B.2. Enable remote access

Next, you need to make your installation data available to other machines on the network. You can use NFS, HTTP, or FTP protocols. You can enable all three services on your server or any subset of the three.

B.2.1. NFS

To install over NFS you need to meet certain conditions on the server:

The installation directory must be exported
To export your installation directory, edit the /etc/exports file and add an entry for /install to it:
/install *(ro)
Save the edited exports file and tell the NFS daemon to reread its configuration file:
exportfs -r
This configures the most basic read-only export to all hosts on our network. If you want to include more advanced options in your export, such as exporting to certain hosts only, or on a certain subnet only, see the man page for the exports file at exports (5).
NFS needs to be installed and running
To check, type the command:
showmount -e hostname
Entering the showmount command without the hostname parameter will check the local system.
If NFS is not active, you will see a message similar to
showmount: ServerA: RPC: Program not registered
Portmap needs to be running, and can be checked with the command:
service portmap status

B.2.2. FTP

To enable installing over FTP, you need to allow FTP access to the installation directory on the server. This can be either anonymous FTP access or access through a named account with a password.

If you want anonymous FTP to point to a different directory, you can use sym links to point to the installation directory on the server.

B.2.3. HTTP

If you have a web server running and want to enable HTTP access to your installation server, then add sym links from your document root to the installation server directory to grant access.