@londonfog as long as you don’t put any custom files in /var/www/fog you should be good. I have pmagic on my fog ipxe menu and put the files in /var/www/pm11_winpe and the permissions for the files are correct.

This is what my ipxe menu item parameters look like:
set tftp-path tftp://${fog-ip}
set web-path http://${fog-ip}
set pe-path ${web-path}/pm11_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 bootmgr ${pe-path}/bootmgr bootmgr
imgfetch --name boot.wim ${pe-path}/boot.wim boot.wim
boot || goto MENU

Got it working! This worked for me after making sure the drive was changed to GPT and I also labeled the efi parition as “EFI”:
menuentry “Windows” {
insmod chain
insmod ntfs
insmod part_gpt
set root=(hd1,gpt2)
chainloader (hd1,gpt2)/efi/microsoft/boot/bootmgfw.efi
}

Just realized that the set root part is redundant. I am partitoning the drive now to copy the files from the FOG USB key then tell the UEFI on the PC to boot from this new GRUB partition first. Looking good!

Try updating the Kernel drivers? I’ve seen varying ipxe performance from different hardware. For example, I’ve seen ipxe boot faster on an Optiplex 7020 vs 3020 which is a newer model.

@george1421 There wasn’t any doubt on my end…but I can imagine you read that and said to yourself “of course it did…”.

Success! Dropped the files into /var/www and used set web-path to ${fog-ip}. In case anyone else has this issue this is my iPXE menu item parameters:
set tftp-path tftp://${fog-ip}/os
set web-path http://${fog-ip}
set pe-path ${web-path}/pm11_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 bootmgr ${pe-path}/bootmgr bootmgr
imgfetch --name boot.wim ${pe-path}/boot.wim boot.wim
boot || goto MENU

@george1421 I just tested it out on a PC outside of our IT vlan with success. I hard coded it already, but I have a habit of not disclosing our IP addresses even if they’re private. I get the Press ESC to show the menu option for one second, then it boots to the hard drive. Now I took the modified bootx64.efi from my usb drive and copied it to the Windows EFI partition, replacing the existing one (renamed the old to bootx64.efi.bak), made sure that the UEFI is pointing to the file, and now the PC boots the fog process without USB.

So to anyone else that wants to do what I’m doing or similar, here is what my final ipxeconfig script looks like. Also keep in mind that while I followed the USB boot method instructions, I adapted the method to drop the files onto the EFI partition of the primary drive, same directory structure as well.

#!ipxe
isset ${net0/mac} && ifopen net0 && dhcp net0 || goto dhcperror
echo Received DHCP answer on interface net0 && show ip && goto netboot

:dhcperror
prompt --key s --timeout 3000 DHCP failed, 's' !!!I.T. ONLY!!!; or continue to Windows in 3 seconds && shell || goto refind

:netboot
chain http://*fogip*/html/default.ipxe || goto netbooterror

:netbooterror
prompt --key s --timeout 3000 Connection failed, 's' !!!I.T. ONLY!!!; or continue to Windows in 3 seconds && shell || goto refind

:refind
imgfetch file:///EFI/Boot/refind.conf
chain -ar file:///EFI/Boot/refind.efi

@george1421 Pretty much there man! I still want to play with echos and hiding/masking command outputs. Also want to throw in “echo show ip” so I can see what IP is grabbed. This can be useful.
Thanks for you help!

:netbooterror
prompt --key s --timeout 3000 Connection failed, hit 's' for the iPXE shell; continue to Windows in 3 seconds && shell || goto refind

:refind
imgfetch file:///EFI/Boot/refind.conf
chain -ar file:///EFI/Boot/refind.efi

@george1421 Follwing your suggestion, here’s what I ended up doing with success:
ipxeconfig:

:netboot
chain http://*fogip*/html/default.ipxe || goto netbooterror

:netbooterror
prompt --key s --timeout 10000 DHCP failed, hit 's' for the iPXE shell; reboot in 10 seconds && shell || goto refind

:refind
imgload file:///EFI/Boot/refind.efi
boot

I also placed refind.efi and refind.conf on the EFI partition in EFI/Boot/ along with the custom bootx64.efi. Now I don’t know if refind.efi will automatically read refind.conf or do I have to tell ipxe to load the conf as well.

Now when the connection fails, I get the 10sec prompt (which I will shorten and change the message of), then it goes to the refind menu, which the first option is selected, Windows EFI Boot option, with a 20sec timeout. Boots into Windows!

I just have to clean things up and shorten the timeouts since our end users will see this if their internet goes out. Otherwise our Helpdesk will get flooded with “weird messages on screen when starting up”.

@george1421 I was messing around with a UEFI vm that has windows 10. Normally it boots from EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi. I made a vISO with the FOG bootx64.efi and watched as the ipxe process would try to connect to the fog server, failed, then it boot into windows. When I placed the fog bootx64.efi onto the hard drive efi partition, and told the vm to boot to that first, ipxe would fail and drop to a shell instead of booting to the first boot option in the UEFI. I don’t think or know if the ipxe shell can access a gpt partition, or if it can even see the drive. Sanboot 0x80 returns an error device could not be found.

@george1421 Odd thing is that it worked on a VM booting from the USB files inside of a vISO in virtualbox, I had the VM on a local lan that does not have access to the prod network so it couldn’t connect to the fog server and then it booted from the virtual hdd. That could be because the default boot device is the first vhdd, and it is pointing to efi/microsoft/boot/bootmgfw.efi. So I could specify that file somewhere in the ipxeconfig file right? Only thing is how would I know the root path of the efi partition of the windows drive? I’ve seen something like PCI/HDD0/something/something/EFI/ but not sure.

@george1421 said in Boot from hard drive if connection to fog server fails:

http://<fog_server_ip>/fog/service/ipxe/boot.php?mac=00:00:00:00:00:00

You da man sir!
I changed the ipxeconfig to this and it booted to the hdd after failing to connect to the fog server!

:netboot
chain http://fogip/html/default.ipxe ||
imgfetch http://fogip/service/ipxe/refind.conf
chain -ar http://fogip/service/ipxe/refind_x64.efi

I have a setup where I replaced the Windows EFI files with a custom FOG efi file that connects to the fog server first, checks if there are any tasks, then boots to Windows if no tasks are running. If the connection can’t be made to the FOG server, according to the ipxeconfig script, it will fail and either prompt to drop to shell or reboot.

:netboot
chain http://fogip/html/default.ipxe ||
prompt --key s --timeout 10000 Chainloading failed, hit 's' for the iPXE shell; reboot in 10 seconds && shell || reboot

This can be a problem if internet goes down for a remote site, the PCs won’t boot into Windows and the clients can’t work locally at the very least.
How do I tell the script to boot from the hard drive or a specific file instead of rebooting? Windows has multiple EFI files to boot from that work, bootmgrfw.efi and bootx64.efi work the same. So I’m thinking to leave one of those as the stock Windows efi file, then tell the script if it cannot connect to the fog server, boot from a specific file, in this case the Windows efi file.

@george1421 I just tested it out on a PC outside of our IT vlan with success. I hard coded it already, but I have a habit of not disclosing our IP addresses even if they’re private. I get the Press ESC to show the menu option for one second, then it boots to the hard drive. Now I took the modified bootx64.efi from my usb drive and copied it to the Windows EFI partition, replacing the existing one (renamed the old to bootx64.efi.bak), made sure that the UEFI is pointing to the file, and now the PC boots the fog process without USB.

@george1421 I placed a copy of default.ipxe in /var/www/html and verified it is accessible via my web browser. Still having trouble with the ipxescript. What I’d like it to do, and I’m currently researching how to do, is tell ipxe to:

1. Init devices
2. Request an IP via DHCP
3. chainload the default.ipxe file by connecting to the http share.

What I don’t want is the proxy check and all that. I want everything to be specified and explicit.

UPDATE: Found it! Still a bit dirty, but I got it to serve over http only.

#!ipxe
isset ${net0/mac} && ifopen net0 && dhcp net0 || goto dhcperror
echo Received DHCP answer on interface net0 && goto netboot

#:dhcpnet1
#isset ${net1/mac} && ifopen net1 && dhcp net1 || goto dhcpnet2
#echo Received DHCP answer on interface net1

#:dhcpnet2
#isset ${net2/mac} && ifopen net2 && dhcp net2 || goto dhcpall
#echo Received DHCP answer on interface net2

#:dhcpall
#dhcp && goto setserv || goto dhcperror

:dhcperror
prompt --key s --timeout 10000 DHCP failed, hit 's' for the iPXE shell; reboot in 10 seconds && shell || reboot

#:proxycheck
#isset ${proxydhcp/next-server} && set next-server ${proxydhcp/next-server} || goto nextservercheck

#:nextservercheck
#isset ${next-server} || set next-server fogip && goto netboot || goto setserv

#:setserv
#set fogserver fogip && goto netboot || goto setserv

:netboot
chain http://fogip/html/default.ipxe ||
prompt --key s --timeout 10000 Chainloading failed, hit 's' for the iPXE shell; reboot in 10 seconds && shell || reboot

@george1421

/root/fogproject-1.5.9/src/ipxe/src/ipxescript

#!ipxe
isset ${net0/mac} && ifopen net0 && dhcp net0 || goto dhcpnet1
echo Received DHCP answer on interface net0 && goto proxycheck

:dhcpnet1
isset ${net1/mac} && ifopen net1 && dhcp net1 || goto dhcpnet2
echo Received DHCP answer on interface net1 && goto proxycheck

:dhcpnet2
isset ${net2/mac} && ifopen net2 && dhcp net2 || goto dhcpall
echo Received DHCP answer on interface net2 && goto proxycheck

:dhcpall
dhcp && goto proxycheck || goto dhcperror

:dhcperror
prompt --key s --timeout 10000 DHCP failed, hit 's' for the iPXE shell; reboot in 10 seconds && shell || reboot

:proxycheck
isset ${proxydhcp/next-server} && set next-server ${proxydhcp/next-server} || goto nextservercheck

:nextservercheck
isset ${next-server} && goto netboot || goto setserv

:setserv
echo -n Please enter tftp server: && read next-server && goto netboot || goto setserv

:netboot
chain tftp://${next-server}/default.ipxe ||
prompt --key s --timeout 10000 Chainloading failed, hit 's' for the iPXE shell; reboot in 10 seconds && shell || reboot

The ipxe.efi was compiled on the same server that the USB boot method is connecting to. It seems like default.ipxe is being served via tftp AFTER ipxe init. So that file is what I want to be served via http. I guess I’d have to make the ipxe.efi do this via script of config file before compiling it.