RoboInst Overview

Since some setup is involved, to create a mrconfig file and to configure bootp and tftp, RoboInst is most useful when you you are installing multiple client machines, or upgrading or re-installing a single machine often. If you are installing Irix 6.5 on a single machine, it will be easier not to use RoboInst. In that case, just load the miniroot from the Irix 6.5 Installation Tools CD, and use inst to perform the installation interactively.

It works like this: you install the roboinst server software on a machine we'll call the server. Then you create an ascii file called mrconfig, which is essentially a script specifying all the disk partitioning, software installation, and any shell commands to execute as part of the installation.

Then you run the /usr/etc/roboinst command, either on the client (to roboinst the client) or from the server (to roboinst one or more other machines). You can also initiate roboinst from the PROM command monitor of the client, if it cannot boot for example. RoboInst jobs can also be scheduled to run at a later time.

Unless you specify the -L option for live mode, roboinst normally shuts down the client machine and then executes the installation in the miniroot environment, which is loaded over the network using the bootp protocol.

RoboInst uses the remote logging facility of syslogd(1) to report progress during the installation.