Booting Ubuntu 18.04 Live CD

[nsherin]

Hi,

I’ve got my Fog/IPXE server up and running and can boot the Ubuntu Mini ISO without issues.

Just tried to set up booting an Ubuntu 18.04 Live CD.

I’ve copied it to /images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate and created the following Fog menu entry:

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/vmlinuz
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz imgargs vmlinuz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

When my test VM tries to boot, I get an error Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) - I’ve attached a screenshot.

My /etc/exports file shows this:

/images *(ro,sync,no_wdelay,no_subtree_check,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure,fsid=0)
/images/dev *(rw,async,no_wdelay,no_subtree_check,no_root_squash,insecure,fsid=1)

Any help would be much appreciated!

Many thanks,
Neik

[george1421]

Did you grab vmlinuz from the netboot directory on the iso? I have not personally tested 18.04, but I think you need to ensure that you are using a boot kernel that has nfs support enabled. The default cdrom kernel does not. The root= warning is the telling bit from the image you posted.

Look at my warning (note) here for 16.04: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/10944/using-fog-to-pxe-boot-into-your-favorite-installer-images/6

[nsherin]

Thanks for your reply.

Still no luck I’m afraid - I downloaded netboot.tar.gz from http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/bionic/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/

I then extracted the tar file and from /ubuntu-installer/amd64, copied the file ‘linux’ to /images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper

I then edited my Fog menu entry as follows:

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/linux
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz imgargs linux root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

The error is still the same one.

Any ideas would be great.

Many thanks,
Neil

[george1421]

@nsherin said in Booting Ubuntu 18.04 Live CD:

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/linux
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz imgargs linux root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

The one thing I noticed is this is wrong. Imgargs is an iPXE command not a command line parameter. I don’t know if it would throw the boot kernel off, but your iPXE menu item should look like this.

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/linux
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz 
imgargs linux root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

Also I didn’t reread my own warning message in the tutorial I linked. Here is what I said:
Note2: If your Ubuntu 16.04 disk image does NOT CONTAIN A NETBOOT DIRECTORY (some users are reporting this), then download http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/artful/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz file and extract the initrd.gz from ubuntu-installer/amd64 directory and copy to /tftpboot/os/ubuntu/16.04. The DVD I downloaded {ubuntu-16.04.3-server-amd64.iso} contained the netboot files

You need the initrd.gz file not the kernel from the netboot.tar.gz file.

[nsherin]

Thanks again for your reply. I get a bit further now, but end up being booted into emergency mode.

I’ve copied over initrd.gz from the netboot.tar.gz file and placed it into /images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/linux

I’ve changed my menu entry to read:

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/linux
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz
imgargs linux root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

If I use the ‘linux’ file from the netboot.tar.gz file, I get:

If I rename the vmlinuz file that is part of the Live CD ISO to linux in /images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/, I get:

[TaTa]

You need to add initrd=initrd.lz. I found it here: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/11063/ubuntu-17-10-desktop-pxe-boot-no-internetl and it worked for me.

Your code should look something like this.

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/vmlinuz
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz 
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.lz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

[nsherin]

@TaTa

Thanks for your reply - I’ve been away for a few days, so have only just got back to working with this.

I’ve now put the following code in the menu:

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/vmlinuz
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.lz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

But when booting, I get booted into maintenance mode. Pressing CTRL+D allows me to get a prompt. I can then run startx to bring up the GUI. However, starting the installer doesn’t work. Opening a terminal and typing ifconfig gives me an IP address but the machine won’t do any DNS lookups or ping to say google.com

Here’s the error I get on boot up:

I also tried using ‘linux’ from the netboot installer and initrd.lz with this combination:

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/linux
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd.lz
imgargs linux initrd=initrd.lz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

Same result

Any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Neil

[TaTa]

@nsherin I didn’t use any other files beside the ones came with 18.04.1 LTS. Can you re-extract all files in 18.04.1LTS iso and then reupload them back to /images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate. You might need to add this line to your /etc/exports file and restart nfs services or restart your fog server.

/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate *(ro,sync,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure)

Internet connection is still an issue with this method. You need to go to /etc/network/interfaces and change from manual to dhcp then restart your interface sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

[nsherin]

Thanks again for your reply. Still no joy.

I’ve recopied the contents of the 18.04.1 LTS iso to /images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate. after cleaning out that directory.

My menu config is as follows:

kernel nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/vmlinuz
initrd nfs://192.168.0.14/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/casper/initrd imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.0.14:/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate/ locale=en_GB.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=gb quiet splash toram ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU

There is no initrd.lz so had to change it to initrd

Booting up my test PXE client VM gives me a kernel panic:


I added the following to /etc/exports:

/images/os/ubuntu/18.04/mate *(ro,sync,no_wdelay,insecure_locks,no_root_squash,insecure)

And rebooted the server. Same result!

I don’t want to use a DHCP assigned IP on my PXE server as I need it to resolve local DNS queries from my internal DNS server on the network. Is there a workaround/

Many thanks,
Neil

[davistran86]

hi @nsherin , I succeed pxe boot with ubuntu 18.04 using following:

kernel tftp://192.168.84.16/os/ubuntu/Desk18.04/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://192.168.84.16/os/ubuntu/Desk18.04/initrd.lz
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.lz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.84.16:/images/os/ubuntu/Desk18.04/ ip=dhcp systemd.mask=tmp.mount rw -- || read void
boot || goto MENU

[dureal99d]

@davistran86 this worked excellently.

i adopted mine to http flawless