PXE_Boot problems

brick2 · 10-30-2014, 06:39 PM

Okay so this is the scenario that I want to create:
Fedora 20 PXE server
Goes into a switch which in turn goes into a router

Now I want to be able to plug a machine into a switch and do a PXE installation.

Here is what I have tried thus far and the problems that I have encountered:

Installed DHCP-server, TFTP-server, syslinux

Followed a guide from

Code:

DHCP configuration:
#   see /usr/share/doc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf.example
#   see dhcpd.conf(5) man page
#

ddns-update-style none;
default-lease-time 14400;
filename "pxelinux.0"; 

# IP address of the dhcp server nothing but this machine.
        next-server 192.168.1.3;
        subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 
{
# ip distribution range between 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.100
        range 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.100;
        default-lease-time 10;
        max-lease-time 10;
}

TFTP configuration:

Code:

service tftp
{
        socket_type             = dgram
        protocol                = udp
        wait                    = yes
        user                    = root
        server                  = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
        server_args             = -s /tftpboot
        disable                 = no
        per_source              = 11
        cps                     = 100 2
        flags                   = IPv4
}

Tftpbood directory:

Code:

CentOS_6_i386_minimal  initrd.img  pxelinux.0  pxelinux.cfg  vesamenu.c32  vmlinuz

The client machine is capable of pxe boot

If further info is required just let me know what you need.

Just to mention tried a few other guides but didn't really work out. If somebody had some experience with this I could really use some help with this.

Thank you all for your time and effort

---------- Post added 10-30-14 at 06:40 PM ----------

http://www.golinuxhub.com/2014/08/ho...server-in.html

brick2 · 10-30-2014, 06:41 PM

http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/07/tftpboot-server/

This is the guide I follow not the one above

jefro · 10-30-2014, 09:11 PM

"The client machine is capable of pxe boot" ???

I like to suggest using knoppix cd for a test setup and guide. Sadly there are a billion guide web pages out there and each one is slightly different.

I'd remove the switch and do machine to machine to start.

brick2 · 10-31-2014, 05:44 AM

What od I use the knopix for to test whether it can install on a client machine, I can install more or less anything you want on the client machine with a usb, but that is not what I want to do, I really need for the installation to go over the network.

Yes there is an option for network boot on the client machine in the BIOS.

Removing the switch was one of the first things I tried, didn t really help.

Any other suggestions?

jefro · 10-31-2014, 03:50 PM

I meant knoppix has a way to boot some host computer (live cd/dvd). From there you start knoppix terminal server. It is a series of scripts that starts a lot of things (that you can later discover). From that host, you should then be able to boot a remote PXE computer. I assume not the bios type first version of pxe as it sucked.

In some cases you have to include drivers for the image to the client for network.

May have to add in options like keeppxe.

I asked a question too. What did you mean?

boethius · 11-25-2014, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brick2

Removing the switch was one of the first things I tried, didn t really help.

Any other suggestions?

Maybe I missed it but did you describe exactly what happens when you attempt to PXE boot the client?

Does it pick up an IP address or not? If it times out it could either be:

1. The device is on a network that cannot reach the "next-server" - e.g., the device is on a logical VLAN that is separated from the network the PXE server is on.
2. It has no DHCP relay (aka "ip helper" in Cisco parlance) or it has no proper gateway into other networks, including the network with the PXE server.

If you're on a completely flat network with a "dumb" (i.e., unmanaged) switch in place numbers 1 and 2 are not the culprits as the end device is on the same L2 network as the PXE server's DHCP and TFTP server. If it is a completely flat network and you definitely know the DHCP and TFTP servers are running on the same network make sure your IP network setup on the PXE/DHCP/TFTP server is correct (i.e., correct in the DHCP scope vs. the local IP configuration of the PXE server).

If it STILL never picks up an IP address watch the logs of the DHCP server (probably /var/log/messages) right as the client attempts to boot. The ISC DHCP server may reveal the reason(s) why it's not responding as you expect it to. Could come down to a configuration issue there. I did notice there is no "option routers" configuration option set in the DHCP scope in your example. IIRC that means the DHCP will send the client the IP of the DHCP server itself by default as the gateway. Unless the PXE/DHCP server actually is the router for your network, this is not desirable. If you have a network that is beyond the scope of a single subnet with a true router - even a small one - handling routing of packets between logical layer-2 networks then having the DHCP server acting as the gateway will probably send the packets off into the ether (again UNLESS the DHCP server is itself that router).

Explicitly setting the router/gateway in the DHCP configuration is generally a best practice.

If it does pick up an IP address does it time out on the TFTP receipt? The PXE client can still pick up the IP address - i.e., it's finding the "next-server" response from the DHCP server appropriately - but never boot because the TFTP server isn't working for whatever reason. If it's not picking up the bootstrap file (pxelinux.0 in this case) via TFTP then confirm the firewall isn't blocking, that port 69 on tcp/udp both is open (e.g., netstat -an | grep -i 69) and the TFTP server responds when the client attempts to download the file. You also may want to disable selinux "just in case."