Hi Bruce Thank you very much for reaching out. This is likely to be a short discussion due to me potentially learning that my infrastructure possibly has shortfalls that I did not appreciate until just recently. What I was hoping to do is deploy Windows from a Thecus branded NAS. Natively the NAS does not support PXE, but with community created mods it is achievable. So with this mod <http://www.thecus.com/sp_app_intro.php?APP_ID=357> I went about configuring the NAS to achieve this. Since also the author of the mod mentions SYSLinux I naturally sought information on it, however started researching PXELinux because it seems to target what I needed to achieve. The first question I will ask is whether PXELinux, like chain loading iPXE, requires a server running DHCP services. This is the item I do not have other than a simple modem/router. If I need a DHCP server then I may as well go back to Windows software like Serva. Thanks again for your attention. Richard From: Bruce Ferrell [mailto:bferrell at baywinds.org] Sent: Saturday, 17 November 2018 1:10 AM To: syslinux at zytor.com; anfokaboom at gmail.com Subject: Re: [syslinux] Forum On 11/15/18 6:13 PM, Anfo via Syslinux wrote: Hello all I was just hoping to see if there was a forum, or a patient individual kind enough to help me configure PXELinux (I only understand the wiki to a point). Apologies for using this medium to call for aid as I've been unable to locate an alternative support channel. Richard Richard, Like most wiki's, it's kind of unstructured. That said, I'll be happy to help off-list. I use a fairly extensive, if repetitive pxe rig in my shop A short course is: Set up dhcp to serve IP addresses and point to the pxe boot file as needed. I use tftp for that. The tftp server you use matters. I use the hpa tftp server. Then the configuration begins Talk to you soon
Hi Anfo, Windows 7 deployment is actually something I do from pxe... It does requires "extras" from Microsoft to build the windows install image, but they don't cost anything and it's a one time thing.? I'll have to locate my docs on the Windows deployment tool. PXE install of windows is the fastest Windows 7 Ultimate N install I've ever done... Much faster than optical media. The mod for your NAS actually appears to be suitable; It's combined DHCP/TFTP server... It looks like it was built specifically for the pre-execution environment and a few other such as well. Most of the NICs I work with have a boot agent built in so I seldom have to deal with putting a boot agent on NICs like ipxe. But if you need to do that, there really shouldn't be an issue. On 11/16/18 8:56 PM, Anfo wrote:> > Hi Bruce > > Thank you very much for reaching out. This is likely to be a short discussion due to me potentially learning that my infrastructure possibly has shortfalls that I did not > appreciate until just recently. > > What I was hoping to do is deploy Windows from a Thecus branded NAS. Natively the NAS does not support PXE, but with community created mods it is achievable. So with this mod > <http://www.thecus.com/sp_app_intro.php?APP_ID=357> I went about configuring the NAS to achieve this. Since also the author of the mod mentions SYSLinux I naturally sought > information on it, however started researching PXELinux because it seems to target what I needed to achieve. > > The first question I will ask is whether PXELinux, like chain loading iPXE, requires a server running DHCP services. This is the item I do not have other than a simple > modem/router. If I need a DHCP server then I may as well go back to Windows software like Serva. > > Thanks again for your attention. > > Richard > > *From:*Bruce Ferrell [mailto:bferrell at baywinds.org] > *Sent:* Saturday, 17 November 2018 1:10 AM > *To:* syslinux at zytor.com; anfokaboom at gmail.com > *Subject:* Re: [syslinux] Forum > > On 11/15/18 6:13 PM, Anfo via Syslinux wrote: > > Hello all > > I was just hoping to see if there was a forum, or a patient individual kind > enough to help me configure PXELinux (I only understand the wiki to a > point). Apologies for using this medium to call for aid as I've been unable > to locate an alternative support channel. > > Richard > > > Richard, > > Like most wiki's, it's kind of unstructured. That said, I'll be happy to help off-list. I use a fairly extensive, if repetitive pxe rig in my shop > > A short course is: > > Set up dhcp to serve IP addresses and point to the pxe boot file as needed.? I use tftp for that. The tftp server you use matters.? I use the hpa tftp server. > > Then the configuration begins > > Talk to you soon >
Thank you for the prompt reply. What you said is promising so if I may, with your help can we decipher what SYSLinux files goes where from the ground up? If this is too broad a question or may take up too much of your time then I understand and appreciate your help thus far. Richard -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Ferrell [mailto:bferrell at baywinds.org] Sent: Saturday, 17 November 2018 1:16 PM To: Anfo; syslinux at zytor.com Subject: Re: [syslinux] Forum Hi Anfo, Windows 7 deployment is actually something I do from pxe... It does requires "extras" from Microsoft to build the windows install image, but they don't cost anything and it's a one time thing. I'll have to locate my docs on the Windows deployment tool. PXE install of windows is the fastest Windows 7 Ultimate N install I've ever done... Much faster than optical media. The mod for your NAS actually appears to be suitable; It's combined DHCP/TFTP server... It looks like it was built specifically for the pre-execution environment and a few other such as well. Most of the NICs I work with have a boot agent built in so I seldom have to deal with putting a boot agent on NICs like ipxe. But if you need to do that, there really shouldn't be an issue. On 11/16/18 8:56 PM, Anfo wrote:> > Hi Bruce > > Thank you very much for reaching out. This is likely to be a short discussion due to me potentially learning that my infrastructure possibly has shortfalls that I did not > appreciate until just recently. > > What I was hoping to do is deploy Windows from a Thecus branded NAS. Natively the NAS does not support PXE, but with community created mods it is achievable. So with this mod > <http://www.thecus.com/sp_app_intro.php?APP_ID=357> I went about configuring the NAS to achieve this. Since also the author of the mod mentions SYSLinux I naturally sought > information on it, however started researching PXELinux because it seems to target what I needed to achieve. > > The first question I will ask is whether PXELinux, like chain loading iPXE, requires a server running DHCP services. This is the item I do not have other than a simple > modem/router. If I need a DHCP server then I may as well go back to Windows software like Serva. > > Thanks again for your attention. > > Richard > > *From:*Bruce Ferrell [mailto:bferrell at baywinds.org] > *Sent:* Saturday, 17 November 2018 1:10 AM > *To:* syslinux at zytor.com; anfokaboom at gmail.com > *Subject:* Re: [syslinux] Forum > > On 11/15/18 6:13 PM, Anfo via Syslinux wrote: > > Hello all > > I was just hoping to see if there was a forum, or a patient individual kind > enough to help me configure PXELinux (I only understand the wiki to a > point). Apologies for using this medium to call for aid as I've been unable > to locate an alternative support channel. > > Richard > > > Richard, > > Like most wiki's, it's kind of unstructured. That said, I'll be happy to help off-list. I use a fairly extensive, if repetitive pxe rig in my shop > > A short course is: > > Set up dhcp to serve IP addresses and point to the pxe boot file as needed. I use tftp for that. The tftp server you use matters. I use the hpa tftp server. > > Then the configuration begins > > Talk to you soon >