This eliminates the necessity to build a separate INSTALL kernel which holds mdimage inside.That's what i386 did and miniroot.kmod was loaded via boot.cfg(5) like distrib/i386/cdroms/installcd/boot.cfg.in in netbsd-5. (-current doesn't use miniroot.kmod and use cd9660 root fs)
It's my routine to PXEBOOT i386/amd64 first, interrupt countdown immeediately while boot.cfg menu is shown, run "modules enabled" and "load miniroot.kmod", then type "boot netbsd" for all upgrade or fresh installation. ISO image is vnconfig'ed and NFS-exported on the install server side. It's a snap handy way for bulk net-install and disaster control. Toru Nishiumra / ALKYL Technology