USB Bootable Media

USB Boot UEFI client into FOG menu (harder way)

You may ask why do we need this?

UEFI PXE booting is a bit different than BIOS based PXE booting. Some of the early UEFI systems like the Dell Latitude e6420 and the OptiPlex 790 do not support PXE booting in UEFI mode. But through testing they do support USB booting in PXE mode. So knowing this I’m going to create the harder solution (see easier solution if this method is too complicated for your needs) to PXE boot these devices in UEFI mode. This method we will create a new efi boot kernel to install on our usb flash drive to boot into the FOG environment. Building linux kernels are not extremely difficult using the rom-o-matic, but because of the number of options you can choose, you can run into problems if not created correctly. I can say for sure this method works with the previous mentioned systems. YMMV with other hardware platforms.

The process steps are not that hard, its a bit like giving your self a root canal without medicine. It will hurt like crazy while you are doing it, but once its over you will have the satisfaction of not wanting to ever do it again <jk>. Its not really that hard, the rom-o-matic does all of the work.

You will need to acquire these things.

• A 2GB (min) flash drive
• A UEFI pxe boot image we will create from the rom-o-matic web site

iPXE UEFI boot kernel creation process

1. From a browser access the rom-o-matic web site at https://rom-o-matic.eu/
2. Select Advanced, for experienced users radio button
3. In the drop down list for the output format select EFI PXE bootstrap 64-bit (.efi) selection.
4. Ensure that NIC type is set to all-drivers (default) Since there are a ton of settings that could be changed here, I'm only going to post the changes from the default settings for the PXE boot. HINT: You may want to search in your browser for the variable names I used below to locate the exact setting in question.
5. Section: Download protocols. DOWNLOAD_PROTO_HTTPS = checked DOWNLOAD_PROTO_FTP = checked DOWNLOAD_PROTO_NFS = checked
6. Section: SAN boot protocols All checked in this section except HTTP_ENC_PEERDIST = unchecked
7. Section: Image types All unchecked except IMAGE_PNG = checked
8. Section: Command-line commands to include All checked except IWMGMT_CMD = unchecked, PXE_CMD = unchecked, PROFSTAT_CMD, = unchecked
9. Section: Console options All unchecked except CONSOLE_FRAMEBUFFER = checked
10. Section: Embedded script add in the following script

    #!ipxe
    
    dhcp
    set next-server 192.168.1.88
    set filename ipxe.efi
    chain tftp://${next-server}/${filename}

    Be sure to change the ip address above for next-server to the IP address of your FOG server. You must use an IP address and not the conical name of your fog server.
11. Section: Which revision should be set to Master (default)
12. Press the Proceed >> button. After a bit you will be prompted to download a file called ipxe.efi be sure to save it. We will need this file in the section below.

Boot drive creation process

1. Insert your flash drive into a Windows based computer and format it with FAT32 disk format
2. On that flash drive create a folder called EFI
3. On that same flash drive create a folder called BOOT in the EFI folder creating this path "x:\EFI\BOOT". Note: I have not tested if case is important or not, I used upper case for everything and it worked. That is as far as I tested.
4. Copy the ipxe.efi kernel created in the previous section to the flash drive in the EFI\BOOT folder. That file MUST BE RENAMED to bootx64.efi (note the case difference. I did not test to see if case is important)
5. At this point remove the usb thumb drive from the build up computer and insert the drive into a target computer
6. Power on the target computer and press F10 or F12 (depending on the mfg) to call up the EFI boot menu.
7. Select the USB boot device under the EFI section of the EFI menu
8. You should see the iPXE boot banner and then after about 30 seconds it should be prompted for the IP address of your FOG server. Key in the IP ADDRESS of your FOG server and press Enter.
9. At this point you should boot into the FOG iPXE menu.

Reference

USB Boot UEFI client into FOG menu (harder way)

USB Boot UEFI client into FOG menu (easy way)

ou may ask why do we need this?

UEFI PXE booting is a bit different than BIOS based PXE booting. Some of the early UEFI systems like the Dell Latitude e6420 and the OptiPlex 790 do not support PXE booting in UEFI mode. But through testing they do support USB booting in PXE mode. So knowing this I’m going to set out a simple solution to PXE boot these devices in UEFI mode. I can say for sure this method works with the previous mentioned systems. YMMV with other hardware platforms.

The process steps are not hard at all (actually even easier than USB BIOS PXE booting). You will need to acquire these things.

A 2GB (min) flash drive A UEFI pxe boot image from a functioning FOG server. Boot image creation process

Insert your flash drive into a Windows based computer and format it with FAT32 disk format On that flash drive create a folder called EFI On that same flash drive create a folder called BOOT in the EFI folder creating this path "x:\EFI\BOOT". Note: I have not tested if case is important or not, I used upper case for everything and it worked. That is as far as I tested. From a functioning FOG server copy /tftpboot/ipxe.efi to your windows computers. (pscp from putty tools works great) Copy that file to the flash drive in the EFI\BOOT folder. That file MUST BE RENAMED to bootx64.efi (note the case difference. I did not test to see if case is important) At this point remove the usb thumb drive from the build up computer and insert the drive into a target computer Power on the target computer and press F10 or F12 (depending on the mfg) to call up the EFI boot menu. Select the USB boot device under the EFI section of the EFI menu You should see the iPXE boot banner and then after about 30 seconds it should be prompted for the IP address of your FOG server. Key in the IP ADDRESS of your FOG server and press Enter. At this point you should boot into the FOG iPXE menu.

Reference

USB Boot UEFI client into FOG menu (easy way)

Older instructions

Sometimes a computer may not support PXE booting, or there other limitations which prevent this. This is a quick guide to get you started, more information can be found in depth at the sites of the projects. The drawbacks of this method is when you upgrade FOG you must also upgrade the files on the media.

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Bootable USB Stick This method involves making the usb stick bootable using some capabilities of the Syslinux project http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/SYSLINUX

Prep the stick: Your usb stick usually is formatted as FAT/FAT32. Grab a version of syslinux from http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/ Extract the files. Under Windows change to the syslinux-x.xx\win32 and run syslinux -ma <drive>: Example: syslinux -ma E: where E is the drive of to the usb stick. For Linux change to syslinux-x.xx/unix (3.7x is syslinux-x.xx/linux) and run ./syslinux -ma /dev/<device> Example: ./syslinux -ma /dev/da0 where da0 is the device the usb stick. You may have to mount the stick first.

Copy or download the fog folder from /tftpboot/ to the root of the usb stick. Then copy the /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default file to the root of the usb stick and rename it to syslinux.cfg. This should be it, your drive should contain the following: \fog\ syslinux.cfg

If you need to image a computer and you feel the need to boot the task from the USB stick, it is possible to do this. Given the same above instructions the only difference is you copy the 01-00-01-a2-c3-d4-e5 from /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/ to the usb stick and rename it to syslinux.cfg. You should use caution when using this method because depending on your computer, bios, and random other mysterious factors you may image the usb stick, or corrupt the data if you pull your stick out at the wrong time in a panic.

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Isolinux

Isolinux is part of the Syslinux project and allows you to make a bootable CD with FOG on it. http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/ISOLINUX The drawback of this method is you have to toss a disk when you upgrade FOG unless you are using RW media.

More info on this coming soon to a wiki near you.

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GPXE

GPXE is part of the Etherboot Project, and can be used to mimic the PXE process, among other things, when the computer or network doesn't support it. http://etherboot.org/wiki/index.php This method will usa a CD to assist in the netboot process.. There are 2 options here: 1. Download the source, build it yourself, and generate a gpxe.iso. http://etherboot.org/wiki/download 2. Download pre-built binaries ROMS/ISOs for your network card http://rom-o-matic.net/

In the absence of a properly configured DHCP server to do the configuration pointing and PXE information you can also manually set the important info using some commands during the gpxe process. When prompted hit Control+B and you will get a command prompt. Help is available using the help command.

Tell pxe which file to look for on the tftp server. Show it which server is the tftp server.

gpxe> set filename pxelinux.0
gpxe> set next-server 1.1.1.100
gpxe> autoboot

Making sense of the above commands.