thanks for the tip, we can simplify our config on the kickstart server. »

jrzagar, I am assuming you have a need to select the exact drive you want to kick start on. Since most of our machines have just one drive, we don't specify anything. In systems with more than one drive it just uses the "first" one. the code looks like it has the same functionality that i used a long time ago in differentiating drives on Solaris machines during pre jumpstart processing. »

Well, as one of the authors, outdated is not quite the right word. The info is current, it is just that the authors didn't find cobbler before rolling their own. Also, there are lots of admins out there that want to understand what is happening and why. when it breaks, they know the piece to fix on their own. Understanding the kickstart process can save hours of time debugging why the latest hardware fails to kick or to help trace a single byte error in a config file. cobbler does look interesting and I will probably install it at some point and give it a whirl. It may be better for future deployments or it may have functions that we will build into our existing server. BRuce »