Copy PXE files from FOG to NAS(QNAP TS-463U)

[sysadmin]

First I’d like to thank all of you, very helpful guides for beginners. Second, I have an issue trying to copy the PXE files to my shared folders. I am following Larwayn’s guide https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/10973/add-a-nas-qnap-ts-231-as-a-storage-node-fog-v1-4 and I managed to do everything correctly until I get to the part with these commands.

Next we will copy the PXE boot files from the FOG server to the NAS
mount -t nfs <nas_ip>:/share/tftpboot /mnt
cp -R /tftpboot/* /mnt
umount /mnt

The command “mount -t nfs mynasip:/share/tftpboot /mnt” works fine, the problem is when I type the next command “cp -R /tftpboot/* /mnt” gives me an error that says “cp: cannot stat '/tftpboot/': No such file or directory". Am I executing the cp command wrong? It worked on "cp -R /opt/fog/snapins/ssl/ /mnt/ssl” without problem. Is it maybe a permission that I must add on the QNAP?

Thank you in advance,
Jorge

[sysadmin]

Is the file I need to copy this one? /etc/default/tftpd-hpa

[Sebastian Roth]

@sysadmin Don’t think it’s a permissions issue. Please run ls -al /tftpboot (as root) to see if this directory exists on your FOG server.

The installer should have created and populated it.

Edit: If you are missing the directory then you might take the files from the archive/github repository…

[sysadmin]

@Sebastian-Roth thanks! Can I just drop these files in my storage? Do I need to also have them in my FOG server? It’s my first time creating a FOG server and I know it’s no excuse to not be able to do it since all the information is there, but I do not have that directory.

[sysadmin]

@Sebastian-Roth I think I found it, it’s called tftp and not tftpboot.

root@fog2:/opt/fog_stable/packages/tftp# ls
10secdelay   ipxe.iso     libcom32.c32    realtek.kpxe
boot.txt     ipxe.kkpxe   libutil.c32     realtek.pxe
i386-efi     ipxe.kpxe    memdisk         snp.efi
intel.efi    ipxe.krn     menu.c32        snponly.efi
intel.kkpxe  ipxe.lkrn    pxelinux.0.old  undionly.kkpxe
intel.kpxe   ipxe.pxe     pxelinux.cfg    undionly.kpxe
intel.pxe    ipxe.usb     realtek.efi     undionly.pxe
ipxe.efi     ldlinux.c32  realtek.kkpxe   vesamenu.c32
root@fog2:/opt/fog_stable/packages/tftp#

[Sebastian Roth]

@sysadmin Is FOG installed on this Linux system??

Can I just drop these files in my storage? Do I need to also have them in my FOG server?

You might need to start explain what you are trying to do from the beginning. Using an external NAS is not at all required for a FOG server setup and it’s kind of advanced if you have not used FOG before. So I am wondering what made you think you need to go that route? Not saying this is wrong but just asking if this is for a good reason.

[sysadmin]

@Sebastian-Roth Apologies. I already installed FOG(Normal) in virtual machine (VMWare) running Ubuntu server 18.04. A previous boss I had did this and I am trying to figure it out from scratch. I don’t know much about Linux, but I’ve learned quite a lot doing this project.

Basically I want to keep my VM storage separate from my image storage. I want to be able to PXE boot my laptops/workstations so I can start capturing images and deploying them.

[Sebastian Roth]

@sysadmin There is no simple answer to this as a NAS can be integrated to run with a FOG server in different ways. If you really only want to separate the images I’d suggest mounting your NAS as iSCSI target in /images on your FOG server. That’s probably the easiest setup you can have if your NAS is able to provide iSCSI targets.

If you want to go the full way as suggested in the other forum topic you’ll want to start with a normal FOG installation on your server. Sounds like you have that already but seems like something went definitely wrong because you need have a directory /tftpboot (note this directory is right below the root of your filesystem - starting with /)!

If that is missing I suspect the installer script didn’t run all the way through. Within the same directory of installfog.sh you should have a directory called error_logs. Take a look at the foginstall.log and post the last 20 lines of that here.

[sysadmin]

@Sebastian-Roth I think you are right. I did not press [Enter] after the database was updated. Is there a way to run the script again, or do I need to reinstall everything? I appreciate your help.

* Downloading binaries needed.................................OK
* Unzipping the binaries......................................Done
* Copying binaries where needed...............................Done
* Enabling apache and fpm services on boot....................OK
* Creating SSL CA.............................................OK
* Creating SSL Private Key....................................OK
* Creating SSL Certificate....................................OK
* Creating auth pub key and cert..............................OK
* Resetting SSL Permissions...................................OK
* Setting up Apache virtual host (no SSL).....................OK
* Starting and checking status of web services................OK
* Changing permissions on apache log files....................OK
* Backing up database.........................................OK

* You still need to install/update your database schema.
* This can be done by opening a web browser and going to:

  http://x.x.x.x/fog/management

* Press [Enter] key when database is updated/installed.netadmin@fog2:/opt/fog_stable/bin/

[Sebastian Roth]

@sysadmin Just re-run the installer. We made it so you can run it over and over and it should fix all the things for you.

Sometimes when you run it a second time after it didn’t run through all the way it fails on Backing up database. If so, take a look at the other log file in error_logs and post the last 20 lines here.

[sysadmin]

@Sebastian-Roth I’ll rerun the installer and let you know. Thank you very much.

[sysadmin]

@Sebastian-Roth that fixed it. I just tested it by booting a laptop off PXE and it works great. I am now capturing an image. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.