I need help setting up a pxe boot...

trist007 · 02-06-2010, 01:07 AM

Here's my dhcpd.conf

Code:

# dhcpd.conf
#
# Configuration file for ISC dhcpd (see 'man dhcpd.conf')
#
option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.1;
default-lease-time 86400;
max-lease-time 604800;
authoritative;
allow booting;
allow bootp;

# global parameters
subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0
{
        range 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.254;
        filename "pxelinux.0";
        next-server 192.168.1.130;
        option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
        option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255;
        option routers 192.168.1.1;
}

Have tftpd setup from inetd

Code:

# Tftp service is provided primarily for booting.  Most sites
# run this only on machines acting as "boot servers."
tftp  dgram   udp     wait    nobody    /usr/sbin/in.tftpd  in.tftpd -s /tftpboot -r blksize

Also ran

Code:

mkdir -r /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg
touch /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default

I have a slackware 13.0.iso that I want my comp booting off pxe to boot to.

Here's my /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default

Code:

default linux
timeout 0
prompt 1
display display.msg

label linux
  kernel vmlinuz
  append initrd=initrd.iso

I have vmlinuz and initrd.iso in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg

vmlinuz is linked to /boot/vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.29.6-smp
initrd.iso is linked to /tftpboot/slackware-13.0-install-dvd.iso

The pxe boot computer and the one booting to pxe are both connected to the same switch.

When I turn on the computer that is gonna logon to the pxe boot server, it gets assigned an IP from the DHCP server, then it says TFTP PXE-E11 ARP Timeout.

So I figured my in.ftpd server was not configured correctly. I checked lsof -i and udp *:tftp is there. However when I run grep -i tftpd /var/log/syslog, I get

Code:

Feb  4 23:38:53 server in.tftpd[27754]: recvfrom: Socket operation on non-socket

Is this because in.ftpd is running through inetd? I thought inetd uses sockets?

I'm confused about the purpose of what 'filename "pxelinux.0";' does in /etc/dhcpd.conf?

Any ideas on the problem?

snowtigger · 02-06-2010, 01:32 AM

Can't remeber everything off hand, but i have a similar setup,
Do you have everything (i'm sure its everything) including /tftpboot readable by everyone.

nodopro · 02-06-2010, 02:07 AM

So your /tftpboot supposed to have these files:
/tftpboot/vmlinuz
/tftpboo/initrd.iso
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
/tftpboo/pxelinux.0

I believe you are missing pxelinux.0 file. Also make sure to check the permission.

trist007 · 02-06-2010, 06:45 AM

I copied the pxelinux.0 file from /usr/lib/syslinux to /tftpboot. I even chmod 777 all the files in -r /tftpboot.

Here is what I see on the computer booting to the pxe server

Code:

client mac address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx guid xxxxxxxx
client ip 192.168.1.103  mask 255.255.255.0  dhcp xx.xx.xx.xx
gateway ip 192.168.1.1
pxe-e11 arp timeout

I have a gateway/router at 192.168.1.1. Now surprisingly on the dhcp ip up on top, instead of xx.xx.xx.xx it actually shows my public ip(external) which is exposed to the wan instead of my lan. I'm thinking this is the problem. I'm going to mess around more with my dhcpd.conf file. The dhcp server ip is supposed to be 192.168.1.111.

trist007 · 02-06-2010, 07:01 AM

I changed my /etc/dhcpd.conf to:

Code:

# dhcpd.conf
#
# Configuration file for ISC dhcpd (see 'man dhcpd.conf')
#
ddns-update-style interim;
authoritative;
allow booting;
allow bootp;

# global parameters
subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0
{
        range 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.254;
        filename "pxelinux.0";
        default-lease-time 86400;
        max-lease-time 604800;
        option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
        option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255;
        option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.1;
        option routers 192.168.1.1;
}

Now my dhcp display as 192.168.1.113 on the computer that boots to pxe.

TFTP seems to be downloading file cause I can see '.' right after TFTP.

After about 15 mins I get a PXE-E32 TFTP open timeout. I'm going to check out my tftpd settings in /etc/inetd.conf. I am sure in.tftpd which is tftp-hpa 0.48(listed at the end of man page since in.tftpd -v or -version did not work) is good enough.

I ran lsof -i and saw that the tftp server was running as nobody. I edited the /etc/inetd.conf to have root run the tftp server. Isn't this risky?

Anyhow, it now works!! I get the boot: message, when I hit enter it says 'could not find kernel image'.

Update: It seems that pxe boot does not like symbolic links. I would have both slackware.iso and vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.29.6-smp in the /tftpboot dir. I had two files vmlinuz and initrd both linked to their respective files. This did not work. I simply moved the slackware.iso and vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.29.6-smp to initrd.iso and vmlinuz respectively. It works.

Update: After 15 mins, the as the initrd.iso was downloading, it just yacked. The screen was filled with weird symbols. Anyhow, I mouted that iso and put the initrd.img in /tftpboot and made the change to initrd.img in the default file.

It now works. Yaay!