PXE install

If the system to be installed contains a network adapter card with Pre-Execution Environment (PXE) support, then direct install over PXE is possible.

Setting up PXE

The following steps must be performed to prepare for a PXE installation:

1. Configure the NFS server to export the installation source.
2. Configure the TFTP server required for PXE booting.
3. Start or enable the TFTP service.
4. Configure DHCP.
5. These steps are not described in this guide. See your vendor's respective documentation for details.
6. Execute the following command on the PXE server.

   # vi /tftpboot/linux-install/pxelinux.cfg/default

7. Add the following lines to this file:

   label <number>

   kernel <path-to-OS-distro-dir>/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz

   append initrd=<path-to-OS-distro-dir>/images/pxeboot/\

   initrd.img

8. Optionally, you can modify /tftpboot/linux-install/msgs/boot.msg to use custom boot messages.

Installing targets using PXE

1. Power up the server.
2. Immediately review the iSCSI option ROM messages during POST to confirm that the Option ROM initialized successfully and is able to login onto the target disk.
3. When prompted, press <F12> for PXE installation.
4. Enter the label number (specified in the above section) at the PXE boot prompt and press the Enter key. The installation starts pulling the installation sources from the NFS server.
5. Select the required language, keyboard, and NFS image install.
6. Select the appropriate network device from which to do the install and select OK.
7. Enter the NFS server name and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server directory. This is the same name and directory that was entered in step 2 above. After the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 GUI is displayed, select Next.
8. Verify that the iSCSI initiator has connected to the target and the iSCSI target drive appears as an available drive for the installation.
9. Follow the traditional installation procedure as prompted. The installation automatically sets up the disk for iSCSI boot during post installation. After the disk is configured for iSCSI boot, the standard OS installation screen appears and the system reboots.
10. On initial boot, enable booting to the iSCSI target drive by selecting Ctrl-S. In the MBA Configuration Menu select the appropriate function key combination (varies based on configuration see menu for your combination) to enter the iSCSI Cfg menu.
11. Select a device, if prompted.

    

12. In the iSCSI Configuration Utility menu, select General Parameters and modify the parameter Boot to iSCSI target to be Enabled.

    

13. Select<Esc> twice and select Exit and Save Configurations.
14. Press <Esc> to exit the Device List, if prompted and then select F4 to exit; otherwise, just press F4 to exit.