Today I decided to setup automated installations for Linux distros (RHEL, Fedora, CentOS), similar to how we deploy our Windows installations via PXE.  Since we already had WDS running for installing Windows, it was just a matter of reconfiguring WDS, setting up the necessary structure and kickstart files for our automated Linux installations.  While I do not cover the initial WDS installation process, I will attempt to go over the steps performed after the basic WDS install (native or mixed). 

What you will need:

• Windows server running WDS (and working via DHCP).
• A recent copy of SYSLINUX (extracted to a folder somewhere on the WDS server).
• An HTTP or anonymous FTP server to hold your installation media.

Currently when I boot my computer with PXE enabled, I am prompted to hit F12 for network boot.  When I press F12, I am prompted by “Windows Boot Manager” to select my boot images that I setup in WDS.  Since I can’t install Linux images directly using the WDS interface, an alternative boot image is necessary.  That is where SYSLINUX/PXELINUX takes over.

Pre-Setup

• Create the necessary directory structure inside the WDS RemoteInstall directory (this was specified during the WDS installation).
  • Inside the x86 folder (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\), create the following folders (including pxelinux.cfg):
    • conf
    • img
    • knl
    • pxelinux.cfg

Preparing Installation Media

• Setup an FTP server to hold your installation media (HTTP works also): Currently the average size of a Red Hat distribution is about 5GB, so make sure the server you select will have the necessary disk space. You will need separate installation media for both distribution specific 32bit and 64bit installs.  If you want Fedora 9, CentOS 5.2, and RHEL 5.2 images (both 32bit and 64bit), that will be about 30GB.  As long as you’re not archiving old distributions, this should not be an issue.
  • On my FTP server in the root/path, I created a directory for each of my installation media.  Also, creating a standard naming convention will help with editing the configuration files later and any case sensitivity issues.  Example: My directory names are DistroVersion_arc (Fedora9_32bit), as you will see later on.
  • Copy the entire installation dvd media to the corresponding directories you created (not the .iso, extract its entire contents).
• In the FTP root directory for the media you copied, create a kickstart file (ks.cfg).  (Example:  ftp://ftpserver.domain.com/Fedora9_32bit/ks.cfg)  I have included example kickstart files at the bottom of this article.
• Once you have copied the installation media for a distro to your FTP server, you need to copy 2 files from that specific distro media to your WDS server.
  • From the (installation media\images\pxeboot) directory, copy the following:
    • Copy vmlinuz to the following directory on the WDS server (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\knl\).  Rename the file to an identifying name such as vmlinuz-fedora9-32bit.
    • Copy initrd.img to the following directory on the WDS server (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\img\).  Rename the file to an identifying name such as initrd-fedora9-32bit.

When it comes time to configure your option menus, you will need to specify these files for each version/distro you plan on making available.

Configuring WDS

• From inside the downloaded SYSLINUX archive, copy the following files:
  • pxelinux.0 from the (syslinux\core) directory to your (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\) directory on the WDS server.
  • menu.c32 and vesamenu.c32 from the (syslinux\com32\menu) directory to your (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\) directory on the WDS server.
• Inside the (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\) directory, create copies of the following files, rename them accordingly (you can copy paste then rename):
  • Make a copy of pxeboot.n12, save it as pxeboot.0
  • Make a copy of abortpxe.com, save it as abortpxe.0
• Inside (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg\), create a file called default.  This will be the initial menu you see during PXE boot, edit the file and give it the following contents:

       # File: wdspath\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg\default
       # Default boot option to use
       DEFAULT menu.c32
       TIMEOUT 50
       # Prompt user for selection
       PROMPT 0
       # Menu Configuration
       MENU WIDTH 80
       MENU MARGIN 10
       MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3
       MENU ROWS 12
       MENU TABMSGROW 18
       MENU CMDLINEROW 18
       MENU ENDROW 24
       MENU PASSWORDROW 11
       MENU TIMEOUTROW 20
       MENU TITLE Main Menu
 
       # Menus
       # Windows
	LABEL Windows
	MENU LABEL Windows Installer
	KERNEL pxeboot.0
       # x86
       LABEL x86
         MENU LABEL Linux 32bit Installs (x86)
         KERNEL menu.c32
         APPEND conf/x86.conf
       # x64
       LABEL x64
         MENU LABEL Linux 64bit Installs (x64)
         KERNEL menu.c32
         APPEND conf/x64.conf
	# Windows
	LABEL Exit
	MENU LABEL Exit
	KERNEL abortpxe.0

• Now you need to create the sub-menu configuration files for your 32 and 64 bit installs that you specified in your default file (RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\conf\x86.conf and RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\conf\x64.conf respectively).  These files will list the available distros to install, and the path to your copied kernel\image files, including your kickstart file which contains the path for your FTP or HTTP installation media.  Each option needs to point to the specific kernel and image that was created from the installation media earlier.

       # File: wdspath\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\conf\x86.conf
       # Default boot option to use
       DEFAULT menu.c32
       # Prompt user for selection
       PROMPT 0
       # Menu Configuration
       MENU WIDTH 80
       MENU MARGIN 10
       MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3
       MENU ROWS 12
       MENU TABMSGROW 18
       MENU CMDLINEROW 18
       MENU ENDROW 24
       MENU PASSWORDROW 11
       MENU TIMEOUTROW 20
       MENU TITLE Linux32Bit (x86) OS Selection
       # Return to Main Menu
       LABEL MainMenu
         MENU DEFAULT
         MENU LABEL ^Main Menu
         KERNEL menu.c32
       #
       # Blank boots
       #
       LABEL Fedora 9 32bit
         MENU LABEL Fedora 9 32bit
         KERNEL knl/vmlinuz-fedora9-x86
         APPEND initrd=img/initrd-fedora9-x86.img ks=ftp://ftpserver.mydomain.com/Fedora9_32bit/ks.cfg

       # File: wdspath\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\conf\x64.conf
       # Default boot option to use
       DEFAULT menu.c32
       # Prompt user for selection
       PROMPT 0
       # Menu Configuration
       MENU WIDTH 80
       MENU MARGIN 10
       MENU PASSWORDMARGIN 3
       MENU ROWS 12
       MENU TABMSGROW 18
       MENU CMDLINEROW 18
       MENU ENDROW 24
       MENU PASSWORDROW 11
       MENU TIMEOUTROW 20
       MENU TITLE 64Bit (x64) OS Choice
       # Return to Main Menu
       LABEL MainMenu
         MENU DEFAULT
         MENU LABEL ^Main Menu
         KERNEL menu.c32
       #
       # Blank boots
       #
       LABEL CentOS 5.2 64bit
         MENU LABEL CentOS 5.2 64bit
         KERNEL knl/vmlinuz-centos52-x64
         APPEND initrd=img/initrd-centos52-x64.img ks=ftp://ftpserver.mydomain.com/CentOS52_64bit/ks.cfg
       LABEL Fedora 9 64bit
         MENU LABEL Fedora 9 64bit
         KERNEL knl/vmlinuz-fedora9-x64
         APPEND initrd=img/initrd-fedora9-x64.img ks=ftp://ftpserver.mydomain.com/Fedora9_64bit/ks.cfg
       LABEL RHEL 5.2 64bit
         MENU LABEL RHEL 5.2 64bit
         KERNEL knl/vmlinuz-rhel52-x64
         APPEND initrd=img/initrd-rhel52-x64.img ks=ftp://ftpserver.mydomain.com/RHEL52_64bit/ks.cfg

• Lastly, set WDS to use the pxelinux.0 boot image.  If you need to get to the normal WDS boot image, you can use the Windows Installer option created in your default menu.
  • Open Windows Deployment Services on your WDS server.  Right click your server -> Properties.  Under the Boot tab, set the Default boot program for x86 architecture (Boot\x86\pxelinux.0), or browse to the pxelinux.0 file we created earlier.  You may leave the other architectures alone or change as you see fit.

**For Windows 2008 R2 installations you must set the bootimage via command-line as followed:

wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x64
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.0 /Architecture:x64

Finished Result

http://www.ohjeah.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/linux_pxe.swf

Example Kickstart File

Here is an example kickstart file for Fedora 9.  For each new distro I normally perform a cd install with my desired options, then use the resulting /root/anaconda-cfg.ks for assistance.  Note that the kickstart file specifies the FTP path of your installation media that you created in the beginning of this article.

#Version=F9
#32bit
install
text
url --url ftp://ftpserver.mydomain.com/Fedora9_32bit
lang en_US.UTF-8
keyboard us
network --device eth0 --bootproto dhcp
rootpw --iscrypted $1$X.qPQYdk$L.YRbuORBd30
firewall --disabled
authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5 --passalgo=sha512
selinux --disabled
timezone America/Chicago
bootloader --location=mbr --driveorder=sda --append="rhgb quiet"
clearpart --all --drives=sda
part /boot --fstype ext3 --size=1000
part swap --size=2048
part / --fstype ext3 --size=1 --grow
%packages
@editors
@development-tools
@text-internet
@core
@base
@hardware-support
@admin-tools
grub
openldap
openldap-devel
openldap-client
net-snmp*
ntp