| Using gPXE to alter boot configuration with Server Side Scripting | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Part XIII. (Mass) Installations, also dual-boot |  |
| Using gPXE to alter boot configuration with Server Side Scripting | ||
|---|---|---|
| | Part XIII. (Mass) Installations, also dual-boot | |
gPXE is a PXE boot loader that supports HTTP.
This makes it possible for a client to be booted with what the server thinks is appropriate, based on whatever information we like to make it depend on.
gPXE is actually meant to be put in a BOOT ROM, but a gPXE bootstrap can be chainloaded onto a standard NIC with onboard PXE support using a DHCP and a TFTP server.
The basic setup also describes other DHCP servers, but the Linux case in short is:
Prepare the TFTP server
Roughly:
apt-get -y install tftpd-hpa
mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/tftpboot
scp ~/tmp/syslinux-3.75/gpxe/src/bin/undionly.kpxe !$
Configure dhcpd.conf
group gpxe
{
if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient"
{
allow booting;
next-server 129.125.36.36;
filename "undionly.kpxe"; # This file compiled from the newest PXELinux source
}
if exists user-class and option user-class = "gPXE"
{
filename "http://my.domain.com/pub/boot/boot.php";
}
host sandbox { hardware ethernet 00:11:22:33:44:55 ; fixed-address 192.168.65.43 ; }
} # end group gpxe
| |  | |
| Booting with gPXE |  | Creating a dual boot setup for Windows/Linux at the University of Groningen, with unattended installs for both |