xref: /dragonfly/stand/boot/pc32/pxeldr/pxeboot.8 (revision 655933d6)
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25.\" $FreeBSD: src/sys/boot/i386/pxeldr/pxeboot.8,v 1.7 2002/12/12 17:25:59 ru Exp $
26.\"
27.Dd November 1, 2019
28.Dt PXEBOOT 8
29.Os
30.Sh NAME
31.Nm pxeboot
32.Nd Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) bootloader
33.Sh DESCRIPTION
34The
35.Nm
36bootloader is a modified version of the system third-stage bootstrap
37.Xr loader 8
38configured to run under Intel's Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) system.
39PXE is a form of smart boot ROM, built into Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 and
403Com 3c905c Ethernet cards, and Ethernet-equipped Intel motherboards.
41PXE supports DHCP configuration and provides low-level NIC access services.
42The
43.Nm
44bootloader retrieves the kernel, modules,
45and other files either via NFS over UDP.
46In combination with a NFS-mounted root file system,
47.Nm
48allows for easy,
49EEPROM-burner free construction of diskless machines.
50.Pp
51The
52.Nm
53binary is loaded just like any other boot file,
54by specifying it in the DHCP server's configuration file.
55Below is a sample configuration for the ISC DHCP v2 server:
56.Bd -literal -offset indent
57option domain-name "example.com";
58option routers 10.0.0.1;
59option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
60option broadcast-address 10.0.0.255;
61option domain-name-servers 10.0.0.1;
62server-name "DHCPserver";
63server-identifier 10.0.0.1;
64
65default-lease-time 120;
66max-lease-time 120;
67
68subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
69       filename "boot/pxeboot";
70       range 10.0.0.10 10.0.0.254;
71       option root-path "10.0.0.1:/netbootroot";
72}
73
74.Ed
75.Nm
76defaults to a conservative 1024 byte NFS data packet.
77This may be changed by setting the
78.Va nfs.read_size
79variable in
80.Pa /boot/loader.conf .
81Valid values range from 1024 to 4096 bytes.
82.Pp
83.Nm
84recognizes
85.Va next-server
86and
87.Va option root-path
88directives as the server and path to NFS mount for file requests,
89respectively, or the server to make TFTP requests to.
90Note that
91.Nm
92expects to fetch
93.Pa /boot/dloader.rc
94from the specified server before loading any other files.
95.Pp
96.Nm
97uses
98.Pa /boot/kernel.BOOTP
99and
100.Pa /boot/loader-bootp.conf
101instead of
102.Pa /boot/kernel
103and
104.Pa /boot/loader.conf .
105Note that the TFTP version
106.Xr pxeboot_tftp 8
107uses the standard boot loader files.
108The NFS version uses different files to allow BOOTP boots via NFS to
109be overloaded onto the same directory structure as a normal boot,
110though many other changes would have to be made to actually make
111that work.
112However, this is more for historical reasons.
113Current day PXE boot code can handle complex root-path specifications
114allowing the root image to be contained in a sub-directory of the NFS
115export.
116.Pp
117In all other respects,
118.Nm
119acts just like
120.Xr loader 8 .
121.Pp
122As PXE is still in its infancy, some firmware versions may not work
123properly.
124The
125.Nm
126bootloader has been extensively tested on version 0.99 of Intel firmware;
127pre-release versions of the newer 2.0 firmware are known to have
128problems.
129Check with the device's manufacturer for their latest stable release.
130.Pp
131For further information on Intel's PXE specifications and Wired for
132Management (WfM) systems, see
133.Pa http://developer.intel.com/ial/wfm/ .
134.Sh FILES
135.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /boot/defaults/loader-bootp.conf" -compact
136.It Pa /boot/kernel.BOOTP
137Default kernel for
138.Nm .
139.It Pa /boot/defaults/loader-bootp.conf
140.Nm
141configuration file -- do not change this file.
142.It Pa /boot/loader-bootp.conf
143.Nm
144configuration file.
145.El
146.Sh SEE ALSO
147.Xr dhcpd 8 Pq Pa net/isc-dhcp42-server ,
148.Xr diskless 8 ,
149.Xr loader 8 ,
150.Xr nfsd 8 ,
151.Xr pxeboot_tftp 8 ,
152.Xr tftpd 8
153.Sh HISTORY
154The
155.Nm
156bootloader first appeared in
157.Fx 4.1 .
158.Sh AUTHORS
159.An -nosplit
160The
161.Nm
162bootloader was written by
163.An John Baldwin Aq Mt jhb@FreeBSD.org
164and
165.An Paul Saab Aq Mt ps@FreeBSD.org .
166This manual page was written by
167.An Doug White Aq Mt dwhite@FreeBSD.org .
168