PXE Event States

Starting with Provisioner 6.3, the Provisioner PXE Server and the Client system (being provisioned or imaged) communicate with each other, and provide a "PXE Event State" to the Provisioner indicating the then-current state of the provisioning or imaging event.

The PXE Event State is displayed on the Provisioner GUI and is also available through the API.

The "PXE Event State" is divided into 2 distinct components:

•"Type": this component describes the Provisioner function that was being exercised

•"State": this component describes in "near real-time" the then-current condition ("State") of a PXE Event.

The syntax used for this reporting and feedback structure is {PXE Event State}-{PXE Event Type}

PXE Event Types

The different PXE Event Types are:

•"provision": this Type is used for all MAC-Specific Provisioning Events

•"macindy": this Type is used for all MAC-Independent Provisioning Events, and, as of Release 6.5, for MAC-Specific DHCP provisioning of RHEL/CentOS and Windows Server 2008

•"liveubuntu": this Type is used for all Live Ubuntu ("Rescue System") Deployment Events

•"image": this Type is used for all Imaging Events

Provisioning PXE Event States: "provision", "macindy" & "liveubuntu"

The different provisioning PXE Event States (as reported or detected in near-realtime) are:

PXE Event State	Example	Description
free or free{-variable-text}	free	This IP address is available and has not been assigned to any particular MAC address.This state displays "No_PXE_Event_Scheduled" -- The API returns "No_PXE_Event_Scheduled" if the Provisioner Server is accessible during the Client's on-boot processing in new VLAN, in which case the PXE Event IP is freed; otherwise the PXE VLAN IP will stay in pxeevent-{type}-BMPlanBoot state. A corner case may be "free-liveubuntu" where Live Ubuntu was deployed and may still be operational.
pxeboot-reserved{-type}	pxeboot-reserved-provision	This IP address has been reserved for a provisioning event. Note that Imaging takes priority over Provisioning.
pxebooting{-type}	pxebooting-macindy	The Client has requested an IP address from Provisioner's Java core engine (an Event has begun)
pxeevent{-type}	pxeevent-liveubuntu	Provisioner's Java core engine indicates that the Client received its requested IP. pxeevent-provision is the last state reported during provisioning ESX/ESXi 4.x (since ESX/ESXi gets provisioned with a non-PXE VLAN IP address, it can no longer communicate with the Provisioner PXE Server after this phase of the provisioning process.
pxeevent{-type}-postpxe	pxeevent-provision-postpxe	The Client has been provisioned and the "Post-OS installation scripting" has begun (e.g. kickstart %post)
pxeevent{-type}-rebooting	pxeevent-provision-rebooting	The OS or hypervisor has been provisioned, and the Client is rebooting. Note: if the Event is Imaging, the status gets displayed temporarily, immediately changes to "freeip" since there is no Client-side "pxepost" processing. This state does not exist for Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7. pxeevent-provision-rebooting is the last state reported during provisioning ESXi 5.x
pxeevent{-type}-rebooting	pxeevent-macindy-rebooting	Starting with Release 6.5, RHEL/CentOS and Windows Server 2008 can be provisioned MAC-Specific with either a DHCP IP address or a static IP address upon reboot to a non-PXE VLAN (prior releases supported only static IP). This event state is what gets recorded when provisioning with DHCP IP addressing.
pxeevent{-type}-rebooted	pxeevent-provision-rebooted	After the provisioning event, the Client system has rebooted. This is the expected final state for Windows Server 2012 & 2008, Windows 8 & 7, RHEL and CentOS. This will be final state with dual NIC ("Public" "Private") configurations until API action or orchestration (e.g., Cisco Process Orchestrator) switches the Client from the Provisioner subnet to a production VLAN, at which time the IP will be freed by the orchestrator or the API-invoking application.
pxeevent{-type}-rebooted	pxeevent-macindy-rebooted	Starting with the Chuck Berry Supplemental Package, only RHEL and CentOS provisioned with MAC-Specific DHCP use this final state. Starting with Release 6.5 (and prior to Chuck Berry), RHEL/CentOS and Windows Server 2008 can be provisioned MAC-Specific with either a DHCP IP address or a static IP address upon reboot to a non-PXE VLAN (prior releases supported only static IP). This event state is what gets recorded when provisioning with DHCP IP addressing.
pxeevent{-type}-BMPlanBoot	pxeevent-provision-BMPlanBoot	Bare Metal Provisioning (V)LAN Network Boot: this state will occur each time after a Client has been rebooted (after the initial "pxeevent-provision-rebooted") on the Provisioner's dedicated VLAN/subnet.

Imaging PXE Event States

The different imaging PXE Event States (as reported or detected in near-realtime) are:

PXE Event State	Example	Description
free or free{-variable-text}	free	This IP address is available and has not been assigned to any particular MAC address.This state displays "No_PXE_Event_Scheduled" -- The API returns "No_PXE_Event_Scheduled" if the Provisioner Server is accessible during the Client's on-boot processing in new VLAN, in which case the PXE Event IP is freed; otherwise the PXE VLAN IP will stay in pxeevent-{type}-BMPlanBoot state. A corner case may be "free-liveubuntu" where Live Ubuntu was deployed and may still be operational.
pxeboot-reserved{-type}	pxeboot-reserved-image	This IP address has been reserved for a imaging event. Note that Imaging takes priority over Provisioning.
pxebooting{-type}	pxebooting-image	The Client has requested an IP address from Provisioner's Java core engine (an Event has begun)
pxeevent{-type}	pxeevent-image	Provisioner's Java core engine indicates that the Client received its requested IP
pxeevent{-type}-postpxe	pxeevent-image-postpxe	The Client has begun the imaging process
pxeevent{-type}-rebooting	pxeevent-image-rebooting	The imaging is complete and the system is rebooting. This is the final PXE Event State for imaging

"Unknown" PXE Event States

The "unknown" state is typically the result of PXE booting Clients on the Provisioner PXE VLAN for which no Provisioning Role or Imaging Profile exists, and the MAC-Independent Provisioning menu is disabled. This is a rare state mostly caused by quickly powering off a Client within seconds (5-10) of the PXE boot. After a few more seconds, the PXE Event State will normally change to the PXE Event State "free_unknown_pxeboot". This state is the same as free ("No_PXE_Event_Scheduled") when the Client is not active on the PXE VLAN. If the Client is active on the PXE VLAN, it is considered questionable for reuse and requires confirmation via the "Force Free the PXE IP" mechanism.

PXE Event State	Description
pxebooting-unknown	The Client was powered off immediately after the PXE boot request. Use "Force IP Free" to remedy this situation.
free-unknown-pxeboot	After the Client was powered off immediately after the PXE boot request, a few seconds went by and the PXE Event State changed. Use "Force IP Free" to remedy this situation.

NOTE: IP address use, reuse and recovery operations are performed in sequence by "State", as follows:
1) Free IPs
2) Free-liveubuntu FIFO IPs (first IP that does not respond to a nmap ping)
3) pxeevent-{type}-BMPlanBoot (first IP that does not respond to a nmap ping)

API-based orchestration solutions (such as the Cisco Process Orchestrator or "Orchestrator") must send a "Force Free the PXE IP" command when they relocate a system from the Provisioning VLAN to a Production VLAN after a system has been provisioned or imaged. Such orchestration solutions can also issue a "Force Free the PXE IP" at anytime using the API.

Example of PXE Event States on the MAC-Specific Provisioning Dashboard

Click the menu item "MAC-Specific Provisioning" menu item to refresh all systems' PXE Event States.

Example A - a system has been set to "Next Boot" and displays its current PXE Event State:

MAC-Spec_Dashboard_PXE_Event_State_pxeboot-reserved-provision

Example B - a system has begun provisioning and displays its current PXE Event State:

MAC-Spec_Dashboard_PXE_Event_State_pxeevent-provision

Example C - a system has finished provisioning, has rebooted to the Provisioning (BMP) VLAN and displays its current PXE Event State:

MAC-Spec_Dashboard_PXE_Event_State_pxeevent-provision_BMPlanBoot

Note: there are additional intermediate PXE Event States that exist but aren't represented in these screen shots. Please refer to the table in this Topic.

Example of PXE Event States on the MAC-Specific Imaging Dashboard

Click the menu item "MAC-Specific Imaging" menu item to refresh all systems' PXE Event States.

Example A - a system has been set to "Backup" and a PXE IP has been reserved:

Imaging_R2_1_Set_Backup_Exposes_FreeIP_checkbox

Example B - a system has begun booted to the network and has received its PXE IP address:

Imaging_R2_2_Backup_Started_State_pxeboot-reserved-image

Example C - a system has started to be imaged:

Imaging_R2_3_Backup_InProcess_State_pxeevent-image-postpxe

Example D - a system has finished being imaged and is rebooting (this is the final PXE Event State for Imaging):

Imaging_R2_4_Backup_Rebooting_State_pxeevent-image-rebooting

Note: there are additional intermediate PXE Event States that exist but aren't represented in these screen shots. Please refer to the table in this Topic.

Log Files:

The following log files are of value when troubleshooting. Learn more.

GUI and backend PXE IP management cumulative log:

/usr/local/linmin/dhcpPXEmanagement.log

PXE Post and onboot log:

/usr/local/linmin/pxeEventState.log

Tip: before each session, set markers such as:

# echo "-----------------------------------------" >> dhcpPXEmanagement.log
# date >> dhcpPXEmanagement.log
# echo "-----------------------------------------" >> dhcpPXEmanagement.log
# echo "-----------------------------------------" >> pxeEventState.log
# date >> pxeEventState.log
# echo "-----------------------------------------" >> pxeEventState.log

Then run a command window with:

/usr/local/linmin/pxeEventState.log
# tail -f /usr/local/linmin/dhcpPXEmanagement.log /usr/local/linmin/pxeEventState.log

Become familiar with the expected sequence of each type of PXE Event action. Pay particular attention to reported anomalies such as missing or invalid MACs and "????" errors and failures. Note that "FAILED_{messages}" are often valid and expected.

The alternative to using tail is to less, more, cat, or edit and review the logs.

DHCP: dhcpd.conf (to verify the status of every IP on the Provisioning VLAN and see what MAC addresses are associated with what IP address):

/etc/dhcpd.conf

For example, to verify the status if the IP .4 on the Provisioning VLAN:

host ip004 { hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:1c:80:42; fixed-address 212.49.49.4; next-server 212.49.49.1; } #~# pxeevent-image-rebooting 00:0c:29:1c:80:42 20110801211802188970000

Examples of dhcpPXEmanagement.log files from successfully provisioned Clients

The following examples will show the sequence of state changes.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (Static IP)

# Started: 2012-07-12 09:43:04 /usr/local/linmin/dhcpPXEmanagement.log v4 2010-12-20 branded_conf.php :66

2012-07-12 09:43:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ##### ACTION:pxeip TYPE:provision MAC:00:50:56:35:93:d4 profileclass1104 :760

2012-07-12 09:43:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... NMAP checking IP: 212.49.49.17 :439<386<632<866

2012-07-12 09:43:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ..... pxeReserve using IP: 212.49.49.17 :640<866

2012-07-12 09:43:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ..... state changed:free to:pxeboot-reserved-provision IP:212.49.49.17 :1093

2012-07-12 09:43:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ----- trans time: 0.8712 :110<1104<869

2012-07-12 09:43:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... 212.49.49.17 :111<1104<869

2012-07-12 09:43:57 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ##### ACTION:pxeip TYPE:pxeboot MAC:00:50:56:35:93:d4 :760

2012-07-12 09:43:57 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ..... pxeBoot using reserved IP:212.49.49.17 :608<866

2012-07-12 09:43:57 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ..... state changed:pxeboot-reserved-provision to:pxebooting-provision IP:212.49.49.17 :1093

2012-07-12 09:43:57 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ----- trans time: 0.33098 :110<1104<869

2012-07-12 09:43:57 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... 212.49.49.17 :111<1104<869

2012-07-12 09:43:59 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ##### ACTION:pxeip TYPE:pxeboot MAC:00:50:56:35:93:d4 :760

2012-07-12 09:43:59 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ..... pxeBoot using reserved IP:212.49.49.17 :608<866

2012-07-12 09:43:59 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... ----- trans time: 0.32842 :110<1104<869

2012-07-12 09:43:59 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeip..... 212.49.49.17 :111<1104<869

2012-07-12 09:44:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeevent.. ##### ACTION:pxeevent TYPE:provision MAC:00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxebootserviced406 :760

2012-07-12 09:44:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeevent.. ..... state changed:pxebooting-provision to:pxeevent-provision IP:212.49.49.17 :1093

2012-07-12 09:44:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeevent.. ----- trans time: 0.31992 :110<1104<916

2012-07-12 09:44:04 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeevent.. CHANGED_to_pxeevent-provision_IP_212.49.49.17 :111<1104<916

2012-07-12 09:44:51 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxepost... ##### ACTION:pxepost TYPE:provision MAC:00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeEventState76 :760

2012-07-12 09:44:51 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxepost... ..... state changed:pxeevent-provision to:pxeevent-provision-postpxe IP:212.49.49.17 :1093

2012-07-12 09:44:51 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxepost... ----- trans time: 1.05755 :110<1104<949

2012-07-12 09:44:51 00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxepost... POSTPXE_pxepost_provision_MAC_00:50:56:35:93:d4 :111<1104<949

2012-07-12 10:14:56 00:50:56:35:93:d4 rebooted.. ##### ACTION:rebooted TYPE:provision MAC:00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeEventState76 :760

2012-07-12 10:14:56 00:50:56:35:93:d4 rebooted.. ..... state changed:pxeevent-provision-postpxe to:pxeevent-provision-rebooted IP:212.49.49.17 :1093

2012-07-12 10:14:56 00:50:56:35:93:d4 rebooted.. ----- trans time: 5.05515 :110<1104<972

2012-07-12 10:14:56 00:50:56:35:93:d4 rebooted.. REBOOT_provision_rebooted_MAC_00:50:56:35:93:d4 :111<1104<972

2012-07-12 10:15:44 00:50:56:35:93:d4 rebooted.. ##### ACTION:rebooted TYPE:provision MAC:00:50:56:35:93:d4 pxeEventState76 :760

2012-07-12 10:15:44 00:50:56:35:93:d4 rebooted.. ----- trans time: 0.27169 :110<1104<972

2012-07-12 10:15:44 00:50:56:35:93:d4 rebooted.. REBOOT_provision_rebooted_MAC_00:50:56:35:93:d4 :111<1104<972

Windows Server 2008 R2 (Static IP)