55 replies to this topic

[RoyM]

Yes, Thanks for correcting me, Not fully caffeinated yet.

Once fully awake, I will navigate above threads..

[Wonko the Sane]

Yes, Thanks for correcting me, Not fully caffeinated yet.

Once fully awake, I will navigate above threads..

Yep , it happens all the time ....just in case :

Spoiler

Wonko

[crashnburn]

RoyM - Thanks so much for the outline. I will work on this sometime soon in the near future when I get to open up the P4 boxes and clean the dust out

On the other hand - I also have a NAS - Synology CS407 - Would it be possible to add a small module to it to support this?
It already does support Samba/CIFS/ NFS/ FTP/ etc.

I am not too familiar with TFTPD so I thought I'd ask you before I go researching in a Google blackhole

Hi crashnburn

My particular setup consists of a smoothwall firewall that has been heavily modded.

mods = tftpd + samba mod, and three additional harddrives setup as shared drives on my network,
each dedicated for a particular purpose. I won't bother with all the details
of each particular share.

The tftpd server uses one of the shared drives with a folder on it named /tftpdboot,
This is your base folder for pxe booting and all pxe references to it are relative to
this path, grldr's nomenclature for it is (pd)

This folder is where all the pxe fun stuff happens, grldr is located in this folder
and my pxe server is told to deliver this file to it's pxe clients.

Once grldr is delivered as the pxe boot file, grldr then looks for (pd)/menu.lst/default
as it's menu file, which of course is located in the /tftpdboot folder.
all my ISO's are in /tftpdboot/iso/*.iso as you can see from prior posting.

This is one of the best pxe setups I have used for ease of maintenance, security, and sharing.
Oh, and did I mention it's free, as in open-source.

(BUT)
If you are unfamiliar with linux, I would not suggest this to you.
There are many more nuances to a linux setup than just plug and play.
You have permissions and groups and other small details to deal with
to get it all working across the network.

However, any tftpd server can be used in the same way (ie.) tfptd32

Basically, you will tell your pxe server to deliver grldr as the pxe boot file
and then using the examples above, place all your ISO's in the iso folder

I will leave the homework chores to you for your particular pxe server.
If you need help or advice you can always post back.

Good Luck and happy pxe'ing

BTW, That old P4 or particularly the Xeon Server would make ideal candidates for a Smoothie.

Edited by crashnburn, 22 October 2011 - 02:56 PM.

[RoyM]

Hi again crashnburn

Plenty of mod forums for the Synology can be found below
You'll want to brush up on your Google Fu, and also search for tftp
Trivial File Transfer Protocol.

Synology General Mods Forum/TFTP SERVER Here:
http://forum.synolog...0917&hilit=tftp
You must install atftp package through ipkg

Quick turorial can be found here:
http://forum.synolog...it=tftp#p146094

Step 1. Make sure you have done the IPKG install as per other links on this site.
Step 2. Install atftp by issuing a >ipkg install atftp
Step 3. Check the /opt/etc/xinetd.conf file and make sure you have your working subnet included in the only_from line.
Step 4. If you are writing files to the tftp server then you must allow write permissions to the default tftpboot folder located at /opt/tftpboot
eg. issue a >chmod 777 /opt/tftpboot
The default folder can be changed by editing the atftp file located /opt/etc/xinetd.d/atftp

Welcome to Linux, Some hints, WinSCP will become your new friend.
For some minimal Linux OS's with no GUI, It is sometimes much easier to ssh
into your Linux machine from a networked Windows machine for file manipulation and editing,
I am not familiar with what apps the Synology CS407 has to offer.

WinSCP here:
http://winscp.net/eng/index.php

[ralgith]

title Install Windows XP 32-bit nRun the Windows install DVD to install a copy of Windows to your hard disk
pxe keep
root (pd)/ImDisk/MYISO.CMD
dd if=()/ImDisk/au.xml of=()/AutoUnattend.xml
dd if=()/ImDisk/cr.txt of=()/ImDisk/MYISO.CMD
write ()/ImDIsk/MYISO.CMD SET MYISO=isoXpProSp3.isorn
map /iso/XpProSp3.iso (0xff)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map --hook
chainloader (0xff)

Roy,

I tried this exact entry (modifying the path to just /filenames where you have /ImDisk/filenames since I have everything in tftp64's boot folder) and it complains about these lines:
dd if=()/ImDisk/au.xml of=()/AutoUnattend.xml
dd if=()/ImDisk/cr.txt of=()/ImDisk/MYISO.CMD
write ()/ImDIsk/MYISO.CMD SET MYISO=isoXpProSp3.isorn

I have an empty cr.txt and myiso.cmd is a copy of it as I read elsewhere. I do not have an AutoUnattended.xml, nor do I want one. I've tried commenting out that line and I just get a different error. The error I get when I comment out the au.xml line is that I don't have write permissions on the disk. Can you walk me through this code (what it is supposed to do) step by step so I can understand it better and perhaps figure out where this is hanging up? I'll try again later to do this so I can get the error text verbatim as well.

Thanks for any info

[Wonko the Sane]

I have an empty cr.txt and myiso.cmd is a copy of it as I read elsewhere.

Where?

If I remember correctly, to dd a file it must be non-zero in size and definitely to write to it it must be as many bytes (at least) in size as what you want to write.

That menu entry seems a lot like coming from here:
http://www.rmprepusb...iskautounattend
which is windows 7 related and is now considered obsolete and replaced by this one:
http://www.rmprepusb...ials/firawiniso
and however were developed to solve a specific Windows 7 missing DVD issue:
http://reboot.pro/9076/

And I guess you need anyway an unattended *something* to trigger the .cmd, with XP it should be autounattended.txt

I guess you would have more luck with XP specific tutorials/methods:
http://www.msfn.org/...ndows-from-usb/
(but of course they will need to be modified for PXE)
http://www.msfn.org/...aded-iso-image/
http://www.msfn.org/...rom-a-iso-file/


(I see no reason to have the .iso mapped by IMDISK, nor to exchange hard disk drive when PXE booting, and firadisk or winvblock should do allright)



Wonko

[ralgith]

Where?

If I remember correctly, to dd a file it must be non-zero in size and definitely to write to it it must be as many bytes (at least) in size as what you want to write.

Hmm, you could be correct on that account. That may be the issue, they're each just filled with some white space.

That menu entry seems a lot like coming from here:
http://www.rmprepusb...iskautounattend
which is windows 7 related and is now considered obsolete and replaced by this one:
http://www.rmprepusb...ials/firawiniso
and however were developed to solve a specific Windows 7 missing DVD issue:
http://reboot.pro/9076/

And I guess you need anyway an unattended *something* to trigger the .cmd, with XP it should be autounattended.txt

I guess you would have more luck with XP specific tutorials/methods:
http://www.msfn.org/...ndows-from-usb/
(but of course they will need to be modified for PXE)
http://www.msfn.org/...aded-iso-image/
http://www.msfn.org/...rom-a-iso-file/


(I see no reason to have the .iso mapped by IMDISK, nor to exchange hard disk drive when PXE booting, and firadisk or winvblock should do allright)



Wonko

Except that this isn't from USB, its via tftpd32 (well, tftpd64 really). I've tried about 5 different methods to install XP on this machine (which came with XP, but is now missing its CD-ROM... well I have a CD-ROM just not the adapter to connect it, which I can't find on eBay since its a very oddball one) and I've pretty well given up.

The method described here:
http://blog.ryantada...and-windows-pe/
Gets me an error with the Install Option being grayed out... which is addressed here:
http://blog.ryantada...etwork-install/

Except that winnt32.exe fails for me saying it cannot find my hdd. Which is bull, I've used diskpart from WinPE to partition and format it several different ways. With both NTFS and for compatibility issues FAT32. None of it has worked. I've pretty much given up at this point.

[Wonko the Sane]

Except that winnt32.exe fails for me saying it cannot find my hdd. Which is bull, I've used diskpart from WinPE to partition and format it several different ways. With both NTFS and for compatibility issues FAT32. None of it has worked. I've pretty much given up at this point.

Look, if you manage to load the .iso in RAM, then it makes no difference whatever from where it was loaded (if not about disk order).

BUT, what is your goal?

• Install from PXE from a .iso?
  OR:
• Install from PXE?

If the latter, do a RIS install and be done with it, if the first, you will have to experiment.


Wonko

[ralgith]

Look, if you manage to load the .iso in RAM, then it makes no difference whatever from where it was loaded (if not about disk order).

BUT, what is your goal?

• Install from PXE from a .iso?
  OR:
• Install from PXE?

If the latter, do a RIS install and be done with it, if the first, you will have to experiment.


Wonko

Thanks
I'll be trying a "RIS" install soon then. Care to point me in the direction of a good tutorial? Also, I assume RIS will let me do Win2k, XP Home, XP Pro, Vista (All), Win7 (All), Server 2k3, Server 2k8, and Server 2k8R2... yes? As those are the non-Linux systems I currently need to be able to support. Though thankfully Win2k is basically gone now

[Wonko the Sane]

Here:
http://reboot.pro/1961/
several versions of the Kloudfreak's guide.

Also:
http://www.windowsdr...com/winner.html

Also, if you are going to have Windows 7 you may want to check this:
http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/pxe


Wonko

[ralgith]

Thanks for the info!

Sorry it took me so long to get back and thank you, I do try and always give thanks when people help. I just had a very busy weekend is all.

Kinda funny, I had already looked at that thread by the time you responded, and posted in it myself about using iPXE instead of gPXE... but thanks anyways since I think my fogged over brain from lack of sleep failed to notice the thread contained info I was looking for and instead focused too tightly on the gPXE mention.

[vvuk]

Just to report I also had problem with line

dd if=()/ImDisk/au.xml of=()/AutoUnattend.xml

it was error 29 (no permission to write)

[NetFanTom]

Hello!

Regarding Grub4dos:

...

pxe keep

find --set-root /boot/img/rescue.iso

...

Does the find command work under pxe or not?

Regards,
NetFanTom

[steve6375]

Just to report I also had problem with line

dd if=()/ImDisk/au.xml of=()/AutoUnattend.xml

it was error 29 (no permission to write)

???? What context is this referring too?????? need details!

[vvuk]

I was fallowing user ralgith. It should work over PXE and Grub4dos.
I was also using original tutorial http://www.rmprepusb...iskautounattend where I was getting errors "15 : File not found" and "27 : Unrecognized command" in this line
find --set-root /ImDisk/myiso.cmd and find --set-root ImDiskmyiso.cmd


Whit this menu.lst I manage to reach to error 29

title Install Windows XP

pxe keep

root (pd)/ImDisk/MYISO.CMD

dd if=()/ImDisk/au.xml of=()/AutoUnattend.xml

dd if=()/ImDisk/cr.txt of=()/ImDisk/MYISO.CMD

write ()/ImDIsk/MYISO.CMD SET MYISO=isoXpProSp3.isorn

map /iso/XpProSp3.iso (0xff)

map (hd0) (hd1)

map (hd1) (hd0)

map --hook

chainloader (0xff)

and error looks like this

Booting Install Windows XP

filesystem type is pxe, using whole disk

The current working directory(i.e., the relative path) is /ImDisk/MYISO.CMD

buf_size=0x10000, loops=0x1. in_pos=0x0000000000000000,  out_pos=0000000000000

000

00000000

Bytes read / written = 0x000000000000162A / 0x0000000000000000

dd if=()/ImDisk/au.xml of=()/AutoUnattend.xml



Error29: Disk write error



Press any key to continue...

I tried to share the whole folder (tftpboot) and give Everyone all Full Access but that didn't help

Edited by vvuk, 29 March 2012 - 09:01 AM.

[steve6375]

See Tutorial #45. Grub4dos Readme on PXE booting section for some rules. use --mem for mapping.
I am not sure that PXE supports writes - so just preset the contents of the files and omit the dd and write lines.
[Edit]
Actually, this method is not going to work over PXE because it relies on the WinPE OS seeing a removable drive with the autounattend file on it, and this will not happen as the file is across the network. Also you seem to have mixed up win7 install with an XP install??? This method is only for Vista/Win7/R2 when using a USB flash drive.
[/Edit]

[vvuk]

I was trying win7 and winxp. I'll try to boot WinPE3 and use NET USE command

Thanks for helping me

[patpat]

PXE booting from several ISOs can be done using Serva:
see here; it explains how to easily PXE install Microsoft OSs w/o RIS/WDS
http://www.vercot.co...indowsPXE1.html

and here how to PXE install Debian & Ubuntu
http://www.vercot.co...DebianPXE1.html
http://www.vercot.co...UbuntuPXE1.html

Taking the first link as a starting point the Linux PXE install menu entries can be added in order to create a
full multi OS PXE install system.

Unfortunatelly there's not a standard way for PXE installing Linux OSs; every distro is a bit different,
but it is not difficult to adapt a generic Linux distro for PXE install

[briciolinka]

I try to boot over pxe Kaspersky Rescue Disk following these instructions:in my /menu.lst/default
title Kaspersky Rescue Disk == /rescue/rescue.iso
pxe keep
find --set-root /rescue/rescue.iso
map /rescue/rescue.iso (0xff) || map --mem /rescue/rescue.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /boot/rescue root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=rescue.igz noapic kav_lang=en
initrd /boot/rescue.igz
I used tftpd32 under windows xp 32 with grldr as boot file in the DHCP tab. Booting the client over pxe, the following message appears on the screen:

kernel /boot/rescue root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=rescue.igz noapic kav_lang=en
Error:15 File not found
Any idea to resolve the problem?

[steve6375]

What happens if you press C and then type ls /
and ls /boot

[briciolinka]

Output command ls /:
boot image.squ livecd rescue
Output command ls /boot
boot.cat grub rescue rescue.igz system.map

[briciolinka]

Both commands output are in uppercase

[steve6375]

what happens if you run the menu from a fresh boot, wait for the error, then hit C and type

kernel /boot/rescue

initrd /boot/rescue.igz

boot

[briciolinka]

Updating: changing the following instructions
kernel /boot/rescue >> kernel /BOOT/RESCUE
initrd /boot/rescue.igz >> initrd /BOOT/RESCUE.IGZ
the pxe client boot correctly.
But after loading graphical interface's KRD the system halted with the messages Media not found - Cound not find CD to boot - Cound not find the root block device in
Any idea?

[steve6375]

Once linux boots it will lose all drive mappings and PXE mappings AFAIK. You need to tell linux to look for the source files on a network share.
This depends on whether the Kaspersky version supports this or if you can modify it to support it.
See http://www.howtogeek...-ubuntu-livecd/
Assuming the contents of the ISO are extracted to /linux/kas_rescue/ on your PXE server root folder, try...

kernel /BOOT/RESCUE root=/dev/nfs boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=<YOUR-SERVER-IP>:/linux/kas_rescue  quiet splash --

initrd /BOOT/RESCUE.IGZ

# possible extra needed cheat codes?

# init=/linuxrc looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs noapic kav_lang=en

P.S. I have no idea if this will work!
There are some videos on YouTube of Kav booting over PXE but no one says how they did it!

The other thing to maybe try is adding
map --mem /rescue.iso
...
and using root=/dev/ram0 in the kernel line to see if it will pick up the iso root sqashfs from the ram drive ???

HTH !!!!