This post is a follow up from CentOS PXE Boot Server. The aim and objective is to setup a PXE boot server
capable of using existing DHCP Server in the network and also serving both CentOS and Ubuntu servers.
Requirements
In order to setup the PXE Boot Server, you need the following:
- Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
- Admin Privilleges
- ISOs for your operating system. In this post, we will be using CentOS 8 and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Setup
Update and install the following packages on the PXE Server
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y jq net-tools npm ntp ntpdate ca-certificates \
dnsmasq curl software-properties-common pxelinux syslinux-common apache2
Setup Timezone
sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York
reboot the server after this update is completed
PXE Configuration
Create folders for PXE configs
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/{ubuntu20,centos8}
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/{centos8,ubuntu20}
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/{ubuntu20,centos8}
Copy boot configs to their required locations
sudo cp /usr/lib/PXELINUX/pxelinux.0 /var/lib/tftpboot/
sudo cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/ldlinux.c32 /var/lib/tftpboot/
sudo cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/libcom32.c32 /var/lib/tftpboot/
sudo cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/libutil.c32 /var/lib/tftpboot/
sudo cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/vesamenu.c32 /var/lib/tftpboot/
sudo cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/menu.c32 /var/lib/tftpboot/
Backup and configure dnsmasq.conf
sudo cp /etc/dnsmasq.conf /etc/dnsmasq.conf-orig
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOF> /etc/dnsmasq.conf
# Disable DNS Server
port=0
# Enable DHCP logging
log-dhcp
# Respond to PXE requests for the specified network;
# run as DHCP proxy
dhcp-range=192.168.1.0,proxy
dhcp-boot=pxelinux.0
# Provide network boot option called "Network Boot".
pxe-service=x86PC,"Network Boot",pxelinux
enable-tftp
tftp-root=/var/lib/tftpboot
EOF'
Note: update dhcp-range based on your network
Backup and configure dnsmasq default
sudo cp /etc/default/dnsmasq /etc/default/dnsmasq.orig
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOF> /etc/default/dnsmasq
ENABLED=1
DNSMASQ_EXCEPT=lo
CONFIG_DIR=/etc/dnsmasq.d,.dpkg-dist,.dpkg-old,.dpkg-new
EOF'
Enable, start dnsmasq service and check status
sudo systemctl enable dnsmasq.service
sudo systemctl start dnsmasq.service
sudo systemctl status dnsmasq.service
Operating System Boot Configs
Setup Ubuntu 20 PXE Boot Configs
mkdir ubuntu20
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/focal-updates/main/installer-amd64/current/legacy-images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz -O ubuntu20/netboot.tar.gz
cd ubuntu20
tar -zxvf netboot.tar.gz
sudo cp ubuntu-installer/amd64/{initrd.gz,linux} /var/lib/tftpboot/ubuntu20/
Setup CentOS 8 boot configs
wget http://mirrors.mit.edu/centos/8.3.2011/isos/x86_64/CentOS-8.3.2011-x86_64-dvd1.iso
sudo mount -o loop CentOS-8.3.2011-x86_64-dvd1.iso /mnt/
sudo cp -R /mnt/* /var/www/html/centos8/
sudo cp /mnt/images/pxeboot/{initrd.img,vmlinuz} /var/lib/tftpboot/centos8/
Test Kickstart and Preseed Configs
Ubutu 20 Preseed Configs
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOF> /var/www/html/ubuntu20/preseed.cfg
### Automatic Installation
d-i auto-install/enable boolean true
d-i debconf/priority select critical
### Localization
d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US.UTF-8
d-i localechooser/supported-locales multiselect en_US.UTF-8
# Keyboard
d-i console-setup/ask_detect boolean false
d-i keyboard-configuration/xkb-keymap select us
d-i keyboard-configuration/layoutcode string us
d-i keyboard-configuration/modelcode string pc105
### Network config
d-i netcfg/choose_interface select auto
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string build
d-i netcfg/get_domain string home
d-i netcfg/hostname string build
d-i netcfg/dhcp_timeout string 15
d-i netcfg/dhcpv6_timeout string 15
d-i hw-detect/load_firmware boolean true
### Mirror settings
d-i mirror/country string manual
d-i mirror/http/hostname string archive.ubuntu.com
d-i mirror/http/directory string /ubuntu
d-i mirror/http/proxy string
### Account setup
d-i passwd/user-fullname string Ubuntu User
d-i passwd/username string ubuntu
d-i passwd/user-password password ubuntu
d-i passwd/user-password-again password ubuntu
d-i user-setup/allow-password-weak boolean true
### Time zone setup
d-i time/zone string America/New_York
d-i clock-setup/utc boolean false
d-i clock-setup/ntp boolean true
# Finishing up the installation
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note
# Boot loader installation
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean true
### Partitioning
d-i partman-auto/disk string
d-i partman-auto/method string regular
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
d-i partman-md/device_remove_md boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-basicfilesystems/no_swap boolean false
d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string \
boot-root :: \
500 10000 1000000000 ext4 \
method{ format } format{ } \
use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext4 } \
mountpoint{ / } \
. \
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
### Apt setup
# You can choose to install restricted and universe software, or to install
# software from the backports repository.
d-i apt-setup/restricted boolean true
d-i apt-setup/universe boolean true
d-i apt-setup/backports boolean true
d-i apt-setup/services-select multiselect security
d-i apt-setup/security_host string security.ubuntu.com
d-i apt-setup/security_path string /ubuntu
### Package selection
d-i tasksel/first multiselect openssh-server
d-i pkgsel/include string open-vm-tools curl jq net-tools openssh-server vim build-essential rsync curl software-properties-common
d-i pkgsel/language-packs multiselect en
d-i pkgsel/update-policy select none
# Verbose output and no boot splash screen.
d-i debian-installer/quiet boolean false
d-i debian-installer/splash boolean false
# Avoid that last message about the install being complete.
# This will just finish and reboot
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note
#d-i debian-installer/exit/poweroff boolean true
EOF'
NOTE: Adjust your configs as needed
CentOS 8 kickstart Configs
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOF> /var/www/html/centos8/centos8.cfg
# Partition clearing information
clearpart --all --initlabel
# Use text install
text
# Accept Eula
eula --agreed
# Do not configure the X Window System
skipx
# System timezone
timezone America/New_York --isUtc
# Network Installation
url --url="http://mirror.centos.org/centos/8-stream/BaseOS/x86_64/os/"
# Root password Pxe@123# need to escape \$
rootpw --iscrypted \$1\$e2wrcGGX\$tZPQKPsXVhNmbiGg53MN41
# System authorization information
auth useshadow passalgo=sha512
# Disable the Setup Agent on first boot
firstboot --disable
# System keyboard
keyboard --vckeymap=us --xlayouts='us'
# System language
lang en_US.UTF-8
# Network information
network --onboot=yes --bootproto=dhcp --ipv6=auto --activate --hostname=build
# System bootloader configuration
zerombr
# partitioning
part /boot --fstype="ext4" --size=1024
part pv.01 --fstype="lvmpv" --grow
volgroup cl pv.01
logvol / --fstype="xfs" --name=root --vgname=cl --size=10000
logvol /tmp --fstype="xfs" --name=tmp --vgname=cl --size=3000
logvol /var/log --fstype="xfs" --name=log --vgname=cl --size=5000
# Package Install
%packages
@^minimal-environment
@standard
%end
# Reboot after installation
reboot
%anaconda
pwpolicy root --minlen=6 --minquality=1 --notstrict --nochanges --notempty
pwpolicy user --minlen=6 --minquality=1 --notstrict --nochanges --emptyok
pwpolicy luks --minlen=6 --minquality=1 --notstrict --nochanges --notempty
%end
EOF'
NOTE: Adjust your configs as needed
Create PXE Boot Menu
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOF> /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
DEFAULT vesamenu.c32
PROMPT 1
TIMEOUT 15
MENU TITLE PXE Menu
MENU WIDTH 80
MENU MARGIN 10
MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3
MENU ROWS 10
MENU TABMSGROW 15
MENU CMDLINEROW 15
MENU ENDROW 24
MENU PASSWORDROW 11
MENU TIMEOUTROW 16
menu color title 1;34;49 #eea0a0ff #cc333355 std
menu color sel 7;37;40 #ff000000 #bb9999aa all
menu color border 30;44 #ffffffff #00000000 std
menu color pwdheader 31;47 #eeff1010 #20ffffff std
menu color hotkey 35;40 #90ffff00 #00000000 std
menu color hotsel 35;40 #90000000 #bb9999aa all
menu color timeout_msg 35;40 #90ffffff #00000000 none
menu color timeout 31;47 #eeff1010 #00000000 none
LABEL Ubuntu_20.04_LTS
MENU LABEL Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
KERNEL ubuntu20/linux
APPEND hostname=unassigned locale=en_US.UTF-8 keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=us initrd=ubuntu20/initrd.gz url=http://192.168.1.105/ubuntu20/preseed.cfg splash toram ---
LABEL CentOS 8
MENU LABEL CentOS 8
KERNEL centos8/vmlinuz
APPEND initrd=centos8/initrd.img inst.repo=http://192.168.1.105/centos8 inst.ks=http://192.168.1.105/centos8/centos8.cfg
EOF'
NOTE: Remember to substitute the IP address of your server above
References