HowTo: Add functionality to your PXE server

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HowTo: Add functionality to your PXE server

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Hi all,

This is my tutorial about how to add additional PXE functionality to your ClearOS box.
I don't have all the answers, but I will try to update this first post with newly discovered info.

I started by following the Installing via PXE tutorial and the rest I Googled.
Once you have successfully installed a working PXE server you can use this tutorial.
My experience is that the key to enter the PXE environment is usually F10, F11 or F12.
If this does not work, you should confirm that you've enabled Net booting in the BIOS.

Copy the following files from /usr/share/syslinux/ to /var/flexshare/shares/pxe:

memdisk
pxelinux.0
menu.c32
reboot.c32
vesamenu.c32

The background graphic can be a .jpg or a .png file with the resolution of 640x480.

NFS server (Wikipedia) - required for some of the Live images:

To download & install the NFS server:
yum install nfs-utils rpcbind
ClearOS 5.2 (uses the older "portmap" service, what results in instability with some of the live versions):
Start portmap before starting nfs:
service portmap start
To start this service automatically after a reboot:
chkconfig portmap on
ClearOS 6.# (uses the newer "rpcbind" service, what results in stable live versions):
Start rpcbind before starting nfs:
service rpcbind start
To start this service automatically after a reboot:
chkconfig rpcbind on
To start the NFS service:
service nfs start
To start this service automatically after a reboot:
chkconfig nfs on

You need to edit "/etc/exports" when using the NFS server. (detailed instructions)
My "/etc/exports" looks something like this:

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/12.04 *(ro,async,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check)

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/13.04 *(ro,async,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check)

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/14 *(ro,no_root_squash,async,no_subtree_check)

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/15 *(ro,no_root_squash,async,no_subtree_check)

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xbmcbuntu/intel/12.2 *(rw,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,no_all_squash)

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/bitdefender *(ro,sync,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure)

After making changes to "/etc/exports" you need to restart the NFS service:

service nfs restart

The next file you need to configure is:
[ul]pxelinux.cfg/default[/ul]
"default" is the file where the used kernel and it's parameters are stored & from this file the main menu will be generated.

These are the 4 official ways to boot up an image from PXE:
The Kernel method

LABEL 1

	MENU LABEL Memtest86+ v4.20

	KERNEL memtest/memtest

The Kernel + Initrd method

LABEL 2

	MENU LABEL Active Boot Disk Utilities

	KERNEL memdisk

	APPEND iso initrd=killdisk/activebootdisk.iso raw

The Kernel + Initrd + NFS method

LABEL 3

	MENU LABEL Linux Mint Live 15 KDE 32b Live

	KERNEL mintlive/32b/15/casper/vmlinuz

	INITRD mintlive/32b/15/casper/initrd.lz

	APPEND root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/15 ip=dhcp nosplash --

The MEMDISK method

LABEL 4

	MENU LABEL DOS 6.22a

	KERNEL memdisk

	APPEND initrd=dos/Dos6.22.img

There seem to be 2 distinctive ways to boot up a PXE image.
1. Booting the .ISO file (not recommended for ISO's larger then 50Mb with a 100Mbit network)
2. Figuring out what kernel and parameters you need to APPEND to make the image boot properly.
***
The 1st option is the easiest and needs hardly any configuring. The problem is that the whole ISO file will be send over the network before it boots, so the bigger the image, the longer everything takes.

example:

LABEL #

	MENU LABEL Active Boot Disk Utilities

	KERNEL memdisk

	APPEND iso INITRD=killdisk/activebootdisk.iso raw

The kernel I use for iso's (and several other images) is memdisk.
If it doesn't boot properly without "raw" than add "raw" after the .iso, like mentioned above.
***
The 2nd option can be a lot harder.
Extract the iso file to a subfolder of your pxe folder.
Search for the kernel (like memdisk, vmlinuz, bzImage, ... etc.) and the ramdisk image (initrd.gz, initrd.img, ramdisk.dat, ... etc.).
There are a lot more different parameters that you can APPEND.

Some of the commands you can use in "pxelinux.cfg/default";:
MENU TITLE:

sets the title shown at the top of the menu.

LABEL:

creates a menu entry.

KERNEL:

loads the kernel; the path is relative to the TFTP server’s root directory.

APPEND:

adds options to the kernel command line. Clonezilla uses initramfs, and fetch is an initramfs-specific option that tells the kernel where and how to download the live filesystem image.

INITRD:

points to the initial ramdisk image.

FETCH:

Downloads the specified "filesystem.squashfs" file. Usually this is done with Live versions.

MENU PASSWD:

Enables a password for the menu. This can be ascii characters or encrypted.

MENU separator:

Add an empty line

NOESCAPE 1:

Prevent the use of the escape button, to get out of the PXE menu.

0. Main Menu ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/defaultc.jpg

My "pxelinux.cfg/default"; looks something like this:
[file name=default-20130625.txt size=3017]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/default-20130625.txt[/file]

1. Memory Diagnostics ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/memdiagc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/memdiag"; looks something like this:
[file name=memdiag-20130625.txt size=567]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/memdiag-20130625.txt[/file]
Download Memtest86+.
Download Microsoft Windows Memory Diagnostic 0.4.
Download Video Memory stress Test 1.7.116.

2. Harddisk Diagnostics & -Tools ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/hddc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/hdd"; looks something like this:
[file name=hdd-20130625.txt size=1107]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/hdd-20130625.txt[/file]
Download HDATII.
Download Active Boot Disk Utilities.
Download or buy HDD Regenerator.
Download Seagate SeaTools for DOS.
Download Dell Diagnostics.
Download Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic.

3. Backup- & Imaging Tools ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/backupc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/backup"; looks something like this:
[file name=backup-20130625.txt size=1046]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/backup-20130625.txt[/file]
Buy Acronis True Image. (this one does not work yet)
Download Clonezilla

4. (Live) Partitioning Tools ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/partitioningc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/partitioning"; looks something like this:
[file name=partitioning-20130625.txt size=901]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/partitioning-20130625.txt[/file]
Download EASEUS Partition Master.
Download Partition Wizard Home Edition.
Download GParted Live.

5. (Live) Anti Virus Tools ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/antivirusc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/antivirus"; looks something like this:
[file name=antivirus-20130625.txt size=1558]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/antivirus-20130625.txt[/file]
Download AVG Rescue CD.
Download Comodo Resque Disk.
Download Panda Save CD.
Download BitDefender Rescue CD 2013. - detailed instructions
Download Trinity Rescue Kit.

6. (Live) Operating Systems ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/osc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/os"; looks something like this:
[file name=os-20130625.txt size=2965]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/os-20130625.txt[/file]
Download DOS 6.22.
Download the required Ubuntu versions. - detailed instructions
Download the required Mint versions. - detailed instructions
Download Puppy Linux. - detailed instructions
Download SliTaz Linux. - detailed instructions

7. Operating System Installers ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/installc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/install"; looks something like this:
[file name=install-20130625.txt size=3093]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/install-20130625.txt[/file]
See the instructions of the ClearOS HowTo.
Download Ubuntu 12.04.2 32b Network Installer "Precise Pangolin" (19.9Mb) - detailed instructions
Download Fedora 18 Network Installer (327Mb) - detailed instructions
Download CentOS Network Installer (189Mb) - detailed instructions
Download openSUSE Installer (212Mb) - detailed instructions
Download Debian Network Installer.

8. Other System Tools ...

http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/otherc.jpg

"pxelinux.cfg/other"; looks something like this:
[file name=other-20130711.txt size=1335]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/other-20130711.txt[/file]
Download Hardware Detection Tool.
Download Kon Boot 1.1.
Download XBMCbuntu. - detailed instructions
Download OpenELEC - detailed instructions.
===============================================================================================
*************************************************************************************************************************************
===============================================================================================
[ul]The following (live)utilities & installers don't work. If you know how to make them work, please post your solutions:[/ul]
9. Under Construction ...

"pxelinux.cfg/uc"; looks something like this:
[file name=uc-20130625.txt size=10899]http://www.clearfoundation.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/uc-20130625.txt[/file]
Download Hiren's 15.2 boot DVD (torrent).
Download Knoppix Live 7.0.5.
Download Ultimate Boot CD.
Download System Rescue CD.
Download Avira AntiVir Rescue System.
Download Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10.
Download PC Tools Alternate Operating System Scanner.
Download Dr Web live CD.
Download Stress Linux.
Download Open Diagnostics.
Download Rising Antivirus Rescue CD.
Download F-Secure Rescue CD.
Download VBA32 Rescue.
Download Zillya! LiveCD.
Download Anvi Rescue Disk.
Download ArcaNix.
Download Trend Micro Rescue Disk.

Please advice,

John

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Sunday, May 05 2013, 04:17 PM

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John

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Tuesday, June 21 2016, 12:28 PM - #Permalink
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Hi all,

We have found a few solutions that should make you able to get NFS to work even after a reboot.

We have solved the issue of problems with opening the correct ports.
The thing is that some sort of mount deamon should be restarted other then the firewall to make NFS be able to be accessed from the LAN (only when using COS in stand alone mode with firewall).
Since we did not know what process this was we simply rebooted the COS box.
What remains is to check from a long lists of ports, wich ports are absolutely required and wich can be disgarded.

In COS 6 it was these commands to automatically boot nfs & rpcbind:

chkconfig nfs on chkconfig rpcbind on

In COS 7 it now is:

systemctl enable nfs-server systemctl enable rpcbind

comment: rpcbind does not give any feedback when successful.

The first post of this thread will be updated at a later time.

Greetings,

John
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John

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Wednesday, June 15 2016, 10:55 AM - #Permalink
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Hi all,

It has been a while since I last updated this thread. Now that we have upgraded to COS 7.2 we decided to also get PXE up and running again.
Currently it is operational, but only when the image used is not using an NFS to mount (timeout error).
When I disable the firewall on the standalone COS box, I am able to also network boot the images that require an NFS mount.
This means that the last step to take is to open the correct ports that NFS needs.
When we googled this issue we encountered several forums with different ports (TCP & UDP), so we decided to open them all, but without success.
One of the most promising posts was about iptables, but this was for RHEL 5 and CentOS 5 and I doubt if this would still work on COS 7.2.

Does anyone know what the exact ports are for NFS and how to properly open them on a COS 7.2 box ... ?!?
We also searched for log files that report what ports are currently used, but that doesn't seem to be possible on COS.

Please respond when your a developer or when you have experience forcing NFS to use static ports.
Since moving this forum to clearos.com all of the links and graphics of this thread where broken, so I don't know yet if I will upgrade the first post of this thread or if I will start a new one.

Thanks in advance,

John
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John

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Tuesday, June 14 2016, 04:07 PM - #Permalink
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Predrag

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Tuesday, June 03 2014, 12:05 PM - #Permalink
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Hi john!

I have a working PXE boot server made on ClearOS. He can provide ISO files via tftp or http.
I want to get NFS functionality and installed what is necesery for NFS but cant get boot anything from NFS. Can mount from other working linux but that is all.
Tring to load Kaspersky Rescue disk from PXE via NFS but not working. Any sugestion?
Thanx.

EDIT: ClearOS not CentOS
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John

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Thursday, May 08 2014, 01:47 PM - #Permalink
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Added Xubuntu 14.04 LTS (Ubuntu with an XFCE desktop) by doing the following:
[ul]Download the required XUbuntu distro (approximately 950Mb)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/os";.
Replace "#" with the corresponding number.

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. XUbuntu Live 14.04 LTS 32b KERNEL xubuntu/32b/14.04/casper/vmlinuz INITRD xubuntu/32b/14.04/casper/initrd.lz APPEND root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.1.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xubuntu/32b/14.04 rw only-ubiquity file=/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/12.04/preseed/ubuntu.seed nosplash -- TEXT HELP "Trusty Tahr" The installer is included in this application. ENDTEXT
[/ul][ul]Add the following line to "/etc/exports":

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xubuntu/32b/14.04 *(ro,async,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check)

Restart the NFS service after making changes to "/etc/exports":

service nfs restart
[/ul]

To establish an Internet connection, open a terminal window on the client machine and enter the following commands:
[ul]Request an ip address from the DHCP server
sudo dhclient eth0
[/ul][ul]Install the editor LeafPad
sudo apt-get install leafpad
[/ul][ul]Edit the file "rc.local" in the folder "etc"
sudo leafpad /etc/rc.local
[/ul][ul]Enter the following above the last line (above "exit 0") to ensure that after every reboot the client connects to the DHCP server:

sudo dhclient eth0

Save and close the file.[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The related previous posts of this thread have been updated.

Attachments:

xubuntu05.jpg

xubuntu05.jpg
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John

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Sunday, March 09 2014, 02:06 PM - #Permalink
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Hi Ian,

If you don't mind we could continue communicating about this subject 1 on 1, without polluting this thread with too many details.
I have added you as a Connection, so all you have to do is accept it, on the Community Profile page of clearfoundation.

Thanks,

John
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Ian Carey

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Tuesday, March 04 2014, 08:51 PM - #Permalink
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John,
For booting a .wim you need to have one copy of the boot files. boot.sdi, bcd, and bootmgr.exe. I keep mine in /tftpboot/boot/winpe/ my syslinux files (i.e. memdisk, vesamenu.c32 etc.), are in /tftpboot/boot/isolinux/. Then I have a program wimboot (http://ipxe.org/wimboot) also included with my syslinux files. That program allows for booting of .wim and cpio images via pxelinux.

My "plugin" scheme is rather simple. The Core of my project comes with the base of the program. All the syslinx files, a few smaller programs like memtest, NT Offline Password, CPUID and a few others. It also has the base menu in place. So when you add a plugin it also includes that plugin without needed to modify a menu item. Then my plugins include the menu for the program and all the directories needed. Certain ones also include the program as well.

My network shares are located in /tftpboot/pxedust/shares/. NFS, symlinked HTTP, and SAMBA (CIFS). So that one folder is shared by all 3. For instance /tftpboot/pxedust/shares/ubuntu is able to be accessed by NFS @10.5.1.100:/tftpboot/pxedust/shares/ubuntu, by SAMBA (CIFS) @ //10.5.1.100/pxedust/ubuntu, and by HTTP @ http;//10.5.1.100/pd/ubuntu.

So in summary, the Core has the base menu in it. (i.e. livelinux.menu which is part of the main menu)
The plugin has the programs folders and menus init. (i.e. /tftpboot/pxedust/plugins/ubuntu/13.10/32, tftpboot/pxedust/shares/ubuntu/13.10/32, and ubuntumain.menu, and 13.1032.menu) download and extract and you have the base structure for the program to be installed to PXE boot. All you need is the disk image to copy to the correct folders.

I know it is a lot to take in, but I put a LOT of though in to this and have been working on it for about 2 years on and off.

My windoze installer is named Windows Deployment Plugin. It is a custom slimmed WinPE, you basically boot it, map your network drive that contains your Windows source files, If it is a WDS version (Vista,7,8,8.1 Server 2008/2012) you run setup.exe. If it is a RIS version (2000/XP Server 2003) You use a tool called WinNTSetup to install.

Phew, since you have the network setup for a PXE server already. install an Ubuntu Server instance 12.04 and up in a VM and install my project and a few plugins to see the insides. It may give you a few great ideas!
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John

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Tuesday, March 04 2014, 07:53 PM - #Permalink
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Thanks Ian,

I did my best to build a proper "how to" for ClearOS users.
Kaspersky Rescue Disk has not been on my mind for a while, but thanks for the info on how to make it work.
Lately I have been focusing on distro's and tools that work out of the box, because even those can sometimes be difficult.

Your site looks really nice, even when I do not fully understand your plugin methods yet.
Booting .wim files for WinPE does peak my interest.
Could this be an answer to the question of how to PXE boot a Windoze installer ... ?!?
Not sure though, because on your site, all of the Windows Pre-install Environment options say ... not yet released.

Greetings,

John
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Ian Carey

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Tuesday, March 04 2014, 03:47 PM - #Permalink
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I love what you are doing here! I also have a PXE project, but mine is geared towards Ubuntu and CentOS Server distro.

If you would like any insight on how to get certain things to work I would be glad to help you. I see you are looking of info on Kaspersky. Kaspersky Rescue Disk is impossible to PXE boot with out modifications to the image itself. You have to add functionality to the kernel image, and move some folder around. I have a version that is PXE bootable, but it requires you update via Kaspersky Lab Servers when you boot it. I can not get it to recognize the Rescue Disk updates on the disk as non corrupted, but once it updates via Kaspersky Lab it works flawlessly.

I also have methods for booting .wim files for WinPE. My project is updated frequently, and the base is installed with a simple script. The rest of the programs I call plugins are installed manually via guides on my website.

Have a look at my project.
http://pxedust.icarey.net
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John

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Tuesday, March 04 2014, 01:52 PM - #Permalink
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According to this post, the only way to do a future upgrade from 6.# to 7 will be by choosing the 64b version.

Added ClearOS 6.5 by doing the following:

[ul]Download the required ClearOS distro (approximately 550Mb)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/install";.
Replace "#" with the corresponding number
Replace the "..." from "method= ..." with the nearest ClearOS mirror.

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. ClearOS Community 6.4 32b (2013) KERNEL clearos/6.5/32b/isolinux/vmlinuz INITRD clearos/6.5/32b/isolinux/initrd.img APPEND method=http://mirror.1000mbps.com/clearos/community/6.4.0/os/i386/ TEXT HELP !!!This installer will erase all connected HD's & USB sticks!!! ENDTEXT LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. ClearOS Community 6.4 64b (2013) KERNEL clearos/6.5/64b/isolinux/vmlinuz INITRD clearos/6.5/64b/isolinux/initrd.img APPEND method=http://mirror.1000mbps.com/clearos/community/6.4.0/os/x86_64/ TEXT HELP !!!This installer will erase all connected HD's & USB sticks!!! ENDTEXT
[/ul][ul]Currently the last repository available is of COS 6.4, but I used the currently latest COS 6.5 kernel & initrd.
After installing this version you can manually update to 6.5 with a "ÿum update".[/ul][ul]Successfully downloading the repository:
[/ul][ul]A problem with installing COS 6.# from PXE is that the File System Summary creates a large home partition.
(According to this post the PXE images should be corrected by the time COS 6.6 rolls out.)
This example shows what happend to a 160Gb HD:
[/ul][ul]Finished the installer successfully:
[/ul]
Greetings,

John

Ps. The first post of this thread will be updated at a later time.

Attachments:

retrieving.jpg

finished.jpg

retrieving.jpg

finished.jpg
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Russell

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Tuesday, February 18 2014, 02:29 PM - #Permalink
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Iv read alot that its not advised because of size but im going to be running a Gigabit network just for this. I think it would take about 36 secs to send 4.7GB over gigabit so thats actual faster than most optical drives. Mainly i want to house all my versions of Windows on one network boot server to do away with disc. I understand its complicated and yes i would prefer the computers Ill be working on to be linux based (the more i learn of it the more i love) but sadly they are windows. I once did it on a Windows Server 2008R2 server but other than that and active directory i preferre linux....(Apache, Filezilla, Firefox, nearly all reliable application/services i use)

ClearOs seems like it could be the answer and so far the most difficult part has been this PXE process. But i have two months till i need it to work and im A.D.D. so my mind wont let it go. Iv learned more about Linux and particular ClearOS in 3 days then i had in years before. In short i will have a PXE server that can do this but if you all sincerely believe that ClearOS cant do this because linux/windows not playing we together (most windows selfishness) then Ill switch Server OS....not immediately but in time

PS sorry if that seemed like a rant (i didn't mean it to be) I appreciate your help and if you have any suggestions I'm open to hear/try/work with them.
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John

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Tuesday, February 18 2014, 12:45 PM - #Permalink
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Hi Russell,

You already answered your own question about the pxelinux.cfg folder.

Loading an .iso that is larger then 100Mb is not advisable.
The .iso needs to be downloaded from the pxe server before the boot process is initiated.
A windoze boot cd or image is not made to boot over pxe anyway.
You will have to troubleshoot what to do when you want to boot a M$ product.
All I know is that it is possible with Windoze XP, according to this video:
Install Windows XP Over Network Using PXE Boot

Greetings,

John
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Russell

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Monday, February 17 2014, 04:58 PM - #Permalink
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Has anyone been succesful in getting a Windows iso to load? That is my goal with my whole project
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Russell

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Monday, February 17 2014, 07:35 AM - #Permalink
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For anyone that stumbles upon this thread with the same question, yes "pxelinux.cfg" is a directory inside "/var/flexshare/shares/pxe"
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Russell

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Sunday, February 16 2014, 09:14 AM - #Permalink
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Hi, i spent the past few days getting to this point. I have a working DHCP server and follwed the guide you reffred to and yours. Im still learning linux so somethings fly over my head. The question i had was: You state "
The next file you need to configure is:
pxelinux.cfg/default
"
is this located in "/var/flexshare/shares/pxe" ?
Assume that "pxelinux.cfg" is a diretory located "/var/flexshare/shares/pxe" and inside "prelinux.cfg" is a file called "default"

Am i correct so far?
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John

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Wednesday, January 22 2014, 01:45 AM - #Permalink
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Hi all,

Because Windoze XP support is ending this year, we decided to start using Linuts.
Whenever I boot up a live version, I get full Internet access, but when I install those live distro's, the network card is not installed.

#ifconfig lo Link encap:Local Loopback inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0 inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 RX bytes:0 (0.0 MiB) TX bytes:0 (0.0 MiB)
(eth0 is missing)

Even when installing from a network installer (Ubuntu) this problem occurs.
When I install from DVD, using the same ISO, I do not have this problem.
I attempted this with 4 different versions of Mint and Ubuntu on 3 different types of pc, from low end to high end.

What do I need to do to make these PXE installers properly install eth0 ... ?!?

The only solution I can think of is to manually install the NIC, but I do not intend to do that when it should work out of the box.

Please assist.

John

EDIT:
The problem has been resolved by following these steps:
[ul]Request an ip address from the DHCP server
sudo dhclient eth0
[/ul][ul]Install the editor LeafPad
sudo apt-get install leafpad
[/ul][ul]Edit the file "rc.local" in the folder "etc"
sudo leafpad /etc/rc.local
[/ul][ul]Enter the following above the last line (above "exit 0") to ensure that after every reboot the client connects to the DHCP server:

sudo dhclient eth0

Save and close the file.[/ul]
Greetings,

John
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Tuesday, January 21 2014, 02:58 PM - #Permalink
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Hi anwoke8204,

Sorry about the late response.
I would not know what it would take to replace Clonezilla with FOG.
AFAIK these are two different things, so I don't know how your question could be answered.

Greetings,

John
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Tuesday, December 03 2013, 11:16 PM - #Permalink
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question, what would it take to replace clonezilla with fog located here Fog Project it can do everything that clonezilla can, but alot more and has a web based interface to manage it
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Thursday, June 27 2013, 12:13 PM - #Permalink
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One of the advantages of using OpenELEC over XBMC is, that in OpenELEC all changes to the settings will be stored per client.

Added OpenELEC Mediacenter by doing the following:
[ul]Download the required OpenELEC version(s).[/ul][ul]Create a "storage" folder in the root of the OpenELEC directory structure.[/ul][ul]Move the "SYSTEM" file from "<path to openelec>/target" to "<path to openelec>".[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/other";.
Replace "#" with the corresponding number
Replace "NFS= ..." with "NFS=<ip COS box>:/<path to OpenELEC>/... :

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. OpenELEC Generic OSS KERNEL openelec/genericoss/target/KERNEL APPEND ip=dhcp netboot=nfs boot=NFS=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/openelec/genericoss disk=NFS=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/openelec/genericoss/storage vga=792 overlay debugging
[/ul][ul]Add the following line to "/etc/exports":

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/openelec/genericoss *(no_root_squash,rw,async,no_subtree_check)

After making changes to "/etc/exports" you need to restart the NFS service:

service nfs restart
[/ul][ul]In a virtual environment I get the following result:

On a client it continues booting to OpenELEC Mediacenter (no picture available).

This YouTube video shows a successful pxe boot:
Booting openelec generic from pxe[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The error message has been resolved by moving the "SYSTEM" file to the root of the OpenELEC path.
The first post of this thread has been updated.

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Saturday, June 22 2013, 02:08 PM - #Permalink
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Added Linux Mint 14 & -15 by doing the following:
[ul]Download the required Mint versions (approximately 1Gb each)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/os";.
Replace "#" with the corresponding number
Replace "nfsroot= ..." with "nfsroot=<ip COS box>:/<path to Mint distro>:

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Linux Mint Live 14 KDE 32b Live KERNEL mintlive/32b/14/casper/vmlinuz INITRD mintlive/32b/14/casper/initrd.lz APPEND root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/14 ip=dhcp nosplash -- LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Linux Mint Live 15 MATE 32b Live KERNEL mintlive/32b/15/casper/vmlinuz INITRD mintlive/32b/15/casper/initrd.lz APPEND root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/15 ip=dhcp nosplash --
[/ul][ul]Add the following line(s) to "/etc/exports":

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/14 *(ro,no_root_squash,async,no_subtree_check) /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/15 *(ro,no_root_squash,async,no_subtree_check)

After making changes to "/etc/exports" you need to restart the NFS service:

service nfs restart
[/ul][ul]The result of a successful boot:

The installer is included in this application.[/ul]
To establish an Internet connection (after the install has finished), open a terminal window on the client machine and enter the following commands:
[ul]Request an ip address from the DHCP server
sudo dhclient eth0
[/ul][ul]Install the editor LeafPad
sudo apt-get install leafpad
[/ul][ul]Edit the file "rc.local" in the folder "etc"
sudo leafpad /etc/rc.local
[/ul][ul]Enter the following above the last line (above "exit 0") to ensure that after every reboot the client connects to the DHCP server:

sudo dhclient eth0

Save and close the file.[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

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Wednesday, June 19 2013, 01:25 PM - #Permalink
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Added Ubuntu Live 12.04 & -13.04 by doing the following:
[ul]Download the required Ubuntu version(s) (approximately 700Mb each)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/os";
replace "#" with the corresponding number
replace "nfsroot= ..." with "nfsroot=<ip COS box>:/<path to Ubuntu distro>:

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Ubuntu Live 12.04 LTS 32b KERNEL ubuntulive/32b/12.04/casper/vmlinuz INITRD ubuntulive/32b/12.04/casper/initrd.lz APPEND root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/12.04 ip=dhcp rw only-ubiquity -- LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Ubuntu Live 13.04 32b KERNEL ubuntulive/32b/13.04/casper/vmlinuz INITRD ubuntulive/32b/13.04/casper/initrd.lz APPEND root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/13.04 ip=dhcp rw only-ubiquity --
[/ul][ul]Add the following line(s) to "/etc/exports":

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/12.04 *(ro,async,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check) /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/13.04 *(ro,async,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check)

After making changes to "/etc/exports" you need to restart the NFS service:

service nfs restart
[/ul][ul]When booting the live version, you first get the choice to install right away.
To go to the live desktop, press the "quit" button twice.
[/ul][ul]When you still choose to install it, you can do so by selecting the "Install Ubuntu" button in the left column.
[/ul]
To establish an Internet connection (after the install has finished), open a terminal window on the client machine and enter the following commands:
[ul]Request an ip address from the DHCP server
sudo dhclient eth0
[/ul][ul]Install the editor LeafPad
sudo apt-get install leafpad
[/ul][ul]Edit the file "rc.local" in the folder "etc"
sudo leafpad /etc/rc.local
[/ul][ul]Enter the following above the last line (above "exit 0") to ensure that after every reboot the client connects to the DHCP server:

sudo dhclient eth0

Save and close the file.[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

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Saturday, June 15 2013, 01:23 PM - #Permalink
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Added Puppy Linux Live by doing the following:
Download Puppy Linux (version 5.5 is 170Mb)

You will need to pack "puppy_slacko_5.5.sfs" into the initrd image for this to work, because the livecd expects it to be somewhere on the boot media, but we don’t have any boot media because we are booting over the network.
You can do these steps for the PAE & 4G versions.
I used WinSCP to create, copy or move files & folders, but your are free to use the command line, like in the following steps.
[ul]Create a "temp" directory and browse to that folder:

# mkdir /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/puppy/4g/temp # cd /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/puppy/4g/temp
[/ul][ul]Extract the contents of the "initrd.gz" to the "temp" folder:

zcat /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/puppy/4g/initrd.gz | cpio -i -H newc -d
[/ul][ul]Move "puppy_slacko_5.5.sfs" to the "temp" folder.

mv /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/puppy/4g/puppy_slacko_5.5.sfs /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/puppy/4g/temp
[/ul][ul]Now we’ll repack it into a new "initrd.gz" file, by running this command, while inside the temp directory:

find | cpio -o -H newc | gzip -4 > ../newinitrd.gz
[/ul][ul]Add the following configurations to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/os"; (replace "#" with the corresponding number):

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Puppy Linux Live 5.5-4G (05/03/2013) KERNEL puppy/4g/vmlinuz INITRD puppy/4g/newinitrd.gz APPEND LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Puppy Linux Live 5.5-PAE (05/03/2013) KERNEL puppy/pae/vmlinuz INITRD puppy/pae/newinitrd.gz APPEND
[/ul][ul]The boot process takes a while, partly because the "newinitrd.gz" (160[sup]+[/sup]Mb) needs to be loaded first:
[/ul][ul]After a successful boot:
[/ul][ul]The (USB & HD) installer is included in this application.
Click on the "Install" icon on the desktop and select the options that you require.[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

Attachments:

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Wednesday, June 12 2013, 01:00 PM - #Permalink
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Added SliTaz Live 4.0 by doing the following:
[ul]Download the latest version of SliTaz Live (version 4.0 is 34.7Mb)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/os"; (replace "#" with the corresponding number):

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. SliTaz Linux Live 4.0 (10/04/2012) KERNEL slitaz/boot/bzImage INITRD slitaz/boot/rootfs4.gz,slitaz/boot/rootfs3.gz,slitaz/boot/rootfs2.gz,slitaz/boot/rootfs1.gz APPEND rw root=/dev/null vga=normal autologin
[/ul][ul]After selecting the language & keyboard settings:
[/ul]

The (web) installer is included in this application.
[ul]Double click the "Documentation" file on the desktop and scroll down to the bottom of the file (click on "SliTaz Installer").
[/ul][ul]Click on the "Install SliTaz" button.[/ul][ul]Select the "Web" radio button and click on either the "Stable"- or "Cooking" button.
[/ul][ul]Make the changes that you require and click on the "Proceed to SliTaz installation" button to install.[/ul]

Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

Attachments:

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Monday, June 10 2013, 02:54 PM - #Permalink
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Added BitDefender Rescue CD Live:
Download BitDefender Rescue CD 2013

Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/antivirus";.
replace "#" with the corresponding number.
replace "nfsroot= ..." with "nfsroot=<ip COS box>:/<path to BitDefender>:

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. BitDefender Rescue CD Live (06/07/2012) KERNEL bitdefender/casper/vmlinuz INITRD bitdefender/casper/initrd.gz APPEND boot=casper vga=791 lang=us root=/dev/nfs netboot=nfs ip=dhcp nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/bitdefender quiet splash --

Add the following line to "/etc/exports":

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/bitdefender *(ro,sync,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure)

Restart the NFS service after making changes to "/etc/exports"

service nfs restart

You need to manually establish an Internet connection, before you will be able to update.
Take the following steps on the client side:
[ul]Click on the dog icon and start a terminal session:
[/ul][ul]Type the following command:

sudo mc
[/ul][ul]Browse to “/etc/network” and edit <F4> the “interfaces” file.
[/ul][ul]Find “iface eth0 inet manual” and replace "manual" with “dhcp”.
[/ul][ul]Quit with <F10> and select “Yes” when prompted.[/ul][ul]Restart the clients networking:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
[/ul][ul]If all went well, you should see that your client obtained an IP address.
Now you can use the update function.
[/ul]

Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

Attachments:

bitdefender01b.jpg

bitdefender03b.jpg

bitdefender04b.jpg

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Sunday, June 09 2013, 06:34 PM - #Permalink

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Added the following tools:
[ul]Clonezilla 2.1.1-7 Live
Replace "#" with the corresponding number

LABEL #

	MENU LABEL ^#. Clonezilla 2.1.1-7 (14/03/2013)

	KERNEL clonezilla/live/vmlinuz

	INITRD clonezilla/live/initrd.img

	APPEND boot=live config noswap nolocales edd=on nomodeset ocs_live_run="ocs-live-general" ocs_live_extra_param="" keyboard-layouts="" ocs_live_batch="no" locales="" vga=788 nosplash noprompt

[/ul]
[ul]Trinity Rescue Kit
Replace "#" with the corresponding number.

LABEL #

	MENU LABEL ^#. Trinity Rescue Kit 3.4 build 372

	KERNEL trinity/kernel.trk

	INITRD trinity/initrd.trk 

	APPEND ramdisk_size=65536 root=/dev/ram0 vga=788 splash=verbose pci=conf1 trknfs=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/trinity ip=::::::dhcp trkmenu

[/ul]
[ul]XBMCbuntu
When booting XBMCbuntu in a virtual environment, you will be presented with a login.
On some clients you will boot into XBMC Media Center and only then you will not be prompted with a login.
On other clients you will boot into the desktop, but I do not know yet how to solve this.
Replace "#" with the corresponding number.
Replace "nfsroot= ..." with "nfsroot=<ip COS box>:/<path to XBMCbuntu>:

LABEL #

	MENU LABEL ^#. XBMCbuntu 12.2 Intel

	KERNEL xbmcbuntu/intel/12.2/casper/vmlinuz

	INITRD xbmcbuntu/intel/12.2/casper/initrd.lz

	APPEND boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xbmcbuntu/intel/12.2



LABEL #

	MENU LABEL ^#. XBMCbuntu 12.2 AMD

	KERNEL xbmcbuntu/amd/12.2/casper/vmlinuz

	INITRD xbmcbuntu/amd/12.2/casper/initrd.lz

	APPEND boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.2.1:/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xbmcbuntu/amd/12.2

Add the following line to "/etc/exports":

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xbmcbuntu/intel/12.2	*(rw,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,no_all_squash)

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xbmcbuntu/amd/12.2	*(rw,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,no_all_squash)

Restart the NFS service after making changes to "/etc/exports" with:

service nfs restart

When you login to the desktop you need to enter the following:
Select: Other ...

Login: xbmc

Password: <empty>

Select: XBMCbuntu
When entering the desktop mode, you have the option to install Ubuntu 12.10.

Note:
The only way I was able to access network shares was, by adding the following path manually (no picture available):

smb://<ip address>/<share>

(The <share> is optional.)[/ul]

Added the following operating system:
[ul]Debian Network boot installer
Replace "#" with the corresponding number.

LABEL #

	MENU LABEL ^#. Debian 7.0.0 (01/05/2013)

	KERNEL debian/linux

	INITRD debian/initrd.gz

	APPEND

[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

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Sunday, June 09 2013, 03:51 PM - #Permalink
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To be able to boot live versions, you need to run your PXE server from a 6 (or higher) COS box.
COS 5.2 uses the older "portmap" and COS 6 uses the newer "rpcbind".
"portmap" works fine in most cases, but my experience is that it sometimes fails to boot a live image.
(See: NFS Server on COS 5.2 & -6.4)

Add the root paths and it's parameters to "/etc/exports".
My "/etc/exports" looks something like this:

/var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/12.04 *(ro,async,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check) /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/ubuntulive/32b/13.04 *(ro,async,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check) /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/14 *(ro,no_root_squash,async,no_subtree_check) /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/mintlive/32b/15 *(ro,no_root_squash,async,no_subtree_check) /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/xbmcbuntu/intel/12.2 *(rw,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,no_all_squash) /var/flexshare/shares/pxe/bitdefender *(ro,sync,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure)

A breakdown of some of the parameters on the right is as follows:
[ul]The "asterisk" means share with everyone on this network.[/ul][ul]The “ro” parameter means to share the data as read-only.[/ul][ul]The “async” parameter allows the NFS server to reply before data is written to the share. Since it’s mounted as read-only anyway, the parameter is only there to keep NFS syntax happy.[/ul][ul]The “no_root_squash” parameter means to allow the NFS client to use the mount as a root filesystem, otherwise it’s mounted as “nobody” instead of “root”. Since the LiveCD is essentially a diskless client, we need to be able to define the NFS mount as a root volume.[/ul][ul]The “no_subtree_check” parameter helps to speed up transfers. Normally NFS will check to see if a requested file exists in an exported sub-directory. This slows things down, so turning this off means the only check that is made is that the requested file exists on the exported filesystem. Subtree checking can also cause issues when an open file is renamed, but since the export is read-only, this is irrelevant.[/ul]
Restart the NFS service after making changes to "/etc/exports":

service nfs restart

Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.
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Saturday, May 25 2013, 04:08 PM - #Permalink
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I have updated & compressed the first post of this thread to a more readable format.

The Ubuntu Network installer is actually an Internet installer.

Added Ubuntu Installers by doing the following:
[ul]Download Ubuntu 12.04.2 32b Network Installer "Precise Pangolin" (19.9Mb)
Download Ubuntu 12.04.2 64b Network Installer "Precise Pangolin" (21.4Mb)
Download Ubuntu 13.04 32b Network Installer "Raring Ringtail" (21.6Mb)
Download Ubuntu 13.04 64b Network Installer "Raring Ringtail" (23.3Mb)

Netboot installers are found either at:

http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/${RELEASE_CODENAME}/main/installer-${ARCHITECTURE}/current/images/
or

http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports/dists/${RELEASE_CODENAME}/main/installer-${ARCHITECTURE}/current/images/
[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/install"; (replace "#" with the corresponding number):

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Ubuntu <version> <32/64bit> Installer KERNEL ubuntu/<32/64bit>/<version>/linux INITRD ubuntu/<32/64bit>/<version>/initrd.gz APPEND
Replace <clearos.lan> with your server name or ip address & replace the rest of the path to the location of the corresponding Ubuntu network installer.
[/ul][ul]After the following screen (just after selecting the local mirror), you have to wait for 10 min. before the installer continues:
[/ul][ul]The download and install process:
[/ul][ul]Installation completed successfully:
[/ul][ul]After the reboot you get the CLI instead of the desktop (with version 12.04.2):
[/ul][ul]Login and type the following commands to enable eth0 and to download & install the Ubuntu desktop:

sudo dhclient eth0 sudo apt-get install build-essential sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
[/ul][ul]Reboot and your ready to login to the desktop:
[/ul]
To establish an Internet connection, open a terminal window on the client machine and enter the following commands:
[ul]Request an ip address from the DHCP server
sudo dhclient eth0
[/ul][ul]Install the editor LeafPad
sudo apt-get install leafpad
[/ul][ul]Edit the file "rc.local" in the folder "etc"
sudo leafpad /etc/rc.local
[/ul][ul]Enter the following above the last line (above "exit 0") to ensure that after every reboot the client connects to the DHCP server:

sudo dhclient eth0

Save and close the file.[/ul]

Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

Attachments:

ubuntu01.jpg

ubuntu02.jpg

ubuntu03.jpg

ubuntu04.jpg

ubuntu05.jpg

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Wednesday, May 22 2013, 08:30 PM - #Permalink
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Hi Tim,

You are welcome.
I have updated the previous posts and now the CentOS network installer is working too.

But I could still use some help with finding the correct way to boot the OpenSUSE installer.
Do you know where I could find a list of public OpenSUSE 12.3 repositories ... ?!?
The only thing I could find is: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/

Preferably in such a way that I can append it like with the "method" parameter (see CentOS).

Greetings,

John

EDIT:
I have found a solution for the missing repository.
The first post of this thread and the detailed instructions of openSUSE have been updated.
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Tim Burgess

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Tuesday, May 21 2013, 09:46 PM - #Permalink
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Thanks for posting!
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Tuesday, May 21 2013, 08:08 PM - #Permalink
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Currently the Fedora Network installer is actually an Internet installer.

Added Fedora 18 Installer by doing the following:
[ul]Download Fedora 18 Network Installer (327Mb)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/install"; (replace "#" with the corresponding number):

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. Fedora 18 Installer KERNEL fedora/32b/18/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz INITRD fedora/32b/18/images/pxeboot/initrd.img APPEND method=http://clearos.lan/flexshare/pxe/fedora/32b/18 ksdevice=bootif
replace <clearos.lan> with your server name or ip address & replace the rest of the path to the location of Fedora
"ksdevice=bootif" means, use eth0 for the firmware and PXE setup.
"ksdevice=link" means, use the first NIC it finds.
If one of your NIC's is not connected, it takes about 1 min per NIC extra before the installer continues.
[/ul][ul]Work your way from top to bottom until all warning signs are gone.
LOCALIZATION
Date & Time: pick a location near you

SOFTWARE (Be patient and wait for it to auto-configure)
Installation Source: Closest mirror
Software Selection: fe GNOME Desktop

STORAGE
Inst. Dest: Free up enough space (min 6Gb)
[/ul][ul]The download- & install process:
[/ul][ul]After finishing the installer successfully, the welcome screen appears:
[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
The first post of this thread has been updated.

Attachments:

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Saturday, May 18 2013, 04:12 PM - #Permalink
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Currently the OpenSUSE Network installer is actually an Internet installer.

Added OpenSUSE 12.3 installer by doing the following:
[ul]Download OpenSUSE 12.3 Network Installer (212Mb)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/install"; (replace "#" with the corresponding number):

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. OpenSUSE 12.3 Installer (13/03/2013) KERNEL opensuse/32b/12.3/boot/i386/loader/linux INITRD opensuse/32b/12.3/boot/i386/loader/initrd APPEND install=http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/12.3/repo/oss/ splash=silent showopts root=/dev/ram0 load_ramdisk=1 ramdisk_size=4096 init=linuxrc
"install= http: //download.opensuse.org/..." means, that the nearest mirror will be chosen automatically.
Alternatively you can manually select one of the following mirrors:
openSUSE Download Mirrors - 12.3
(Click on "HTTP" and follow the path to "<mirror>/distribution/12.3/repo/oss/")

To be able to install the latest beta version (currently OpenSUSE 13.1), you need to add the following to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/install"; (replace "#" with the corresponding number):

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. OpenSUSE 13.1 beta Installer (2013) KERNEL opensuse/32b/12.3/boot/i386/loader/linux INITRD opensuse/32b/12.3/boot/i386/loader/initrd APPEND install=http://download.opensuse.org/factory/repo/oss/ splash=silent showopts root=/dev/ram0 load_ramdisk=1 ramdisk_size=4096 init=linuxrc
"install= http: //download.opensuse.org/..." means, that the nearest mirror will be chosen automatically.
Alternatively you can manually select one of the following mirrors:
openSUSE Download Mirrors - Factory
(Click on "HTTP" and follow the path to "<mirror>/factory/repo/oss/")

[/ul][ul]The welcome screen:
[/ul][ul]The download and install process (after setting up the system):
[/ul][ul]The end (after an automatic reboot):
[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
I have found a solution for the missing repository and I updated this post.
The first post of this thread has been updated.

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John

Offline
Wednesday, May 15 2013, 03:05 PM - #Permalink
Resolved

0 votes

Currently the CentOS Network installer is actually an Internet installer.

Added CentOS 6.4 installer by doing the following:
[ul]Download CentOS 6.4 Net Install.iso (189Mb)[/ul][ul]Add the following configuration to "pxelinux.cfg/default"; or in my case "pxelinux.cfg/install"; (replace "#" with the corresponding number):

LABEL # MENU LABEL ^#. CentOS 6.4 32b Installer (06/03/2013) KERNEL centos/32b/6.4/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz INITRD centos/32b/6.4/images/pxeboot/initrd.img APPEND method=http://<CentOS mirror>/centos/6.4/os/i386/
Replace <CentOS mirror> with a mirror near your location:
CentOS Public Mirror List
(Click on "HTTP" and use the path to "<mirror>/centos/6.4/os/i386/")
[/ul][ul]Successfully retrieving the install image from the CentOS public mirror list (with the "method" parameter):
[/ul][ul]Select the installation type:
[/ul][ul]The download and install process:
[/ul][ul]After finishing the installer successfully, the welcome screen appears:
[/ul]
Greetings,

John

EDIT:
[strike]The method has been refined to automatically point to the install image on the COS box.[/strike]
If you know how to direct to the COS box (instead of a public mirror), please post your solution.

EDIT2:
The problem of the missing repositories has been fixed and the first post of this thread has been updated.

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John

Offline
Sunday, May 12 2013, 07:10 PM - #Permalink
Resolved

0 votes

Now included in this tutorial:
[ul]A graphical user interface.[/ul][ul]Sub menus.[/ul][ul]Selecting a menu option with the cursor keys.[/ul][ul]Password protect a menu entry.[/ul][ul]Help text showing at the bottom of the menu.[/ul][ul]Prevent the use of the escape button, to get out of the PXE menu.[/ul][ul]Split the INITRD from the APPEND line.[/ul]
Greetings,

John
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