A P P E N D I X A |
Preconfiguring Your Network to Support PXE Installation |
This appendix contains procedures for preconfiguring your network prior to performing a PXE installation.
Follow the procedures in the section appropriate for your operating system:
These procedures describe how to preconfigure your network running Red Hat Enterprise Linux to support PXE installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux software on your server. These procedures assume that you already have a bootable server that is running a version of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system.
Note - Some of the following procedures might not be necessary if you confirm that the server packages are already in place and are configured. |
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation involves the following procedures:
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation requires the following items:
This section describes how to copy the PXE support files, which are required for PXE configurations, from the Resource CD. You can also download the driver RPMs from the Netra X4200 server. The download links are at: http://www.sun.com/servers/
1. Insert the Resource CD into the DHCP/PXE server.
2. Create a temporary directory to copy the PXE support files in to. Type:
3. Type the following commands to copy the files to the /tmp/ directory:
# cp /mnt/cdrom/support/pxeboot/rhel3_32-pxefiles.tar.gz /tmp/
4. Uncompress and extract the contents of the tar file into the /tmp/ directory. Type:
# tar -zxvf rhel3_32-pxefiles.tar.gz
When you extract the file, a directory with all required files is created at /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles/
Complete the following steps on the server that will be your DHCP server.
1. Power on the server and log in as superuser.
2. Determine whether the DHCP server package is already installed on the server. Type:
3. If the DHCP server package is not listed, insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD 1 and install the DHCP server. Type:
Note - For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, insert CD 5. |
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/dhcp-*.rpm
4. Remove the CD from the server after you type the following command:
5. Set up your DHCP configuration file (for example, /etc/dhcpd.conf) so that only PXEClient requests receive PXEClient responses.
Add the following entry to the DHCP configuration file. Refer to the dhcpd.conf man page for more information.
class "PXE" {match if substring(option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) ="PXEClient"; option vendor-class-identifier "PXEClient"; }
Note - If the server does not already have a dhcpd.conf file in its /etc directory, you an copy the dhcpd.conf file from the sample DHCP configuration file in the /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles directory. |
6. Start the DHCP service. Type:
7. Configure the server to always start DHCP. Type:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the portmap server package is already installed on the server. Type:
2. If portmap is not listed, insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD 2 and install the portmap service with the following commands:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/portmap-*
3. Remove the CD from the server after you type the following command:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the TFTP server package is already installed on the server. Type:
2. If the TFTP server package is not listed, insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD 1 and install the TFTP service with the following commands:
Note - For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, insert CD 4. |
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/tftp-server*
3. Remove the CD from the server after you type the following command:
4. Edit and save the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file.
5. Restart the inetd server. Type:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server. The neopxe server is designed for use with a DHCP server that is running on the same system.
1. Install the neopxe boot server daemon onto your system that is your DHCP server. Type:
# cd /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles/neopxe-0.2.0
2. Append the path /usr/local/sbin/neopxe to the rc.local file by typing the following command, making sure to use two greater-than signs:
# echo "/usr/local/sbin/neopxe" >> /etc/rc.d/rc.local
3. Copy the PXE Linux image from the /tmp/ directory. Type:
# cp /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles/pxelinux.0 /home/pxeboot
4. Configure the PXE Linux image. Type:
# mkdir /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/
# touch /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
5. Edit the /usr/local/etc/neopxe.conf configuration file, which is read by neopxe at startup.
service=service-number,boot-server,boot-file,label
prompt=Press [F8] for menu.. .
service=1,192.168.0.1,pxelinux.0,Linux
service=2,192.169.0.1,nbp.unknown,Solaris
Note - Refer to the neopxe.conf man page for more information. |
6. Start the neopxe daemon. Type:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the NFS service package is already installed on the server. Type:
2. If the NFS service package is not listed, insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD 1 and install the NFS service with the following commands:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/nfs-utils-*
3. Remove the CD from the server after you type the following command:
4. Edit and save the /etc/exports file to add the following line to it:
/home/pxeboot *(no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,insecure)
5. Start the NFS service. Type:
6. Configure the server to always start the NFS service. Type:
If you enabled firewall security when you installed Red Hat Enterprise Linux software on the system that will be your PXE server, complete the following steps to disable the firewall so that PXE clients can download from the server.
1. Stop the ipchains service. Type:
2. Stop the iptables service. Type:
3. Stop the ipchains service from starting when you restart the server. Type:
4. Stop the iptables service from starting when you restart the server. Type:
Note - You might encounter error messages if the ipchains service is not installed on the server. You can safely ignore these messages. |
When you have completed all the previous configuration steps, do the following.
1. Reboot the PXE/DHCP server.
2. Refer to How to Create a PXE Install Image on the PXE Server.
These procedures describe how to preconfigure your network running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 (SLES9) software to support PXE installation of SUSE Linux software on your Netra X4200 server. These procedures assume that you already have a bootable server that is running a version of the SLES9 operating system.
Note - Some of the following procedures might not be necessary if you confirm that the server packages are already in place and are configured. You might be prompted for a UnitedLinux CD. |
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation involves the following procedures:
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation requires the following items:
This section describes how to copy the PXE support files, which are required for PXE configurations, from the Resource CD. You can also download the driver RPMs from the Netra X4200 web site. The downloads links are at:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/downloads.jsp
1. Insert the Resource CD into the DHCP/PXE server.
2. Create a temporary directory to copy the PXE support files to. Type:
3. Type the following commands to copy the files to the /tmp/ directory:
# cp /mnt/cdrom/support/pxeboot/sles9-pxefiles.tar.gz /tmp/
4. Uncompress and extract the contents of the tar file into the /tmp/ directory. Type:
# tar -zxf /tmp/sles9-pxefiles.tar.gz
When you extract the file, a directory with all required files is created at /tmp/sles9-pxefiles/
5. Remove the Resource CD from the server after you type the following command:
Complete the following steps on the server that will be your DHCP server.
1. Power on the server and log in as superuser.
2. Determine whether the DHCP server package is already installed on the server. Type:
3. If the DHCP server package is not listed, install the package using YaST. Type:
4. Set up your DHCP configuration file (for example, /etc/dhcpd.conf) so that only PXEClient requests receive PXEClient responses.
Add the following entry to the DHCP configuration file. Refer to the dhcpd.conf man page for more information.
class "PXE" {match if substring(option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) ="PXEClient"; option vendor-class-identifier "PXEClient"; }
Note - You can start with a sample DHCP configuration file in the /tmp/sles9-pxefiles directory. |
5. Edit the /etc/sysconfig/dhcpd file and verify that the DHCPD_INTERFACE is set to the interface that is connected to the network you are planning to run the PXE server.
For example, if you are using Ethernet interface 0, the DHCPD_INTERFACE variable would be set as follows:
6. Start the DHCP service. Type:
7. Configure the server to always start DHCP. Type:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the portmap server package is already installed on the server. Type:
2. If portmap is not listed, install the package using YaST. Type:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the TFTP server package is already installed on the server. Type:
2. If the TFTP server package is not listed, install the package using YaST. Type:
3. Edit and save the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file.
4. Restart the inetd server. Type:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server. The neopxe server is designed for use with a DHCP server that is running on the same system.
1. If a compiler is not installed on the server, use YaST to install gcc with the following commands:
2. Install the neopxe boot server daemon onto your system that is your DHCP server. Type:
# cd /tmp/sles9-pxefiles/neopxe-0.2.0
3. Append the path /usr/local/sbin/neopxe to the rc.local file by typing the following command, making sure to use two greater-than signs:
# echo "/usr/local/sbin/neopxe" >> /etc/rc.d/boot.local
4. Copy the PXE Linux image from the /tmp/ directory. Type:
# cp /tmp/sles9-pxefiles/pxelinux.0 /home/pxeboot
5. Configure the PXE Linux image. Type:
# mkdir /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/
# touch /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
6. Edit the /usr/local/etc/neopxe.conf configuration file, which is read by neopxe at startup.
service=service-number,boot-server,boot-file,label
prompt=Press [F8] for menu.. .
service=1,192.168.0.1,pxelinux.0,Linux
service=2,192.169.0.1,nbp.unknown,Solaris
Note - Refer to the neopxe.conf man page for more information. |
7. Start the neopxe daemon. Type:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the NFS service package is already installed on the server. Type:
2. If the NFS service package is not listed, install the package using YaST. Type:
3. Edit and save the /etc/exports file to add the following line to it:
/home/pxeboot *(sync,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,insecure)
4. Start the NFS service. Type:
5. Configure the server to always start the NFS service. Type:
If a firewall is enabled on your PXE/DHCP server, you must disable it before attempting to install a PXE image onto the client system.
1. Execute the YaST command. Type:
When you have completed all the previous configuration steps, do the following.
1. Reboot the PXE/DHCP server.
2. Refer to the How to Create a SLES9 SP1 PXE Install Image on the PXE Server.
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