Network Install PXE/tftp problems

[behindthesky]

Hello all,

I'm trying to take my first steps into Gentoo by installing it on my machine (currently running Slackware). The problem is, this is a Mini-ITX computer, and it has no CD-ROM or floppy drives, just a 40gig hard drive.

I've been following two guides about installing by using a TFTP server, PXE, and DHCP from another machine on the network (in my case running Slackware):

http://www.menteb.org/index.php?show=linux&id=2#dhcp

and

http://howtos.linux.com/howtos/Clone-HOWTO/setting-up.shtml


So far, I have followed the guides and it seems to have worked. Both guides mention the files "kernel" and "rescue.gz" which are supposed to be in the "isolinux" directory on the install CD. I couldn't find either of these files, so I took an educated guess that "kernel" == "gentoo" and "rescue.gz" == "gentoo.igz". This may well be wrong.

I have got to the point of booting the computer I am trying to install onto, and selecting the Network Boot option. It finds the DHCP server running on the machine I am installing from, and gets its IP address fine. It then gives the error message PXE-T01: File not found, PXE-E3B: TFTP Error - File Not found and refuses to go any further.

I have tried to troubleshoot this, and the only possibilities I have come up with so far are (a) my assumptions about the "kernel" and "rescue.gz" files were wrong, or (b) there is a problem with the TFTP server. If I run "tftp localhost" and then "get gentoo" on the machine I am installing from, it works fine. However, the same commands run on another machine on the network gives a "Permission Denied" error message. Perhaps the network boot is having the same problem when it is trying to get the kernel from the install server, and therefore giving the "file not found" error?

If necessary, I can post my pxelinux.cfg/default and dhcpd.conf files, but before I did that I thought I'd check if there was anything glaringly obvious that I've done wrong.

Thanks for your help,
Jamie

[kimchi_sg]

There is a Gentoo PXE install HOWTO here: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml#doc_chap5

[behindthesky]

[behindthesky]

Update: I have now fixed the permissions problem with tftp (I can now get files from the server machine to another machine on the network with no problem), but I'm still getting the "PXE-T01: File not found, PXE-E3B: TFTP Error - File Not found" error on boot.

Any ideas?

[dragoncity99]

I think u have not copy the pxelinux.0 to your /tftpboot directory.

CHeck ur pxelinux.cfg directory as well for ur rightconfig (the "default" file configuration)

[zacman55]

I am having the exact same problem. I can retrieve the files on the computer in windows using a tftp client but recieve the file not found errors. I have memdisk and pxelinux.0 in the /tftpboot directory and the default configuration file in a pxelinux.cfg directory.

I followed instructions at this site http://silent.gumph.org/content/4/7/071-diskless-windows-pxe.html

I know the computer is talking to my bootp server as if I change the ip in /etc/bootptab, the laptop gets the new number on next boot.

I think the problem lies with my bios but the laptop does not have a cd or floppy drive so no way to boot the firmware update disks. If I could boot once then I think I would be in good shape. Any hacks?

Also, I don't get any messages about bootp or tftp in my /var/log/messages or syslog files. How can I enable logging for inetd services.

[sanity]

I think I know what your problems are.

I was getting this error about not being able to find the file on the TFTP server from a PXE boot client, while my TFTP client worked just fine.

I finally figured it out. Here's how:

First of all, get rid of ALL bootp related resources on your TFTP/DHCP server. dhcpd provides bootp internally, via these config options:

[saltine]

I just posted a script to setup network booting.
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-322744-highlight-pxe.html
Perhaps it could help ya.
_________________
Recipe for Network Booting