2010-07-15.

Installation of linux-based OSs starting from just the harddisk and 
existing GRUB installation; i.e., avoid having to make CDs, DVDs, 
usbmem etc to start the installation.
Here, just the basic booting stuff is needed, as network installation
is then intended.  It should be possible to have iso images or loose
files from a CD/DVD on the harddisk too, to install from without any 
network; see other sites for this.



== Mandriva:

http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/Docs/Installing_Mandriva_Linux#Booting_the_installer_direct_from_a_hard_disk_-_Linux_method
	"On the Mandriva mirrors, you will find the files 
	in the /isolinux/alt0 subdirectory of the release 
	you wish to install - for example, 
		/MandrivaLinux/official/2009.0/i586/isolinux/alt0. 
	The files are named all.rdz and vmlinuz."

	Put in some grub-readable partition, and add the following to the grub.conf 
	(e.g. /boot/grub/grub.conf or /boot/grub/menu.lst)
	
	title Mandriva-installer
	kernel (hd0,0)/boot/mdva/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram3 ramdisk_size=32000 vga=791
	initrd (hd0,0)/boot/mdva/all.rdz

A mirror: 
	ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Linux/distributions/Mandriva/official/2010.1/x86_64/



== OpenSUSE:

http://pt.opensuse.org/Network_Install 

	"For stable openSUSE release 
	Replace <version> by your openSUSE release (ie,11.2, ...). 
	Replace <arch> by your architecture (i386 or x86_64). 
	cd /tmp
	wget http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/<version>/repo/oss/boot/<arch>/loader/linux
	wget http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/<version>/repo/oss/boot/<arch>/loader/initrd
	mv linux /boot/osu/vmlinuz.install
	mv initrd /boot/osu/initrd.install

	(In the following, all the extra details of ip address, mirror etc can be omitted,
	and will then be asked for by the installer.)

	"Next, prepare your grub configuration to boot these images. 
	If the ip adress of your computer is 192.168.10.10, the gateway to the internet is 192.168.10.1 
	and your root (/) partition is /dev/hda1, add a section like the following to /boot/grub/menu.lst : 

	title openSUSE-installer
		root (hd0,0)
		kernel /boot/osu/vmlinuz.install noapic usessh=1 sshpassword="12345678" install=ftp://<path to openSUSE> hostip=192.168.10.10 netmask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.10.1 nameserver=192.168.10.1
		initrd /boot/osu/initrd.install

	So, to avoid being so detailed or running an ssh server, this should do instead of the 
	kernel line in the above:
		kernel /boot/osu/vmlinuz.install

A mirror:
	ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Linux/distributions/opensuse/distribution/11.3/repo/oss   (or non-oss for all packages)


== Fedora:

http://gofedora.com/how-to-install-fedora-without-cd-dvd/

	"From installation source, get 
		./isolinux/{vmlinuz,initrd}
	and put in /boot"

	Edit grub.conf to

	title Fedora Installation
		root (hd0,0)
		kernel /boot/fed/vmlinuz
		initrd /boot/fed/initrd.img

Some mirrors:	
	ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Linux/distributions/fedora/linux/releases/13/Fedora/x86_64/os
	ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org/sites/download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/releases/13/Fedora/x86_64/os/