Table of Contents
Setting up a PXE server
A PXE server is very useful if you need to boot your client over network because you don't have a CD-ROM or floppy installed. This allows you to install your OS without the need of an USB-device attached to your PC. All you need is a network card with PXE functionality included.
The next steps describe how to setup your PXE server. You will need an DHCP server as well. I assume your DHCP server is already setup and functional.
tftpd
Install the needed packages (Debian Etch)
aptitude install tftpd-hpa lftp
Enable the tftpd service: /etc/default/tftpd-hpa
#Defaults for tftpd-hpa RUN_DAEMON="yes" OPTIONS="-l -s /var/lib/tftpboot"
/etc/init.d/tftpd-hpa start
dhcpd
A sample DHPC config would look like this:
subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.0.30 192.168.0.60;
option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;
option domain-name-servers 192.168.0.2;
option domain-name "localdomain";
option routers 192.168.0.1;
filename "pxelinux.0";
next-server 192.168.0.99;
}
The important options are
- filename “pxelinux.0”;
- next-server 192.168.0.99;
next-server is your PXE server IP.
setup the boot environment
Home of your tftpd server is /var/lib/tftpboot. Our directory tree will be setup like so:
|-- boot.msg
|-- centos
| `-- 5.2
| |-- i386
| | |-- initrd.img
| | `-- vmlinuz
| `-- x86_64
| |-- initrd.img
| `-- vmlinuz
|-- debian
| |-- etch
| | `-- i386
| | |-- initrd.gz
| | `-- linux
| `-- lenny
| |-- amd64
| `-- i386
| |-- initrd.gz
| `-- linux
|-- menu.c32
|-- pxelinux.0
`-- pxelinux.cfg
|-- centos.conf
|-- default
|-- default.bak
|-- etch.conf
|-- lenny.conf
Get the files for pxe-boot
syslinux
First install syslinux, because we will need some special files for our boot menu:
aptitude install syslinux
Get the debian files needed:
# lenny first :-) cd /var/lib/tftpdboot/lenny lftp -c "open http://ftp2.de.debian.org/debian/dists/lenny/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/debian-installer/; mirror i386"
Prepare the centos boot:
Download the iso-files from centos.org, then copy these on your tfptd-server.
# mount the 1st iso to extract vmlinux: mount -o loop /srv/mirror/centos/5.3/x86_64/CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-1of7.iso /mnt cp /mnt/isolinux/initrd.img /var/lib/tftpboot/centos/5.3/x86_64/ cp /mnt/isolinux/vmlinuz /var/lib/tftpboot/centos/5.3/x86_64/
The boot menue
pxelinux.cfg/default
# Default boot option to use DEFAULT menu.c32 # Prompt user for selection PROMPT 0 # Menu Configuration MENU WIDTH 80 MENU MARGIN 10 MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3 MENU ROWS 12 MENU TABMSGROW 18 MENU CMDLINEROW 18 MENU ENDROW 24 MENU PASSWORDROW 11 MENU TIMEOUTROW 20 MENU TITLE Netzwerk Boot Menue MENU AUTOBOOT Starting Local System in # seconds # Menus # Localboot LABEL local MENU LABEL Von lokaler ^Festplatte booten ... menu default localboot 0 timeout 200 TOTALTIMEOUT 9000 # i386 LABEL etch MENU LABEL Installiere: Debian ^Etch Linux KERNEL menu.c32 APPEND pxelinux.cfg/etch.conf # x64 LABEL lenny MENU LABEL Installiere: Debian ^Lenny KERNEL menu.c32 APPEND pxelinux.cfg/lenny.conf # x64 LABEL centos MENU LABEL Installiere: ^CentOS Linux KERNEL menu.c32 APPEND pxelinux.cfg/centos.conf
pxelinux.cfg/etch.conf
# Default boot option to use
DEFAULT menu.c32
# Prompt user for selection
PROMPT 0
# Menu Configuration
MENU WIDTH 80
MENU MARGIN 10
MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3
MENU ROWS 12
MENU TABMSGROW 18
MENU CMDLINEROW 18
MENU ENDROW 24
MENU PASSWORDROW 11
MENU TIMEOUTROW 20
MENU TITLE Debian Etch Installation
# Return to Main Menu
LABEL MainMenu
MENU DEFAULT
MENU LABEL ^Zurueck zum Netzwerk Boot Hauptmenue
KERNEL menu.c32
#
# Blank boots
#
LABEL etch_i386_install
MENU LABEL Etch default ^install (i386)
kernel debian/etch/i386/linux
append vga=normal initrd=debian/etch/i386/initrd.gz --
LABEL etch_i386_expert
MENU LABEL Etch ^expert install (i386)
kernel debian/etch/i386/linux
append priority=low vga=normal initrd=debian/etch/i386/initrd.gz --
LABEL etch_i386_rescue
MENU LABEL Etch ^rescue (i386)
kernel debian/etch/i386/linux
append vga=normal initrd=debian/etch/i386/initrd.gz rescue/enable=true --
pxelinux.cfg/lenny.conf
# Default boot option to use
DEFAULT menu.c32
# Prompt user for selection
PROMPT 0
# Menu Configuration
MENU WIDTH 80
MENU MARGIN 10
MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3
MENU ROWS 12
MENU TABMSGROW 18
MENU CMDLINEROW 18
MENU ENDROW 24
MENU PASSWORDROW 11
MENU TIMEOUTROW 20
MENU TITLE Debian Lenny Installation
# Return to Main Menu
LABEL MainMenu
MENU DEFAULT
MENU LABEL ^Zurueck zum Netzwerk Boot Hauptmenue
KERNEL menu.c32
#
# Blank boots
#
LABEL lenny_i386_install
MENU LABEL Lenny default ^install (i386)
kernel debian/lenny/i386/linux
append vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/i386/initrd.gz -- quiet
LABEL lenny_i386_expert
MENU LABEL Lenny ^expert install (i386)
kernel debian/lenny/i386/linux
append priority=low vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/i386/initrd.gz --
LABEL lenny_i386_rescue
MENU LABEL Lenny ^rescue (i386)
kernel debian/lenny/i386/linux
append vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/i386/initrd.gz rescue/enable=true -- quiet
LABEL lenny_i386_auto
MENU LABEL Lenny ^automated install (i386)
kernel debian/lenny/i386/linux
append auto=true priority=critical vga=normal initrd=debian/lenny/i386/initrd.gz -- quiet
pxelinux.cfg/centos.conf
# Default boot option to use
DEFAULT menu.c32
# Prompt user for selection
PROMPT 0
# Menu Configuration
MENU WIDTH 80
MENU MARGIN 10
MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3
MENU ROWS 12
MENU TABMSGROW 18
MENU CMDLINEROW 18
MENU ENDROW 24
MENU PASSWORDROW 11
MENU TIMEOUTROW 20
MENU TITLE CentOS Installation
# Return to Main Menu
LABEL MainMenu
MENU DEFAULT
MENU LABEL ^Zurueck zum Netzwerk Boot Hauptmenue
KERNEL menu.c32
#
# Blank boots
#
LABEL CentOS_KS_install
MENU LABEL Centos 5.2 ^Install mit Kickstart (i386)
KERNEL centos/5.2/i386/vmlinuz
APPEND ks=http://mirror.home.lan/centos/kickstart/ksdefault.cfg initrd=centos/5.2/i386/initrd.img ramdisk_s
LABEL CentOS_52_install
MENU LABEL Centos 5.2 ^default install (i386)
KERNEL centos/5.2/i386/vmlinuz
APPEND initrd=centos/5.2/i386/initrd.img ramdisk_size=100000 ip=dhcp nfs --server=nfsserver.home.lan --dir=/srv/m
