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$FreeBSD$
.Dd May 1, 2000 .Dt PXEBOOT 8 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm pxeboot .Nd Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) bootloader .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Nm bootloader is a modified version of the system third-stage bootstrap .Xr loader 8 configured to run under Intel's Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) system. PXE is a form of smart boot ROM, built into Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 and 3Com 3c905c Ethernet cards, and Ethernet-equipped Intel motherboards. PXE supports DHCP configuration and provides low-level NIC access services. The .Nm bootloader retrieves the kernel, modules, and other files either via NFS over UDP or by TFTP, selectable through compile-time options. In combination with a memory file system image or NFS-mounted root file system, .Nm allows for easy, EEPROM-burner free construction of diskless machines.
p The .Nm binary is loaded just like any other boot file, by specifying it in the DHCP server's configuration file. Below is a sample configuration for the ISC DHCP v2 server: d -literal -offset indent option domain-name "example.com"; option routers 10.0.0.1; option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0; option broadcast-address 10.0.0.255; option domain-name-servers 10.0.0.1; server-name "DHCPserver"; server-identifier 10.0.0.1; default-lease-time 120; max-lease-time 120; subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 { filename "pxeboot"; range 10.0.0.10 10.0.0.254; } .Ed .Nm recognizes .Va next-server and .Va option root-path directives as the server and path to NFS mount for file requests, respectively, or the server to make TFTP requests to. Note that .Nm expects to fetch
a /boot/loader.rc from the specified server before loading any other files.
p In all other respects, .Nm acts just like .Xr loader 8 .
p As PXE is still in its infancy, some firmware versions may not work properly. The .Nm bootloader has been extensively tested on version 0.99 of Intel firmware; pre-release versions of the newer 2.0 firmware are known to have problems. Check with the device's manufacturer for their latest stable release.
p For further information on Intel's PXE specifications and Wired for Management (WfM) systems, see .Li http://www.intel.com/design/archives/wfm/ . .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr loader 8 .Sh HISTORY The .Nm bootloader first appeared in .Fx 4.1 . .Sh AUTHORS .An -nosplit The .Nm bootloader was written by .An John Baldwin Aq jhb@FreeBSD.org and .An Paul Saab Aq ps@FreeBSD.org . This manual page was written by .An Doug White Aq dwhite@FreeBSD.org .