Best Linux distro for FOG trunk
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Hi there, I have not be able to successfully PXE boot to menu. I get the dreaded Open TimeOut error.
I have installed Centos 7 (64bit) with FOG trunk. The installation completed successfully. I get the Web UI fine but I cannot load the FOG boot menu.
The fog installation is not using proxyDhcp as I am leveraging our existing DHCP server. So 66 & 67 have been configured appropriately.
The ability to perform TFTP -i xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx get undionly.pxe (from windows) and TFTP -v xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -c get undionly.pxe (from Fog host server) all works tine.The security layer on the fog server has been disabled.
The permissions for images, tftp, and ipx (under var/www/html/fog/services/) have been changed to 777.
The owners for the above folders are fog:root.The network is a multiple vlan /subnet environment and STP and RSTP are turned at the switch level.
So I need some help with:
- Troubleshooting why the PXE boot menu is not loading? is this due to the TFTP session is actually timing out or something else.
- What is the best combination for installing FOG i.e. is Ubuntu better than Centos?
Thanks
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@tprice Good to hear that you’ve gone through a lot of testing and provided all the information. In your sentence on STP/RSTP there is one word missing I think - on/off?? Please capture a packet dump while you boot a client and we should be able to see what’s going on.
yum install tcpdump tcpdump -i eth0 -w timeout_issue.pcap port 67 or port 68 or port 69tcpdump will sit there and wait (no more output). Boot the client and wait till you see the error. Hit Ctrl+c and upload the PCAP file to the forums.
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- Troubleshooting why the PXE boot menu is not loading? is this due to the TFTP session is actually timing out or something else.
You’re using undionly.pxe ? Can you try undionly.kkpxe ?
- What is the best combination for installing FOG i.e. is Ubuntu better than Centos?
Depends on who you ask. If you ask me, I think CentOS 7 has less problems with fog. Fedora is also really solid, but it’s more cutting edge.
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Hi Uncle Frank, the options for STP & RSTP are enabled at a global level. I will follow your suggestion and post results.
Thanks
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Hi there, I am using undionly.kpxe in the Windows DHCP server.
The result from PCAP show now response from FOG server or anything related to port 69.
Regards
,timeout_issue.pcap -
In the packet dump I can see two DHCP servers answering (IP .54.1 and .54.253). Both offering the same information - so I guess this is configured for redundency. They point the client to another server on a different subnet (IP .50.45). This should be alright as the gateway/router information in the DHCP packet seams fine - if this really is your FOG server. Or is it only serving TFTP??
One thing I wonder about is the filename offered to the client: pxeboot.0
As a quickfix you can create a link to that file on your TFTP server:
cd /tftpboot ln -s undionly.kpxe pxeboot.0The result from PCAP show now response from FOG server or anything related to port 69.
If you want to see that traffic you need to capture on .50.45!
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@tprice said:
- What is the best combination for installing FOG i.e. is Ubuntu better than Centos?
Just my personal preference, but I’ve always been happy with FOG on Ubuntu and formerly Fedora.
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We started off with Ubuntu Desktop, then Server (no gui), then I switched up to Debian Server, and now I’m running CentOS 7 no GUI on a minimal server install for my development server. Whatever I’m using for dev eventually makes it out to our production/live servers.
IMO Debian is head and shoulders better than Ubuntu, and I’ve found CentOS to be the most stable and trouble free of the bunch.
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@tprice Did you get this solved?
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Hi there, thanks for the response. I need to figure out why the tftp response is looping through my the switch.
It appears the IP Helper on the switch’s are enabled with port 0 relaying to our DHCP server.
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What do you mean by “port 0 relaying”? Sounds a bit like it does not work. But I am pretty sure you would be fine with the quick fix (linking pxeboot.0). Did that work for you?
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Hi there, I did not get it solved. But I think the issue within my Switch configuration. I have nine vlans. I have attached the Fog server on the vlan which is used by the workstations (.54) and the DHCP server is on a different vlans (.50).
I can ping the qdn, fqdn and reverser ping the FOG server within the main vlans.
The fog server is sitting on a Hyper-v host. The virtual switch is bridging the physical NIC.
So I need to figure out why the switch is answering the TFTP request. I suspect the ip helper and DHCP relay on the switch is the root cause.
Troy
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Another consideration on hyper-v is integration services. Ubuntu is not very integration services friendly (NIC and SMP issues mainly). Centos is a better choice for hyper-v guests.
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@Sebastian-Roth Hi there, I did not get this solved. I need to look at my switch and TFTP communication.
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@tprice You stated that your fog server is on the .54 vlan, but @Sebastian-Roth pointed out that your redundant DHCP servers are both giving out a .50.45 address for option 066 and pxeboot.0 for option 067.
I think you have a DHCP mis-confguration, I don’t think there is anything wrong with your switches or fog server.
I don’t think pxeboot.0 has been used since .32 and older, so I assume you’ve had fog working before.
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Celebration. It works. The things that I have changed was a complete new build of Centos 7, FOG (Version: 7306), and followed new documentation. This allowed me to register a machine and perform inventory but I could not start an upload (could not load images directory (/bin/fog. Upload).
Did some check regarding services and found NFS was not running. Once the latter was started, the ability to perform the partclone was successful.
I am very happy, thank you all
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@tprice What new documentation (for future readers)?
