Ubuntu Server PXE Boot Guide

Which would you like to see added?

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Thanks for the responses! I will get started on it ASAP. I am going to use Word, because I can get it better formatted than using the thread here. Check back and subscribe, I will be posting a link to the document and some useful info on my first post.
 
Today I will be adding Chapter 3 - adding network bootable antivirus rescue disks. and if I have time Chapter 4 - adding some diagnostic tools.
 
Thanks for the info, I have downloaded the doc and will have a play with it tomorrow night. Cheers
 
Chapter 3 Added sans the final instruction on Trinity Rescue Kit. My formatting is pretty terrible, and any edits to make it easier to read are welcome. If you have made edits send me a PM and I will send you my email address. Also will add credit where credit is due!
 
I have been wanting to setup a PXE Server for the workshop for ages but never seem to find the time/good documentation to set one up.

Looking at the document so far it does not look too complex, I can see where my next 1/2 day of downtime is going to be taken up by.

Keep up the good work

Rudger
 
rudger said:
I have been wanting to setup a PXE Server for the workshop for ages but never seem to find the time/good documentation to set one up.

Looking at the document so far it does not look too complex, I can see where my next 1/2 day of downtime is going to be taken up by.

Keep up the good work

Rudger
Click to expand...

Good luck and let me know how it goes good sir!
 
I noticed for step 4 e. I had to use sudo ./installfog.sh also f. is blank. Great write up, thanks for making this.
4. Move Back to the /opt/setupfog/ folder and unzip
a. cd /opt/setupfog
b. sudo tar –xvzf fog*
c. cd fog*
d. cd bin
e. sudo ./installfog
f.
 
so far so good, only been on there around 30 mins and upto menu customization.

I found the same thing as adam_chevyss about the ./installfog.sh -well tab autocomplete did :)

also it may be worthwhile advising other people how to use winscp or pscp (as I used)

to download pscp goto here http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/pscp.exe
download pscp to the same folder as you have downloaded fog_0.32.tar.gz
fire up command prompt and go to the directory you have downloaded pscp and fog into and type the following
pscp.exe fog_0.32.tar.gz <usernameCreatedOnServer>@<ipAddressOfServer>:/home/<usernameCreatedOnServer>
in my case the line would read D:\downloads>pscp.exe fog_0.32.tar.gz rudger@192.168.0.5:/home/rudger
accept the rsa2 key fingerprint message
type in the password of the account created on the server and the file will copy

Rudger
 
Last edited:
My menu

Here is what I have on my menu. I am running Win2003 hence WDS but the concept is still the same.
I have not messed with the configuration in over a couple of years now, I probably should add some more new tools to the setup.
I borrowed ideas from around the web and I also just tried different things to find something that would work for me.
Code: 
DEFAULT      vesamenu.c32

PROMPT 0
NOESCAPE 1
ALLOWOPTIONS 0
TIMEOUT 150
TOTALTIMEOUT 1000

MENU BACKGROUND pxelinux.cfg/background.jpg

MENU PASSPROMPT Password

MENU TITLE PXE Boot Menu

menu color border 0 #ffffffff #ee000000 std
menu color title 0 #ffffffff #ee000000 std
menu color sel 0 #ffffffff #85000000 std
menu color unsel 0 #ffffffff #ee000000 std
menu color pwdheader 0 #ff000000 #99ffffff rev
menu color pwdborder 0 #ff000000 #99ffffff rev
menu color pwdentry 0 #ff000000 #99ffffff rev
menu color hotkey 0 #ff00ff00 #ee000000 std
menu color hotsel 0 #ffffffff #85000000 std

#####Green_menu color sel 0 #ff00ff00 #ff000000

LABEL WDS
  MENU LABEL ^1. Windows Deployment Services
  #MENU DEFAULT
  MENU PASSWD [I][COLOR="Red"]secret[/COLOR][/I]
  KERNEL pxeboot.0

LABEL DiskWipe
  MENU LABEL ^2. DiskWipe
  MENU PASSWD [I][COLOR="Red"]secret[/COLOR][/I]
  KERNEL memdisk
  append keeppxe initrd=imz/diskwipe.imz

LABEL DBAN
  MENU LABEL ^3. DBAN
  MENU PASSWD [I][COLOR="Red"]secret[/COLOR][/I]
  KERNEL /utils/dban/dban.bzi
  APPEND nuke="dwipe --method prng --rounds 8 --verify off" floppy=0,16,cmos

MENU BEGIN
  MENU LABEL ^4. Utils
  MENU TITLE Utility Menu 
  MENU PASSWD [I][COLOR="Red"]secret[/COLOR][/I]

  LABEL memtest
  MENU LABEL ^1. Memory Test 86+  
  linux utils/memtest86+

  LABEL Memory_Test_MicroSoft
  MENU LABEL ^2. MicroSoft Windows Memory Diagnostic
  kernel memdisk
  append initrd=imz/ramtest.imz

  LABEL Parted_Magic
  MENU LABEL ^3. Parted Magic
  kernel /pmagic/bzImage
  append initrd=/pmagic/initramfs load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 rw sleep=10 livemedia

  LABEL Gdisk
  MENU LABEL ^4. Gdisk
  kernel memdisk
  append keeppxe initrd=imz/gdisk.imz

  LABEL HDT
  MENU LABEL ^5. HDT (Hardware Detction Tool)
  KERNEL utils/hdt.c32
  APPEND modules=utils/modules.pcimap pciids=utils/pci.ids

  MENU BEGIN
	MENU LABEL ^6. Hard Drive Tools
	MENU TITLE Hard Drive Tools
	
	LABEL HDAT2
	MENU LABEL ^1. HDAT2 (Hard Drive Utility)
	kernel memdisk
	append keeppxe initrd=imz/HDAT2.imz

	LABEL salvation_hdd_scan_repair
  	MENU LABEL ^2. Salvation Scan and Repair
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=utils/salvation_hdd_scan_repair.igz

	LABEL dft
	MENU LABEL ^3. IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=utils/hd/ibm_hitachi/dft.igz

	LABEL maxblast
	MENU LABEL ^4. Maxtor Maxblast
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=utils/hd/maxtor_quantum/maxblast.igz

	LABEL powermax
	MENU LABEL ^5. Maxtor PowerMax
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=utils/hd/maxtor_quantum/powermax.igz

	label SeaTools
	MENU LABEL ^6. Seagate SeaTools
	kernel memdisk
	append keeppxe initrd=imz/seatools.imz

	LABEL datalife
	MENU LABEL ^7. Western Digital - Data Lifeguard
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=utils/hd/western_digital/datalife.igz

	LABEL dlgudma
	MENU LABEL ^8. Western Digital - Data Lifeguard UDMA
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=utils/hd/western_digital/dlgudma.igz

	LABEL blank
        MENU label

	LABEL return
	MENU INDENT 5
	MENU LABEL Esc - Return to Previous Menu

  MENU END

  LABEL offline
  MENU LABEL ^7. Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
  kernel utils/cd080802/vmlinuz
  append rw vga=1 initrd=utils/cd080802/initrd.cgz,utils/cd080802/scsi.cgz

	LABEL blank
        MENU label

	LABEL return
	MENU INDENT 5
	MENU LABEL Esc - Return to Previous Menu

  MENU END

LABEL Local_Drive 
  MENU LABEL ^5. Boot from Harddisk
  MENU DEFAULT
  LOCALBOOT 0
  KERNEL chain.c32
  APPEND hd0 0

LABEL Abort
  MENU LABEL ^6. AbortPXE
  Kernel abortpxe.0

  MENU END
 
Fixed the little typo there with ./installfog.sh I should add info about WinSCP and copy and paste your info also. Albiet with your permission. Once you get to chapter 3 it starts to get a little out of hand with formatting, and any help would be appreciated.

Dbdawn thanks for the input! That is a great menu! In this guide I will be using WinPE to start the Windows installs from a network share. Its not as good as WDS, but it works rather well.

Some of the programs I have added so far work flawlessly, other could use improvement, such as booting WinPE and the like using chainloader.32 instead of using memdisk to load the iso. Which I don't like doing, but I have not figure out how to to the latter with the many different version of WinPE, WinRE and M$ ERD disks. I also can't get that damn NT Password reset to boot properly yet! Maybe its the newer version I have I dunno.
 
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