Using FOG to PXE boot into your favorite installer images

george1421 · Jul 9, 2021, 1:27 PM

Setting up the foundation for installation

Hopefully this setup will be pretty clean and easy (just hoping…)

In this tutorial, I’ve personally setup each distribution and booted it into a virtual machine. I didn’t run the installer to completion, but I did ensure the installer was running as far as I took the install (unless otherwise noted).

These setups were only tested with a bios (legacy mode) target computer. They WILL NOT work with uefi systems. For uefi based systems they have their own kernel requirements and options. The intent of this tutorial was to show its possible to boot your installation media via pxe booting.

First we need to setup the storage locations for our boot images. The plan is to put the installation media on the /images nfs share and the boot kernel and initfs in the tftp boot directory.

mkdir /images/os
mkdir /tftpboot/os
mkdir /mnt/loop

For the foundation setup that should do it. On to the OS specific configuration…

Link to Windows 7 & Windows 10 BIOS Mode Only
Link WinPE 10 for BIOS and UEFI based systems
Link to Centos 7
Link to Ubuntu 16.04.03
Link to Ubuntu Desktop 19.10
Link to Ubuntu Server 19.10
Link to Ubuntu 17.10 Desktop
Link to Ubuntu 16.04.03
Link to Linux Mint 18.1
Link to Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon
Link to Debian 9.2
Link to OpenSuSE Leap 42.3
Link to Fedora Workstation v26
Link to Fedora Workstation v27
Link to Ubuntu Desktop 17.10
Link to installing Samba on your FOG server
Link to Kali Live 2017.3
Link to ESXi v6.5u1
Link to ESXi v6.7u2
Link to SystemRescueCd 5.2.2 x64
Link to GParted 0.33.0 x86
Veeam Agent Rescue DVD
Acronis 2018 (WinPE version)
Paragon Hard Disk Manager
Parted Magic version from May 2023

george1421 · Oct 13, 2017, 1:42 PM

Installing SAMBA on the FOG Server
In this section we’ll setup samba on your fog server. This will give your WinPE environment access to the MS Windows images we stored in the /images/os/mswindows directory. You could use a traditional MS Windows server for this function and skip the entire samba setup. That decision is up to you. I’m documenting the process of enabling CIFS (windows file share access) on your fog server to provide a consistent place to store your imaging files. In this setup the samba file shares will be share as read only and can only be access by the user account we will setup in this post. SAMBA will not be connected to your AD. AD users will not be able to mount or access these shares. Your FOG server will be a standalone server with its own access control and users.

Centos 7 Instructions:

yum install samba samba-common samba-winbind 

systemctl enable smb
systemctl enable winbind
systemctl enable nmb

# Create a linux user called fogpxeu we will use this account to connect to
# the server from our WinPE environment. 
adduser --no-create-home --shell /sbin/nologin --user-group fogpxeu
# Assign a complex password since we will never use it we will use
# the samba password we will define below.
passwd fogpxeu

mv /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.old

We need to create our custom config file for samba. So use your favorite text editor and edit /etc/samba/smb.conf. My favorite is vi.

vi /etc/samba/smb.conf

Insert the following text into the smb.conf file.

[global]
workgroup = FOGPXE
server string = Fog Project Imaging
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 50
idmap config * : backend = tdb
cups options = raw
netbios name = fogpxeserver
map to guest = bad user
dns proxy = no
public = yes
nt acl support = no
security = user
guest account = nobody

[win7oem]
   path = /images/os/mswindows/7Pro-x64
   comment = Windows 7 OEM Installation DVD
   valid users = "fogpxeu"
   writeable = no
   browseable = yes
   read only = yes

[win10-1607]
   path = /images/os/mswindows/10-1607
   comment = Windows 10 1607 Installation DVD
   valid users = "fogpxeu" 
   writeable = no
   browseable = yes
   read only = yes

Now lets start the samba services

systemctl restart smb
systemctl restart winbind
systemctl restart nmb
systemctl status smb

# Define the password here  you will use to connect to the network
# share from the WinPE environment. Document this password, 
# you will need it when you setup your WinPE boot image. 
smbpasswd -a 'fogpxeu'
$ New SMB password:
$ Retype new SMB password:
$ Added user fogpxeu.

Ubuntu Instructions:
<Coming Soon>

Testing to setup:
Lets see if the shares are visible from a windows computer. On your favorite windows computer, open a command window and key in the net view command.

C:\Users\admin>net view \\192.168.1.55
Shared resources at \\192.168.1.55

Fog Project Imaging

Share name  Type  Used as  Comment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
win10-1607  Disk           Windows 10 1607 Installation DVD
win7oem     Disk           Windows 7 OEM Installation DVD
The command completed successfully.

Nice! we can see our shares. Now lets see if we can mount the network share. From the same command window used above key in the following.

C:\Users\admin>net use t: \\192.168.1.55\win10-1607  /user:fogpxeu
Enter the password for 'fogpxeu' to connect to '192.168.1.55':
The command completed successfully.

Double nice!! We are able to map the drive as the fogpxeu user. Lets see if we can see any files on the share.

C:\Users\admin>dir t:
 Volume in drive T is win10-1607
 Volume Serial Number is B512-AE19

 Directory of T:\

10/13/2017  01:50 PM    <DIR>          .
10/13/2017  09:35 PM    <DIR>          ..
10/13/2017  01:50 PM    <DIR>          boot
10/13/2017  01:51 PM    <DIR>          sources
10/13/2017  01:50 PM    <DIR>          efi
10/13/2017  01:48 PM               135 readme.txt
10/13/2017  01:50 PM         1,152,864 bootmgr.efi
10/13/2017  01:50 PM           395,268 bootmgr
               3 File(s)      1,548,267 bytes
               5 Dir(s)  34,709,315,584 bytes free

Great!! we can mount the share and can view the contents. The last bit is to disconnect from the share since our test was successful.

net use t: /delete

george1421 · May 11, 2018, 9:22 PM

Fedora 26 Workstation

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/fedora/W26
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/fedora/W26

Now we’ll mount the Fedora 26 Workstation installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-26-1.5.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/fedora/W26
umount /mnt/loop

Finally we’ll copy the pxe boot kernel and intfs to the tftpboot directory.

cp /images/os/fedora/W26/isolinux/vmlinuz /tftpboot/os/fedora/W26
cp /images/os/fedora/W26/isolinux/initrd.img /tftpboot/os/fedora/W26

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.FedoraW26
Description: Fedora Workstation v26
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/fedora/W26/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/fedora/W26/initrd.img
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img root=live:nfs://${fog-ip}/images/os/fedora/W26/LiveOS/squashfs.img ip=dhcp repo=nfs://${fog-ip}/images/os/fedora/W26 splash quiet
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Fedora Workstation v26 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

Reference:
https://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=310643

george1421 · May 11, 2018, 9:21 PM

OpenSuSE Leap 42.3

Note: I have not personally tested this configuration. When I went to download the OpenSuse ISO it was going to take about 3hrs on my FIOS internet connection. I tried a few times and the download as interrupted each time. So I decided, "I don't got time for this". I put together these instructions based on dead reckoning on what was needed. Will it work?? YMMV

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/opensuse/Leap43.2
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/opensuse/Leap43.2

Now we’ll mount the OpenSuSE Leap 43.2 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/openSUSE-Leap-42.3-DVD-x86_64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/opensuse/Leap43.2
umount /mnt/loop

At this point we need to go out and download the network/usb kernel and initrd files from the OpenSuSE site. We’ll create a temp directory, download and mount the iso image as we have done before. Then extract the two files we need.

cd /tmp
wget http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/42.3/iso/openSUSE-Leap-42.3-NET-x86_64.iso
mount -o loop -t iso9660 /tmp/openSUSE-Leap-42.3-NET-x86_64.iso /mnt/loop
cp /mnt/loop/boot/x86_64/loader/linux /tftpboot/os/opensuse/Leap43.2
cp /mnt/loop/boot/x86_64/loader/initrd /tftpboot/os/opensuse/Leap43.2
umount /mnt/loop

rm -rf /tmp/openSUSE-Leap-42.3-NET-x86_64.iso

Note: If you get to the point of booting into the installer and the installer keeps asking for a cdrom, you have the wrong initfs. You must have the initrd file from the OpenSuSE Net/USB boot ISO.
4. The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
5. In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.OpenSuSEL42-3
Description: OpenSuSE Leap 42.3
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/opensuse/Leap43.2/linux
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/opensuse/Leap43.2/initrd
imgargs linux initrd=initrd ip=dhcp repo=nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/opensuse/Leap43.2/
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
6. That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick OpenSuSE Leap 42.3 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

Reference:
https://tr.opensuse.org/SDB:Network_Installation_of_SuSE_Linux_via_PXE_Boot

george1421 · May 11, 2018, 9:21 PM

Debian 9.2

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/debian/9.2
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/debian/9.2

Now we’ll mount the Debian 9.2 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/debian-9.2.1-amd64-xfce-CD-1.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/debian/9.2
umount /mnt/loop

At this point we need to go out and download the netboot kernel and initrd files from the Debian site. We’ll create a temp directory, download the tar ball and extract the two files we need.

cd /tmp
mkdir netboot
cd /tmp/netboot
wget http://ftp.nl.debian.org/debian/dists/stretch/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
tar -zxf netboot.tar.gz
cd ./debian-installer/amd64
cp linux /tftpboot/os/debian/9.2
cp initrd.gz /tftpboot/os/debian/9.2
cd /tmp
rm -rf ./netboot

Note: If you get to the point of booting into the installer and the installer keeps asking for a cdrom, you have the wrong initfs. You must have the initrd file from the Debian netboot package. Unlike other distributions, the netboot files are not on the typical installation media as far as I found.
4. The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
5. In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Debian92
Description: Debian 9.2.1
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/debian/9.2/linux
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/debian/9.2/initrd.gz
imgargs linux initrd=initrd.gz root=/dev/nfs netboot=nfs nfsroot=${fog-ip}:/images/os/debian/9.2/ ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
6. That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Debian 9.2.1 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:
http://students.mimuw.edu.pl/~bassa/uo/linux-adv/debian-install-pxe-netboot.pdf

george1421 · May 11, 2018, 9:20 PM

Ubuntu 16.04.03

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/ubuntu/16.04
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/ubuntu/16.04

Now we’ll mount the Ubuntu 16.04 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/ubuntu-16.04.3-server-amd64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/ubuntu/16.04
umount /mnt/loop

Finally we’ll copy the pxe boot kernel and intfs to the tftpboot directory.

cp /images/os/ubuntu/16.04/install/vmlinuz /tftpboot/os/ubuntu/16.04
# See Note2 below
cp /images/os/ubuntu/16.04/install/netboot/ubuntu-installer/amd64/initrd.gz /tftpboot/os/ubuntu/16.04

Note1: If you get to the point of booting into the installer and the installer keeps asking for a cdrom, you have the wrong initfs. This tripped me up for quite some time until I found a post that solved what I was doing wrong. The path above is accurate and works. You have been warned!!
and…
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
4. The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
5. In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Ubuntu1604
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.03
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/ubuntu/16.04/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/ubuntu/16.04/initrd.gz
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.gz root=/dev/nfs netboot=nfs nfsroot=${fog-ip}:/images/os/ubuntu/16.04/ locale=en_US.UTF-8 ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
6. That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Ubuntu 16.04.03 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DisklessUbuntuHowto
https://askubuntu.com/questions/476508/why-ubuntu-server-asks-to-insert-a-cd-rom-when-installed-from-pxe

george1421 · Jun 20, 2020, 8:09 AM

Windows 7 and Windows 10 BIOS mode only
DO NOT USE THIS METHOD anymore. I'm leaving these instructions here for legacy reasons. This method will NOT work with UEFI based systems.

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/mswindows/7Pro-x64
mkdir -p /images/os/mswindows/10Pro-x64
mkdir -p /tftpboot/mswindows/7Pro-x64
mkdir -p /tftpboot/mswindows/10Pro-x64

Now we’ll mount the Windows install media iso over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop /{full path where you have the iso stored}/Win7ProX64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/mswindows/7Pro-x64
umount /mnt/loop

mount -o loop /{full path where you have the iso stored}/Win10ProX64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/mswindows/10Pro-x64
umount /mnt/loop

Beyond this point you will need a Windows 10 workstation. You also need to be aware what version of windows 10 you current have. You need to download the proper version of Windows ADK for the version of Windows 10 you will execute these instructions on. Yes I know this is a Win7 guide. I wanted to create a single how-to for both Windows 7 and Windows 10. Since support for Win7 is up in just a few years, I have to except that Win10 will be a reality soon and get with the program.
Download the appropriate ADK for the version of Win10 you have from here: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/windows-assessment-deployment-kit
Launch the ADK installer. You will be presented with about 15 different modules to install. You only “need” the preboot environment (WinPE) stuff. You will have an option to install a bunch of stuff. You can either pick the defaults or just narrow down your selection to the WinPE stuff.
It might take as long as 15 minutes to install depending on your network connection and target computer.
While this step is not necessairy it is also a bit of an assurance that WinPE10 will have a good install of drivers needed to boot new hardware.
Download the WinPE10 drivers from the Dell Enterprise site here: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/enterprise-client/w/wiki/11530.winpe-10-driver-pack
I realize that you may not be using a Dell for your imaging, don’t worry these drivers only cover network and disk subsystems.
Extract the winpe folder from the cab file and install it in the winpe folder in the root of drive (c:\winpe).
After the install launch the ADK environment from Start Button->Windows Kits->Windows ADK-><something> Make sure you run this command window as Administrator. You need admin rights to use DISM.
In the command window, you will probably want to change back to the root of because the path is a bit long and confusing.
For the rest of the instructions we’ll just go copy and paste. Its fast and quick.

cd c:\
copype amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64

Dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:"C:\WinPE_amd64\media\sources\boot.wim" /index:1 /MountDir:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount"

Dism /Add-Driver /Image:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount" /Driver:"c:\winpe\x64" /Recurse /ForceUnsigned

Now we need to edit the WinPE startup file to have it mount our windows (samba) network share.

notepad C:\WinPE_amd64\mount\Windows\System32\Startnet.cmd
 @echo off
  echo Setting up WinPE
  wpeinit

  REM Set power configuration to Performance
  powercfg /s 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

  echo Connecting to the remote share
  net use z: \\<server_name>\<share_name> /user:<domain\uid> <pass>
  z:
  setup.exe

Now that we have the settings the way we need them. Lets close the wim file and create our ISO.

Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount" /commit

MakeWinPEMedia /ISO C:\WinPE_amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64\WinPE_amd64.iso

Now move the C:\WinPE_amd64\WinPE_amd64.iso file to the FOG server in the /images/os/mswindows/7Pro-x64 directory.
The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
NOTE: This instruction is for legacy bios only. If you need to boot both uefi and bios installs follow the WinPE10 section above. The issue is that memdisk utility is not supported in uefi mode, so another method is required. For bios mode memdisk IS the quickest method to boot a small iso image. https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/10944/using-fog-to-pxe-boot-into-your-favorite-installer-images/10
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Win7Pro-x64
Description: Windows 7 Pro x64 OEM
Parameters:
initrd nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/mswindows/7Pro-x64/WinPE_amd64.iso
chain memdisk iso raw
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Windows 7 Pro x64 OEM from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

For this process to function you must also setup SAMBA on your fog server below.

References:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7765/pxe-booting-into-ms-windows-7-setup

george1421 · Oct 13, 2017, 1:43 PM

Centos 7

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/centos/7
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/centos/7

Now we’ll mount the Centos 7 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/CentOS7-x86_64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/centos/7
umount /mnt/loop

Finally we’ll copy the pxe boot kernel and intfs to the tftpboot directory.

cp /images/os/centos/7/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz /tftpboot/os/centos/7
cp /images/os/centos/7/images/pxeboot/initrd.img /tftpboot/os/centos/7

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Centos7
Description: Centos 7 v1607 {or what ever version you are building}
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/centos/7/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/centos/7/initrd.img
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img root=live:nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/centos/7/LiveOS/squashfs.img ip=dhcp inst.repo=nfs:${fog-ip}:/images/os/centos/7 splash quiet
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Centos 7 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/8488/how-to-pxe-boot-cent-os-7/63
https://www.tecmint.com/install-pxe-network-boot-server-in-centos-7/

george1421 · Jan 22, 2019, 9:32 AM

Linux Mint

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/mint/18.1
mkdir -p /tftpboot/mint/18.1

Now we’ll mount the Linux Mint 18.1 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/linuxmint-18.1-cinnamon-64bit.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/mint/18.1
umount /mnt/loop

Finally we’ll copy the pxe boot kernel and intfs to the tftpboot directory.

cp /images/os/mint/18.1/casper/vmlinuz /tftpboot/mint/18.1
cp /images/os/mint/18.1/casper/initrd.lz /tftpboot/mint/18.1

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Mint18.1
Description: Linux Mint 18.1
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/mint/18.1/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/mint/18.1/initrd.lz
imgargs vmlinuz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=${fog-ip}:/images/os/mint/18.1/ locale=en_US.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=us quiet splash
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Linux Mint 18.1 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

Gamienator posted an update that with Linux Mint 19, you need to add an additional kernel parameter of "toram" to the imgargs line or the kernel won't be able to mount the /tmp directory correctly and will fail into emergency mode. The updated imgargs would need to be this under LM 19.
imgargs vmlinuz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=${fog-ip}:/images/os/mint/18.1/ locale=en_US.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=us toram quiet splash
`

References:
http://labalec.fr/erwan/?p=534
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/10939/fog-iso-booting

george1421 · Sep 6, 2019, 7:48 AM

WinPE 10 for BIOS and UEFI based systems

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/winpe

Now we’ll mount the WinPE iso over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop /{full path where you have the iso stored}/WinPE_amd64.iso /mnt/loop

cp /mnt/loop/Boot/BCD /tftpboot/os/winpe/
cp /mnt/loop/Boot/boot.sdi /tftpboot/os/winpe/
cp /mnt/loop/sources/boot.wim /tftpboot/os/winpe/
umount /mnt/loop

Download and install the latest wimboot kernel and extract it from the zip file.

cd /tmp
wget http://git.ipxe.org/releases/wimboot/wimboot-latest.zip
unzip wimboot-latest.zip

Copy the wimboot file from the archive directory to root of the /tftpboot directory (we’ll need this for every windows boot media, so we’ll place it in a common spot).

cp ./wimboot-2.6.0-signed/wimboot /tftpboot

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.WinPE10
Description: WinPE 10
Parameters:
set tftp-path tftp://${fog-ip}
set pe-path ${tftp-path}/os/winpe
kernel ${tftp-path}/wimboot gui
imgfetch --name BCD ${pe-path}/BCD BCD
imgfetch --name boot.sdi ${pe-path}/boot.sdi boot.sdi
imgfetch --name boot.wim ${pe-path}/boot.wim boot.wim
boot || goto MENU
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick WinPE 10 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:

george1421 · Nov 2, 2017, 7:40 AM

To keep this thread clean, I’m going to fork all discussions related to this thread into a new thread and post a cross link here. This is only done to keep the thread orderly and easy to follow. The discussions regarding this thread ARE important to vet any issues before this tutorial is converted into a wiki document.

The thread discussion are here

https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/11027/problems-with-using-fog-to-pxe-boot-into-your-favorite-installer

george1421 · Nov 9, 2017, 9:40 PM

Ubuntu 17.10 Desktop

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10

Now we’ll mount the Ubuntu 17.10 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/ubuntu-17.10-desktop-amd64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10
umount /mnt/loop

Finally we’ll copy the pxe boot kernel and intfs to the tftpboot directory.

cp /images/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10/casper/vmlinuz.efi /tftpboot/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10
cp /images/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10/casper/initrd.lz /tftpboot/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Ubuntu.Desktop.17.10
Description: Ubuntu Desktop 17.10
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10/vmlinuz.efi
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10/initrd.lz
imgargs vmlinuz.efi root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=${fog-ip}:/images/os/ubuntu/Desk17.10/ locale=en_US.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=us quiet splash ip=dhcp rw
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Ubuntu Desktop 17.10 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:

george1421 · May 11, 2018, 9:16 PM

Kali Linux 2017.2

At this point the instructions don't work completely. I can get the installer to boot, but it appears to want to download files from Debian to complete the installation

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/kali/2017.2
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/kali/2017.2

Now we’ll mount the Kali 2017.2 DVD installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/kali-linux-2017.2-amd64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/kali/2017.2
umount /mnt/loop

At this point we need to go out and download the netboot kernel and initrd files from the Kali site. We’ll create a temp directory, download the tar ball and extract the two files we need.

cd /tmp
mkdir netboot
cd /tmp/netboot
cd /tmp
mkdir netboot
cd /tmp/netboot
wget http://repo.kali.org/kali/dists/kali-rolling/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
tar -zxf netboot.tar.gz
cd ./debian-installer/amd64
cp linux /tftpboot/os/kali/2017.2
cp initrd.gz /tftpboot/os/kali/2017.2
cd /tmp
rm -rf ./netboot

Note: If you get to the point of booting into the installer and the installer keeps asking for a cdrom, you have the wrong initfs. You must have the initrd file from the Debian netboot package. Unlike other distributions, the netboot files are not on the typical installation media as far as I found.
4. The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
5. In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Kali.2017.2
Description: Kali 2017.2
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/kali/2017.2/linux
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/kali/2017.2/initrd.gz
imgargs linux initrd=initrd.gz root=/dev/nfs netboot=nfs nfsroot=${fog-ip}:/images/os/kali/2017.2/ ip=dhcp rw language=en country=US keymap=us hostname=kali domain=domain.com
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
6. That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Kali 2017.2 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

Note 1: If you want the gui network installer you can download this netboot gzip instead of the one referenced above: http://repo.kali.org/kali/dists/kali-rolling/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/gtk/netboot.tar.gz

Note 2: When you us the netboot installer kali linux will have to download the install files from the internet even though you have them on DVD. It appears that the installer tries to mount the DVD during netboot, but since that fails it falls over to network install mode. This appears to be a feature in kali linux and not a limitation in FOG or netbooting

Note 3: You can set the majority of the values in the network installer by using a preseed file. Also with that preseed file you can direct kali linux to install from a local mirrored repository by changing some values in the preseed file below

Repository preseed file from: Offensive Security site

d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US
d-i console-keymaps-at/keymap select us

d-i mirror/country string enter information manually
d-i mirror/suite string kali
d-i mirror/codename string kali
d-i mirror/http/hostname string archive.kali.org
d-i mirror/http/directory string /kali
d-i mirror/http/proxy string
d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true
d-i time/zone string US/Eastern

# Disable volatile and security
d-i apt-setup/services-select multiselect

# Enable contrib and non-free
d-i apt-setup/non-free boolean true
d-i apt-setup/contrib boolean true

d-i partman-auto/method string regular
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
d-i partman-md/device_remove_md boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe select atomic
d-i partman/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true

# Add our own security mirror
d-i apt-setup/local0/repository string http://archive.kali.org/kali-security kali/updates main
d-i apt-setup/local0/comment string Security updates
d-i apt-setup/local0/source boolean false
d-i apt-setup/use_mirror boolean true

# Upgrade installed packages
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard
d-i pkgsel/upgrade select full-upgrade
# Install a limited subset of tools from the Kali Linux repositories
d-i pkgsel/include string openssh-server openvas metasploit-framework metasploit nano

# Change default hostname
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string unassigned-hostname
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unassigned-domain
d-i netcfg/hostname string kali

# Do not create a normal user account
d-i passwd/make-user boolean false
d-i passwd/root-password password toor
d-i passwd/root-password-again password toor

popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean false
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note

d-i preseed/late_command string \
    in-target wget http://192.168.101.54/postseed.sh; \
    in-target /bin/bash -x chmod 755 ./postseed.sh; \
    in-target /bin/bash -x ./postseed.sh;

Note 4: You should be able to boot a live instance of kali with these actions

mkdir /var/www/html/kali
cp /images/os/kali/2017.2/live/filesystem.squashfs /var/www/html/kali
chmod 755 /var/www/html/kali/filesystem.squashfs

And then add this parameter block to a FOG iPXE menu entry. I can say I have not tried this, but assembled the information from a few blogs.

kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/kali/2017.2/linux
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/kali/2017.2/initrd.gz
imgargs vga=788 initrd=initrd.gz boot=live components fetch=http://${fog-ip}/kali/filesystem.squashfs

References:
Kali linux appears to be based on Debian linux. I used the foundation for Debian to create this installer.
https://www.offensive-security.com/kali-linux/kali-linux-unattended-network-install-pxe/

george1421 · Dec 8, 2017, 1:24 AM

Fedora 27 Workstation

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/fedora/W27
mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/fedora/W27

Now we’ll mount the Fedora 26 Workstation installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/Fedora-Xfce-Live-x86_64-27-1.6.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/fedora/W27
umount /mnt/loop

Finally we’ll copy the pxe boot kernel and intfs to the tftpboot directory.

cp /images/os/fedora/W27/isolinux/vmlinuz /tftpboot/os/fedora/W27
cp /images/os/fedora/W27/isolinux/initrd.img /tftpboot/os/fedora/W27

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.FedoraW27
Description: Fedora Workstation v27
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/fedora/W27/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/fedora/W27/initrd.img
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img root=live:nfs://${fog-ip}/images/os/fedora/W27/LiveOS/squashfs.img ip=dhcp repo=nfs://${fog-ip}/images/os/fedora/W27 splash quiet
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Fedora Workstation v27 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

Reference:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/11108/can-fog-replace-my-urbackup-server/8

george1421 · Dec 8, 2017, 1:34 AM

Kali Live 2017.3 - v0.1

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/kali/2017.3/live

Now we’ll mount the Kali Live 2017.3 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/kali-linux-2017.3-amd64.iso /mnt/loop

cp /mnt/loop/live/{initrd.img,vmlinuz,filesystem.squashfs} /tftpboot/os/kali/2017.3/live/
umount /mnt/loop

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Kali.live.2017.3
Description: Kali Live 2017.3
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/kali/2017.3/live/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/kali/2017.3/live/initrd.img
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img append boot=live components fetch=tftp://${fog-ip}/os/kali/2017.3/live/filesystem.squashfs
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Kali Live 2017.3 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/11108/can-fog-replace-my-urbackup-server/9

george1421 · May 11, 2018, 9:17 PM

ESXi 6.5u1

NOTE: This guidance only supports network booting of the uefi installer for ESXi. The reason for this is the fog project does not ship iPXE kernels that support the comboot function. If you want to boot your ESXi server in legacy mode you will need to compile your own specific version of undionly.kpxe to add in the IMG_COMBOOT.

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/esxi/6.5u1

Now we’ll mount the ESXi installer iso over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0.update01-5969303.x86_64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/esxi/6.5u1
umount /mnt/loop

Edit the boot configuration file to use NFS to access all of ESXi’s files.

# remove forward slashes from the config file
sed -i 's/\///g' /images/os/esxi/6.5u1/efi/boot/boot.cfg

Now we need to edit the/images/os/esxi/6.5u1/efi/boot/boot.cfg file to insert the prefix parameter. Insert the following line just below the title parameter. Also, be sure to replace {fog_server_ip} with the actual IP address of your fog server.

prefix=nfs://{fog_server_ip}:/images/os/esxi/6.5u1

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.esxi65u1
Description: ESXi 6.5u1 Installer
Parameters:
kernel nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/esxi/6.5u1/efi/boot/bootx64.efi -c nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/esxi/6.5u1/efi/boot/boot.cfg
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick ESXi 6.5u1 Installer from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

If for some reason you can not use NFS to pxe boot into the ESXi installer you can use tftp or http. If you want to use tftp extract the ESXi install files to /tftpboot/os/esxi/6.5u1. Then update the nfs:// protocols to tftp:// Be sure to remove the ':/images' after the host name or you will have errors. (i.e. kernel nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/esxi would become kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/esxi)

References:
https://www.reversengineered.com/2015/02/11/booting-vmware-esxi-in-ipxe/
http://forum.ipxe.org/showthread.php?tid=8164

george1421 · May 9, 2018, 1:23 PM

SystemRescueCd 5.2.2 x64

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /tftpboot/os/RescueCd/5.2.2

Now we’ll mount the SystemRescueCd boot iso over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/systemrescuecd-x86-5.2.2.iso /mnt/loop

cp /mnt/loop/isolinux/{rescue64,initram.igz} /tftpboot/os/RescueCd/5.2.2/
umount /mnt/loop

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.SystemRescueCd.5.2.2
Description: SystemRescueCd 5.2.2
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/RescueCd/5.2.2/rescue64
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/os/RescueCd/5.2.2/initram.igz
imgargs docache
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick SystemRescueCd 5.2.2 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:
None

george1421 · Feb 4, 2019, 2:06 PM

Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/mint/19.1
mkdir -p /tftpboot/mint/19.1

Now we’ll mount the Linux Mint 19.1 installer over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/linuxmint-19.1-cinnamon-64bit.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/mint/19.1
umount /mnt/loop

Finally we’ll copy the pxe boot kernel and intfs to the tftpboot directory.

cp /images/os/mint/19.1/casper/vmlinuz /tftpboot/mint/19.1
cp /images/os/mint/19.1/casper/initrd.lz /tftpboot/mint/19.1

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.Mint19.1
Description: Linux Mint 19.1
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/mint/19.1/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/mint/19.1/initrd.lz
imgargs vmlinuz root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=${fog-ip}:/images/os/mint/19.1/ locale=en_US.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=us toram quiet splash
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick Linux Mint 19.1 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

george1421 · May 23, 2019, 1:56 PM

GParted 0.33.0 x86

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /tftpboot/gparted
mkdir -p /tmp/gparted

Download the gparted zip file from sourceforge site and save it to the /tmp/gparted directory
Change to the /tmp/gparted directory and expand the zip file. Then change into the live directory and finally copy the required files to the tftpboot/gparted directory

cd /tmp/gparted
unzip gparted-live-0.33.0-2-i686.zip
cd live
cp {vmlinuz,initrd.img,filesystem.squashfs} /tftpboot/gparted

In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.GParted
Description: GParted 0.33.0
Parameters:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/gparted/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/gparted/initrd.img
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img boot=live config components union=overlay username=user noswap noeject ip= vga=788 fetch=tftp://${fog-ip}/gparted/filesystem.squashfs
boot || goto MENU

Menu Show with: All Hosts
5. That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick GParted 0.33.0 from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

References:
https://gparted.org/livepxe.php

george1421 · Aug 6, 2019, 3:40 PM

ESXi 6.7u2

NOTE: This guidance only supports network booting of the uefi installer for ESXi. The reason for this is the fog project does not ship iPXE kernels that support the comboot function. If you want to boot your ESXi server in legacy mode you will need to compile your own specific version of undionly.kpxe to add in the IMG_COMBOOT.

First we’ll create the required directories:

mkdir -p /images/os/esxi/6.7u2

Now we’ll mount the ESXi installer iso over the loop directory. Then we’ll copy the contents of the DVD to the directory we built above.

mount -o loop -t iso9660 /{full path where you have the iso stored}/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0.update02-13006603.x86_64.iso /mnt/loop

cp -R /mnt/loop/* /images/os/esxi/6.7u2
umount /mnt/loop

Edit the boot configuration file to use NFS to access all of ESXi’s files.

# remove forward slashes from the config file
sed -i 's/\///g' /images/os/esxi/6.7u2/efi/boot/boot.cfg

Now we need to edit the/images/os/esxi/6.7u2/efi/boot/boot.cfg file to insert or modify the prefix parameter. Insert/modify the following line just below the title parameter. Also, be sure to replace {fog_server_ip} (exactly including the curly braces) with the actual IP address of your fog server. Your prefix line should look similar to this:

prefix=nfs://192.168.1.20:/images/os/esxi/6.7u2

The last bit of magic we need to do is setup a new FOG iPXE boot menu entry for this OS.
In the fog WebGUI go to FOG Configuration->iPXE New Menu Entry
Set the following fields
Menu Item: os.esxi67u2
Description: ESXi 6.7u2 Installer
Parameters:
kernel nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/esxi/6.7u2/efi/boot/bootx64.efi -c nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/esxi/6.7u2/efi/boot/boot.cfg
boot || goto MENU
Menu Show with: All Hosts
That’s it, just pxe boot your target system and pick ESXi 6.7u2 Installer from the FOG iPXE boot menu.

If for some reason you can not use NFS to pxe boot into the ESXi installer you can use tftp or http. If you want to use tftp extract the ESXi install files to /tftpboot/os/esxi/6.7u2. Then update the nfs:// protocols to tftp:// Be sure to remove the ':/images' after the host name or you will have errors. (i.e. kernel nfs://${fog-ip}:/images/os/esxi would become kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/os/esxi)

Using FOG to PXE boot into your favorite installer images

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