Step by Step instructions for building a Multiple Architecture openSUSE Leap PXE Server

July 28, 2023 | By: Erin Quill

Making life easier with PXE

Welcome to Part Two of our journey into setting up a network-based installation environment. Having already established our openSUSE Installation Server in Part One, we’re now ready to dive into the next exciting phase: Installing and Configuring PXE.

Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) is our key to booting up an operating system over the network, without the need for a hard drive or an operating system already installed locally. This means we can kick off an installation without the hassle of finding a thumb drive – a real game-changer!

So, let’s roll up our sleeves and get started on setting up our PXE server. This will help us make our network more efficient and simplify the process of building machines

System Requirements

Software Requirements

openSUSE Leap 15.5 – Server Pattern (for smallest image)

Detailed instructions for this installation can be found at the following link:
openSUSE Leap: Step-by-Step Guide for installing it on your virtualized environment

Hardware Requirements

Small Server or VM
1 or 2 Cores
2 GB of RAM
40 GB for OS + 10-15 Gigs for each OS

IP Addresses used in Example

Server name: install
IP address: 10.0.99.254
Mask: 255.255.255.0
DNS: 10.0.0.10
Default Route: 10.0.99.1
NTP: 10.0.0.1

Setup PXE server

Update openSUSE

To begin, ensure your server is updated with the latest patches.

zypper ref && zypper up -y

Setup TFTP Boot Server

1) Install TFTP Yast Plugin – yast2-tftp-server

Simplify your TFTP setup and configuration process with the TFTP Yast Plugin.

zypper in yast2-tftp-server

2) Launch TFTP Server Yast Plugin

Open Yast and navigate to Network Service->TFTP Server.

yast Select Network Services->TFTP Server
Select Install

3) Specify the Boot Image Directory

The Boot Image Directory is where all the boot images will be stored. You can leave it at the default location.

Boot Image Directory

/srv/ftpboot

4) Copy x86 and Arm Boot images

With Yast, copying the boot image is straightforward. Just select the images you want to install via the UI and it does the rest

Select Software Management->Software Management

Install:

tftpboot-installation-openSUSE-Leap-15.5-x86
tftpboot-installation-openSUSE-Leap-15.5-aarch64

5) Inspect x86 Boot Images

Yast automatically generates all necessary files for an x86 machine to boot via PXE.

Files are located in /usr/share/tftpboot-installation/.

Directory Structure of `/usr/share/tftpboot-installation/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-x86_64/`

Files in `/usr/share/tftpboot-installation/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-x86_64/net`

The `README` file provides all the information needed to boot a remote workstation via PXE.

6) Inspect ARM Boot Images

Similar to x86, Yast generates all necessary files for an ARM machine to boot via PXE.

Files are located in /usr/share/tftpboot-installation/.

Directory Structure of `/usr/share/tftpboot-installation/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-aarch64/`

The README file provides all the information needed to boot a remote ARM workstation via PXE.

7) Copy boot images to /srv/tftpboot

Copy the files from /usr/share/tftpboot-installation/ to /srv/tftpboot.

cp -R /usr/share/tftpboot-installation/* /srv/tftpboot/

8) Verify Folders were copped properly to /srv/tftpboot

Verify the files have been correctly copied to /srv/tftpboot.

ls /srv/tftpboot/

9) Enable and Verify tftp.socket

Start the tftp.socket and configure it to run at every system reboot. The tftp.socket will dynamically load tftp.service as needed.

systemctl enable --now tftp.socket

Confirm the `tftp.socket` started properly.

systemctl status tftp.socket

Setup DHCP Server

Note: If you already have a DHCP Server, you can skip this section and go directly to “Configuring DHCP for PXE”.

1) Install TFTP Yast Plugin – yast2-dhcp-server

Simplify your DHCP setup and configuration process with the DHCP Yast Plugin.

zypper in yast2-dhcp-server

2) Launch DHCP Server Yast Plugin

Open Yast and navigate to Network Service->Installation Server.

yast
Select Network Services->DHCP Server
Select Install

3) Select the Network Card for DHCP Server

Choose the Network Card (for example, eth0)

 eth0

4) Configure DHCP Global Settings

1)Domain Name – fill in your local domain if used (for example, xyz.net)

xyz.net

2) Primary DNS – fill in your Primary DNS (for example, 10.0.0.10)

10.0.0.10

3) Default Route – fill in your default (for example, 10.0.99.1)

10.0.99.1

4) NTP – fill in your NTP Time Server (for example, 10.0.0.1)

10.0.0.1

5) Set DHCP IP Range

1) First IP Address – fill in the first IP address you want in your range of IP addresses that will be handed out

10.0.99.100

2) Last IP Address – fill in the last IP address you want in your range of IP addresses that will be handed out (for example, 10.0.99.200)

10.0.99.200

6) DHCP Startup Options

Take the default settings, we will manually start the dhcpd.service

7) Start the DHCP Server

systemctl enable --now dhcpd.service

Check that the service is running.

systemctl status dhcpd.service

Configuring DHCP for PXE

1) View the current /etc/dhcpd.conf

The DHCP Yast Plugin simplifies the setup and configuration of DHCP.

cat /etc/dhcpd.conf

2) Edit /etc/dhcpd.conf to support PXE

View the dhcpd.conf created by the DHCP Yast Plugin

nano /etc/dhcpd.conf

Enable PXE by adding the following lines to the upper section of the file:

# The following lines are required for PXE
option arch code 93 = unsigned integer 16; # RFC4578xyz

Add the following section after the `max-lease-time`

next-server 10.0.99.254;
if option arch = 00:07 or option arch = 00:09 {
  filename "/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-x86_64/net/x86_64-efi/bootx64.efi";
}
else if option arch = 00:0b {
  filename "/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-aarch64/EFI/BOOT/bootaa64.efi";
}
else {
  filename "/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-x86_64/net/pxelinux.0";
}

2) `next-server` specifies which server to grab the boot files from (can be different than the DHCP server).

3) What image to boot for an EFI-based x86 Machine

4) What image to boot for an ARM Machine

5) What image to boot for a BIOS-based x86 Machine

2) Edit /srv/tftpboot/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-x86_64/net/pxelinux.cfg/default

Update pxelinux.cfg/default

nano /srv/tftpboot/openSUSE-Leap-15.5-x86_64/net/pxelinux.cfg/default

1)replace the IP Address of the tftp server

10.0.99.254

2) replace with the install URL

http://10.0.99.254/install/leap-15.5-x86-CD1/

2) Restart the dhcpd.service

Restart the services so that the changes we just made go into effect.

systemctl restart dhcpd.service

Conclusions

We hope this article helped you to understand how to install and configure PXE with OpenSUSE.

As a CentOS alternative, openSUSE brings numerous benefits, including stability, SUSE’s support to the community, powerful system management tools, advanced distro features, and access to a rich package repository. The active openSUSE community and easy migration tools further enhance the transition process. If you are seeking a robust and reliable Linux distribution for your workloads, you should consider openSUSE.

Looking for further insights into what you can achieve by migrating to openSUSE?, check out other blogs in this series:

Ready to experience the power and flexibility of openSUSE Leap?

Download openSUSE Leap Now!

Apr 15th, 2024

Erin Quill