Also in case it helps here are the parameters from my menu entry:
kernel tftp://${fog-ip}/centos7/images/vmlinuz
initrd tftp://${fog-ip}/centos7/images/initrd.img
imgargs vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img root=live:nfs://${fog-ip}/images/centos7/LiveOS/squashfs.img ip=dhcp
repo=nfs://${fog-ip}/images/centos7 splash quiet
boot || goto MENU
menu show with is All Hosts.
tftp root is ip/images. All centos files are in ip/images/centos7
Thanks
@wayne-workman Upon booting PXE, where should the entry be displayed? Is it a sub menu to something else or should it be at the top level?
Looks like my last apache error is from yesterday and was related to SELinux which has since been resolved
Hello,
FOG: 1.5.2
I setup a new iPXE entry using the directions found here:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/10944/using-fog-to-pxe-boot-into-your-favorite-installer-images
I added an entry for CentOS 7 according to the directions.
When I boot a workstation either BIOS or UEFI I see no entry for PXE booting CentOS. To clarify I do get the menu with memcheck, deploy image, etc.
My entry shows in the Web GUI under Settings | iPXE Menu Item Settings and shows the contents I placed in it when I created it.
Are there some services that need restarts after configuring the menu or am I missing something here?
In the iPXE menu where should the entry appear?
Thanks
Hello,
I found that PXE (UEFI) will crash/reboot when trying to load the default bg.png image for the background. Found the option to change it in the web GUI and simply removed it and confirmed it boots.
I had the same problem prior using PXE/Syslinux and the resolution for me was to use a jpg instead of a png file. I uploaded my background image (pxe.jpg), placed it in the /var/www/html/fog/service/ipxe/ directory, set ownership to the same as bg.png (644 I think). I added the entry to the web GUI (file name no path just like bg.png) and saved. Notification said save was successful.
However the image doesnt display in either UEFI or BIOS boot, but it does boot and get to the menus.
This leads me to believe the resolution is the problem. Is there a way to adjust the screen resolution of the iPXE/PXE menus? I poked around settings, searched the forums and searched the wiki/google. It seems for 1 person permissions was the issue (doesnt help me).
It looks like the default bg is 800x600, so I am guesing if I sized my image to that it may work (ill give it a shot) however in UEFI the menu is very small, taking up maybe 1/4 of the screen, it would be great if I could push it up to something like 1024x768.
Thanks
@wayne-workman said in Using FOG as Multi-Arch/Distro PXE Server?:
There is not one way to do it all
Yep thats what I found with PXE/SYSLINUX, it all worked fine with 1 arch or 1 distro but was very messy when combining. With syslinux it just became apparent it was never going to be possible to overcome the issues.
Ill do more research myself as well.
As for the paths, I am just unsure how I would go about deciding and setting where things live. I found in the storage paths for image and ftp which do both point to my /images mount, which is good. Do I just place my ISO’s and/or installation files in this directory, are they treated as “images” or is that reserved for images captured from a machine?
Sorry I know its alot of newb questions, just trying to wrap my head around the gaps in the documentation (or things I have overlooked)
Also where would I be placing the install media? From the article it seems like it all goes under /var/…
However the install directions mentioned creating a partition called ‘images’ which I presumed was where the bulk of the data would go.
Ive got 2x 300GB SSD RAID 1 for OS (/, home, var, etc) and 6x 600GB HDD in RAID 5 (called “data”) mounted to /images. Should I have instead mounted var to the “data” array and placed a folder inside it for /images?
I guess I am a little unclear on if the various paths FOG uses are hard coded thus requiring careful partitioning or if they are variables that can be set to the desired dev’s partitions.
Thanks
@wayne-workman Thanks.
I did see that. Is there a way to do it not using the memdisk/iso method?
Excuse my ignorance on the topic, but comparing it to what I know using SYSLINUX and say CentOS 7 for example I would have it boot using the syslinux provided kernel and initrd image and point it at the installation path via inst.repo=http//server/path which contained the contents locally of what can be viewed at this mirror (http://mirror.grid.uchicago.edu/pub/linux/centos/7/os/x86_64/)
Unless the 2 methods are more similar than I thought, the method I outlined above would not have to xfer and store in RAM the full ISO to do an install but could instead grab smaller files and then only the packages needed during install. Would that be a correct understanding or does the above really just xfer the whole thing and mount it in RAM anyway?
Is there even an equivalent method via FOG/iPXE or is memdisk/ISO the only way? Also, isnt memdisk BIOS only or does it work in UEFI?
The article however does shed some light on creating menu entries, is there a good resource specific to adding menu entries, parameter syntax, reorganizing menus, theaming/formatting them, etc?
Ill read over the article more closely and evaluate it further. I of course will keep searching and reading (or re-reading) as much of the wiki as I can.
Thanks!
FOG: 1.5.2
OS: CentOS 7.4.1708 updated
Server: PowerEdge R620 (FW updated)
Networking: 10.0.0.x, DHCP (server will be 10.0.0.2, GW is 10.0.0.1)
Hello,
I am new to FOG (as in found out about it yesterday) so please be gentle.
Short version:
I want to setup a PXE server that can deploy from standard/official and unmodified images the following OS’s to install on the client machine:
I also would like to be able to run via PXE on a client (not installed on client but run from memory):
I am unclear on how to add these OS’s as options to boot via iPXE both in terms of where I place the content/files, how I structure the directories and how I update the iPXE menus to reflect the choices. Any help direct or linked to would be awesome.
Ideally I would like to have 4 menu options in the “main” menu:
Other than local boot, the rest should have sub menus leading to the OS (Like CentOS 6/7, then on to specific options to install OS’s)
For now I am happy with them just starting a manual install as if I had popped the disk in, in the future kickstarting/scripting the installs would be nice but I am not concerned with it for now.
So any guidance or links to resources specific to the goal of setting up FOG to act as a PXE server (via iPXE) to serve both UEFI and BIOS machines with multiple OS’s would be much appreciated. I have read over much of the FOG wiki, looked over many posts in these forums and scoured Google. I havent yet found any clear cut, specific directions for specifically using FOG as a PXE server in the capacity I have described.
Long Version:
I had manually setup a PXE server using SYSLINUX and had BIOS based machines working no problem. I got, eventually and after much effort, to the point that my UEFI machines would boot the menu but could not execute any other options successfully (on most machines, one machine would work in UEFI just fine). I have scoured the internet trying to get it to work and came to the conclusion that SYSLINUX is a dead project (last release was ~2015) and wasnt cut out for my needs in a multi-arch AND multi-OS environment.
Thats how I came across FOG, looking for an alternative to SYSLINUX and GRUB as a means to deploy installations via PXE. iPXE alone seems to be the basis for this but appears to be very complicated and was unable to find clear direction for using it by itself.
Really what it comes down to is simply:
I want to be able to PXE boot any machine, BIOS or UEFI and get a functional (and nice looking) menu to install or run a number of very different OS’s. I am hoping FOG is the best tool for the job with room to grow into other roles re: deployment in the future (like replacing Clonezilla).
Let me know if you need me to share any other specific information, if I have misunderstood anything or if I have not explained my goals and questions clearly.
Thanks