PXE Virtual Appliance

[VMTN_Admin]

http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/directory/74

Network boot access utility

[SamTzu]

I really like this VM although I have not managed to get much out of it yet.

PXE tech is still too complex to implement independently.

I have tried to modify the VM to boot FC5 install but so far have failed.

Even "simple" FreeDos network boot option seems too difficult to implement.

What I would like to see is some kind of modular implementation of the "guests."

I have formed a forum to disscuss how to implement such a modularity.

http://www.sami-mattila.com/forums/

I would like to see simple directories that can be zipped and copied to add a new menu item in the PXE VM.

SamTzu

[Surferdude]

It would be helpful to include some documentation, because I am very confused.

\* No root password given. I had to boot into single user mode to change it.

\* dhcpd is not installed, which completly defeats the point of PXE

[bigbull266]

On the download page there is a read me document that you can download separately from the zip file. It includes the root password as well as other documentation to get you up and running.

[LindahlM]

The PDF-file on the Cygem-site does not work. Anyone have the root-passwor?

[rkumar2]

common there is no root password given

[bigbull266]

Here is the text of the PDF. Without this info it would be hard to setup.

The default password is

“password”.

© CyGem, ltd.

PXE Virtual Appliance ReadMe

Author: Scott Hill

Create Date: 3/8/2006

www.CyGem.com

© CyGem, ltd.

\- All files/applications used for this Virtual Appliance are publicly available. Most, if not

all, applications in this virtual appliance use the GNU public license. Therefore, if there is

a specific set of files/image that you would like that are not here, they may not have been

accessible via a public license. However, I have included instructions on adding further

images to the virtual appliance that you may have licenses for.

\- This virtual appliance is for the use of network boot access. This can include

network installations, using floppy based utilities, diskless thin clients, etc.

\- The benefits

o You do not need to carry a set of floppies/CDs with you when you work

on machines within your organization

o You always install/work from the same images increasing consistency

with the tools and installations.

o Installation or loading of floppy utilities is much faster than from CD or

Floppy.

o Data is more reliable. No bad floppies or scratched CDs

o If you have remote console access, you can do these activities remotely.

\- What you need

o The PXE Virtual Appliance Files and a VMWare machine to install them

on.

o Existing DHCP server that gives out addresses on the network segment

you are using.

o No other PXE servers on the same network segment.

o The FC4 DVD ISO files in their structure on an FTP server. DVD ISO is

only available from one of the mirror sites.

http://fedora.redhat.com/Download/mirrors.html

o Any other bootable images that you would like to include as options.

\- What the PXE Virtual Appliance includes

o Installed OS – Linux Redhat Fedora Core 4

o PXE Application installed and configured.

o Files to start the Installation of X86 Fedora Core 4 via PXE (this works

well)

o A FreeDos system boot (just like using a floppy. It just boots, no network

drivers or utilities at this time)

o Thin Client Boot from PXES (This has mixed results. RDP works good)

o Template for adding more images

o VMWare Tools

\- Security is not strong on this. It is expected that the PXE appliance will be behind

a strong firewall without exposure to the internet. No security updates have been

installed. It was installed with SE(Security Enhanced) Linux but not the Firewall.

There are no accounts other than “root” on this appliance and it is expected that

the end user change the password of the root account. The default password is

“password”.

© CyGem, ltd.

Installation

\- Copy files to a VMWare Machine. Use the interface to access the associated

“pxe-fc4.vmx” file.

\- If you are not familiar with Linux, it is important to note that it is very case

sensitive. So if a command doesn’t work, check your case first.

\- After the PXE Appliance has been installed and is successfully running on a

VMWare machine, do the following.

o Reset the “root” user password.

�� Login as “root”, password is “password”

�� Enter “passwd” and follow the prompts

o Place the DVD ISO files on an FTP server that is accessible by the

network segment that the PXE Appliance is on.

o It is strongly recommended to change the IP Address from DHCP to static.

If you do not understand ip addressing, leave the DHCP in place.

�� Edit interface file. “nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0”

• BOOTPROTO=none

• IPADDR=”

o This is very important type “ctrlvo” then “0f”

just before the name you want to type and type

“crtlvo” then “07” just after the name you want

to type.

o When you are done the line will look like this “-

To load a Windows 98 SE floppy

type: \^O0fwin98se .

�� Test changes by attempting to run a PXE client and select your

new menu option.

To create the PXE Appliance, I used publicly available files from the following web sites.

http://www.redhat.com/en_us/USA/fedora/ - Fedora Core 4 Files

http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=pxe – PXE and C++ compiler

http://www.2x.com/pxes/ - Thin Client OS Files

http://www.freedos.org/ - FreeDos OS Files

http://www.netbootdisk.com/ - Network Boot Files for use on FreeDos Floppy

If you have question, concerns, improvement ideas, etc. feel free to send them to

[e-mail]. We will respond as time permits. This is free product and

therefore implies no warranties. However, we do appreciate feedback to make the product

better and more stable.

[bhanitzsch]

If someone is looking for a simple to configure PXE boot server he may have a "short look" onto the "Rapid Mappit Resumator" appliance within the virtual appliances directory as well. Within the provided documentation there is a part describing a migration from the virtual appliance out onto a physical box. If you do only the first steps of this guideline you got already a PXE booted physical box (or if you like another virtual one) with a "full blown linux" including "all needed" applications like browsers, office, gimp, ...

[xcutionerz]

Greetings, when accessing the download link, the following error is indicated;

Server Error in '/' Application.

The resource cannot be found.

Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested URL: /downloads/downloads.aspx

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.42; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.42

P.S. By the way, has this Appliance been corrected?

i.e., dhcpd enabled? is the author aware of this?

Thanks,

Respectfully,

STeve

Admin

[e-mail]

[ratty]

It says right in the doc:

\- What you need

o Existing DHCP server that gives out addresses on the network segment

you are using.

I think I at least get the reasoning. The guy probably didnt want lamers firing this thing up in bridged mode on a LAN and having it screw up their network by having a competing DHCP server. Imagine doing this at work.

But yeah, it makes it not that useful, considering you have to edit the dhcp config on your own dhcp server to make this actually work.

I'd just put big warnings in the /etc/issue file so it shows up on the screen, and set uncheck "connected at power on" for the network interfaces, so you have to conciously enable it before you can netboot from it.

That's how I do my own pxeboot VM's for FreeBSD and linux.

[xcutionerz]

Connection to download site NOW appears to be an advertizing SPAM link to a commercial site.

Please correct

Thanks,

STeve

[eric_heilig]

Wow!

More than a year after the original note on the broken link and it is still being advertised?