PXE Booting

Topics

Linux boot process in outline. PXE principles and limitations. Commercial scenarios. Setting up server and clients. Debugging.

People Interested

• AnthonyR, Feb 2009 - Linux boot process, how PXE works, practical experience, particularly interested in debugging methods
• JohnW, Feb 2009
• DesmondA, Feb 2009
• FayZee, Apr 2009

PXE booting seems fairly straightforward but difficult to debug when it fails, so a PXE guru will be needed.

Possible Formats

Joint research and sharing, or talk by invited guru. Practical will need at least 1 server + 1 client, but a variety of clients is better to practise debugging on as they can be inexplicably temperamental. May also need a hub and a PC to run wireshark to examine the handshaking between server and client?

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment
• http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/PXELINUX
• http://pxe.dev.aboveaverageurl.com/index.php/Main_Page
• https://wiki.koeln.ccc.de/index.php/Ubuntu_PXE_Install
• http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/Docs/Installing_Mandriva_Linux/PXE_Install

Probably covered in a talk at Hants LUG by AdrianB: check their wiki for notes.