If I create a fog server, can I push an image to a friends computer remotely via the internet if he has ipv4 pxe option in his bios?

[Razuel]

Front page states:
“Computers can be securely managed with FOG Project remotely, from anywhere in the world*. * requires a public facing FOG Server”

Suppose that could be limited to only managing and not pushing images. Not sure.

The problem:
There are instances where windows 10 !@#$ up and you cannot get into the recovery prior to boot, it now only lets you access it through shift reboot from login. Or it is all a mess and will not work from recovery menu, either.

No cd rom drive, no dedicated usb boot drive so you have to run to a friends house or buy a boot drive from amazon.

So, I’d like to make a public IP that a remote computer could connect to via this setting in their bios in order to push a fresh image of windows 10.

I’ve read you do not want to make a public server for this, not sure why? Like why hasn’t Microsoft done this? Seems like it would be a huge deal to make an install so simple as to connect to an ip in the bios and let it do it’s thing.

Anyway, rant over. Just wanted to make sure this project here would actually work before I get further into it.

[george1421]

@Razuel Technically you can do this, but I wouldn’t go about it this way especially for a one off situation.

If you wanted to go with a fog only solution then create a mobile (i.e. laptop based) fog deployment server (that you can repurposed). Setup dnsmasq on it with the community contributed dynamic IP script and then just take the laptop and plug it into the remote location and image that way.

If you wanted to make a usb based imaging choice then look at clonezilla. That way the image and imaging tool will fit on one 32GB usb flash drive. Ship the usb flash drive to the remote location and boot from the usb (you’ll need to turn off secure boot for this or any linux based imaging tool).

If you wanted to go with a remote fog deployment you will need to set port forwarding on your internet facing router to allow , tftp, http, rpc and nfs protocols into your network (a bit of a security risk). You will also need to tweak your fog install to send the public IP address to the remote computer instead of the fog server’s IP address. At the remote location you will need to setup a dhcp server that sends pxe boot information. It can be done, but is going to be a bit of a hassle.

[Razuel]

@george1421 paragraph 3 sounds like a pain in the !@#$, what exactly does this entail from the main page? ““Computers can be securely managed with FOG Project remotely, from anywhere in the world. * requires a public facing FOG Server”” Is that just remote access, or pushing updates?

[Tom Elliott]

@Razuel remote management is what it sounds like. Public facing meaning the fog server is accessible from the internet.

While technically possible to image, it really wouldn’t be the best experience. By remotely managed we simply mean you can change the host name, tell it to join a domain, configure printers, set up snapins, and that kind of thing. I wouldn’t recommend imaging over the internet as it would be constrained by your internet upload speed and the remote sides download speed.

Usually download speed is fine anywhere but upload is typically limited much more so.