pbiernacki / isboot

The iSCSI boot driver for FreeBSD

This driver provides iSCSI boot feature to FreeBSD.
It can be used with the bootable initiator such as the Intel NICs and iPXE/gPXE.
It connects with the iSCSI target specified by iBFT automatically.
Therefore, a diskless machine is also simply possible.

Installation:

1. extract the archive:
    # tar zxvf isboot-x.x.x.tar.gz

2. compile the module:
    # cd isboot-x.x.x/src
    # make

3. install the compiled module to the kernel directory:
    # make install

4. edit /boot/loader.conf, and add the following line:
    isboot_load="YES"

Note:
If you want use isboot with VIMAGE kernel, add CFLAGS+= -DVIMAGE to Makefile.
The boot device may change after installation.
It may be necessary to edit /etc/fstab in single mode.
IP address and gateway are reflected in the boot device.
You can see the boot device information by sysctl(8).

The following is an example with FreeBSD 10.0 and iPXE.

    # sysctl net.isboot
    net.isboot.version: 0.2.7
    net.isboot.nic: em0
    net.isboot.device: da1

    # sysctl hw.ibft
    hw.ibft.initiator_name: iqn.2010-04.org.ipxe:dn2800mt
    hw.ibft.initiator_address: 172.18.0.139
    hw.ibft.target_name: iqn.2007-09.jp.ne.peach:aria:dn2800mt-boot
    hw.ibft.target_address: 172.18.0.26
    hw.ibft.target_port: 3260
    hw.ibft.target_lun: 0
    hw.ibft.nic_prefix: 16
    hw.ibft.nic_gateway: 172.18.0.1

    # camcontrol inquiry da1
    pass1: <FreeBSD iSCSI DISK 0001> Fixed Direct Access SCSI-5 device
    pass1: Serial Number 10002800
    pass1: 300.000MB/s transfers

Tested targets and initiators:
 o istgt-20121123 (NAS4Free bundled version: http://www.nas4free.org/)
 o iPXE/USB with Intel DN2800MT. (old test at blog: http://shell.peach.ne.jp/aoyama/archives/2100)

Tested OS versions:
 o FreeBSD 7.1-7.3 (no longer supported)
 o FreeBSD 8.0-8.4 (no longer supported)
 o FreeBSD 9.0-9.3
 o FreeBSD 10.0-10.2

For more information, go to Japanese blog at:
http://shell.peach.ne.jp/aoyama/

Author:
Daisuke Aoyama <[e-mail]>