PXE FAQ

2005-10-30T02:57:08Z

Tnm91: /* From the mailing list by Michael Bramer: */

==== Q: can i have multiple terminal server run simultaneously? so pxe client can choose wheter to boot ltsp or knoppix or clusterknoppix or damnsmalllinux, or other...?? ====
A: Yes, for instance, have a look at [http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php PXELinux] which allows you to make a menu (with submenus...).

==== Q: is PXE + ssh possible?? ====
A:Yes SSH is possible from a PXE boot environment even if the environment is read-only. When running in a read-only environment, SSH keys should be generated during the boot scripts and saved to a ram filesystem that will be cleared during a reset or powerdown.

==== Q: What is PXE? ====
A: PXE stands for 'Preboot Execution Environment' and is part of Intels(tm) Wired for Management (WfM). The Linux Magazine has written a good article about [http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-10/netbooting_01.html 'Network Booting'] - Please read it first to know about Network Booting and PXE! Intel offers 103 pages of [ftp://download.intel.com/labs/manage/wfm/download/pxespec.pdf PXE Specifications 2.1 (Sep. 20.1999)].

==== Q: Where can I find more information about PXE & GNU/Linux? ====
*[http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-10/netbooting_01.html] (Reminder: good article 'Network Booting' (10/2002))
*[http://www.kegel.com/linux/pxe.html] (good place to start)

==== Q: Can I boot via a PCMCIA-network-card? ====
A: Probably yes, but the boot rom-o-matic site does not support any PCMCIA cards. We still have to write a guide or a script to support this. Suggestions Welcome.

- ''(Do you know more? Please add and comment here)''

==== Q: How can I boot with PXE? ====
A: There are a number of possible routes:
#Modern BIOS with a PCI or an on-board network card (AFAIK no PCMCIA-cards)
#PXE-bootimage on a floppy
#PXE-bootimage on a cdrom
#PXE Capable bootloader (e.g. [http://www.gnu.org/software/grub Grub])
#PXE-bootimage on the hard drive
------------------------------------------------------------------
'''1. Modern Bios with a PCI or an on-board network card''' (AFAIK no PCMCIA-cards)
Go into your Bios and choose your NIC as primary Boot device.
At boottime you can configure this to use PXE and DHCP. You will probably have to enable Network booting before it shows up in the boot order menu, this depends on the particular Bios.
------------------------------------------------------------------
'''2. PXE with Floppy Quick-Tutorial:
(by Fabian)

*Start Knoppix with CD on computer 1...
*Start knoppix-terminalserver (Choose the right network card you want to use in computer two which will boot from network)
*Make an floppydisk for you NIC (network interface card) from [http://www.rom-o-matic.net] ... (lzdsk)
*Write image to floppy
*'''dd if=eb-5.0.7-xx.lzdsk of=/dev/floppy
*Boot computer two from floppy ...
*Choose boot from network, when asked (press 'n')
*Finished

===== From the mailing list by Michael Bramer: =====
But beware, Openoffice takes more than 10 Minutes to start with 133MHz;-)), but it works,
if you are not typing too fast!

Shouldn't it run on the server?

No, it's a FAT client. The Server only exports the compressed images and
the kernel, the software runs completely on the Clients, with access to
local drives (if not being run in secure mode).

To run a THIN client shouldn't be a big task.

on the server:
* start the normal terminal server:
* start kdm/xdm/... with XDMCP
* maybe add user01 - user30 with empty passwords..

on the client:
* boot normally (like the FAT client) - use the following boot parameters : knoppix 2
* Start X with `X -broadcast` or a `X -query $SERVER` (where $SERVER is the name or IP of your server)

A remastered CD will also be able to create a hybrid thin-fat client where both involved hosts share their CPU power using openMosix or similar, (while still running their own programs from the image), however, pre-remastered CDs [e.g. ClusterKnoppix 3.6] with this capability are currently only available for dated versions of Knoppix, especially because of the restriction of this "technology" currently to 2.4 series kernels.

------------------------------------------------------------------
'''3. PXE-boot image on a CD-ROM

------------------------------------------------------------------
'''4. PXE Capable Bootloader (e.g. Grub)
see ''''man grub''', '''info grub''' and grub webpage

Now here is a quote from
[http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub/html_mono/grub.html#Network]
for you about grub and PXE:

Booting from a network

It is sometimes very useful to boot from a network, especially, when you use a machine
which has no local disk.
In this case, you need to obtain a kind of Net Boot ROM, such as a PXE ROM or a free
software package like Etherboot.
Such a Boot ROM first boots the machine, sets up the network card installed into the machine
and downloads a second stage boot image from the network. 
Then, the second image will try to boot an operating system from the network actually.

GRUB provides two second stage images, nbgrub and pxegrub (see Images). 
Those images are the same as the normal Stage 2, except that they set up a network automatically,
and try to load a configuration file from the network, if specified.
The usage is very simple: If the machine has a PXE ROM, use pxegrub.
If the machine has a NBI loader such as Etherboot, use nbgrub.
There is no difference between them but their formats.
As how to load a second stage image you want to use should be described in the manual on your
Net Boot ROM, please refer to the manual, for more information.

However, there is one thing specific to GRUB.
Namely, how to specify a configuration file in a BOOTP/DHCP server.
For now, GRUB uses the tag 150, to get the name of a configuration file.
This below is an example about a BOOTP configuration:

.allhost:hd=/tmp:bf=null:\
:ds=145.71.35.1 145.71.32.1:\
:sm=255.255.254.0:\
:gw=145.71.35.1:\
:sa=145.71.35.5:

foo:ht=1:ha=63655d0334a7:ip=145.71.35.127:\
:bf=/nbgrub:\
:tc=.allhost:\
:T150="(nd)/tftpboot/menu.lst.foo":

Note that you should specify the drive name (nd) in the name of the configuration file.
That is because you can change the root drive before downloading the configuration
from the TFTP server, when the preset menu feature is used (see Preset Menu)

See the manual about your BOOTP/DHCP server, for more information.
The exact syntax should differ from the example, more or less.

==== Tip: Grub====
You should be familar with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRUB grub] before tring this. Take time to learn
grub from the ground on and you will enjoy grub!

------------------------------------------------------------------
'''5. PXE-bootimage on hd
''see 4. bootloader (grub)''
------------------------------------------------------------------

This wiki-page was revised by:
Robert Michel, thadk

[[Category : FAQ Page]]

Bugs/3.9-2005-05-27

2005-06-10T16:16:26Z

Tnm91:

List V3.9 2005-05-27 bugs here

1.) It seems that [http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=85330#85330 v3.9's UnionFS has broken Debian package management]. To reproduce the bug: Boot Knoppix V3.9, download a package & install it.

wget http://debian.mirrors.pair.com/pool/main/a/aterm/aterm_0.4.2-11_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i aterm_0.4.2-11_i386.deb

--[[User:UnderScore|UnderScore]] 20:02, 3 Jun 2005 (GMT)

Confirmed. Note that apt-get update; apt-get upgrade gets partially through an install before freezing, not all packages trigger this bug.

--[[User:Nosknoppix|Nosknoppix]] 12:21, 6 Jun 2005 (GMT)

2.) The "ub" kernel module is still compiled into the kernel. This prevents Knoppix from booting on USB CD/DVD-ROMs. <a href="http://linux.usc.edu/pipermail/usclug-chat/2004-December/000111.html">This has been known since Linux 2.6.9</a>. --[[User:PopeFelix|PopeFelix]] 16:29, 4 Jun 2005 (GMT)

3.) Please config out CONFIG_BLK_DEV_UB (the ub driver). This driver has the bizzare side effect of stopping the usb-storage driver from ever seeing a USB device, irrespective of whether the ub module is loaded or not. As PopeFelix noted, this stops knoppix being able to use USB CD/DVD drives. One reason I have switched to kanotix is that absence of the ub driver.

4.) Please use the "ati" driver for ATI Radeon 7000 based video cards. Mine was detected properly, but the generic "vesa" driver was loaded, so no 3D for me!!

markn1ugm

5.) When I try to go to the System Configuration menu item under Quick Browser the KDE menu bar disappears and I cannot get it to come back. This also happened once when trying to load Firefox, which never loaded.

6.) When shuting the system down, HP ze4610us, the shutdown hangs completely right after sending the kill signal.

7.) I have not tried my usb flash drive but will next to see if the ub driver problem above hits me as well

8.) Unable to boot on a Toshiba Satellite Pro 6000 laptop with a NTFS partition. Boots correctly everywhere with a FAT32 partition on the disk. For more informations and investigations, [[http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18245 see this topic]].

9.) Unable to boot: kernel Oops PREEMPT SMP on dual 231MHz Pentium Pro server, "balboa" class (BIOS:
AMIBIOS (C) AMI 02/02/1995 Date:-02/02/95
BIOS Version 0.04.05.DA0 Beta 5.04 Production Candidate )
Runs RedHat 7.3, 8.0, 9; boots Debian sarge netinst and Fedora Core 3 installer OK.
"boot: knoppix lang=us nopcmcia noagp noapm nomce noddc"
produces "You passed an undefined mode number ..." [for VGA]
Selecting any of modes 80x25, 80x34, 80x43, 80x50 then gives:
-----
audit(1118362598.471:0): initialized
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000050
printing eip:
*pde = 00000000
Ooops: 0000 [#1]
PREEMPT SMP
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0
EIP: 0060:[<c1087768>] Not tainted VLI
EFLAGS: 00010286 (2.6.11)
EIP is at sysfs_hash_and_remove+0x8/0xdc
eax: 00000000 ebx: c0434638 ecx: c03752b8 edx: 00000200
esi: c0434638 edi: c03753ac ebp: caeb7280 esp: c12b3e5c
ds: 007b es: 007b ss: 0068
Process swapper (pid:1, ...)
Stack: c0434638 c0434638 ...
Call Trace:
[<c020c47a>] device_release_driver:0x1a/0x60
[<c020c661>] bus_remove_device+0x3d/0x6c
device_del+0x3f
device_unregister+0xb
ide_unregister+0x32d
ide_register_hw_with_fixup+0x161
ide_register_hw+0xf
idepnp_probe+0x9a
match_device+0x24
. . .
ide_init+0x44
do_initcalls+0x27
init+0x78
init+0
kernel_thread_helper+0x5
Code: 89 92 74 03 89 50 04 c7 41 ...
-----
This is 100% reproducible, but I got tired of copying down all the numbers.
"boot: failsafe" works, but all I get is a shell and a few commands (no install).

lspci says:
-----
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440FX - 82441FX PMC [Natoma] (rev 02)
00:0f.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 41)
00:0f.1 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 41)
00:0f.2 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB 2.0 (rev 02)
00:12.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371SB PIIX3 ISA [Natoma/Triton II] (rev 01)
00:12.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371SB PIIX3 IDE [Natoma/Triton II]
00:14.0 PCI bridge: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21152 (rev 01)
01:05.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AIC-7880U
01:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100] (rev 01)
01:0f.0 VGA compatible controller: Cirrus Logic GD 5430/40 [Alpine] (rev 22)
-----
There is 176MB RAM, SCSI CD-ROM, 2 (E)IDE disks on only one channel.

--
[[User:jreiser|jreiser]] 02:15, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

10.) Knoppix always and only tries to load the vesa and fb drivers for X. Even if another driver [e.g. i810] is detected. X worked on most machines in 3.7, but many are broken in 3.9 now. Maybe consider reverting X's config or modifying the script? --[[User:tnm91|tnm91]] 17:29, 10 Jun 2005 (GMT)

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PXE FAQ

Bugs/3.9-2005-05-27