5-steps - Netboot a Puppy over the LAN with NO Media (PXE)

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gcmartin

Re: Assisting user question on PXE with Corporate walls

#81 Post by gcmartin »

pindrop wrote:
gcmartin wrote:Your qustion #1
There should be ONE AND ONLY ONE Netboot server on any LAN at any time for obvious reasons.

Hope this helps
Thanks for those answers. Regarding question 1, I believe you misunderstood what I was asking, ...
The Guide that is referenced in the 1st post has a section on Multi-boot.

I am to assume you read the Guide and are asking about the section of the Guide which addresses Multi-Boot and the menu of boot options it gives you after you have setup the Netboot server. In that you ran MultiPUP to create an ISO that has multiple Puppy+nonPuppy Boot distros available for selection.

I'll have to review that section and step thru it again. But, correct me if I'm wrong:
  • Doesn't the menu the PXE PC is getting have the option to boot from your PC's HDD (hard-drive)?
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought I remembered this to be the case with its menu.

I have to review this again....if you haven't already.

If indeed that is missing, then you will need to use "ISOmaster" to edit the GRUB4DOS config file for the menu in MultiPUP's ISO so that you can choose the HDD's OS. @MagicZaurus offers an entry that may meet your needs in his immediately prior post. Once you have completed the MultiPUP ISO preparation, then you still need to complete the Guide's instructions where you have mkmulti.sh take the MultiPUP ISO and prep it for PCs to NETBOOT from

Hope this helps

gcmartin

#82 Post by gcmartin »

My prior post addresses your request for a Menu selection item.

You are aware that if you simply hit escape when your PC tries to PXE that it will skip PXE. Right?

This needs NO menu changes or anything. PXE setup in your BIOS does not LOCK YOU INTO ONLY PXE.

Hope this helps

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#83 Post by Master_wrong »

@gcmartin

maybe he want a menu instead of hitting "esc", and i think for that he need to change the bios ? because the bios is loaded before puppy, and there is nothing we can do from puppy to control how client access pxe unless we use disk or cd image to run the pxe instead of bios.
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slenkar
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#84 Post by slenkar »

I followed all the steps but for some reason the netboot server doesnt startup, when I start it in debug mode the window dissappears and nothing else happens

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puppyluvr
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#85 Post by puppyluvr »

:D Hello,
I never included an entry for "boot from HDD" in MultiPup`s menus because it is redundant.. Take the CD out.. LOL..
PXE booting is an addition to functionality I never anticipated...
However, a simple grub edit, just before building the ISO would suffice..
If GCMartin can help with a grub selection that works, I will make a pet to add it to MultiPup, until I release an updated version...
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technosaurus
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#86 Post by technosaurus »

Well, I guess this thread is dead now.
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/08/10 ... -os-patent
apparently USPTO never heard of "prior art"
Check out my [url=https://github.com/technosaurus]github repositories[/url]. I may eventually get around to updating my [url=http://bashismal.blogspot.com]blogspot[/url].

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Aitch
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#87 Post by Aitch »

What happened to the 'prior art' principle?
...... it wasn't destroyed by the claim of patent, so I hope it can be traced back, and they get sued!

Aitch :)

gcmartin

PUPPY POWER - Boot as many PCs whenever over LAN

#88 Post by gcmartin »

This thread is still active and flourishing. It works. PXE is a standard that is used in all PC chipsets over the past decade and so.

Couple months back, booted a whole switch full of PCs at the same time as a demo of PUPPY POWER!

JamesBond recently built his FATDOG600+ in such a way as it only needs to be loaded in the TFTP and any 64bit PC on the LAN can boot without running the NETBOOT script. (Instructions are pending his next round of fixes-changes to FATDOG600+.)

Hope this helps

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#89 Post by technosaurus »

I was referring to Google patenting our prior art and killing off innovation, not the traditional "dead thread" ... By the uspto measures, puppy could have a patent portfolio that could compete with the best (or worst) of them.
Check out my [url=https://github.com/technosaurus]github repositories[/url]. I may eventually get around to updating my [url=http://bashismal.blogspot.com]blogspot[/url].

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greengeek
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#90 Post by greengeek »

Hi gcmartin - I have been having a lot of problems with PXE booting a variety of PCs and although most of those may be related to specific hardware designs I do feel that there may be an issue with the dnsmasq and/or server3 pet currently on offer.

Specifically, I have a "Penguin computers Green 731" laptop which would consistently fail the PXE load attempt when using the current pets referred to in the google docs (it would hang after searching for the "default", but this was not an issue with location or structure of that file). I found I was able to succeed with a PXE load only when I used the server that jrb had built into PupServer435TNG. TNG version of PupServer found here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 6&start=44
(However that PXE server version had a bug which did not allow the client PC to surf the web after booting if the PXE server was still on line...)

I have found a way to make the server3 pet work, but I don't fully understand the ramifications of what I have found - except that there may be other people who have stumbled against this issue too. I think maybe some hardware cannot cope with the specified "tftp-prefix" and/or the design/location of the pxelinux.0 file

I have documented this here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 753#651753

jrb mentions another solution which retains the PupServer435TNG server and involves installing a different version of the dnsmasq pet. I would welcome your opinion if you have time, as I believe I am using the correct pets you have specified and wonder if there may be some benefit in using jrb's server and dnsmasq pet (possibly for all puppies...), or at least working out why the server3 pet creates a pxelinux.0 file that is incompatible with some machines.

EDIT: just confirmed identical behaviour when using Akita8, so not just an issue with PupServer

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#91 Post by greengeek »

Also...if anyone has a suggestion for the best way to view the contents of the pxelinux.0 file (which seems to be ascii) I would be keen to understand the structure of it. Leafpad and Geany don't seem to be the right way (unless I'm using them wrong...)

gcmartin

#92 Post by gcmartin »

Hi @Greengeek. this understanding "may" help your current troubles.

The prime problem I have ever had with the PXE subsystem's use has been the PXE client's microcode not being current/not having correct Intel compliance.

That's my only problem. I have NOT encountered any problem with 2006+ PCs.

That being said, I have NOT encountered a problem with specific distros.

There are 2 movements currently underway and should provide some possible release (although, the changes are more cosmetic versus structural changes.). They "may" have a positive impact for you.

The 2 are a change in the document that is used to be more up to date with the PPM changes that has occurred in Puppy Linux, where DNSMASQ is concerned. And, there is a new Netboot Script under development that will make use of Netbooting a "little" (maybe a lot) more intuitive.

Please give a couple days to see the 2 items hit the forum.

Lastly, if you don't mind and think it useful, I will post my FATSlacko CD's ISO that has a working Netboot subsystem for you to test as a PXE server on your LAN. If you feel it will help, check your PM for instructions. I have been using FATSlacko since its release as a NAS, a Netboot server and a desktop since its community availability. The ONLY thing ever installed-added was the Netboot server because everything else was already present. In fact, I also have employed LightHouse64, similarly. In each's case, I found these 2 distros to deliver very suitable functionality OOTB where Netboot was the only subsystem added and available for use via the desktop.

Let me know if this helps until the arrival of the upgraded Netboot PET and more current instructions updates when using it.

Here to help

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#93 Post by greengeek »

Thanks GC. I am making progress with my PXE trials... and I have a question for anyone who may be able to help me with the set up of the netboot-server-jb.sh script:

I have modified the script so that it runs automatically in debug mode without asking me which mode I want to use, and this is working correctly but I don't know how to tell it to use a "minimised window".

My modification is that I "comment out" some lines at the bottom of the script:

Code: Select all

# how to run it
	run_dnsmasq_debug ;
#MODE=$(Xdialog --title "Netboot Server" --no-tags --menubox "How do you want to start the server?" 0 0 3 "normal" "Normal" "debug" "Debug Mode" 2>&1)
#case "$MODE" in 
#	normal) run_dnsmasq_normal ;;
#	debug) run_dnsmasq_debug ;;
#	*) exit 1 ;;
but I wonder if it is possible to insert an extra parameter further up, in the "function run_dnsmasq_debug section so that it starts with minimised window??

Code: Select all

# run dnsmasq with debug flag set, capture output in a window
function run_dnsmasq_debug() {
	run_dnsmasq -d
	Xdialog --title "Netboot server" --backtitle "Running server in debug mode. Click cancel to quit and stop server." --no-ok --tailbox /tmp/dnsmasq-debug.log 20 100
	kill $DNSMASQ_PID
	return 0
}
I have no actual knowledge of what language this script is using, I am just a cautious tinkerer. I am hoping there is some way the Xdialog window can be opened in a "pre-minimised" state - which sort of goes against the whole purpose of bringing up a dialog window, but maybe there is a way??

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#94 Post by greengeek »

slenkar wrote:I followed all the steps but for some reason the netboot server doesnt startup, when I start it in debug mode the window dissappears and nothing else happens
This sounds like the symptom I get if I start the netboot server without the network cable being plugged in, or when there is some problem with the router / dhcp server not offering an IP address. Could that be the problem you are having?
.

slenkar
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#95 Post by slenkar »

i got it to work on a different distro thanks

gcmartin

#96 Post by gcmartin »

slenkar wrote:i got it to work on a different distro thanks
Yes, there are some issues in DNSMASQ and some of the packages that a desktop has installed. I have had this happen once.

I am not exactly sure how to diagnose this kind of issue with DNSMASQ and the script that is used from the menu.

Can anyone suggest a method? If so, we can add this to the Netboot Guide to assist others.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations from anyone.

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#97 Post by greengeek »

If anyone is keen to try PXE booting but wants it to be made as simple as possible I have made a modified version of Pupserver435 (thanks jrb!) and I have added the PXE bootfiles for ThinSlacko inside the iso.

This means that all you have to do is boot the first PC from a CD containing my iso, then set the second PC to boot from network, and it will all happen automatically without any other intervention from the user. Very handy if you are trying to boot a PC that has no hard drive or CD.

See last 2 posts of thread here http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=80620

gcmartin

LightHouse64 Versions 600+ made this all too simple

#98 Post by gcmartin »

LightHouse64 Version 602+ has all items necessary to accomplish "Netboot", built-in. This is an OOTB solution that ONLY requires the user to provide it the ISO you want any PC on your LAN to boot. Simply start it from desktop's Menu (select Network>Netboot Server), and give it the ISO you want the PC(s) on your LAN to boot. If you want a complete walk-thru see this manual.

That's IT! -- NOTHING to install; Users just run it.
(Just go to any LAN PC you want, and tell it to boot via its network card.)

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#99 Post by Flash »

What about each user's settings and customizations, are they saved? If so, how? (See here for a possible solution.)

gcmartin

Network Booting Puppy LInux with save-session options

#100 Post by gcmartin »

Yes, @Flash, I did see that thread. You were correct in your observation there: On multiple PC users saving individual sessions when Netbooted (PXE).

With this method in this thread and described in its accompanying guide, here's how it can work. But, first a disclaimer on this technique: This method; namely Method 1, will ONLY work for 32bit PUPs where there is either a HDD or a USB available to contain the save-session for the booted PC. Thus permanent or removable media is required. The other 2 methods can work whether a PC uses local media or NOT.

1 Method for save session:
Same as CD/DVD/USB/KVM booted PUP distros: namely at Shutdown/Reboot, tell the system to where to "locally" save your PC session. On reboot over PXE, Puppy system(s) behave as they traditionally do and will find the save-session on the booting PC's device.

The advantage, here, is that it provides a way for removable media to contain the save session.

This is technology that members has used, thus far, when the need for a save-session is required for the netbooted PC(s). This works OOTB.

2nd Method
Netboot your PC. Tailor your system with all PPM-Pets necessary for what you want your system to provide. Make a new distro by Remaster and save to an ISO. Then use MultiPUP directions in the Netboot document to create a new PXE boot file which allows the old and your new distro to boot.

The advantage, here, is that it provides a way for diskless PCs to have a customized distro for the PC's booting needs

This is technology that members has used, thus far, in customizing an OOTB Puppy distro. Remaster is generally understood.

Another Method (which is not tested nor technology automation exists)
An untested idea for FATDOG/LightHouse versions 600+ users is the boot-time technology that JamesBond built for accessing a save-session that exist somewhere other than the booting PC on the LAN. This has NOT been tested (as far as I know) by anyone where a Netboot PC both saved and restarted using his technology for 64bit PCs. But, assuming you could save to a NAS and the boot-time was told to look to the NAS for saved-sessions, it, "again might", allow a list of save-sessions where the booting user could select the one for his PC. (of course this technology could be extended where the save session could be locally identified by it's MAC address or hostname or ... AGAIN, although mentioned, this method has neither been tested and NO current automation exist for multiple netboot PCs to be doing such.

Hope this helps for those using the technology described by this thread.

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