installing with no CDs

[Jo.Mo.]

I just ordered a 40 gig hard drive, and i am wanting to Sex-boot my computer with 6 distros, i already have a scheme worked out and all, but i am not wanting to burn 18 CDs or so. I've heard you can put the ISOs on a local FTP server and boot the installation from there, but i've a bit mixed up because i've heard conflicting stories of if you have to put the ISOs or the actual files located on the CD into the FTP directory. i just want some clarification before i re-partition my 20 gig drive to act as the distro holder.

[serz]

Originally posted by Jo.Mo.
I've heard you can put the ISOs on a local FTP server and boot the installation from there, but i've a bit mixed up because i've heard conflicting stories of if you have to put the ISOs or the actual files located on the CD into the FTP directory.
I never heard of such thing like that. What you can do is get the boot disks and make a install by ftp. I belive you can download the iso, mount it and install it.

[ph34r]

Some distros allow you to install via http/nfs/ftp - in which case, the actual files need to be present on the server. Some distros will allow you to boot and then install from a directory or pre-mounted CD, in which case you just need to mount the iso image as a loop file system before starting the install.

[Jo.Mo.]

all the distros i want to install have ISOs, except for Gentoo, but i'm just gonna burn that one to a CD so i don't have to mess with it. another question is how do i mount an FTP share? the computer i'm getting the images from is a WinXP machine on my local network.

[kshim5]

here is an excellent article on the subject
installing via ftp


http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/s1-begininstall-ftp.html


installing via http

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/s1-begininstall-http.html

[Jo.Mo.]

thanks for the help, that redhat guide really helped. i'll have my sex-boot machine up by next week now.

[mandrakeroot]

Remember: Mandrake doesnt require you to mount the isos. Just have them on the ftp server. Just in case you were gonna do some extra work.