DHCP. Unless one is also using some form of server for assigning IP addresses, this configuration won't work.

But, during the initial setup of the distro, you can manually assign an IP address to your node. Configuration is similar to a Windows machine: DNS entries, Subnet, IP address, etc. On mine, I had to disable NAT and firewalling in Freesco in order to get it to commuicate. Don't know if this always needs to be done, or was unique to my setup.

It goes like this:

Let's assume you have your two disks configured: Freesco, and dnet. You boot off the Freesco disk, and log in. After you're logged in, you need to unmount the freesco disk:

umount /dev/fd0

Than remove the freesco disk, and put your pre-configured dnet floppy in. Than create a directory:

mkdir /floppy

Than you need to mount the floppy:

mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /floppy

Than change directories:

cd floppy

Than execute the dnet client:

./dnetc

I tried zipping the distro up, and once unzipped, it didn't work. Until I learn to use the Linux zip utilities, this will probably have to wait. In the interim, if you guys want to try the same setup I'm using, feel free to post your questions in this "official" dummies thread.

Russ, NCNE

 

[mindless]

Wow so much information, this thread is going into my bookmarks. Thanks alot Russ

 

[Michael]

First - Russ' solution is good because it works. Actually, it works fairly well. It is not the optimum solution, however.

The best solution would be to boot from the floppy (and have a boot ROM in your NIC on on the floppy) and then load Linux via Network File System from your server. That way everything is on the server HD and you don't have any issues with RAM disks going "poof".

I'm going to try and set up a crack rack sometime within the next few months. I think LD or Cory could give help now, but I'll try and write a "newbie" file as I do it to help out.

From conversations with people who have done it, getting the first node working takes brain sweat. The rest are easy.

Also, to answer the question about not using Linux - Linux is free. I'm sure that it could be done using a Microsoft OS, but they are not free.

Michael

 

[Russ]

Michael is right about NFS; it would be a more effective method. Once I've become more skilled, I'll switch over to that approach.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Kilowatt]

Well, here I am tring to help people out by making a single floppy Linux boot disk with the latest dnet client.

I even just got it working today, been testing downloading it and making sure everything was in order.

My own version of Linux.
Tmp Down untill I can find space to store them
Right now it only supports Realtek 8029, 8039, NE2000 and Tulip based cards.

It's lite, with a SMP kernel, but does use Ramdisks.

Try it, let me know what you all think.

Kilowatt

 

[Russ]

Kilowatt,

Already downloaded it. Will give it a try a little later. What are some NIC's that come to mind that work with NE2000 and Tulip? On my rack right now, I'm using SMC Ultra chip ISA's - OLD! (jumpered to 10/300), and Realtek 8139B PCI's.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Kilowatt]

The Realtek 8139B PCI's. might work, I'm not sure. I'd have to look at my Kernel config to find out.
I didn't configure any ISA cards yet. I was tring to make a small enough Kernel to fit with the rest of the stuff.

If you have any Encore PCI nics, I believe most of them are NE2000.
Netgear 10/100's should work, as will Linksys LNE100TX.
SOHOWare fast 10/100 will work.
Any PCI nic with a MX printed on it will also, such as CNET Pro120 (Macroincs).

I still have 85 bytes of space left to configure for the second build.
I'll see how many nics I can cram in there.

I only tested it with what I have in stock here.

I'm working on a custom build with a host.file for me, so I don't have random IP's on my network.

Man, I'll get right to work on some ISA cards, I need something else to keep me up tonight also.

 

[Mandrill]

Russ I THINK the realtec uses the tulip driver but don't quote me on that

 

[Kilowatt]

Yeah Russ, Realtek 8139B PCI's should work, it said the 8139 will, but didn't mention the "B".

I'm compiling a new Kernel now, to see how big it will be with a ton of nics supported.
I don't have most of these in hand, so if it works some one will have to try it and tell me.

 

[Kilowatt]

OK, you want it, you got it.
Now serving up Version 1.1 of Kilowattlinux.

Tmp Down

Now supporting a wide range of network cards, including:
(Yes Russ, your Ultra Chips)

3Com (3c501,3c503,3c509,3c579,3c515,3c590 and the 3c900{Vortex/Boomerang})

SMC (Ultra, Ultra32{EISA}, SMC 9194)

WesternDigital (80*3)

Cabletron (E21xx)

EtherWorks (DEPCA,DE10x,DE200,DE201,DE202,DE422)
EtherWorks 3 (DE203, DE204, DE205)

EtherExpress (16, Pro, 10)

HP PCLAN+ (27247B & 27252A)
HP PCLAN (27245 & 27xxx Series)

And as stated before, PCI NE 2000 or tulip compatible.

Bear in mind, their just compiled in the module.
I don't have all of these nics to test on, but it only increased the Kernel size by about 45 bytes.

I did this for RC5 and Crack Rack Builders everywhere.
So now I'll <<insert the usual disclaimer here>>.

And have a Good Night (I'm going home to bed).

 

[Kwatt]

THANKS Kilowatt

I have tried RH 6,ManDrake 7,SuSe 6.2, and various other mini distros of linux and none has ever found my NIC card on the first try. I have them all set to 0x280 int.5.

Of course it hung up at the searching for the DHCP server.(i don't have 1 set up)I need to figure out how to turn DHCP on in NT4.(any hints are welcome)

But now I have some hope of one day making linux work.

Going to see if I can get Kilowattlinux to run from a Harddrive. If I can NT is out of here.

 

[JHutch]

KWatt,

You need NT Server to have a DHCP server...

JHutch

 

[cory]

you can run dhcp on just about any os.

you can get a dhcp server for a win 98, dos, linux or anything.

 

[Kilowatt]

I have DHCP enabled in the Kernel, so I'd probably have to not compile that in, and let you run netconfig to set your own IP's.
(It should be up later this evening, I'll post back to this thread)

I'm running a W2K Pro Server with DHCP, because it's serving the Internet &amp; Email for 6 other computers in the building besides my other 3, and differant customer builds at differant times.

I can already see that at least 2 differant versions would come in handy, (one with DHCP &amp; one with Netconfig) with all the nics I can compile in the Kernel, and fit in the room I have to work with.

I scraped alot of stuff out of the original CCLinux distro, seeing how we are just looking to Crack Dnet on it, and not wanting X-Windows or anything.
Basicly the only thing I've used from CCLinux is the scripts for making the Ram Disks, the .img and writing it to the floppy.

I've been looking at NFS configuration in Linux, and I'm personaly thinking of going that route.
It really doesn't look that difficult. (Yeah Right!)

 

[Mandrill]

Kilo 2 things.

You might want to shorten the .img file name because dos rawrite doesn't like the long name

Also I am running into Kernal panic just after DHCP pulls an IP address from my Linksys router. Message I am getting is :

VFS: Cannot open root device 08:5e

I am guessing that it doesn't like using the Linksys for DHCP and that it is looking for an actual pc to get things running. Am I correct in thinking that?

Edit 1: I am using Win 98 and 95 on my other machien on the network. Will I have to go to Linux inorder for this to work?

Edit 2: Kilowattlinux does work with Netgear FA310TX Fast ethernet Pci cards

 

[Kilowatt]

I didn't know that Rawrite thing, Thanks, I'll name the next one Klinux.img for short.
Plus I'll .tar.gz it also.

This is ment to run on Crack Racks, or Diskless (no HDD) stations.
If your running windows, you might as well just use that dnet client.

The biggest problem I'm having is with the Kernel size and what to compile into it.
If I include 75% of the nics, the Kernel is just to big.
Without having to make 6 differant Klinux.imgs, it's getting pretty diffecult.

I took out the DHCP stuff, (that made the Kernel 45 bytes bigger ) and now everyone can just run netconfig to setup their own IP and Netmask.
The Gateway and DNS feature is there if you want or need it, but it's not required.

Once you are booted up, and configured your network, you'll still need to untarball the dnet client and configure that as well.

Well, back to work.
I'm getting closer!