How to: Modify the PXE boot menu to allow the booting of .iso files
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There have been some really basic guides on the fog user guide, and some quick videos on youtube that show how to append the default file under the tftpboot folder in Linux so you can pxe boot your own .iso applications.
I just wanted to take the time and break down the instructions into a friendlier video that might help people a bit more.
To use this guide I’m assuming the following 6 things
- You have a working version of Fog (obvious)
- You have modified your TFTP password under the fog UI - [url]http://fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=Unable_to_connect_to_TFTP#For_Versions_.24_.2B[/url]
- You have a copy of the .iso you wish to boot (example: Dell Diagnostics)
- You have a copy of memdisk from kernel.org - [url]http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/[/url]
- You have an FTP program such as filezilla that will allow you to copy / paste / and append files on your fog server
- You can copy and paste + edit the following text below to meet your needs
[CODE]LABEL Dell Diagnostics
MENU MASTER PASSWD password
kernel fog/dell/memdisk
append iso initrd=fog/dell/delldiags.iso raw
MENU LABEL Dell Diagnostics
TEXT HELP
Dell
Diagnostic software
ENDTEXT[/CODE]Ok!
Now watch the video for a quick overview on how to create a folder under tftpboot/fog, copy over your .iso and memdisk file to the new folder, append the default file with a text editor under tftpboot/default.cfg[media=youtube]KYp-XVPxg3I[/media]
I just wanted to point out that the video also includes 720p so you can put it on high res and zoom in to see the detail, text if needed.
If you guys have any questions let me know.
Enjoy!
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In case anyone is running into trouble I’ve included a copy of my TFTPBOOT folder - [SIZE=4][B][url]http://www.mediafire.com/?1ps7ogj18abz93g[/url][/B][/SIZE] Feel free to play around with it and cut + paste items into your own fog server as you see fit. Just remember to back up your own files before hand!
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I believe it should be said, with the usage of memdisk, that you should careful how big your ISO is. As it’s being loaded into memory, if you have a large enough amount of ram, it may fail out.
But, thanks for the quick primer. I’ve added isos to my boot menu in the past and they’re extremely useful. I have a WinPE iso added to ours that gives us access to Windows boot recovery, partition tools, chkdsk, and not to mention network drive access (90% of the time) to run portable apps such as Spyware scanners, etc.
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JBurgin, can you descripe how have you add a WinPE to fog? I try with BartPE… I have add this like the delldiag above, using memdisk, but when BartPe is loading I became a bluescreen.
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[quote=“pavlito, post: 972, member: 402”]JBurgin, can you descripe how have you add a WinPE to fog? I try with BartPE… I have add this like the delldiag above, using memdisk, but when BartPe is loading I became a bluescreen.[/quote]
Sadly, I can’t provide much help outside of everything posted here. My WinPE iso is a raw one created from basic Microsoft Instructions. (listed [URL=‘http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709665(WS.10).aspx’]here[/URL], skipping step 4) BartPE tends to be a heavily customized one so I would say that something in BartPE doesn’t like being PXE booted.
what I did instead, to provide me with some useful diagnostic applications on a regular WinPE ISO, is place several portable apps on a shared folder on one of my servers and then use the ‘net use’ command to map a drive letter to that server once loaded in winpe, where I have access to all my apps I need. This cuts down on the iso file size and allows me to constantly update the applications without updating the ISO. This obviously will not work if WinPE doesn’t support my network card, but so far I’ve only had it happen on one model.
Hope this can help.
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Hi All really good work with the vid etc, im trying to put trinity rescue kit into my pxe menu but struggling ive got the iso and memdisk in the correct area, i think its the settings in the default file what would i need in there for this to work??
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@SSX4Life --Thank you for this video… It made it soooo EASY.
Cheers!@Darren here is my entry for TRK:
[CODE]LABEL Trinity Rescue Kit
MENU MASTER PASSWD password
kernel fog/trinity/memdisk
append iso initrd=fog/trinity/trinity.iso raw
MENU LABEL Trinity Rescue Kit
TEXT HELP
Extensive collection of tools for fixing errors.
ENDTEXT
[/CODE]
Unfortunately, I get an error because it is still searching for the CD-Rom. Perhaps I just have an older version of TRK… I will update this post after I try a newer release. (My TRK is at least a year old now) -
Hi Joshua Cheers for the reply yeah its a head scrather this one seems anything bundled with loads of added goodies just seems to crash and burn i can see the menu loading up after that nothing
cheers again for your help -
@ Joshua thank you for the kind words, I’m glad the tutorial was easy to follow.
If you have trouble with TRK please try the new version. I’ve seen other users with FOG getting it to work fine (example - [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=B8q5NtXbBGA#t=238s[/url] )
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I tried the new TRK but it didn’t work either using the ISO method in this thread.
I’m trying to get HDAT working using your method but it tries to fall back to the cdrom drive. I have seen other people have had HDAT2 in their PXE menus around the web but it has some sort of weird extention with a .imz I think.
Do you have any sage wisdom on how i could get HDAT working in my install?
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i’ve personally never used hdat2, so I can’t say from experience.
But going off the .imz extension, it can be PXE booted ( as can .img) Look here for help - [url]http://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/one-pxe-menu-unite-them-all-dos-linux-winpe[/url]
edit - more default file examples here - [url]http://mrguitar.net/wiki/index.php/PXE_Menu[/url]
The default file shows the .imz file (which is uncompressed to my understanding).
Play around with the default file on this program, i’m sure you’ll find a way to make it work.
note
To quickly test changes and make new apps work with Fog on the PXE boot menu I suggest that you use a virtual machine to pxe boot the equipment as shown in my video. Just make sure you have the NIC’s set to linked / bridged using the actual device. If something doesn’t work just stop the VM, edit the default file right in the FTP client like shown in the video, upload the changes, and try again.
good luck, and if you get it to work [B]PLEASE[/B] humor us and document it on the wiki or a KB article!
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As for TRK look here - [url]http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34477[/url]
p.s. google is your friend
I don’t have time to build and test these software packages due to my work schedule, but looking at the articles they seem rather cut+ dry and straight forward. Jump to part 3 of the guide for AV tools / etc.
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Thank you for the links, I haven’t seen these yet. I do have quite a few different images and tools working on my server right now. I wasn’t sure if adding bootable media for fog to the wiki was frowned upon because there is such a lack of articles geared towards them at the moment.
I have some time off this Canadian long weekend and I have lots of experience in wiki writing. I’ll create a page for all of the bootable media that I have gotten to work using different methods I have found around the web.
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Hi everyone,
I’ve modified the PXE menu and have Hiren’s working fine, but now I want to do submenus -I know it’s possible because I’ve seen it in YouTube-. Does anyone know how to do this?
Thank you very much!
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Remember that when you PXE boot using FOG it is using syslinux. This will point you in the right direction - [url]http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/Comboot/menu.c32[/url]
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Thank you, ssx4life, that was exactly what I was looking for. I’m going to do submenus like rescue tools, operating systems, tasks, etc.
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I am interested to hear how it works out for you… I might do something similar.
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If you get this functionality working, please document it in a KB article or on the wiki.
thanks
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I’ve made something simple as creating a sub-menu and going back to main menu. Notice that you can change sub-menu title and background (and others) by including those parameters inside it. Of course, you can create sub-sub-menus, but this is an easy example.
In bold, the original text, and in red the added lines:[B]DEFAULT vesamenu.c32[/B]
[B]MENU TITLE FOG Computer Cloning Solution[/B]
[B]MENU BACKGROUND fog/bg.png[/B]
[B]MENU MASTER PASSWD $1$0123456789[/B]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]menu color title 1;36;44 #ffffffff #00000000 std[/B]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]LABEL fog.local[/B]
[B]localboot 0[/B]
[B]MENU DEFAULT[/B]
[B]MENU LABEL Boot from hard disk[/B]
[B]TEXT HELP[/B]
[B]Boot from the local hard drive.[/B]
[B]If you are unsure, select this option.[/B]
[B]ENDTEXT[/B]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]LABEL fog.memtest[/B]
[B]kernel fog/memtest/memtest[/B]
[B]MENU LABEL Run Memtest86+[/B]
[B]TEXT HELP[/B]
[B]Run Memtest86+ on the client computer.[/B]
[B]ENDTEXT[/B]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]LABEL fog.reg[/B]
[B]kernel fog/kernel/bzImage[/B]
[B]append initrd=fog/images/init.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw ramdisk_size=127000 ip=dhcp dns=192.168.2.1 mode=autoreg web=192.168.2.115/fog/ loglevel=4[/B]
[B]MENU LABEL Quick Host Registration and Inventory[/B]
[B]TEXT HELP[/B]
[B]Automatically register the client computer,[/B]
[B]and perform a hardware inventory.[/B]
[B]ENDTEXT[/B]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]LABEL fog.reginput[/B]
[B]kernel fog/kernel/bzImage[/B]
[B]append initrd=fog/images/init.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw ramdisk_size=127000 ip=dhcp dns=192.168.2.1 mode=manreg web=192.168.2.115/fog/ loglevel=4[/B]
[B]MENU LABEL Perform Full Host Registration and Inventory[/B]
[B]TEXT HELP[/B]
[B]Perform a full host registration on the client[/B]
[B]computer, perform a hardware inventory, and[/B]
[B]optionally image the host.[/B]
[B]ENDTEXT[/B]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]LABEL fog.quickimage[/B]
[B]MENU PASSWD $1$0123456789[/B]
[B]kernel fog/kernel/bzImage[/B]
[B]append initrd=fog/images/init.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw ramdisk_size=127000 ip=dhcp dns=192.168.2.1 mode=quickimage keymap= web=192.168.2.115/fog/ loglevel=4[/B]
[B]MENU LABEL Quick Image[/B]
[B]TEXT HELP[/B]
[B]This mode will allow you to image this host quickly with[/B]
[B]it’s default assigned image.[/B]
[B]ENDTEXT[/B]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]LABEL fog.sysinfo[/B]
[B]kernel fog/kernel/bzImage[/B]
[B]append initrd=fog/images/init.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw ramdisk_size=127000 ip=dhcp dns=192.168.2.1 mode=sysinfo loglevel=4[/B]
[B]MENU LABEL Client System Information[/B]
[B]TEXT HELP[/B]
[B]View basic client information such as MAC address[/B]
[B]and FOG compatibility.[/B]
[B]ENDTEXT[/B][B]LABEL fog.debug[/B]
[B]MENU PASSWD $1$0123456789[/B]
[B]kernel fog/kernel/bzImage[/B]
[B]append initrd=fog/images/init.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw ramdisk_size=127000 ip=dhcp dns=192.168.2.1 mode=onlydebug[/B]
[B]MENU LABEL Debug Mode[/B]
[B]TEXT HELP[/B]
[B]Debug mode will load the boot image and load a prompt so[/B]
[B]you can run any commands you wish.[/B]
[B]ENDTEXT[/B][COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU BEGIN Rescue tools[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU LABEL Rescue tools[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU TITLE FOG Computer Cloning Solution[/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000][B]LABEL Back[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU EXIT[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU LABEL Back[/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000][B]LABEL Hirens[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]kernel fog/hirens/memdisk[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]append iso initrd=fog/dell/MyHirensBootCD.iso raw[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU LABEL Hiren’s Boot CD[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]TEXT HELP[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]Run Hiren’s Boot CD[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]ENDTEXT[/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000][B]LABEL Dell Diagnostics[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]kernel fog/dell/memdisk[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]append iso initrd=fog/dell/delldiags.iso raw[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU LABEL Dell Diagnostics[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]TEXT HELP[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]Dell Diagnostic software[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#ff0000][B]ENDTEXT[/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000][B]MENU END[/B][/COLOR]
[B]\n[/B]
[B]PROMPT 0[/B]
[B]TIMEOUT 300\n[/B][B][ATTACH=full]62[/ATTACH][/B]
[B] [ATTACH=full]63[/ATTACH][/B][url=“/_imported_xf_attachments/0/62_FOG main menu.png?:”]FOG main menu.png[/url][url=“/_imported_xf_attachments/0/63_FOG sub menu.png?:”]FOG sub menu.png[/url]
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