[How to] PXE boot Server

[gouryella]

[How to] PXE boot Server (compressed guide) updated 29.3.2010

expectations:

• PXE boot friendly net card / virtualbox with bridged adapter in network config (for testing)
• asus in router operation mode with active DHCP
• tested on wl500gp-1.9.2.7-d-r1222.trx after finished wengi guide

install xinetd (if you don't have)

ipkg update
ipkg upgrade
ipkg install xinetd

install tftp-hpa Trivial File Transfer Protocol Server

ipkg install tftp-hpa

add extra dnsmasq.conf, it will append to /etc/dnsmasq.conf during boot (thanks Sid)

nano /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf

contents of dnsmasq.conf:

dhcp-boot=pxelinux.0,asus,192.168.1.1

asus=replece to your Host Name, 192.168.1.1=tftp server ip adress (may run outside asus for fastest transfer)
save:

flashfs save && flashfs commit && flashfs enable && reboot

example of config files (check Attached Files i'm providing all needed files for Windows 7 PE Boot and memtest x86)

mkdir /opt/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg
nano /opt/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
nano /opt/tftpboot/boot.txt

contents of default:

display boot.txt
prompt 1
timeout 0
default winpe

label dsl
  kernel dsl/linux24
  append ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=dsl/minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet boot_image=dsl/knoppix

label dos
  kernel memdisk
  append initrd=dos/Dos6.22.img

label memtest
  kernel memdisk
  append initrd=memtest/memtest.img

label winpe
  kernel Boot/startrom.0

label gparted
  kernel gparted/vmlinuz
  append initrd=gparted/initrd.img boot=live union=aufs noswap quickreboot noprompt vga=788 fetch=http://192.168.1.1:81/filesystem.squashfs

label pmagic
  kernel pmagic/bzImage
  append initrd=pmagic/initramfs load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 rw sleep=10 livemedia

contents of boot.txt:

Boot menu: gparted | dos | dsl | winpe | memtest | pmagic

get the pxelinux.0 and memdisk kernel from syslinux (or everything is in Attach Files)
put both files to /opt/tftpboot/
get the dos bootdisk image

mkdir /opt/tftpboot/dos
cd /opt/tftpboot/dos
wget http://www.allbootdisks.com/downloads/Disks/MS-DOS_Boot_Disk_Download47/Diskette%20Images/Dos6.22.img

you may need chmod, thanks wpte for checking my tutorial

chmod +x  /opt/tftpboot/*.*
chmod +x  /opt/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/*.*

It's all, try to boot dos from network...

[Sid]

Thanks for this guide !
There's simple way to store changes in dnsmasq.conf.
According to one of Oleg's posts /etc/dnsmasq.conf generates at every boot. To make any permanent changes you must create /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf file, edit it as you wish and flashfs it. After that system will generate /etc/dnsmasq.conf as usual at every boot, but any lines stored in /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf will be automatically appended to /etc/dnsmasq.conf

[gouryella]

Sid, thanks i update the guide.

[wpte]

wow... it actually boots dos without an emulator?
or is it a special compiled version?

never did any pxe booting, but it sure does looks interesting

[gouryella]

wow... it actually boots dos without an emulator?
or is it a special compiled version?

never did any pxe booting, but it sure does looks interesting

just read something about PXE, BOOTP, DHCP BOOT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot...on_Environment
it' s not boot dos inside router, it's service for loading Operationg System or Routine to standart x86 PC(maybe other platform) over network card without needing hard drive, for an example.

[wpte]

just read something about PXE, BOOTP, DHCP BOOT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot...on_Environment
it' s not boot dos inside router, it's service for loading Operationg System or Routine to standart x86 PC(maybe other platform) over network card without needing hard drive, for an example.

hmm...
just a bit like connecting a pc to the router via ssh
only then the opposite way and with some boot I guess

I might try it out, thanks for the how-to

[bucasia]

Hi gouryella,

I'm glad my post helped some (http://sysadminman.net/blog/archives/8)

I hadn't spotted that wordpress had screwed my quotes up with speech marks - I'll correct that now.

Thanks, Matt

[wpte]

hey I tried all those steps, and found my way into the network boot mode...
but for some reason I get error messages that it doesnt find pxelinux.cfg

rlea weird, I just can't seem to load anything

[gouryella]

wpte, pxe successfully load pxelinux.0, but not find pxelinux.cfg
pxelinux.cfg is a directory, inside is a file named default

dir dsl - damm small linux
dir Boot - windows pe 2.0 (bootmgr.exe is for windows booting)

[wpte]

yes, I have the folder with the file default...

in the tftp folder I have these other files:

boot.txt
Dos.6.22.img
memdisk
pxelinux.0

What is that bootmanager.exe maybe I need that one too?

[wpte]

well... I came a bit further...
I had to chmod all the files to complete access before it would work...
maybe handy to put in ur how-to

yay, finally booted into dos with my... banana?

EDIT:
I cant boot DSL properly tho, it keeps saying it can't find knoppix filesystem...
I tried chmod, changing lower or upper case, putting it in a folder etc...

Any ideas?

[gouryella]

they are many version of dsl, i use it dsl-4.4.10-initrd.iso, but i dont' like dsl to much...
but the funny way is booting something like ubuntu or windows xp, moving tftp server on fastest ethernet dhcp-boot=pxelinux.0,asus,192.168.1.5

[wpte]

they are many version of dsl, i use it dsl-4.4.10-initrd.iso, but i dont' like dsl to much...
but the funny way is booting something like ubuntu or windows xp, moving tftp server on fastest ethernet dhcp-boot=pxelinux.0,asus,192.168.1.5

I'll try that out then

I'm also trying to get puppy linux to boot from network, I have to build my own version, because the standart one doesnt work with pxe
Maybe I can upload it somewhere and share the version here when it's ready

[msj33]

Thanks for the Guide gouryella - Great work!

Got it all up an running.......But have one BIG problem!?!?

I wanna use a Image that is 700 MB in size, and i get the follwoing error:

Not enough memory to load specified image.

Is there someway to fix this? Or a workaround?!?!

Tried setting Ram-size to 10000 but without results.

Reason for the 700 MB ISO is, that this is a Slipstreamed version of XP SP2

I don't wanna use a DOs or Linux image, because i only want to use PXE for Backup purposes of my XP setups.

/Morten

[gouryella]

I dont' know how to boot XP, it's too dificult because XP isn't ready for PXE;
but the size: you can use nLite + bartPE for making XP CD up to 100MB;
Win PE 2.0 (Vista PE) is better way how to backup, u can use drivesnapshot too, it is booting directly image to ram very fast in 60seconds (125MB WIM).