.\" @(#)netboot.config.5
.\"
.\" Copyright (C) 1998 Gero Kuhlmann   <gero@gkminix.han.de>
.\"
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.\"  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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.\"  GNU General Public License for more details.
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.TH netboot.config 5 "10 May 1998"
.SH FILES
%CONFIG% - Netboot configuration file
.TP
%LIBDIR%/netboot.db - Systems database file

.SH DESCRIPTION
These two files control the operation of the various programs which are
part of the
.B netboot
project. While the configuration file contains general definitions for
the programs, the systems database contains specifications for client
systems. Using this approach, it is for example possible to give a system
name on the command line of
.B mknbi-linux
and then automatically have the boot image file created with the correct
Linux kernel and NFS root parameters. This should make it easier to maintain
a large base of diskless clients with different configurations.

.SH CONFIGURATION FILE
The configuration file used by all
.B netboot
programs is organized into different sections. Each section is introduced
by an identifying tag in square brackets and reaches until the next tag or
the end of the file. The section
.B [general]
is used by all programs. If a program requires only one additional section,
it's tag name is just the name of the program. Otherwise, the tag name is
built by the program name, followed by a colon and a name specifying what
this section is used for. This name can by itself be divided into several
parts by using colons. For example, the
.B makerom
program uses multiple sections for either defining bootrom kernel
and network driver descriptions. Therefore, the tags used look like
[makerom:kernel:<name>] for the kernel descriptions, and
[makerom:netdrv:<name>] for network driver descriptions. There are no
spaces allowed between the tag name and the square brackets.
.LP
Each section contains a number of definitions, which start with a
parameter name, followed by a colon and the parameter value. Depending
on the type of parameter, the value can either be a string, a number,
a boolean value, an enumeration value or an integer number. In case of
a number, the usual C conventions apply. For example, prepending the
number with 0x identifies it as a hex number. Boolean parameters can
either have a value of
.B false
or
.BR true .
In case of a string value,
leading (between equal sign and first string character) and trailing
(following last string character) blanks are ignored.
If leading and/or trailing spaces or # characters are required in a
string argument, the whole string can be enclosed in double quotes.
If a string value names a directory or file, it is possible to make
these paths relative to the main netboot directory
.B %LIBDIR%
by prepending the string with two slashes. Therefore, specifying //utils
gets expanded to %LIBDIR%/utils when the configuration file gets read.
See below about how to change the default netboot directory name.
.LP
Everything including and following a # character up to the end of the
line is ignored as a comment. Empty lines are also ignored, as well as
leading and trailing blanks on a line. Therefore, tag names and parameter
definitions can start anywhere on a line. Between the parameter name, the
equal sign and the parameter value any number of spaces may be placed.
Case is significant for
everything in the configuration file. Especially, the boolean values
and parameter names have to be all lower case.
.LP
If no configuration file name is given either on the command line of a
netboot program or in the environment variable
.BR NETBOOT_CONFIG ,
the default
.B %CONFIG%
will be used.
.LP
The
.B [general]
section of the configuration file is used by all programs in the
.B netboot
package. It can contain the following parameters:
.TP
.B netbootdir
Specifies the directory where to look for all the files required for proper
operation. If not specified, the default
.B %LIBDIR%
will be used. This parameter can be overriden by the
.B \-N
or
.B \-\-netboot-dir
command line options with all netboot programs. Also, if neither the
configuration file or the command line is used to specify the directory,
the environment variable
.B NETBOOT
will be looked up before using the default.
.TP
.B database
Specifies the name of the database file to be used when operating in
batch mode, i.e. when the
.B \-b
or
.B \-\-batch-sys
command line options are given to a program. It's default value is
.BR //netboot.db .
.LP
The possible parameters in any other section of the configuration file are
described in the man pages of the corresponding netboot programs.

.SH DATABASE FILE
The database file is organized into tag separated sections like the
configuration file. However, the tag names are constructed differently in
that each name consists of a diskless client's system name followed by
the name of the program which uses a section. Both names are seperated
by a colon. For example, [testclient:mknbi-dos] specifies the section
used by the
.B mknbi-dos
program to generate a boot image file for system
.BR testclient .
The client name can also contain several colon separated parts to specify
different configurations for the same operating system. Using the example
above, [testclient:msdos:mknbi-dos] could be used to specify an MS-DOS
setup, while [testclient:opendos:mknbi-dos] might be used for an OpenDOS
environment.
.LP
To use a section in the database file you have to give either the
.B \-b
or
.B \-\-batch-sys
command line option to the corresponding program. The argument to these
options specifies the client's system name. When you use different
configurations for the same system, you have to give the full name
including the colon and the configuration name. With the example above
it would be necessary to use \-\-batch-sys=testclient:opendos on the
command line to mknbi-dos to use the [testclient:opendos:mknbi-dos]
section.
.LP
The parameters available for each
.B netboot
program are discussed in the individual man pages of the programs. When
using a system definition from the database file, all parameters specified
in the database entry always override any command line options. Therefore,
you should not use any other command line option besides
.B \-b
or
.BR \-\-batch-sys .

.SH ENVIRONMENT
All
.B netboot
programs use these environment variables as a last resort when the
corresponding configuration file parameters or command line options
are not given. If an environment variable is specified it will override
the compiled-in default.
.TP
.B NETBOOT
Specifies the main
.B netboot
directory. This environment variable setting can be overriden by the
.B \-N
or
.B \-\-netboot-dir
command line options or the
.B netbootdir
configuration file entry.
.TP
.B NETBOOT_CONFIG
Specifies the name of the configuration file. This environment variable
setting can be overriden by the
.B \-c
or
.B \-\-config-file
command line options.

.SH SEE ALSO
makerom(8), mknbi-linux(8), mknbi-dos(8), mknbi-mgl(8)