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PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) Server allows the user to boot a Linux distribution from a network and install it on hundreds of PCs at a time without any Linux iso images. If your client’s computers don’t have CD/DVD or USB drives, or if you want to set up multiple computers at the same time in a large enterprise, then PXE server can be used to save money and time.

In this article we will show you how you can configure a PXE server in Ubuntu 14.04.

Configure Networking

To get started, you need to first set up your PXE server to use a static IP. To set up a static IP address in your system, you need to edit the “/etc/network/interfaces” file.

1. Open the “/etc/network/interfaces” file.

sudo

nano

etc

network

interfaces

Add/edit as described below:

# The loopback network interface

auto lo iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface

auto eth0 iface eth0 inet static address 192.168.1.20 netmask 255.255.255.0 gateway 192.168.1.1 dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8

Save the file and exit. This will set its IP address to “192.168.1.20”. Restart the network service.

sudo

etc

init.d

networking restart Install DHCP, TFTP and NFS:

DHCP, TFTP and NFS are essential components for configuring a PXE server. First you need to update your system and install all necessary packages.

For this, run the following commands:

sudo

apt-get update

sudo

apt-get install

isc-dhcp-Server inetutils-inetd tftpd-hpa syslinux nfs-kernel-Server Configure DHCP Server:

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, and it is used mainly for dynamically distributing network configuration parameters such as IP addresses for interfaces and services. A DHCP server in PXE environment allow clients to request and receive an IP address automatically to gain access to the network servers.

1. Edit the “/etc/default/dhcp3-server” file.

sudo

nano

etc

default

dhcp3-server

Add/edit as described below:

INTERFACES

"eth0"

Save (Ctrl + o) and exit (Ctrl + x) the file.

2. Edit the “/etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf” file:

sudo

nano

etc

dhcp

dhcpd.conf

Add/edit as described below:

default-lease-time

600

; max-lease-time

7200

; subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0

{

range 192.168.1.21 192.168.1.240; option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0; option routers 192.168.1.20; option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255; filename

"pxelinux.0"

; next-Server 192.168.1.20;

}

Save the file and exit.

3. Start the DHCP service.

sudo

etc

init.d

isc-dhcp-server start Configure TFTP Server:

TFTP is a file-transfer protocol which is similar to FTP. It is used where user authentication and directory visibility are not required. The TFTP server is always listening for PXE clients on the network. When it detects any network PXE client asking for PXE services, then it provides a network package that contains the boot menu.

1. To configure TFTP, edit the “/etc/inetd.conf” file.

sudo

nano

etc

inetd.conf

Add/edit as described below:

tftp dgram udp

wait

root

usr

sbin

in.tftpd

usr

sbin

in.tftpd

-s

var

lib

tftpboot

Save and exit the file.

2. Edit the “/etc/default/tftpd-hpa” file.

sudo

nano

etc

default

tftpd-hpa

Add/edit as described below:

TFTP_USERNAME

"tftp"

TFTP_DIRECTORY

"/var/lib/tftpboot"

TFTP_ADDRESS

"[:0.0.0.0:]:69"

TFTP_OPTIONS

"--secure"

RUN_DAEMON

"yes"

OPTIONS

"-l -s /var/lib/tftpboot"

Save and exit the file.

3. Enable boot service for inetd to automatically start after every system reboot and start tftpd service.

sudo

update-inetd

--enable

BOOT

sudo

service tftpd-hpa start

4. Check status.

sudo

netstat

-lu

It will show the following output:

Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State udp

:tftp

Configure PXE boot files

Now you need the PXE boot file “pxelinux.0” to be present in the TFTP root directory. Make a directory structure for TFTP, and copy all the bootloader files provided by syslinux from the “/usr/lib/syslinux/” to the “/var/lib/tftpboot/” path by issuing the following commands:

sudo

mkdir

var

lib

tftpboot

sudo

mkdir

var

lib

tftpboot

pxelinux.cfg

sudo

mkdir

-p

var

lib

tftpboot

Ubuntu

14.04

amd64

sudo

usr

lib

syslinux

vesamenu.c32

var

lib

tftpboot

sudo

usr

lib

syslinux

pxelinux.0

var

lib

tftpboot

Set up PXELINUX configuration file

The PXE configuration file defines the boot menu displayed to the PXE client when it boots up and contacts the TFTP server. By default, when a PXE client boots up, it will use its own MAC address to specify which configuration file to read, so we need to create that default file that contains the list of kernels which are available to boot.

Edit the PXE Server configuration file with valid installation options.

To edit “/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default,”

sudo

nano

var

lib

tftpboot

pxelinux.cfg

default

Add/edit as described below:

DEFAULT vesamenu.c32 TIMEOUT

100

PROMPT

MENU INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg

PXE.conf NOESCAPE

LABEL Try Ubuntu

14.04

Desktop MENU LABEL Try Ubuntu

14.04

Desktop kernel Ubuntu

vmlinuz append

boot

=casper

netboot

=nfs

nfsroot

=192.168.1.20:

var

lib

tftpboot

Ubuntu

14.04

amd64

initrd

=Ubuntu

initrd.lz quiet splash ENDTEXT LABEL Install Ubuntu

14.04

Desktop MENU LABEL Install Ubuntu

14.04

Desktop kernel Ubuntu

vmlinuz append

boot

=casper automatic-ubiquity

netboot

=nfs

nfsroot

=192.168.1.20:

var

lib

tftpboot

Ubuntu

14.04

amd64

initrd

=Ubuntu

initrd.lz quiet splash ENDTEXT

Save and exit the file.

Edit the “/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/pxe.conf” file.

sudo

nano

var

lib

tftpboot

pxelinux.cfg

pxe.conf

Add/edit as described below:

MENU TITLE PXE Server NOESCAPE

ALLOWOPTIONS

PROMPT

MENU WIDTH

MENU ROWS

MENU TABMSGROW

MENU MARGIN

MENU COLOR border

;

#ffffffff #00000000 std

Save and exit the file.

Add Ubuntu 14.04 Desktop Boot Images to PXE Server

For this, Ubuntu kernel and initrd files are required. To get those files, you need the Ubuntu 14.04 Desktop ISO Image. You can download the Ubuntu 14.04 ISO image in the /mnt folder by issuing the following command:

sudo

mnt

Mount the ISO file, and copy all the files to the TFTP folder by issuing the following commands:

sudo

mount

-o

loop

mnt

ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso

media

sudo

-r

media

var

lib

tftpboot

Ubuntu

14.04

amd64

sudo

-r

media

.disk

var

lib

tftpboot

Ubuntu

14.04

amd64

sudo

media

casper

initrd.lz

media

casper

vmlinuz

var

lib

tftpboot

Ubuntu

Configure NFS Server to Export ISO Contents

To configure the NFS server, you need to edit the “/etc/exports” file.

sudo

nano

etc

exports

Add/edit as described below:

var

lib

tftpboot

Ubuntu

14.04

amd64

(

ro,async,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check

)

Save and exit the file. For the changes to take effect, export and start NFS service.

sudo

exportfs

-a

sudo

etc

init.d

nfs-kernel-server start

Now your PXE Server is ready.

Configure Network Boot PXE Client

A PXE client can be any computer system with a PXE network boot enable option. Now your clients can boot and install Ubuntu 14.04 Desktop by enabling “Boot From Network” options from their systems BIOS.

You’re now ready to go – start your PXE Client Machine with the network boot enable option, and you should now see a sub-menu showing for your Ubuntu 14.04 Desktop that we created.

Conclusion

Configuring network boot installation using PXE server is efficient and a time-saving method. You can install hundreds of client at a time in your local network. All you need is a PXE server and PXE enabled clients. Try it out, and let us know if this works for you.

Reference: PXE Server wiki PXE Server Ubuntu

Image credit: fupsol_unl_20

Hitesh Jethva

Over 5 years of experience as IT system administrator for IT company in India. My skills include a deep knowledge of Rehat/Centos, Ubuntu nginx and Apache, Mysql, Subversion, Linux, Ubuntu, web hosting, web server, squied proxy, NFS, FTP, DNS, Samba, ldap, Openvpn, Haproxy, Amazon web services, WHMCS, Openstack Cloud, Postfix Mail Server, Security etc.

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