NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     pxeboot - i386-specific second-stage PXE bootstrap

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     pxeboot is a modified version of the i386 second-stage bootstrap program,
     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.

     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 -- in
this case, the
     boot program is pxeboot.  The ROM downloads the boot program
using TFTP,
     then executes it.

     The  pxeboot  boot  program  will look for an /etc/boot.conf
configuration
     file on the TFTP server.  If it finds one, it processes  the
commands
     within it.

     pxeboot  then  sits  in a loop, processing commands given by
the user.  It
     accepts all the commands accepted by boot(8).

     If no commands are given for a short time, pxeboot will then
attempt to
     load  the  OpenBSD  kernel  bsd via TFTP.  It may be told to
boot an alternative
 kernel, either by commands in the boot.conf file, or by
commands
     typed  by the user at the boot> prompt.  At this time, it is
expected that
     pxeboot will be used to load the bsd.rd install kernel,  for
network installs,
 although this is not the default kernel.

     To  prepare  a  server  to  support  network  installs,  the
dhcpd(8) and
     tftpd(8) services should be enabled and configured.  It  may
help to use
     the  -s  option  with  tftpd(8),  to avoid confusion between
files for the
     server's system and files for the client system.  (Note that
-s is set by
     default in OpenBSD.)  ftpd(8) or httpd(8) should be enabled,
depending on
     how the install sets will be made available.

     pxeboot and the kernel should be copied into the TFTP  server's root directory
 (typically /tftpboot).  A boot.conf file may be created if required
 (e.g. /tftpboot/etc/boot.conf).

     A sample configuration file for dhcpd(8) might  be  as  follows:

           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;

           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;
           }

     See dhcpd(8) and dhcpd.conf(5) for more information.

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

     /usr/mdec/pxeboot    PXE-specific second-stage bootstrap
     /etc/boot.conf        pxeboot  configuration file (read from
TFTP server)
     /tftpboot            Default root directory for tftpd(8)

EXAMPLES    [Toc]    [Back]

     Boot the install kernel:

           boot> bsd.rd

     The same thing:

           boot> boot tftp:bsd.rd

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     dhcpd.conf(5), boot(8),  boot_i386(8),  dhcpd(8),  httpd(8),
tftpd(8)

     Intel   Corporation,  Preboot  Execution  Environment  (PXE)
Specification,
     Version 2.1, September 20, 1999.

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     The pxeboot command first appeared in OpenBSD 3.5.

OpenBSD     3.6                          March      18,      2004