ofw-install-server

Presentation

Minimal RARP + TFTP + optional BOOTP, NFSv2, and HTTP servers for netbooting Sun Open Firmware systems (V240, Netra X1/V100, T1000, etc.).

Linux-only (uses AF_PACKET raw sockets).

It implements a minimal RARP server and a TFTP server that also handles the "IP in Hexa" filename pattern used by Open Firmware.

Optional BOOTP, NFSv2 and HTTP helpers are included to also simplify end-to-end OpenBSD & NetBSD installs.

It's meant to be a simpler option than the traditional setup, but at the cost of flexibility (single install path/set of files).

Build

make

Repository layout

• nfs/: Minimal NFSv2, mountd, and portmap (RPC) server
• rarp/: RARP server
• bootp/: BOOTP/DHCP server
• tftp/: TFTP server
• http/: Tiny HTTP file server
• utils/: IP allocation and small utilities
• main.go: CLI entrypoint

Run

Requires root or CAP_NET_RAW capability on the binary.

If necessary, prepare the NIC on your host and set variables used below:

export BOOT_SERVER_IP=172.24.42.150
export BOOT_SERVER_NIC=enp0s25
sudo ip addr add ${BOOT_SERVER_IP}/24 dev ${BOOT_SERVER_NIC}

Optional: enable routing/NAT on the deploy sever:

If your install environment needs Internet access via the server, enable IPv4 forwarding and a simple NAT:

WAN_NIC="wlp3s0"

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
iptables -F
iptables -t nat -F
iptables -A FORWARD -i ${BOOT_SERVER_NIC} -s ${BOOT_SERVER_IP}/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A FORWARD -i ${WAN_NIC} -d ${BOOT_SERVER_IP}/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o ${WAN_NIC} -j MASQUERADE
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o ${WAN_NIC} -j MASQUERADE

OpenBSD Install

Prepare files:

# Tweak it to the latest versions
export OPENBSD_VERSION="7.7"
export NETBSD_VERSION="10.1"

# If you want to try your luck with the OpenBSD ofwboot.net
# wget "https://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/${OPENBSD_VERSION}/sparc64/ofwboot.net"

# Recover bootloader from NetBSD
wget https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-${NETBSD_VERSION}/sparc64/installation/netboot/ofwboot.net
# Recover OpenBSD install RamDisk
wget "https://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/${OPENBSD_VERSION}/sparc64/bsd.rd"
# Recover an autoinstall file
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kakwa/silly-sun-server/refs/heads/main/misc/openbsd-autoinstall.conf

Start the install server:

sudo ./ofw-install-server -iface ${BOOT_SERVER_NIC} -rarp \
  -tftp -tftp-file ./ofwboot.net \
  -bootp \
  -nfs -nfs-file ./bsd.rd \
  -http -http-file ./openbsd-autoinstall.conf

NetBSD Install

Prepare files:

# Tweak it to the latest version
export NETBSD_VERSION="10.1"

wget "https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-${NETBSD_VERSION}/sparc64/installation/netboot/ofwboot.net"
wget "https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-${NETBSD_VERSION}/sparc64/binary/kernel/netbsd-INSTALL.gz"
gunzip netbsd-INSTALL.gz

Start the server:

sudo ./ofw-install-server -iface ${BOOT_SERVER_NIC} -rarp \
  -tftp -tftp-file ./ofwboot.net \
  -bootp \
  -nfs -nfs-file ./netbsd-INSTALL

Flags

• -iface: interface to bind (default: enp0s25)
• -rarp: enable built-in RARP server
• -tftp: enable built-in TFTP server
• -tftp-file: file to serve via TFTP (used for ofwboot.net)
• -bootp: enable BOOTP/DHCP helper
• -bootp-rootpath: BOOTP root-path option
• -bootp-filename: BOOTP bootfile/filename option
• -bootp-dns: optional single IPv4 DNS server (DHCP option 6). If omitted, defaults to 9.9.9.9.
• -nfs: enable minimal NFSv2 server
• -nfs-file: file served over NFSv2 reads (INSTALL ramdisk or bsd.rd)
• -http: enable tiny HTTP server
• -http-file: file served by HTTP for all requests (e.g., autoinstall config)