PXE Network Boot

Configure Preboot Execution Environment for network booting.

Server Requirements

• DHCP server (with PXE options)
• TFTP server (for boot files)
• HTTP/NFS server (for OS files, optional)

DHCP Configuration

ISC DHCP server /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf:

subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
    range 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.200;
    option routers 192.168.1.1;
    option domain-name-servers 8.8.8.8;

    # PXE options
    next-server 192.168.1.10;           # TFTP server
    filename "pxelinux.0";              # Boot file (BIOS)
    # filename "grubx64.efi";           # Boot file (UEFI)
}

TFTP Directory Structure

/tftpboot/
├── pxelinux.0
├── ldlinux.c32
├── menu.c32
├── vesamenu.c32
├── libutil.c32
├── libcom32.c32
├── pxelinux.cfg/
│   ├── default
│   └── 01-aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff  # MAC-specific
└── images/
    ├── vmlinuz
    └── initrd.img

PXELINUX Configuration

Create /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default:

DEFAULT menu.c32
PROMPT 0
TIMEOUT 100

MENU TITLE PXE Boot Menu

LABEL linux
    MENU LABEL Install Linux
    KERNEL images/vmlinuz
    INITRD images/initrd.img
    APPEND ip=dhcp root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=192.168.1.10:/nfsroot

LABEL local
    MENU LABEL Boot from Local Disk
    LOCALBOOT 0

LABEL memtest
    MENU LABEL Memory Test
    KERNEL memtest86+

Copy Boot Files

# Copy PXELINUX files
cp /usr/lib/PXELINUX/pxelinux.0 /tftpboot/
cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/*.c32 /tftpboot/

# For UEFI boot
cp /usr/lib/SYSLINUX.EFI/efi64/syslinux.efi /tftpboot/
# Or use GRUB
cp /usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi-signed/grubnetx64.efi.signed /tftpboot/grubx64.efi

TFTP Server Setup

# Install tftpd-hpa
apt-get install tftpd-hpa

# Configure /etc/default/tftpd-hpa
TFTP_USERNAME="tftp"
TFTP_DIRECTORY="/tftpboot"
TFTP_ADDRESS=":69"
TFTP_OPTIONS="--secure"

# Start service
systemctl start tftpd-hpa

NFS Root Configuration

# /etc/exports
/nfsroot 192.168.1.0/24(ro,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check)

# Export and restart
exportfs -a
systemctl restart nfs-server

UEFI PXE with GRUB

Create /tftpboot/grub/grub.cfg:

set timeout=10
menuentry "Install Linux" {
    linux images/vmlinuz ip=dhcp
    initrd images/initrd.img
}