How to add .iso Files?
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Hey,
I’m very new on Linux and this is my first Linux-Based Project.
I use Fog 1.5.5 and Ubuntu 18.04.2 Desktop Version.
The FOG-Server is installed and it works great. Imaging and deploying is working very well without any problems.
Now I want to add .iso Files to the boot menu. (especially Windows.iso installer)
I found this description, but there isn’t written where and how to add the .iso Files.
https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=Include_any_ISO_in_the_FOG_BootmenuAnd this one is a bit complicated:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/10944/using-fog-to-pxe-boot-into-your-favorite-installer-imagesSo is there any easy way, how to add an .iso File to the boot menu?
Maybe over the “iPXE New Menu Entry” with a parameter that boots the .iso File?I’m very thankful for any help.
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@krait I guess there is no way around but you need to dive in and figure this out. We can’t configure that for you on your server but we can help when you run into issues and post steps you took and error messages you saw.
You already found one of the best resources on adding ISO boot files to FOG. ISO booting it a bit complicated but having George’s descriptions at hand is of great value! It’s also using “iPXE New Menu Entry” but as I said, there is more to it. Just get into and let us know when you run into issues.
especially Windows.iso installer
I haven’t done this myself but from reading other people’s posts here in the forums I get the impression that Windows ISOs might be a bit harder than Linux ISOs. Not exactly sure thought. @george1421?
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Hmm where to begin…
Technically you can mount most bios (legacy mode) boot iso images using the memdisk option. The down side is two fold. 1. memdisk only works in bios mode, there isn’t a uefi equivalent of memdisk. You need to have enough ram (first 2GB) to hold the entire contents of the iso image. The 2GB iso size restriction is a 32bit limitation and you can’t get around it. You will see examples of how to use memdisk in the fist link you provided.
My a bit more inclusive tutorial (your second link) over comes the memdisk limitations and allows you to boot both uefi as well as bios boot images, by copying the contents of the iso image to a directory on the fog server, then booting the image indirectly through the fog server. While there is a bit more setup with this method you are not limited to the 2GB iso restriction of memdisk.
In the case of windows installer its a bit more complex. You can use the win10 pe image here mentioned here: https://forums.fogproject.org/post/103331 The issue is with this approach the windows installer is expecting to find the install files on the CDROM and not over the network. That is why I developed this method: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7765/pxe-booting-into-ms-windows-7-setup (again we are adding complexity to get around some bad ms windows limitations). In this tutorial I show you how to create a winpe kickstart image that you will pxe boot and then this kick start image will connect to a network share where the windows installer files are and then run the install from the network share. This way the windows installer can find the install wim files because it detects a network install vs a CDOM (.iso) install.
I can tell you that almost no one should install windows this way. There are better ways to create your reference image and that is with Microsoft’s free Microsoft Deployment Took kit (MDT). Use MDT to create your reference images using the lite touch process. You CAN pxe boot the MDT boot kernel via a FOG menu.
But if you want continue to install windows by hand the above tutorial should help you create the winpe kickstarter image.
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@george1421 @Sebastian-Roth thank you for your answers!
I will try it out, but I think its much easier du do a VM with the .iso and image it.
