Boot Config

iPXE boot script system, Profile management, and default menu configuration.

Docs: Architecture Mapping & Secure Boot | DHCP Config | Netboot Catalog

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iPXE Boot Script System

PxeLab's iPXE boot uses a configuration-driven decision tree — no need to write raw iPXE scripts, configure visually through the Web UI:

Client requests boot script
    │
    ├─ 1. Custom script? → Yes → Return directly, ignore all below
    │
    ├─ 2. Host has Profile? → Profile with menu → Return Profile menu
    │
    ├─ 3. Catalog redirect? → Enabled → Chain to OS install catalog
    │
    └─ 4. Default boot menu → Return configured default menu

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Boot Menu Types

BootType	Purpose	Example
local	Boot from local disk	Skip network boot
direct	Directly load kernel + initrd	Linux distro installation
chain	Chain-load other bootloaders	GRUB2, Windows Boot Manager
wds	Windows WIM boot	Windows PE / installation
sanboot	iSCSI SAN boot	Diskless workstations

sanboot Use Cases

Scenario	Suitable?	Reason
DOS boot disk	✅	Boots and runs immediately
Live Linux	✅	Kernel + initramfs self-contained
WinPE maintenance disk	✅	Gets tools via network after entering PE
Memtest86+	✅	Doesn't access disk after boot
iSCSI LUN direct boot	✅	Installed system disk
CentOS/RHEL install	⚠️→❌	Anaconda needs explicit inst.repo
Windows install	❌	Needs wim + BCD extraction, use wimboot

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Profile (Boot Configuration)

Profile is a boot config bound to a specific host, containing a boot menu:

• Create Profile: Specify name, architecture, boot type, and parameters
• Bind Host: Bind Profile to host MAC address
• Script Versioning: Auto-saves version snapshots on every modification, supports diff and rollback
• Create from Netboot: One-click Profile creation from OS install catalog

Each Profile is a single boot entry for simplified config:

Profile: "Install Ubuntu 22.04"
  ├─ Architecture: x86_64
  ├─ Type: direct
  ├─ Kernel: vmlinuz
  ├─ Initrd: initrd.img
  └─ Cmdline: net.ifnames=0 console=tty0

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Default Boot Menu

Displayed when client has no associated Profile and Netboot catalog redirect is disabled.

Two modes supported (Web UI: Service Config → Netboot Catalog, or sidebar bottom Settings → Netboot):

1. Show default Profile's boot entry — Only show Profiles marked as default
2. List all Profiles — All Profiles as menu items

Configuration:

• Menu Title — Default PxeLab Boot Menu
• Timeout — 0 = no auto-select, >0 = auto-select default entry after timeout
• Menu Entries — Add multiple boot entries

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Custom iPXE Script

Fill in Settings → Netboot → Custom iPXE Script to completely replace all visual configuration:

Available template variables:

• {{.URL}} — Server address (e.g., http://192.168.1.10:8080)
• {{.MAC}} — Client MAC address
• {{.NextServer}} — Server IP (without port)