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PXE and Kickstart, Automated Installations for Linux via WDS

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Today I decided to setup automated installations for Linux distros (RHEL, Fedora, CentOS), similar to how we deploy our Windows installations via

PXE. Since we already had WDS running for installing Windows, it was just a matter of reconfiguring WDS, setting up the necessary structure andkickstart files for our automated Linux installations. While I do not cover the initial WDS installation process, I will attempt to go over thesteps performed after the basic WDS install (native or mixed).

What you will need:

Windows server running WDS (and working via DHCP).

A recent copy of SYSLINUX (extracted to a folder somewhere on the WDS server).An HTTP or anonymous FTP server to hold your installation media.

Currently when I boot my computer with PXE enabled, I am prompted to hit F12 for network boot. When I press F12, I am prompted by“Windows Boot Manager” to select my boot images that I setup in WDS. Since I can’t install Linux images directly using the WDS interface, an

alternative boot image is necessary. That is where SYSLINUX/PXELINUX takes over.

Pre-Setup

Create the necessary directory structure inside the WDS RemoteInstall directory (this was specified during the WDS installation).Inside the x86 folder (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\), create the following folders (including pxelinux.cfg):

conf

imgknlpxelinux.cfg

Preparing Installation Media

Setup an FTP server to hold your installation media (HTTP works also): Currently the average size of a Red Hat distribution is about 5GB, so

make sure the server you select will have the necessary disk space. You will need separate installation media for both distribution specific 32bit



and 64bit installs. If you want Fedora 9, CentOS 5.2, and RHEL 5.2 images (both 32bit and 64bit), that will be about 30GB. As long as

you’re not archiving old distributions, this should not be an issue.

On my FTP server in the root/path, I created a directory for each of my installation media. Also, creating a standard naming conventionwill help with editing the configuration files later and any case sensitivity issues. Example: My directory names are DistroVersion_arc

(Fedora9_32bit), as you will see later on.Copy the entire installation dvd media to the corresponding directories you created (not the .iso, extract its entire contents).

In the FTP root directory for the media you copied, create a kickstart file (ks.cfg). (Example:

ftp://ftpserver.domain.com/Fedora9_32bit/ks.cfg) I have included example kickstart files at the bottom of this article.Once you have copied the installation media for a distro to your FTP server, you need to copy 2 files from that specific distro media to your

WDS server.From the (installation media\images\pxeboot) directory, copy the following:

Copy vmlinuz to the following directory on the WDS server (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\knl\). Rename the file to an identifying name

such as vmlinuz-fedora9-32bit.Copy initrd.img to the following directory on the WDS server (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\img\). Rename the file to an identifying

name such as initrd-fedora9-32bit.

When it comes time to configure your option menus, you will need to specify these files for each version/distro you plan on making available.

Configuring WDS

From inside the downloaded SYSLINUX archive, copy the following files:

pxelinux.0 from the (syslinux\core) directory to your (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\) directory on the WDS server.menu.c32 and vesamenu.c32 from the (syslinux\com32\menu) directory to your (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\) directory on the WDS server.

Inside the (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\) directory, create copies of the following files, rename them accordingly (you can copy paste then rename):

Make a copy of pxeboot.n12, save it as pxeboot.0Make a copy of abortpxe.com, save it as abortpxe.0

Inside (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg\), create a file called default. This will be the initial menu you see during PXE boot, edit the file andgive it the following contents:

# F i l e : w d s p a t h \ R e m o t e I n s t a l l \ B o o t \ x 8 6 \ p x e l i n u x . c f g \ d e f a u l t

# D e f a u l t b o o t o p t i o n t o u s e D E F A U L T m e n u . c 3 2 T I M E O U T 5 0

# P r o m p t u s e r f o r s e l e c t i o n P R O M P T 0

# M e n u C o n f i g u r a t i o n



M E N U W I D T H 8 0 M E N U M A R G I N 1 0 M E N U P A S S W O R D M A R G I N 3 M E N U R O W S 1 2 M E N U T A B M S G R O W 1 8 M E N U C M D L I N E R O W 1 8 M E N U E N D R O W 2 4 M E N U P A S S W O R D R O W 1 1 M E N U T I M E O U T R O W 2 0 M E N U T I T L E M a i n M e n u

# M e n u s

# W i n d o w s L A B E L W i n d o w s M E N U L A B E L W i n d o w s I n s t a l l e r K E R N E L p x e b o o t . 0

# x 8 6 L A B E L x 8 6 M E N U L A B E L L i n u x 3 2 b i t I n s t a l l s ( x 8 6 ) K E R N E L m e n u . c 3 2 A P P E N D c o n f / x 8 6 . c o n f

# x 6 4 L A B E L x 6 4 M E N U L A B E L L i n u x 6 4 b i t I n s t a l l s ( x 6 4 ) K E R N E L m e n u . c 3 2 A P P E N D c o n f / x 6 4 . c o n f

# W i n d o w s L A B E L E x i t M E N U L A B E L E x i t K E R N E L a b o r t p x e . 0

Now you need to create the sub-menu configuration files for your 32 and 64 bit installs that you specified in your default file(RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\conf\x86.conf and RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\conf\x64.conf respectively). These files will list the available distros toinstall, and the path to your copied kernel\image files, including your kickstart file which contains the path for your FTP or HTTP installation

media. Each option needs to point to the specific kernel and image that was created from the installation media earlier.

# F i l e : w d s p a t h \ R e m o t e I n s t a l l \ B o o t \ x 8 6 \ c o n f \ x 8 6 . c o n f

# D e f a u l t b o o t o p t i o n t o u s e D E F A U L T m e n u . c 3 2




# M e n u C o n f i g u r a t i o n M E N U W I D T H 8 0 M E N U M A R G I N 1 0 M E N U P A S S W O R D M A R G I N 3 M E N U R O W S 1 2 M E N U T A B M S G R O W 1 8 M E N U C M D L I N E R O W 1 8 M E N U E N D R O W 2 4 M E N U P A S S W O R D R O W 1 1 M E N U T I M E O U T R O W 2 0 M E N U T I T L E L i n u x 3 2 B i t ( x 8 6 ) O S S e l e c t i o n

# R e t u r n t o M a i n M e n u L A B E L M a i n M e n u M E N U D E F A U L T M E N U L A B E L ^ M a i n M e n u K E R N E L m e n u . c 3 2

#

# B l a n k b o o t s

# L A B E L F e d o r a 9 3 2 b i t M E N U L A B E L F e d o r a 9 3 2 b i t K E R N E L k n l / v m l i n u z - f e d o r a 9 - x 8 6 A P P E N D i n i t r d = i m g / i n i t r d - f e d o r a 9 - x 8 6 . i m g k s = f t p : / / f t p s e r v e r . m y d o m a i n . c o m / F e d o r a 9 _ 3 2 b i t / k s . c f g

# F i l e : w d s p a t h \ R e m o t e I n s t a l l \ B o o t \ x 8 6 \ c o n f \ x 6 4 . c o n f

# D e f a u l t b o o t o p t i o n t o u s e D E F A U L T m e n u . c 3 2


# M e n u C o n f i g u r a t i o n M E N U W I D T H 8 0 M E N U M A R G I N 1 0 M E N U P A S S W O R D M A R G I N 3 M E N U R O W S 1 2 M E N U T A B M S G R O W 1 8 M E N U C M D L I N E R O W 1 8 M E N U E N D R O W 2 4 M E N U P A S S W O R D R O W 1 1 M E N U T I M E O U T R O W 2 0 M E N U T I T L E 6 4 B i t ( x 6 4 ) O S C h o i c e

# R e t u r n t o M a i n M e n u L A B E L M a i n M e n u



M E N U D E F A U L T M E N U L A B E L ^ M a i n M e n u K E R N E L m e n u . c 3 2

#

# B l a n k b o o t s

# L A B E L C e n t O S 5 . 2 6 4 b i t M E N U L A B E L C e n t O S 5 . 2 6 4 b i t K E R N E L k n l / v m l i n u z - c e n t o s 5 2 - x 6 4 A P P E N D i n i t r d = i m g / i n i t r d - c e n t o s 5 2 - x 6 4 . i m g k s = f t p : / / f t p s e r v e r . m y d o m a i n . c o m / C e n t O S 5 2 _ 6 4 b i t / k s . c f g L A B E L F e d o r a 9 6 4 b i t M E N U L A B E L F e d o r a 9 6 4 b i t K E R N E L k n l / v m l i n u z - f e d o r a 9 - x 6 4 A P P E N D i n i t r d = i m g / i n i t r d - f e d o r a 9 - x 6 4 . i m g k s = f t p : / / f t p s e r v e r . m y d o m a i n . c o m / F e d o r a 9 _ 6 4 b i t / k s . c f g L A B E L R H E L 5 . 2 6 4 b i t M E N U L A B E L R H E L 5 . 2 6 4 b i t K E R N E L k n l / v m l i n u z - r h e l 5 2 - x 6 4 A P P E N D i n i t r d = i m g / i n i t r d - r h e l 5 2 - x 6 4 . i m g k s = f t p : / / f t p s e r v e r . m y d o m a i n . c o m / R H E L 5 2 _ 6 4 b i t / k s . c f g

Lastly, set WDS to use the pxelinux.0 boot image. If you need to get to the normal WDS boot image, you can use the Windows Installeroption created in your default menu.

Open Windows Deployment Services on your WDS server. Right click your server -> Properties. Under the Boot tab, set the Defaultboot program for x86 architecture (Boot\x86\pxelinux.0), or browse to the pxelinux.0 file we created earlier. You may leave the other

architectures alone or change as you see fit.

**For Windows 2008 R2 installations you must set the bootimage via command-line as followed:

w d s u t i l / s e t - s e r v e r / b o o t p r o g r a m : b o o t \ x 8 6 \ p x e l i n u x . 0 / A r c h i t e c t u r e : x 8 6w d s u t i l / s e t - s e r v e r / b o o t p r o g r a m : b o o t \ x 8 6 \ p x e l i n u x . 0 / A r c h i t e c t u r e : x 6 4w d s u t i l / s e t - s e r v e r / N 1 2 b o o t p r o g r a m : b o o t \ x 8 6 \ p x e l i n u x . 0 / A r c h i t e c t u r e : x 8 6w d s u t i l / s e t - s e r v e r / N 1 2 b o o t p r o g r a m : b o o t \ x 8 6 \ p x e l i n u x . 0 / A r c h i t e c t u r e : x 6 4

Finished Result



Example Kickstart File

Here is an example kickstart file for Fedora 9. For each new distro I normally perform a cd install with my desired options, then use theresulting /root/anaconda-cfg.ks for assistance. Note that the kickstart file specifies the FTP path of your installation media that you created in thebeginning of this article.

# V e r s i o n = F 9

# 3 2 b i ti n s t a l lt e x tu r l - - u r l f t p : / / f t p s e r v e r . m y d o m a i n . c o m / F e d o r a 9 _ 3 2 b i tl a n g e n _ U S . U T F - 8k e y b o a r d u sn e t w o r k - - d e v i c e e t h 0 - - b o o t p r o t o d h c pr o o t p w - - i s c r y p t e d $ 1 $ X . q P Q Y d k $ L . Y R b u O R B d 3 0f i r e w a l l - - d i s a b l e da u t h c o n f i g - - e n a b l e s h a d o w - - e n a b l e m d 5 - - p a s s a l g o = s h a 5 1 2



s e l i n u x - - d i s a b l e dt i m e z o n e A m e r i c a / C h i c a g ob o o t l o a d e r - - l o c a t i o n = m b r - - d r i v e o r d e r = s d a - - a p p e n d = " r h g b q u i e t "c l e a r p a r t - - a l l - - d r i v e s = s d ap a r t / b o o t - - f s t y p e e x t 3 - - s i z e = 1 0 0 0p a r t s w a p - - s i z e = 2 0 4 8p a r t / - - f s t y p e e x t 3 - - s i z e = 1 - - g r o w% p a c k a g e s@ e d i t o r s@ d e v e l o p m e n t - t o o l s@ t e x t - i n t e r n e t@ c o r e@ b a s e@ h a r d w a r e - s u p p o r t@ a d m i n - t o o l sg r u bo p e n l d a po p e n l d a p - d e v e lo p e n l d a p - c l i e n tn e t - s n m p *n t p

Written by jro

September 24th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

Posted in Computers

Tagged with kickstart, Linux, pxe, wds

« Linux SSH + PAM + LDAP + 2003 R2 AD DeploymentOrganization Continued.. »

47 Responses to 'PXE and Kickstart, Automated Installations for Linux via WDS'

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1. Did you do this on Win 2008 SVR with WDS?



Chadley

21 Oct 08 at 5:18 am

2. By the way thanks a million for this this it works briliantly, and I have learnt a whole lot from you.I really appreciate the effort you have put in this how-to.

Chadley

21 Oct 08 at 7:42 am

3. This was on 2003 Server with WDS, though I would assume 2008 would be no different. I will probably end up trying it on 2008 in the futurewhen it comes time to migrate to 2008 Server.

As for adjusting the background, they have some examples on the PXELINUX site, located at:

http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/PXELINUX

jro

3 Nov 08 at 3:47 pm

4. save to my Bookmarks

alex

9 Dec 08 at 10:05 pm

5. This works fantastic on Server 2008/WDS. Thanks for the walkthrough…was going to make one myself but found his on Google first!



Now we can boot our HP firmware maintenance CD’s via PXE. Woohoo

(for anyone interested in that, you need to use the script found here http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?

admit=109447626+1234547654850+28353475&threadId=1007139)

Preston Gallwas

13 Feb 09 at 2:52 pm

6. Good find, thanks for the info

jro

16 Feb 09 at 9:01 am

7. Unbelievable! It works and straight away too!Very detailed instructions with the logic. Awesome!

10 out of 10.

Thanks a lot.

Jiljith C.P

19 Mar 09 at 8:28 am

8. This is exactly what I was trying to do…thank you! However, I followed the instructions exactly (WDS is on WS2008 64-bit, so I copied all of

the above files into the x64 directory as well as x86, and adjusted the boot menu in the last step for that as well) and yet it’s behaving exactly asbefore – going straight into Windows install. If you have any thoughts, I’d greatly appreciate it. Otherwise, thanks again for the walkthrough,

and hopefully I can figure out what I need to do to get it to work!



teleute

3 Sep 09 at 11:02 am

9. Did you try the setup just using the x86 directory/paths as I described? Or did you have an issue with that first and that is why you tried the x64

dir?

jro

3 Sep 09 at 11:19 am

10. I did just the x86 first, then added the x64 when that didn’t work (and the ia64 when *that* didn’t work).

teleute

3 Sep 09 at 11:56 am

11. When you say going straightinto Windows install, you’re saying it’s going straight into RIS?

jro

3 Sep 09 at 12:10 pm

12. Yes. I tell the machine I’m trying to install to to PXE boot. It waits about 5 seconds, then does exactly what it did before – shows “Windows is

loading files” and the IP of the WDS server. And then it starts the Windows installation procedure. (It’s not RIS anymore in 2008, IIRC)



teleute

3 Sep 09 at 12:23 pm

13. Hmmm, I could see this happening if you were pointing the default boot program to pxeboot.0 instead of pxelinux.0, or if it was somehowreplaced during the process. Try re-copying pxelinux.0 from the syslinux download and verify you are pointing to it in the WDS configuration:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2086/2888619618_5404f127bc.jpg

jro

3 Sep 09 at 12:28 pm

14. Hmmm…I did have that, but I wiped it out and tried again, and restarted. Now I get the error “Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or

software change might be the cause” etc…

File: \windows\system32\winload.efi

Status: 0xc0000225

Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.

teleute

3 Sep 09 at 3:08 pm

15. Well…*sigh* I tested this just now when trying to deploy to a non-EFI machine and it’s fine (well, haven’t tweaked all the options, but the

general framework is good). Most of the machines I have to deploy to are EFI, though. EFI’s caused me a bunch of issues in other areas,

too…

I’m really grateful for your help to this point, and this great walkthrough. If you have any thoughts on the EFI issue that’d be amazing, but I

don’t expect a thing.



teleute

3 Sep 09 at 3:31 pm

16. Are you running your WDS install in native or mixed mode? I know 2008 has some support for EFI though I’ve never attempted it myself.Pretty sure it has to be in native mode though.

jro

3 Sep 09 at 3:37 pm

17. It’s native mode.

teleute

3 Sep 09 at 3:39 pm

18. Oh, and the Windows deployment from this server to the EFI machines worked fine before trying to add the Linux stuff. So it’s probably the

linux boot loader conflicting somehow, I’d think…

teleute

3 Sep 09 at 3:40 pm

19. Are you trying to boot Itanium/Macs or? Unfortunately I have no EFI systems to try this with 8(



jro

3 Sep 09 at 4:47 pm

20. It’s a Bladecentre HS22. Also, I rebooted and tried again, and now it’s back to just booting straight into the WDS and ignoring the existence of

Linux altogether. *sigh* These Blades are a nightmare with Linux…

teleute

3 Sep 09 at 4:51 pm

21. I wish I had one to play with but unfortunately we’ve gone more of the Virtualization route I’ll keep poking around, let me know if you figure

it out!

jro

3 Sep 09 at 4:55 pm

22. Will do! Thanks so much.

One more quick question, if you’re not sick of me…;-) And this one might actually be helpful to other future readers. Can the paths to the

image, kickstart file, etc… be paths local to the WDS machine, rather than ftp?

teleute

3 Sep 09 at 5:04 pm

23. nm on the path issue, btw. Still hacking away at getting the EFI machines on board. I think the error message was a red herring – every other

time it’s booted straight into WDS. So for some reason it’s just not seeing the Linux stuff at all. Anyway, I’ll let you know if I find anything moreout.



teleute

3 Sep 09 at 6:06 pm

24. Yea, pxelinux won’t work for efi images. Everything I’ve read seems to recommend elilo.efi for the boot image. Might want to give that a try.

These links might be helpful:http://syslinux.zytor.com/archives/2003-September/002468.html

http://listman.redhat.com/archives/kickstart-list/2003-July/msg00115.htmlhttp://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Testcase_UEFI_pxeboot

http://www.klabs.be/~fpiat/linux/debian/di-netboot-assistant/

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/engine?do=post_view_printable;post=9223;list=syslinux

Guess I’ll have to add a elilo section once I pickup a efi machine.

jro

4 Sep 09 at 1:18 pm

25. Sweet…thank you so much! I wasn’t searching for IA64 because technically these aren’t IA machines, but hopefully the same thing will workfor them. With any luck I’ll get around to trying this today, and I’ll let you know.

teleute

8 Sep 09 at 9:54 am

26. I’m not sure if I can describe this right, but I’ll try. I don’t think the Blade is even looking for a boot image at all. I put the elilo.efi image as the

setting for ia64 machines, and still the Blade went straight to Windows. Then put it for all of them, and the Blade went straight to Windows. Anon-Blade went to elilo.efi, so it’s definitely in there and being read in general. In fact, if I put in a non-existent path, the other machines all show

that they’re trying to read garbage.com or whatever I’ve put in there, and they hang. The Blade just goes to Windows every single time. I’m



writing IBM today, but I’m not holding my breath on them supporting this…*sigh*

teleute

9 Sep 09 at 11:22 am

27. Well, you’ll be happy to know I’ve given up on EFI. There’s a slightly buried option when you set the boot order called “legacy only”. I say

buried because it didn’t actually appear – I had to go into “Add Boot Option” and scroll through a tonne of stuff to see it. Anyway, put that first

and then everything works fine, and that’s how I’m leaving it. Thanks for all your help!

teleute

15 Sep 09 at 6:21 pm

28. The Above steps I have tried on Microsoft WDS 2008 and its works!!!!, but I have small issue when I select EXIT menu to abortpxe.0 it wont

go to next boot, it hangs there.. I have copied the abortpxe.com to abortpxe.0

jack

24 Sep 09 at 9:04 am

29. Hello,

First of all, very nice tutorial!im trying with the debian netinstall(debian-503-i386-netinst.iso), extracted the iso to my apache http server (wich is reachable)

in conf/x86.conf i have:LABEL Debian Lenny new 2.6.26.2 32bitMENU LABEL Debian Lenny new 2.6.26.2 32bitKERNEL knl/vmlinuz

APPEND initrd=img/initrd.img ks=http://10.4.3.72/debian-503-i386-netinst/preseed.cfg



i use the pxe boot and i can choose for that version, it loads vmlinux and initrd.img and it starts with the debian setup. But it isnt goingautomatically! and i dont know what im doing wrong.. plus when i go tru the setup it suddenly ask for mounting cdrom, but its a netinstall! those2 problems i have wich i dont know how to fix.

this is the layout of my preseed.cfg (also tried to name is ks.cfg)#### Contents of the preconfiguration file (for lenny)### Localization

# Locale sets language and country.d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US

# Keyboard selection.#d-i console-tools/archs select at

d-i console-keymaps-at/keymap select us# Example for a different keyboard architecture#d-i console-keymaps-usb/keymap select mac-usb-us

### Network configuration# netcfg will choose an interface that has link if possible. This makes it# skip displaying a list if there is more than one interface.d-i netcfg/choose_interface select auto

# To pick a particular interface instead:#d-i netcfg/choose_interface select eth1

# If you have a slow dhcp server and the installer times out waiting for

# it, this might be useful.d-i netcfg/dhcp_timeout string 60

# If you prefer to configure the network manually, uncomment this line and

# the static network configuration below.#d-i netcfg/disable_dhcp boolean true

# If you want the preconfiguration file to work on systems both with and# without a dhcp server, uncomment these lines and the static network

# configuration below.#d-i netcfg/dhcp_failed note



#d-i netcfg/dhcp_options select Configure network manually

# Static network configuration.#d-i netcfg/get_nameservers string 192.168.1.1#d-i netcfg/get_ipaddress string 192.168.1.42#d-i netcfg/get_netmask string 255.255.255.0

#d-i netcfg/get_gateway string 192.168.1.1#d-i netcfg/confirm_static boolean true

# Any hostname and domain names assigned from dhcp take precedence over

# values set here. However, setting the values still prevents the questions# from being shown, even if values come from dhcp.d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostnamed-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain

# Disable that annoying WEP key dialog.d-i netcfg/wireless_wep string# The wacky dhcp hostname that some ISPs use as a password of sorts.

#d-i netcfg/dhcp_hostname string radish

# If non-free firmware is needed for the network or other hardware, you can# configure the installer to always try to load it, without prompting. Or# change to false to disable asking.

#d-i hw-detect/load_firmware boolean true

### Network console# Use the following settings if you wish to make use of the network-console

# component for remote installation over SSH. This only makes sense if you# intend to perform the remainder of the installation manually.#d-i anna/choose_modules string network-console

#d-i network-console/password password r00tme#d-i network-console/password-again password r00tme

### Mirror settings# If you select ftp, the mirror/country string does not need to be set.



d-i mirror/protocol string ftp# d-i mirror/country string manuald-i mirror/http/hostname string http.us.debian.orgetc…

Anyone who can help me? (i followed the tuturial three times, just to be sure!)

Niels

11 Dec 09 at 11:58 am

30. Right, followed all the steps and fell at the last hurdle.. canot change the boot option on wds to use the pxelinux.0 boot image. Can change thedefault boot image, when I click select there are none listed. Under Boot images folder I can only add the wim type.

Does this work on 2008 R2? Fresh install in it’s own domain, PXE boot works fine but only windows.

Help!

Cheers, Jim

Jimbo

27 Jan 10 at 11:05 am

31. I have windows 2008 R2 (wds native mode) but can’t get this work on it. Any idea?

Siby

Siby



9 Feb 10 at 1:04 pm

32. In Windows 2008 R2 there is a small change(I’m sure they call it a fix…) that makes it a bit harder to change the Default Boot Program.Luckily you can still edit the Boot Programs via Command Prompt w/ Admin Privileges.

Check current WDS config for Boot Program Policy with: wdsutil /Get-Server /show:config

Setting x86 Default Boot Program:wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x86

Setting x64 Default Boot Program:wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x64

Enjoy!

Simon

29 Mar 10 at 3:49 pm

33. [...] a follow-up to my previous post regarding pxe with wds, I recently came across a new issue which I’ve not seen [...]

Interesting.. at Ohjeah!

29 Apr 10 at 8:55 am

34. Thanks for the 2008 R2 info!

One of these days I’ll get around to updating this.

jro



13 May 10 at 1:16 pm

35. running win 2008 R2 wds, everything works great for windows installs but after i make the changes in this walk through it still boots right to the

\x86\images\boot.wim and i can’t get the new menu to come up.

this is the /show:config

Windows Deployment Services Management Utility [Version 6.1.7600.16385]

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

SETUP INFORMATION FOR SERVER[-----------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Server State:OS version: 6.1WDS operational mode: Native

Installation State:

RemoteInstall location: G:\RemoteInstallRemoteInstall share up-to-date: YesBoot files installed:

x86 – Yesx64 – Yesia64 – No

[-----------------------------------------------------------------------------]

CONFIGURATION INFORMATION FOR SERVER[-----------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Server Authorization:

Authorization state: Not Authorized

Answer Policy:Answer clients: Yes

Answer only known clients: No



Response delay: 2 seconds

Active Directory Use Policy:Preferred DC:

Preferred GC:Prestage devices using MAC: NoNew computer naming policy: %61Username%#Domain search order: Global Catalog Only

New computers join domain: Yes

New Computer OU:OU type: Server Domain

OU: CN=Computers,DC=research,DC=att,DC=com

DHCP Configuration:DHCP service status: Not Installed

DHCP option 60 configured:

PXE Bind Policy:Use DHCP ports: YesRogue detection: Disabled

RPC port: 5040

Interface Bind Policy:Policy: Exclude Registered

Registered interfaces:

Boot Program Policy:Known client PXE prompt policy: OptOutNew client PXE prompt policy: OptOut

Allow N12 for new clients:Architecture discovery: EnabledReset boot program: No

Default boot programs:x86 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0



x64 – boot\x64\pxeboot.comia64 – boot\ia64\bootmgfw.efi

Default N12 boot programs:x86 – boot\x86\pxeboot.n12x64 – boot\x64\pxeboot.n12

ia64 – boot\ia64\bootmgfw.efi

Banned GUIDs list:

Boot Image Policy:Default image type for x64 clients: Both

Default boot images:x86 –x64 –

ia64 –

WDS Client Policy:Logging policy:Enabled: No

Logging level: Info

Unattend policy:Enabled: No

Command-line precedence: NoWDS unattend files:x86 –

x64 –ia64 –

OSChooser Policy:Menu name:

Server Automatic Refresh Policy:Refresh period: 900 seconds

BCD Refresh Policy:



Enabled: No

Refresh period: 60 minutes

Auto-Add Policy:Policy: Disabled

Poll interval: 10 secondsMax retry count: 2160 timesMessage to pending clients:Retention period:

Approved devices: 30 daysOther devices: 1 daysDefaults for x86:

Referral server:Boot program path:WDS client unattend file path:Boot image path:

User: Domain AdminsJoin rights: FullJoin domain: Yes

Defaults for x64:Referral server:Boot program path:

WDS client unattend file path:Boot image path:User: Domain AdminsJoin rights: Full

Join domain: YesDefaults for ia64:Referral server:

Boot program path:WDS client unattend file path:Boot image path:User: Domain Admins

Join rights: Full



Join domain: Yes

WDS PXE Providers:Name: BINLSVC

Path: C:\Windows\system32\binlsvc.dllOrder: 1Critical: Yes

WDS Transport Server Policy:IPv4 source: RangeStart address: 239.0.0.1End address: 239.0.0.254

IPv6 source: RangeStart address: FF15::1End address: FF15::FF

Start port: 64001End port: 65000Network profile:Multicast session policy:

Slow client handling policy: NoneAutoDisconnect threshold: 256 KBpsMultistream stream count: 2

Slow client fallback: Yes

[-----------------------------------------------------------------------------]

The command completed successfully.

any help would be appreciated

tom

9 Jun 10 at 2:02 pm



36. What are you using for dhcp?

In dhcp you should have boot option 66 pointing to your WDS server, and boot option 67 pointing to the image, say boot\x86\pxelinux.0

jro

9 Jun 10 at 2:04 pm

37. Simon also posted a comment above that might help you, about setting the default boot image.

jro

9 Jun 10 at 2:10 pm

38. we are using windows DHCP with 66 and 67 and 67 is pointing to boot\x86\pxelinux.0I saw Simons post and that helped with setting the default boot image. This was done prior to the previous post.

tom

9 Jun 10 at 2:25 pm

39. Guess it’s time to make a 2008 R2 guide

Going to try and do this right now, hopefully wont take too long.

jro

9 Jun 10 at 2:28 pm



40. thanks, i’m not too sure what i missed, i have a colleague going over your walk through right now to see if i misses something

tom

9 Jun 10 at 2:36 pm

41. Pretty easy fix, in addition to what Simon mentioned earlier you need to set the N12bootimage as well.

wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x86wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x64wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x86

wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x64

Updated the post as well, thanks. It’s up to you if you want to duplicate the entire setup with the boot\x64 directory so that your x86 and x64architectures don’t share the same structure, but I don’t think it will cause any issues (maybe for win7 deployments).

jro

9 Jun 10 at 3:53 pm

42. works great now and both win 7 32 and 64 bit work fine

thanks

tom

10 Jun 10 at 7:36 am

43. I don’t know what went wrong but I get:



Trying to load: pxelinux.cfg/defaultUnable to locate configuration file

I have the default file saved in the pxelinux.cfg directory. Any help to shed some light on this would be grateful!

DHCP Configuration:DHCP service status: RunningDHCP option 60 configured: Yes

PXE Bind Policy:Use DHCP ports: NoRogue detection: Disabled

RPC port: 5040

Interface Bind Policy:Policy: Exclude Registered

Registered interfaces:

Boot Program Policy:Known client PXE prompt policy: OptInNew client PXE prompt policy: OptIn

Allow N12 for new clients:Architecture discovery: EnabledReset boot program: No

Default boot programs:x86 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0x64 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0ia64 – boot\ia64\bootmgfw.efi

Default N12 boot programs:x86 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0x64 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0

ia64 – boot\ia64\bootmgfw.efi

Banned GUIDs list:

Boot Image Policy:



Default image type for x64 clients: Both

Default boot images:x86 -x64 -ia64 -

WDS Client Policy:Logging policy:Enabled: No

Logging level: Info


Command-line precedence: NoWDS unattend files:x86 -x64 -

ia64 -



BCD Refresh Policy:

Enabled: NoRefresh period: 60 minutes

Auto-Add Policy:Policy: Disabled

Poll interval: 10 secondsMax retry count: 2160 timesMessage to pending clients:

Retention period:



Approved devices: 30 daysOther devices: 1 daysDefaults for x86:

Referral server:Boot program path:WDS client unattend file path:Boot image path:

User: Domain AdminsJoin rights: FullJoin domain: Yes

Defaults for x64:Referral server:Boot program path:WDS client unattend file path:

Boot image path:User: Domain AdminsJoin rights: Full

Join domain: YesDefaults for ia64:Referral server:Boot program path:

WDS client unattend file path:Boot image path:User: Domain Admins

Join rights: FullJoin domain: Yes

WDS PXE Providers:Name: BINLSVC

Path: C:\Windows\system32\binlsvc.dllOrder: 1Critical: Yes

WDS Transport Server Policy:IPv4 source: Range



Start address: 239.0.0.1End address: 239.0.0.254

IPv6 source: RangeStart address: FF15::1End address: FF15::FFStart port: 64001

End port: 65000Network profile:Multicast session policy:

Slow client handling policy: NoneAutoDisconnect threshold: 256 KBpsMultistream stream count: 2

Slow client fallback: Yes

[—————————————————————


C:\Users\dcadmin>wdsutil /Get-Server /show:config

Windows Deployment Services Management Utility [Version 6.1.7600Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

SETUP INFORMATION FOR SERVER[—————————————————————

Server State:

OS version: 6.1WDS operational mode: Native

Installation State:

RemoteInstall location: C:\RemoteInstallRemoteInstall share up-to-date: YesBoot files installed:x86 – Yesx64 – Yes



ia64 – No

[—————————————————————

CONFIGURATION INFORMATION FOR SERVER[—————————————————————

Server Authorization:Authorization state: Not Authorized

Answer Policy:Answer clients: NoAnswer only known clients: No

Response delay: 0 seconds

Active Directory Use Policy:Preferred DC:

Preferred GC:Prestage devices using MAC: NoNew computer naming policy: %61Username%#Domain search order: Global Catalog OnlyNew computers join domain: Yes

New Computer OU:OU type: Server DomainOU: CN=Computers,DC=corp,DC=dchoc,DC=com

DHCP Configuration:DHCP service status: RunningDHCP option 60 configured: Yes

PXE Bind Policy:Use DHCP ports: NoRogue detection: DisabledRPC port: 5040



Interface Bind Policy:Policy: Exclude RegisteredRegistered interfaces:

Boot Program Policy:Known client PXE prompt policy: OptInNew client PXE prompt policy: OptInAllow N12 for new clients:Architecture discovery: Enabled

Reset boot program: NoDefault boot programs:x86 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0x64 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0ia64 – boot\ia64\bootmgfw.efiDefault N12 boot programs:x86 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0

x64 – boot\x86\pxelinux.0ia64 – boot\ia64\bootmgfw.efi

Banned GUIDs list:

Boot Image Policy:Default image type for x64 clients: BothDefault boot images:x86 -

x64 -ia64 -

WDS Client Policy:

Logging policy:Enabled: NoLogging level: Info




Command-line precedence: NoWDS unattend files:x86 -x64 -ia64 -



BCD Refresh Policy:

Enabled: NoRefresh period: 60 minutes

Auto-Add Policy:

Policy: DisabledPoll interval: 10 secondsMax retry count: 2160 timesMessage to pending clients:Retention period:Approved devices: 30 daysOther devices: 1 days

Defaults for x86:Referral server:Boot program path:WDS client unattend file path:Boot image path:User: Domain AdminsJoin rights: Full

Join domain: YesDefaults for x64:Referral server:Boot program path:



WDS client unattend file path:Boot image path:

User: Domain AdminsJoin rights: FullJoin domain: YesDefaults for ia64:Referral server:Boot program path:WDS client unattend file path:

Boot image path:User: Domain AdminsJoin rights: FullJoin domain: Yes

WDS PXE Providers:Name: BINLSVCPath: C:\Windows\system32\binlsvc.dllOrder: 1Critical: Yes

WDS Transport Server Policy:IPv4 source: RangeStart address: 239.0.0.1End address: 239.0.0.254IPv6 source: Range

Start address: FF15::1End address: FF15::FFStart port: 64001End port: 65000Network profile:Multicast session policy:Slow client handling policy: None

AutoDisconnect threshold: 256 KBpsMultistream stream count: 2Slow client fallback: Yes



[—————————————————————


Robert T

16 Jul 10 at 7:16 pm

44. Awsome guide, i am just trying this out now myself.

i am lost though, i am doing centos 5.5, and in the x86.conf file, in your example you have this line:

APPEND initrd=img/initrd-fedora9-x86.img ks=ftp://10.0.1.171//CentOS/86/ks.cfg

i am confused with the initrd-fedora9-x86.img part since i don’t recall such a file for CentOS or being asked to make one….

What am i overlooking?

Matthew

21 Jul 10 at 12:15 pm

45. okay blonde moment i guess, i assume you are refering to the initrd.img file found in the pxeboot folder

Matthew

21 Jul 10 at 12:17 pm

46. Perhaps that isnt it, i get as far as

Tryng to load: pxelinux.cfg/default ok



but then i get Boot failed: press a key to retry or wait for reboot

this is on the server i am trying to boot over the network.

Using server 2008 r2 x64 in Vm, windows booting works fine, but i need centos for an older server that only boots from floppies.

Matthew

21 Jul 10 at 1:06 pm

47. hello friends…thanx for the tutorial ..its awesomemy Rhel5.3 boot properly but after some time installation stopped..error is ftp cant retrieve the image2.img…..plz help

iqbal

11 Aug 10 at 11:17 am

48. i have problem with f12….unable to read package metadata..can u give me solution?please…help me for my final project

newbies

25 Jan 11 at 9:57 pm

49. I was wondering if you know how I can add an option in the WDS Boot Manager that will default to the Hard drive OS? Currently when Ienable the WDS the only options I have are for the images. I would like to see and entry in the Boot Manager that says “Boot to OS” and it bethe default. If a selection for an image isnt made then it loads from the Harddrive. I am migrating from a FOG based imaging system (Whichworks AWESOME!) to the WDS system.



Viper753

25 Mar 11 at 12:23 pm

50. Just a note for those that may now be trying this with RHEL 6 (and possibly Fedora? Not sure if they made the same changes). They’vechanged things in their install so that instead of each piece of software having a “Packages” directory, everything’s in one big Packages directoryand the individual software symlinks to it. This makes sense, since the other way there was quite a bit of duplication. However, that means if youwere using the above instructions and were keeping everything on Windows, including your FTP, this no longer works. The PXE booting can all

still be through Windows, but the actual ISO (or extracted ISO) has to be on Linux for that symlinking to function.

teleute

3 May 11 at 3:12 pm

51. i am trying to acheive PXE boot for XenServer, anyone got this working. i dont seem to be able to get it working

roshan

12 May 11 at 1:40 am

52. We have configured kickstart in WDS. It boots proprly in pxe but during installation again it asks for ip configuration. Also not taking ks.cfg file.

Atul

2 Jun 11 at 9:43 pm

53. Excellent guide! It works and straight away too!Very detailed instructions with the logic.

Thanks a lot.



Kumar

8 Jul 11 at 2:38 am

54. Very sweet, thanks.If you plan to use HTTP with IIS to provide your packages, you’ll need to enable Directory Browsing.

bene

19 Jul 11 at 5:29 am

55. I have WDS on Windows 2003 server. When I network boot a device I am not presented with an F12 option (Using pxelinux.0) and bootsstratght into the menu

Rakesh

22 Mar 12 at 9:33 am

56. Excellent guide – I got the PXE boot working. I have some issues with the ubuntu installation though.

I am using a kickstart file to install Ubuntu 12.04 but The step Select Software and Install it keep failing.

Did anyone get a fully automated install to work?

Staun

27 Nov 12 at 6:09 am



57. hello sir,

i tried configuring your document.

but i got the following errorloading knl/vmlinuz………………………………………………..boot failed.press any key to try again or wait to resetkindly help me

p suresh kumar

5 Mar 13 at 4:00 am

58. First of all thanks for wonderful tutorial, it helps me a lot.I am using WDS with Windows server 2008 R2 and configured the PXE Linux for the Linux OS Installation. Also I have automate the LinuxOS installation process using kickstart file. Currently I have to select the RedHat6 OS from the PXE menu manually at boot time. I want toautomate this step also, is there any way to achieve this?

For windows OS there is a way like we can set the default client unattended file for the prestaged machine using below command:

WDSUTIL /Set-Device /Device:Computer1 /WDSClientUnattend:WDSClientUnattend\Unattend.xml

Thanks in advance, any help on this would really be very helpful.

Kumesh

7 Mar 13 at 9:30 am

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