INSTALLING OPENLINUX ESERVER FROM A DOS SYSTEM November 1999 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you already have DOS installed on your system, you can launch the OpenLinux eServer installation from DOS. Installing OpenLinux eServer from a DOS system is useful when a diskette drive is not available (for example, on laptops where either a CD-ROM or floppy drive is available but not both). This file contains the following: - Contents of this directory - Default Installation Instructions - Alternate installation instructions Contents of This Directory ========================== This directory contains the following: - install.bat - a DOS "batch" file that utilizes the remaining files in this directory, notably the "vmlinuz" and "initrd.gz" files described below, to launch the OpenLinux installation. - smallins.bat - a DOS "batch" file similar to "install.bat" above, but this one will launch an installation using the "smallrd.gz" file described below. - loadlin.exe - a DOS program that "boots" the installation program from a DOS command prompt. Documentation for this can be found in "..\..\tools\loadlin". - vmlinuz - an OpenLinux kernel to be used during installation. - initrd.gz - a compressed Linux filesystem used by the OpenLinux kernel during installation. - smallrd.gz - a compressed Linux filesystem used by the OpenLinux kernel during installation. This filesystem should be used in place of "initrd.gz" on systems with minimal memory. Please use "install.bat" (which utilizes "initrd.gz") first, and if this fails, follow the instructions again to launch the installation using the "smallins.bat" file (which utilizes "smallrd.gz"). Default Installation Instructions ================================= To install OpenLinux eServer from DOS, follow these steps: 1. Boot your system to DOS. 2. Change to the "col\launch\dos" directory on this OpenLinux CD. 3. Run the "install.bat" program. Alternate Installation Instructions =================================== If your system experiences problems when running the "install.bat" program directly from the CD-ROM, do the following: 1. Create a new directory on your DOS hard drive. 2. Copy all files in the "col/launch/dos" directory on this OpenLinux eServer CD to the new directoy you just created on your DOS hard drive. 3. Reboot into DOS and hold down the left key as DOS is loading. Holding down the left will prevent some versions of DOS from loading drivers. You may need to reference DOS documentation to learn how to disable driver loads during boot. 4. Change to the directory you created in Step 1 and do one of the following: - If you have sufficient memory, run the "install.bat" program. - If you don't have sufficient memory, run the "smallins.bat" program. You may also need a module floppy for this type of installation. (See the "READMEus.txt" file in the "..\floppy" directory for details.)