/usr/share/doc/packages/syslinux/pxelinux.doc is some starting point.

You need a tftp server to transfer the boot image to your booting PC and
some other files. You need a dhcp server to receive an IP address and
the connection to the tftp server.

We use the package dhcp-server and atftp, both have some advantages
over other servers.



Some sample /etc/dhcp.conf configuration:
======================================================================
# dhcpd.conf
#
# Sample configuration file for ISC dhcpd
#

# this statement is needed by dhcpd-3 needs at least this statement.
# you have to delete it for dhcpd-2, because it does not know it.
ddns-update-style none;

# this subnet is served by us
authoritative;

# declare the lease times (the time after which a client will renew its lease)
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;

# let's give the local domain a name
# (which should correlate to your name server configuration)
option domain-name "idb.cs.tu-bs.de";
# clients shall use the system as nameserver
option domain-name-servers aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd; # IP address of name server

# For PXE boot:
allow booting;
allow bootp;

option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;

# these addresses will be given out dynamically
# eth0:
subnet 192.168.32.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  range 192.168.32.200 192.168.32.254;
  # this can explicitely be specified
  option broadcast-address 192.168.32.255;
  option routers 192.168.32.149;
  # For PXE boot:
  next-server 192.168.32.149;   # IP address of your tftp server
  filename "/pxelinux.0";
}

# Often you will prefer fixed IP addresses for PXE boot:
group {
  # For PXE boot:
  next-server 192.168.32.149;   # IP address of your tftp server
  filename "/pxelinux.0";
  # Without this router statement, it won't work...?
  option routers 192.168.32.149;

  # if you prefer fixed adresses, do something like the following:
  host is08 {
    hardware ethernet 00:48:54:5a:47:35;
    fixed-address 192.168.31.8;
  }
  host is09 {
    hardware ethernet 00:50:BF:D0:F1:9D;
    fixed-address 192.168.31.9;
  }
  # ... etc.
}
======================================================================

tftp server:

With atftp, you will want to start it in on booting, something like:

/usr/sbin/atftpd --daemon

will be enough.

You need a directory layout like:

/tftpboot/
/tftpboot/pxelinux.0   # from syslinux package
/tftpboot/initrd       # from the SuSE CDs in /boot/loader
/tftpboot/linux        # from the SuSE CDs in /boot/loader
/tftpboot/autoinst.xml-is08
/tftpboot/autoinst.xml-is09
...
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default

and / or:

/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A81F08
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A81F09


/tftpboot/autoinst.xml-is08 is the configuration file to be used for the
automatic installation of host is08 in this example, anyway, the name
does not matter, and you can share any configuration among different PCs.

The file name /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A81F08 ist the hex converted IP-
address of 192.168.32.8, which is related to host is08.  In this file you
specify the configuration for booting and installating, e.g.:

default linux
label linux
  kernel linux
  append load_ramdisk=1 initrd=initrd 
install=nfs://192.168.31.131/dvds/suse-9.0 
autoyast=tftp://192.168.32.149/autoinst.xml-is08

With the install option, you specify where your PC can find the installation
sources, in this case, it will try to mount /dvds/suse-9.0 from the host
192.168.31.131. With the autoyast option you say, where it will find the
autoyast configuration profile relative to /tftpboot/ path.

If you share configuration files among PCs, you can shorten the file name
like C0A81F for all PCs starting with the IP address 192.168.32.0. If a
file matching the IP address is NOT found, it will resort to the file
default, which may be something like:

default linux
label linux
  localboot 0

which means: boot from local harddisk.

So, you will enable network boot in your bios, copy your config file
(C0A81F08 etc.) to /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/ directory, boot the PC,
remove the config file, when it is no longer needed, so that on a
reboot it does not restart the installation.


I hope, it will be somehow clear...

Thomas Mack
TU Braunschweig, Abt. Informationssysteme