How to Create the SIA Image and Prepare for PXE Boot

Before You Begin

• You must have already set up your PXE infrastructure, see Set Up the PXE Infrastructure.

• You must have already obtained the sia_netboot.zip file, see Obtain the SIA PXE Image Files.

• You must have already created your state file for the SIA tasks to be performed as described in the relevant sections below:

  • How to Prepare for an Unattended SIA Installation of Linux

  • How to Prepare for an Unattended SIA Installation of Windows Server

  • How to Prepare for an Unattended SIA Firmware Upgrade

1. On the PXE TFTP server, create a new subdirectory for the SIA image.

   For example, the following command line creates a subdirectory in the default TFTP server root to contain the SIA image:

   # mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/sia

2. Extract the contents of sia_netboot.zip to the directory on the TFTP server you created for your SIA image.

3. Post your modified SIA state file (externalStateVariables.txt) on a web server that the PXE server can access (or on the PXE server itself, if it is configured as a web server).

4. Use an editor to modify your PXE configuration file (the default name for this file is pxelinux.cfg) to add the necessary references to your SIA image.

   Refer to the examples in sample-pxe.cfg file. Modify them as necessary for your setup.

5. Add the following to the append line in the pxelinux.cfg file to configure it for an unattended SIA install using your state file:

   splash=silent siaurl=http://URL_to_ externalStateVariables.txt

   The siaurl= parameter must point to the state file.

6. Save the pxelinux.cfg file.

   You image is now ready to be booted from.

Next Steps

To boot the SIA PXE image from the PXE server and begin the unattended installation, follow the steps presented in How to Boot SIA From a PXE Server and Perform an Unattended Installation.