[Support] Linuxserver.io - netboot.xyz


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linuxserver_medium.thumb.png.0902ec948e77ff8d5590688ada1f40d2.png

Application Name: netboot.xyz

Application Site: https://netboot.xyz/

Docker Hub: https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/netbootxyz

Github: https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-netbootxyz

 

Please post any questions/issues relating to this docker you have in this thread.

 

If you are not using Unraid (and you should be!) then please do not post here, instead head to linuxserver.io to see how to get support.

  • Like 1
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24 minutes ago, evilfrog said:

ok im totaly noob at this after i install the docker what i need todo ? can i go directly on another pc and try boot via network ??

You would probably at least want to read the project thread (link in the OP/docker context menu/Apps tab) and go from there.

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I wanted to just follow up because I was, at first, confused at what this provides. The docker provides and TFTP service that in turn provides the netbooxyz pxe bootloader. This bootloader is built to provide the means to download a "live" boot environment (either installer or runnable os) from the internal via a PXE boot menu.

 

So my understandings is that you would use this to provide a PXE netboot option on your network, you would still have to configure your DHCP server to provide the proper info (the filename and TFTP service address.) Then if you did a PXE boot on a device it would load the netbootxyz and from there you can download and install from its pre-defined list.

 

The one advantage I can see of this over manual is that if netbootxyz updates, and linuxserver.io pushes an image update, and you have CA updater installed, it would automatically update on your end so when you needed it, it would always be the latest.

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I also just installed the netboot.xyz CA and after making the router changes in my pfsense router as listed in the 'router setup examples' found at https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/netbootxyz I was able to PXE Boot from a couple of machines (a thinclient and a couple of laptops) for testing (booted a live image and a couple utility images). @Evilfrog as Xannor advised you will need to make the equivalent changes for your specific router/DHCP Server before you can network boot.

 

I wanted to try the Windows Installer option also, however when selecting the 'Windows' option after PXE Booting into the menu and selecting 'Load Microsoft Windows Installer...' it did not download and boot an installer like the  other boot options I had tried but rather shows 'URL not set...'. It appears you have to have a Windows ISO extracted and shared via a HTTP server and then specify the 'Base URL' of the extracted ISO.

 

I installed the H5AI CA on Unraid which "makes it trivially easy to spin up a webserver and start sharing your files through the web." and pointed it at  my isos folder/share on Unraid as I had originally hoped to use a Windows ISO directly using similar commands to that below in the IPXE Shell but without success:

initrd http://192.168.1.10/win10ent.iso
chain http://192.168.1.10/memdisk iso raw || goto failed

 

I did however eventually manage to boot into a Windows 10 Installer based on instructions found at https://ipxe.org/wimboot and extracting the relevant files (not the whole ISO) into the H5AI Webshare (my isos folder). I extracted mine into /mnt/user/isos/win/x64 (seems you have to have it within the specific architecture folder i.e. x64 in my case or it does not work).  I was then able to specify the 'Base URL' once I at PXE Booted and gone into 'Windows'. H5AI uses port 8888 so I had to specify http://x.x.x.x:8888/win as the 'Base URL (no / after win and don't include the x64). I haven't actually installed a machine from it yet.

 

Unfortunately it seems you have to specify the 'Base URL' every time you PXE Boot though and I have been unable to find a way to set it as the default so any machine that boots gets the 'Base URL' by default.  Not sure if anyone knows how to do this or even if it is possible? 

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We are working with upstream to localize the IPXE files for this container so you will be able to go in and modify them if you want. 

This is going to take time but it will solve things like you are experiencing with wimboot destination setting. 

I will update this thread when we have a viable docker tag for testing local boot files. 

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

 

I like this NetbootXYZ, and it's looks good, and has potential.

I'm currently using Clonezilla, and would like to try this.

I'm currently using OMV5, TFTP installed, and the Netbootxyz container is running.

My router doesn't support 3rd party firmware.

What are my options ?

 

Thanks

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/31/2019 at 1:35 PM, ZataH said:

image.png.ed2c8f8207ded2675609f110f57573df.png

Appears to be looking for the tftp server and it's not seeing it. Did you remap ports? Don't remap port 69.

 

Also, love this project. Having used a variety of things over the years for PXE (wds, fog), this is exactly what I've been looking for. Still trying to figure out how to actually use the local assets after they're pulled, but I'm only 15m in and haven't gone through all the documentation yet, so thanks for this.

Edited by nate1749
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  • 4 weeks later...

Just wanted to add my thanks for this image. What a powerful little addition. One thing that wasn't entirely clear when using Unifi USG was using netboot.xyz.efi instead of netboot.xyz.kpxe if you want a UEFI pxe boot, the efi image is mentioned further down but specifying the option to use it under the USG section would've saved me a bit of time googling how to get a UEFI pxe boot (once i found the USG section i didn't think to look further down).

 

Having all the various linux OS and a myriad of tools is great, i have a few missing because I'm running UEFI but i can live without (Although not sure why netbooyxyz doesn't include memtest, googling seems to say that memtest can be booted through UEFI too). I installed MDT on one of my Windows Servers, configured that and then modified the windows menu in netbootxyz to automatically load the WIM file generated by MDT, so now as well as the built in boot options i can load into MDT and deploy any of my Windows OS' too. This will seriously save me some time with future rebuilds and deployments. Thank you!

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I'm having a problem getting it to load a custom ipxe file based on MAC address, I've named the file "MAC-00d861xxxxxx.ixpe" but it loads what seems to be the default menu, do I need to do something else to load custom files ?

 

Edit: I found the issue, typo in the filename :)

Edited by Tomten
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  • 4 weeks later...

Question: I cant find my predownloaded ISO files (Kubuntu) when i PXE boot off of my netboot.xyz docker container

I can see them in the netboot.xyz web menu under Untracked Assets but cant find them when PXE booting from the desktop

 

docker-compose.yml

version: "2"

services: netbootxyz:

image: linuxserver/netbootxyz

container_name: netbootxyz

environment:

- PUID=1000

- PGID=1000

- MENU_VERSION=1.9.9 #optional volumes:

- /media/username/nfsset/containers/netbootxyz/config:/config

- /media/username/smbshare/Software/ISO/Linux/:/assets

#optional ports:

- 3000:3000

- 69:69/udp

- 8080:80 #optional

restart: unless-stopped

 

 

 

 

netboot.xyz web menu

 

v2BlOiN.png

 

 

Where are my Untracked Assets located?

 

mibLayU.png

 

 

 

 

I setup a netboot.xyz docker container using https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/netbootxyz

I am able to PXE boot a computer off of my netboot.xyz docker container

If i go to 192.168.0.10:3000 on my web browser > Local Assets

I am able to see my custom ISO's under the "Untracked Assets"

I am not able to find my custom (Kubuntu) ISO in the menu when PXE booting

What am i missing

Thanks in Advance

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Honestly I was underwhelmed by how this thing works...

In my mind I would have a bunch of isos stored in a folder and I can boot off of any of them with my computer in reality it's a special kind of image and I was not able to figure out how to boot off a Windows ISO so I stopped using it if you're okay with these issues then I guess keep looking but maybe after you understand this she may not even care to find the answer

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On 3/23/2020 at 11:36 PM, xl3b4n0nx said:

Has anyone gotten this to work with an Asus RT-AC66U or similar router? I can't figure out a way to setup my router to point machines to this docker.

I have an Asus RT-AX88U, and would also like to know how to setup the router for PXE booting.

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On 3/27/2020 at 8:22 AM, ICDeadPpl said:

I have an Asus RT-AX88U, and would also like to know how to setup the router for PXE booting.

A lot of typical home grade routers don't let you set options 66 & 67 which are required for PXE booting.

Googling your router make/model i came across this

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/lan-dhcp-custom-option-43-and-others.47549/

 

The fifth post he details how to SSH in and set the two options, not sure if still relevant but worth a go.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have installed the netboot.xyz docker container on my unraid server and setup the my PFSense router as per instructions https://viclab.se/use-netboot-xyz-with-pfsense/

 

However when I attempt to net boot any machine the tftp transfer timesout.  I also get a time out when attempting to test tftp transfer using the macos tftp command line app.

 

Does anyone know of a way to monitor the tftp logs in the docker container to see why the file transfers are timing out?

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/12/2020 at 2:57 AM, Talvor said:

I have installed the netboot.xyz docker container on my unraid server and setup the my PFSense router as per instructions https://viclab.se/use-netboot-xyz-with-pfsense/

 

However when I attempt to net boot any machine the tftp transfer timesout.  I also get a time out when attempting to test tftp transfer using the macos tftp command line app.

 

Does anyone know of a way to monitor the tftp logs in the docker container to see why the file transfers are timing out?

 

I'm having the same problem as you. I'm trying to figure out why it is. I've even tried giving the container its own dedicated LAN IP but for some reason the TFTP server isn't able to be connected to outside of the container. If I try connecting to it within the container it works, even when using the LAN IP that I assigned the container with. It's like there's some kind of firewall. It seems to be listening on port 69 correctly according to netstat.

 

I tried asking in the official Discord for linuxservers but it felt like I was invisible, not a soul even bothered to say something like "I don't know", just got blissful silence haha. I think I'll just setup my own small virtual machine and implement TFTP server and the netboot.xyz files myself on this occasion.

Edited by Ixel
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6 hours ago, Ixel said:

I'm having the same problem as you. I'm trying to figure out why it is. I've even tried giving the container its own dedicated LAN IP but for some reason the TFTP server isn't able to be connected to outside of the container. If I try connecting to it within the container it works, even when using the LAN IP that I assigned the container with. It's like there's some kind of firewall. It seems to be listening on port 69 correctly according to netstat.

 

I tried asking in the official Discord for linuxservers but it felt like I was invisible, not a soul even bothered to say something like "I don't know", just got blissful silence haha. I think I'll just setup my own small virtual machine and implement TFTP server and the netboot.xyz files myself on this occasion.

I'm sorry we have a life outside of linuxserver.

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9 hours ago, saarg said:

I'm sorry we have a life outside of linuxserver.

I know everyone has a life, however I'm equally sorry that it's perhaps difficult for an active person on there (at the time) to type a mere few characters back if they don't know the answer or even reply to a simple greeting 😉.

 

Anyway, back on topic... I've resolved the problem. I'm not sure why but after a few further attempts at removing the container and reinstalling it somehow it's now fully working. I wish I had a clear cut answer to share with anyone else experiencing a similar issue, but good luck to anyone who does!

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