LiveCD Serial Console .iso

kolpinkb

I have a system whereby the only method to install pfSense is via an internal/external cd-rom.

I am able to successfully connect via the comconsole during and after boot-up of my current (2.2.6) installation of pfSense.

Therefore, I have been trying to modify both the .iso and .img files of the pfSense installer to include the following options:

comconsole_speed=115200
console=comconsole
boot -v

I have been using FreeBSD 10.2 to mount the .iso and .img to allow for modification and regeneration of both the .iso and .img files. I can't get either of them to boot. First I tried converting the memstick-serial.img to a .iso and then burning it to a cd but it would not boot. Then I tried taking the .iso and adding the above parameters and remaking the .iso with mkisofs and then burning that to a cd. However, I got a kernel panic shortly after the cd boot process got going.

Does anything have a method to modify the LiveCD .iso to boot from the serial console?

After combing through the forums I see that I'm not the only one to have problems booting from a usb.

Perhaps the pfSense programmers could release a LiveCD-serial.iso?

I would really like not to have to pop in a graphics card and plug in a keyboard every time I need to install pfSense from scratch.

Thanks.

Visseroth

Have you tried browsing here….
http://files.nyi.pfsense.org/mirror/downloads/

And using this one?
http://files.nyi.pfsense.org/mirror/downloads/pfSense-memstick-serial-2.2.6-RELEASE-amd64.img.gz

Oh, and if you're using Windows at all you can use Win32DiskImager to write it to a dedicated flash drive. Mind you this will remove all other contents from the drive and Windows will NOT be able to read the flash drive correctly once written but it will still boot.

heper

if the memstick option is not working you can always install pfsense using a different computer, enable serial, then move harddisk to the target system.

kolpinkb

Thanks for the replies. I realize I could move the hard drive to a difference system but the install process would be more fluid if there was a serial .iso that could be burned to a CD.

jimp

Optical media for installers is dying, I doubt we'd ever do this. Pretty much anything can boot from USB these days, no reason the serial memstick can't be used unless the BIOS is not cooperative. And in that case, usually a BIOS update or maybe trying a different USB stick can get things going.

And if the box is truly so old that you can't install from USB, it probably draws more in power per year than it would cost to replace it with something that isn't ancient.

jahonix

If your hardware is that old it might not run 64-bit versions of pfSense. Try an i368 image instead.