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209 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
209 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: iPXE Network Boot
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layout: default
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created: 2016-03-05 00:36:55 +0100
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updated: 2016-03-05 00:36:55 +0100
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toc: true
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tags:
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- know-how
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- software
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- ipxe
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- network
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- booting
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---
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I first stumbled upon iPXE because of a failing info monitor at my local train
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station:
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![]({{ site.url }}/assets/ipxe01.jpg){: height="400px"}
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[iPXE](http://ipxe.org/) is an open source firmware, meant as a replacement for
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the very basic [option ROM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Option_ROM#Network_boot_ROM)
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in ethernet cards. But you can also use that default option ROM to chainload
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iPXE without having to modify your device(s).
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iPXE brings several features like loading boot images via HTTP, FTP, iSCSI, SMB,
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etc. and it also supports WiFi.
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First Steps
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===========
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Where do you get the binaries to boot from? The easiest way is to download
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[ready-to-use binaries from their homepage](http://ipxe.org/download).
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However, if you want to use e.g. a different keyboard because your devices
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don't have a typical QWERTY one, you need to compile iPXE yourself. To do that,
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[clone the source code](http://ipxe.org/download) to some directory and modify
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the files `src/config/console.h` and `src/config/general.h`.
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For inspiration, you can take a look at [my settings]({% post_url 2016-03-05-my-ipxe-settings %}).
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I also had a problem with iPXE not being able to fetch the URL to the
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`boot.ipxe` from dnsmasq. So I made the following `boot.ipxe` to be included in
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the binary:
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```
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#!ipxe
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dhcp
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chain http://diskstation/ipxe/boot.ipxe
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```
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After you're done with the files, you have to *make* the required binaries:
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```bash
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make bin/undionly.kpxe EMBED=boot.ipxe
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make bin-x86_64-efi/ipxe.efi EMBED=boot.ipxe
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make bin-i386-efi/ipxe.efi EMBED=boot.ipxe
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```
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And if everything goes well, you should find the files in those directories.
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You have to rename them for further use:
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`bin/undionly.kpxe` :arrow_right: `undionly.kpxe.0`
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`bin-x86_64-efi/ipxe.efi` :arrow_right: `ipxe.efi.0`
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`bin-i386-efi/ipxe.efi` :arrow_right: `ipxe32.efi.0`
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Booting iPXE
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============
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So how do you get your computers to boot iPXE? You have to get your DHCP server
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to announce it to them. You can either do this in the DHCP directly, or just a
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DHCP proxy server, which adds the neccessary information. This can be done with
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*dnsmasq*.
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I'm using this configuration in a file `/etc/dnsmasq.d/pxeproxy.conf`:
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```ini
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dhcp-range=172.16.0.0,proxy
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dhcp-match=set:ipxe,175 # iPXE sends a 175 option
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dhcp-vendorclass=set:bios,PXEClient:Arch:00000
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dhcp-vendorclass=set:efi32,PXEClient:Arch:00002
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dhcp-vendorclass=set:efi32,PXEClient:Arch:00006
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dhcp-vendorclass=set:efi64,PXEClient:Arch:00007
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dhcp-vendorclass=set:efi64,PXEClient:Arch:00008
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dhcp-vendorclass=set:efi64,PXEClient:Arch:00009
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tag-if=set:loadbios,tag:!ipxe,tag:bios
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tag-if=set:loadefi32,tag:!ipxe,tag:efi32
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tag-if=set:loadefi64,tag:!ipxe,tag:efi64
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pxe-service=tag:loadbios,x86PC,"iPXE Network boot (BIOS)",undionly.kpxe
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pxe-service=tag:loadefi32,IA32_EFI,"iPXE Network boot (EFI32)",ipxe32.efi
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pxe-service=tag:loadefi32,BC_EFI,"iPXE Network boot (EFI32)",ipxe32.efi
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pxe-service=tag:loadefi64,X86-64_EFI,"iPXE Network boot (EFI)",ipxe.efi
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pxe-service=tag:loadefi64,IA64_EFI,"iPXE Network boot (EFI)",ipxe.efi
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dhcp-boot=tag:ipxe,http://diskstation:80/ipxe/boot.ipxe
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enable-tftp
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tftp-root=/var/ftpd
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```
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This acts as a proxy for the `172.16.0.0/16` network - the one I use. And for
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each request, it detects whether there's the option 175 (=request comes from
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iPXE) set or not and which type or architecture is requested (legacy, 32bit,
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64bit). According to those flags, either the appropriate iPXE binary is returned
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or - if the request is from iPXE - the URL to the boot script which is hosted
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on my Synology DiskStation's web server.
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The last two lines enable the built-in tftp server of dnsmasq and set the path
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to it. That's where you have to put your `undionly.kpxe.0`, `ipxe32.efi.0` and
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`ipxe.efi.0` from the previous step.
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Before the first boot
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=====================
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Now that iPXE is launched, it tries to fetch the boot script we compiled in.
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But this doesn't exist yet.
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I used @robinsmidsrod's extensive [full iPXE native menu](https://gist.github.com/robinsmidsrod/2234639)
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as a basis, removed all things I didn't need and added the things I needed.
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In the beginning, this looked like this:
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![]({{ site.url }}/assets/ipxe02.jpg){: height="400px"}
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Adding tools to boot
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====================
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Most tools you want to boot are probably Linux systems. To boot them, you need
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a *kernel* and some (initial) filesystem. One way is to load an *initrd*
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(initial ramdisk) which contains only the basic stuff and mounts the big
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filesystem itself. Or you can mount the "big" filesystem directly and use that
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from the beginning.
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SystemRescueCD
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--------------
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To boot the [SysRescCD](https://www.system-rescue-cd.org/), you need the
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following files from the ISO image:
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* `sysrcd.dat` --- "big" filesystem
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* `sysrcd.md5` --- checksum to validate the sysrcd.dat
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* `isolinux/rescue32` --- kernel for 32bit systems
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* `isolinux/rescue64` --- kernel for 64bit systems
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* `isolinux/initram.igz` --- initial ramdisk
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Copy those to a directory `sysresccd` on your web server (where the `boot.ipxe`
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is). Look at the `menu.ipxe` from the example configuration mentioned above for
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how to add new menu items.
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A menu item for SysRescCD could look like this:
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```
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:srcd
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echo Booting SystemRescueCD 32bit
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set base-url http://diskstation:80/ipxe/sysresccd/
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kernel ${base-url}isolinux/rescue32
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initrd ${base-url}isolinux/initram.igz
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imgargs rescue32 setkmap=de dodhcp netboot=${base-url}sysrcd.dat
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boot || goto failed
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goto start
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```
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As you can see, we instruct iPXE to boot the kernel `rescue32` with the initrd
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`initram.igz` - both from the web server. And in the `imgargs` line, we tell
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SysRescCD where to look for the `sysrcd.dat`.
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For instructions for other apps, please see [this post]({% post_url 2016-03-05-ipxe-scripts-for-tools %}).
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![]({{ site.url }}/assets/ipxe03.jpg){: width="400px"}
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Boot ALL the tools
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==================
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You can find my current config [here](https://github.com/mbirth/ipxe-config).
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It boots the following tools via the network - no CD or flash drive needed:
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* [System Rescue CD](https://www.system-rescue-cd.org/)
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* [DFSee](http://www.dfsee.com/)
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* [CloneZilla](http://clonezilla.org/)
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* [GParted Live](http://gparted.org/livecd.php)
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* [g4u - ghost for unix](http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/)
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* [G4L - Ghost for Linux](https://sourceforge.net/projects/g4l/)
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* [AVG Rescue CD](http://www.avg.com/ww-en/avg-rescue-cd)
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* [BitDefender Rescue CD](http://www.bitdefender.com/support/how-to-create-a-bitdefender-rescue-cd-627.html)
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* [F-Secure Rescue CD](https://www.f-secure.com/en/web/labs_global/rescue-cd)
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* [HDT - Hardware Detection Tool](http://www.hdt-project.org/)
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* [Memtest86 V6](http://www.memtest86.com/)
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* [Memtest86+ V5](http://www.memtest.org/)
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And this is what it looks like:
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![]({{ site.url }}/assets/ipxe04.jpg){: width="400px"}
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![]({{ site.url }}/assets/ipxe05.jpg){: width="400px"}
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*[HTTP]: Hypertext Transfer Protocol
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*[FTP]: File Transfer Protocol
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*[iSCSI]: Internet Small Computer Systems Interface
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*[SMB]: Server Message Block
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*[WiFi]: Wireless Fidelity, technology for WLANs (Wireless Local Area Networks)
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*[DHCP]: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
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*[URL]: Uniform Resource Locator
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*[ROM]: Read-only Memory
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*[CD]: Compact Disc
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*[ISO]: International Organization for Standardization, referring to their standard no. 9660
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