.\" $OpenBSD: pxeboot.8,v 1.9 2009/01/16 00:34:57 form Exp $ .\" Copyright (c) 2004 Tom Cosgrove .\" Copyright (c) 2003 Matthias Drochner .\" Copyright (c) 1999 Doug White .\" All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF .\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .Dd $Mdocdate: January 16 2009 $ .Dt PXEBOOT 8 i386 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm pxeboot .Nd i386-specific second-stage PXE bootstrap .Sh DESCRIPTION .Nm is a modified version of the i386 second-stage bootstrap program, .Xr boot 8 , configured to run under Intel's Preboot Execution Environment (PXE). PXE is a form of smart boot ROM, built into many Ethernet cards from Intel, 3Com, and other manufacturers. .Pp The computer's PXE boot ROM contacts a DHCP server by broadcasting a request on the network. It gets an IP address from the DHCP server, then it is told the name of the boot program to download \(em in this case, the boot program is .Nm . The ROM downloads the boot program using TFTP, then executes it. .Pp The .Nm boot program will look for an .Pa /etc/boot.conf configuration file on the TFTP server. If it finds one, it processes the commands within it. .Pa boot.conf processing can be skipped by holding down either Control key as .Nm starts. .Pp .Nm then sits in a loop, processing commands given by the user. It accepts all the commands accepted by .Xr boot 8 . .Pp If no commands are given for a short time, .Nm will then attempt to load the .Ox kernel .Pa bsd via TFTP. It may be told to boot an alternative kernel, either by commands in the .Pa boot.conf file, or by commands typed by the user at the .Ic boot\*(Gt prompt. .Nm can be used for .Xr diskless 8 setups or to load the .Pa bsd.rd install kernel for network installs. .Pp To prepare a server to support network booting, the .Xr dhcpd 8 and .Xr tftpd 8 services should be enabled and configured. It may help to use the .Fl s option with .Xr tftpd 8 , to avoid confusion between files for the server's system and files for the client system (note that .Fl s is set by default in .Ox ) . .Xr ftpd 8 or .Xr httpd 8 should be enabled, depending on how the install sets will be made available. .Pp .Nm and the kernel should be copied into the TFTP server's root directory (typically .Pa /tftpboot ) . A .Pa boot.conf file may be created if required (e.g.\& .Pa /tftpboot/etc/boot.conf ) . .Pp A sample configuration file for .Xr dhcpd 8 might be as follows: .Bd -literal -offset indent option domain-name "example.com"; option routers 10.0.0.1; option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0; option broadcast-address 10.0.0.255; option domain-name-servers 10.0.0.1; server-name "DHCPserver"; server-identifier 10.0.0.1; next-server 10.0.0.1; default-lease-time 120; max-lease-time 120; subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 { filename "pxeboot"; range 10.0.0.10 10.0.0.254; } .Ed .Pp See .Xr dhcpd 8 and .Xr dhcpd.conf 5 for more information. .Sh FILES .Bl -tag -width /usr/mdec/pxebootxx -compact .It Pa /usr/mdec/pxeboot PXE-specific second-stage bootstrap .It Pa /etc/boot.conf .Nm configuration file (read from TFTP server) .It Pa /etc/dhcpd.conf DHCPD configuration file .It Pa /tftpboot Default root directory for .Xr tftpd 8 .El .Sh EXAMPLES Boot the install kernel: .Pp .Dl boot\*(Gt bsd.rd .Pp The same thing: .Pp .Dl boot\*(Gt boot tftp:bsd.rd .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr dhcpd.conf 5 , .Xr boot 8 , .Xr boot_i386 8 , .Xr dhcpd 8 , .Xr diskless 8 , .Xr httpd 8 , .Xr tftpd 8 .Rs .%T Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) Specification .%N Version 2.1 .%D September 20, 1999 .%A Intel Corporation .Re .Sh HISTORY The .Nm command first appeared in .Ox 3.5 .