A PXE Boot environment has the following general requirements:
A configurable DHCP server on the network where PXE Boot takes place.
A TFTP server capable of servicing TFTP requests made by systems attempting to perform a PXE Boot.
A PXELinux boot image that can be served by the TFTP server to systems performing a PXE Boot.
A PXE configuration menu that describes the various boot options available to the systems performing a PXE Boot.
The
initrd.imgandvmlinuzfiles that the servers performing a PXE Boot are going to load.A method that you can use to export the installation ISO contents over the network. Commonly, HTTP is used, however in this example we configure an NFS server with an export of the installation ISO contents, that can be used for the installation.
While not entirely necessary, the advantage of using PXE Boot to handle installation is leveraged by setting up a Kickstart configuration that can be used to automate many of the installation steps. This is discussed in more detail in Section 4.2, “Using Kickstart to Automate Installation Options”, and we have assumed that this is a typical approach in this outline.