Hi Michael, On 9/23/2019 12:41 PM, Michael Kesper wrote: > Hi John, > > On 23.09.19 10:27, john doe wrote: >> I'm currently using the netinst.iso file to install Debian as a guest VM >> using Qemu. >> This approach works fine if you want to install multiple VM on the same >> host. >> My goal with using PXE booting is to test how to install from the >> network using Qemu, that way, I can get everything the way I like before >> implementing PXE booting on my network. > > I'd start with a real tftp server on a Debian box (You wrote that you were on > windows). > Configuration of tftp server with qemu and without are different and > probably so different that it makes no sense to try the qemu one first. >
Last note on Windows, and Qemu, all required files are to be in the root directory of the qemu tftp server without symlinks. From now on, I'm done with Windows/Qemu with regard to PXE booting. >> What I want is: >> - Fully install Debian from the network using a preseed file (the less I >> do on the host on which I want to install Debian the better) > > preseed.cfg is the next step. You need to be able to get your boot media > via network first. > I already have the preseed file working, for now, I do install Debian from a usb key and at the boot prompt I fetch the preseed file from http with something like: boot: auto console=ttyS0,115200n8 interface=auto url=<host-name> The all purpous of this is to avoid having to type the above line everytime I install Debian! :) Actually, I'm stuck at this very step, How do I go from having my boot media from the network? >> What I don't want: >> - Using a phisical media (usb key, cd/dvd rom ...) >> >> As far as I understand it, PXE booting is the only way to avoid using a >> usb key to install Debian, is that correct? > > Yes. > Okay, thanks. > But in my opinion it's better to start from solid grounds: > A reliable DHCP and TFTP server on a Debian system. > Best if you start in a seperate network (or at least network segment) so you > don't risk influencing your productive systems. I'll create a small test network isolated from my production one to play with all of this! :) The PXE server will use Dnsmasq for PXE boot and the integrated TFTP server. > Maybe it's even easier to start with an integrated solution like > fai, I didn't try that yet. > Interesting... > Oh, and by the way: If you try to pxeboot via UEFI, many tutorials etc. > are plain wrong: You don't use pxelinux.0 in that case at all! > You'll be loading bootnetx64.efi which then will load grubnetx64.efi. > This enables (but does not depend on) secure boot. > > This guide is relatively good because you can verify that each step worked. > No mentioning of UEFI pxe boot, though: > > https://wiki.debian.org/PXEBootInstall > > NB also this (from that guid): > > If the kernel in the netboot image gets out of sync with the kernel module > packages, > then the modules won't load and the install will fail, > the usual symptoms are that messages about "missing symbols" appear > in the ctrl-alt-f4 console. > > To fix this, update the kernel and initrd on the netboot server. > By doing 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade'? In other words, I can't provide PXE booting for Stretch hosts when the PXE server is on Buster. > About UEFI PXE, hava look at this thread: > https://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2019/02/msg00285.html > > FAI: http://fai-project.org/features/ > I will take a look at all of this I realy appriciate your help Michael, many thanks. -- John Doe
