ThickPi.md

Ideas for network booting raspberry Pis

1. Configure an iSCSI target on a Pi

   • install ubuntu server https://ubuntu.com/download/iot/raspberry-pi-2-3 using belena etcher
   • log in via ssh user:ubuntu pw:ubuntu - enabled by default on ubuntu server. change password
   • sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   • sudo su
   • sudo apt -y install targetcli-fb
   • plug in s usb drive and as su fdisk -l
   • fdisk /dev/sda then commands d to delete current parition n to start new, then keep defaults. Then exit with w
   • reboot or run partprobe
   • targetcli
   • cd /backstores/block
   • create disk /dev/sda1
   • /iscsi
   • create iqn.2019-09.local.ubuntu:server
   • /iscsi/iqn.2019-09.local.ubuntu:server/tpg1/acls
   • create iqn.2019-09.local.ubuntu:pi3b1 change pi3b1 to the name of your client
   • cd iqn.2019-09.local.ubuntu:pi3b1
   • set auth userid=pi3b1 set auth password=raspberry
   • /iscsi/iqn.2019-09.local.ubuntu:server/tpg1/luns
   • create /backstores/block/disk
   • exit
   • ss -napt | grep 3260 `LISTEN 0 256 0.0.0.0:3260 0.0.0.0:*

2. Install BerryBoot on an SD card for each pi.

   • format an SD as Fat32, partition table should be MBR/MSDOS
   • Copy the conents of the berryboot zip to the root folder
   • add vncinstall ipv4=192.168.88.88/255.255.255.0/192.168.88.1 datadev=isci qmap=gb to the end of the cmdline.txt - changing IPs as appropriate, do not put it on a newline.
   • edit iscsi.sh as apporopriate and add /sbin/iscsistart -i "iqn.2019-09.local.ubuntu:pi3b1" -g 1 -t "iqn.2019-09.local.ubuntu:server" -a "192.168.0.7" -u "pi3b1" -w "password" to iscsi.sh using the iqns and settings used in 1
   • now if all is working you may find you boot into an empty boot menu with all options greyed out. If this is the case continue
   • edit cmdline.txt once more this time delete datadev=iscsi for now. reboot berryboot
   • this time you should boot into the berryboot set up - click through the menus, set up the iscsi manually.
   • It should add a new disk sda1, select this a format the disk
   • then it take you to a bootmenu editor with the correct amount of free space availible. Install any OS from the menu.
   • It will reboot and will fail, edit cmdline.txt once more and replace datadev=<some long hexadecimal> with datadev=iscsi and reboot.
   • You should now be in the bootmenu with the single OS you installed and a valid button through to the bootmenu editor.

3. Add new OS

   • copy a chosen OS from https://berryboot.alexgoldcheidt.com/images/, extract to a fat32 formatted USB. Connect the USB to the client pi and then long press Add OS and then add from USB stick.

4. Switch between OSs/projects easily with this methodology -(currently untested)

5. Edit OS root files by doing the following

   • Get the partition layout of the image

$ sudo fdisk -lu /var/lib/iscsi_disks/disk01.img
...
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Device                           Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/var/lib/iscsi_disks/disk01.img1        2048   262143   260096  127M  e W95 
/var/lib/iscsi_disks/disk01.img2      262144 20971519 20709376  9.9G 83 Linu

• Calculate the offset from the start of the image to the start of the large partition

• Sector size * Start = (in the case) 512 * 262144 = 134217728

• Make a mount point

sudo mkdir /mnt/iscsiDisk01/
sudo mkdir /mnt/OS1/

• Mount it on /dev/loop98 using the offset

sudo losetup -o 134217728 /dev/loop98 /var/lib/iscsi_disks/disk01.img

• Now the partition resides on /dev/loop0. You can fsck it, mount it etc

sudo fsck -fv /dev/loop98
sudo mount -rw /dev/loop98 /mnt/iscsiDisk01

• Now you can browse

cd /mnt/iscsiDisk01/images

• NB. So far just dropping images into /mnt/iscsiDisk01/images/ doesn't seem to work - although I haven't yet tried images from https://berryboot.alexgoldcheidt.com/images/

• Now mount an image

sudo mount -rw Debian_Stretch_Raspbian_2018.11.img192 /mnt/OS1
cd /mnt/OS1/

• Make any changes

• Unmount

cd /
sudo umount /mnt/OS1
sudo umount /mnt/iscsiDisk01
sudo losetup -d /dev/loop98

                                                                  +---+  +---+
                                                                  |SSD|  |SSD|
                                                                  |   |  |   |
 +------+            +-----------------------+                    |   |  |   |
 |ISP   |            |                       |                    +---+  +---+
 |Router|            |     8 port switch     |                        |  |
 |In    |  +------+  |                       |                        |  |
 |Modem |  |GlInet|  |                       |  +----+ +----+ +----+ ++--++
 |Mode  |  |Router|  |                       |  |pi 1| |pi 2| |pi 3| |pi 4|
 |      |  |?POE  |  |4 non poe 4 poe ports  |  |3B  | |3B  | |3B+ | |4B  |
 |      |  |VPN   |  |                       |  |Hole| |OSMC| |DATA| |NAS |
 +--+--++  +-+--+-+  +--+-+-+-+---+-+-+-+----+  +--+-+ +--+-+ +--+-+ +--+-+
    |  |     |  |       | | | |   | | | |          |      |      |      |
    |  +-----+  +-------+ | | |   | | | +----------+      |      |      |
    |                     | | |   | | +-------------------+      |      |
    |                     v | v   | +----------------------------+      |
    v                    AP | TV  +-------------------------------------+
   WAN                      |
                            v
                        x86 Laptop Server

Made on ASCIFLOW

Issues

• Headless set up is tricky. The vncinstall ipv4=192.168.88.88/255.255.255.0/192.168.88.1 above enables VNC for berryboot. However this does not garuntee that any OS booted will be headless. Even though berryboot's /boot/ folder becomes the /boot/ of the OS adding a ssh file does not seem to carry through
• There doesn't seem to be a way to add one's own OS to the system yet. I have tried the long press add OS button -> add from usb but it didn't recognise the USB (I havent checked the format yet).

https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/49l25b/iscsi_booting_your_raspberry_pi/

https://kifarunix.com/how-to-install-and-configure-iscsi-storage-server-on-ubuntu-18-04/

https://www.berryterminal.com/doku.php/storing_your_files_on_a_synology_nas_using_iscsi