Appendix A:  Install a Legacy PXE Server (Optional)

 

Licensing Considerations

The PXE server recommended in this Appendix A is under a proprietary license from Intel.  The Intel license expressly allows redistribution, provided the package contains the Intel license notes and conditions. Since the PXE server software package itself is taken from the CentOS distribution, the packaging should have the GNU General Public License.

.A.1  Introduction

Older PXE-bootable PCs (pre-2.1) cannot be provisioned with the Provisioner PXE Server because a required software component is no longer present in most current Linux distributions.

Table A-1 presents the differences between legacy PXE operations and current PXE operations.

 

Table: Comparison of Legacy vs. Current PXE Operations

To enable older systems to use Provisioner, the server needs to have this missing PXE server installed.

 

.A.2 Obtain and Install the PXE Server Software

A PXE server (Intel PXE server version 0.1-36) can be obtained with the CentOS 3.x Linux distribution,  which is available from any CentOS mirror, e.g.

http://mirrors.easynews.com/linux/centos/3/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/pxe-0.1-36.i386.rpm

Install the PXE Server package on CentOS 5.1.

 

.A.3 Edit the PXE Server Configuration File

After the PXE server software is installed, the configuration file, pxe.conf, which is located at /etc/pxe.conf, needs to be modified to fit the configuration of the server. The sections of the pxe.conf file that require modification are shown in Figure A-1.  In Figure A-1 the comments shown inside parenthesis ( ) are for information only and cannot be in the actual configuration file.

 

...

[Network_Interface_Name]

eth0                   (Example, use the correct interface)

...

[OurIpAddress]

192.168.25.2           (Example, use the correct IP address)

...

[Mtftpd_Root_Directory]

/home/tftpboot

...

[UseDHCPPort]

0

...

[Broadcast_ip_address]

192.168.25.255         (Example, use the correct Broadcast address)

...

[Service_Types]

0,BStrap

13,linux-install

# 14,linux-boot

...

[X86PC/UNDI/MENU]

13,Remote Install Linux (ensure  Remote Install is placed before Local Boot)

0,Local Boot

# 14,Remote Boot Linux

...

[X86PC/UNDI/linux-install/ImageFile_Name]

0

0

pxelinux

...

Figure A-1  Example of pxe.conf File Showing Modifications Required for Server Configuration

 

.A.4 Set Up the PXE Workspace

In the directory /home/tftpboot/, create a new directory path with the command:

mkdir -p /home/tftpboot/X86PC/UNDI/linux-install

Inside the X86PC/UNDI/linux-install directory, create symbolic links with the following commands:

cd /home/tftpboot/X86PC/UNDI/linux-install

ln -s ../../../*msg .

ln -s ../../../pub .

ln -s ../../../pxelinux.cfg .

Copy the /home/tftpboot/pxelinux.0 file into the X86PC/UNDI/linux-install directory with the following two commands:

cd /home/tftpboot/X86PC/UNDI/linux-install

cp /home/tftpboot/pxelinux.0 .

 

 

  Changes to Boot Process

 

1.Boot Message Change

The boot process will now display an additional boot message only on pre-PXE-2.1 systems; the additional message asks the user to press F8 to access the menu.

◆Press F8 to access a menu for selection of either network boot or local boot. Select  network boot to continue to the Provisioner PXE Server boot menu

◆Do not press F8 to continue the boot process to the Provisioner PXE Server boot menu.

 

◆Unattended Installation Delay

Unattended installation will proceed in the same manner as PXE-2.1+ systems except the legacy PXE system requires a few seconds of delay while the interim menu times out.Enter topic text here.