Is there a netboot install for elementary?

Question

I'm trying to install elementary OS over PXE and I'm following this and this tutorial. But I had a problem with the netboot folder: I didn't find one for elementary OS. Can I find or do I have to make one? How do I make one?

ps: I tried to use elementary OS PXE, but didn't work for me either.

Answer 1

There is not a netboot install for elementary OS.

Answer 2

Simple like Ubuntu 16.04! See my part of pxelinux.cfg:

MENU BEGIN elementaryos-0.4
    MENU background elementaryos-0.4/splash.png
    MENU TITLE ElementaryOS 0.4
    MENU LABEL ^* ElementaryOS 0.4

            LABEL back
            MENU LABEL ^<= Back...
            MENU EXIT

            LABEL live-boot-ElementaryOS-0.4-desktop-amd64
                    MENU LABEL ^* ElementaryOS 0.4 Desktop amd64
                    KERNEL elementaryos-0.4/casper/vmlinuz
                    APPEND vga=normal boot=casper netboot=nfs nfsroot=nfs.domain.ltd:/opt/tftpboot/elementaryos-0.4 initrd=elementaryos-0.4/casper/initrd.lz ip=dhcp locale=en_US --

Requirements:

• dnsmasq (dhcp+tftp)
• nfs

Download iso, extract casper directory to tftp & nfs, profit!

Answer 3

How to install Elementary OS via network boot

Source: http://www.gtkdb.de/index_7_2777.html, http://www.gtkdb.de/index_33_1342.html

This how-to is written for Ubuntu Server 16.04. You could use any version of Ubuntu >=14.10. Run this as root. (sudo ...)

1. Install needed software and tools:

   apt-get install nfs-kernel-server dnsmasq syslinux pxelinux
   

2. Download ISO from elementary.io (I don't have enough reputation to add a download-link. Sorry.)

3. Mount iso to /mnt

   mount -o loop your_iso_file.iso /mnt
   

4. Create a directory for your NFS-server that stores the content of the ISO-file

   mkdir -p /data/nfs/elementary0.4_live_amd64
   cp -a /mnt/. /data/nfs/elementary0.4_live_amd64
   umount /mnt
   

5. Define the NFS-directory as exportable NFS-directory by adding this line to /etc/exports

   /data/nfs/elementary0.4_live_amd64          192.168.196.0/24(ro)
   

   Replace 192.168.196.0/24with your subnet. (ro) means Read-Only.

6. Reload NFS service

   systemctl reload nfs-server.service 
   

7. Create your tftp root directory and copy the required files into it

   mkdir -p /tftpboot/elementary0.4_live/amd64 
   cp /data/nfs/elementary0.4_live_amd64/casper/initrd.lz /data/nfs/elementary0.4_live_amd64/casper/vmlinuz.efi /tftpboot/elementary0.4_live/amd64/
   mkdir /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/
   cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/* /tftpboot/
   cp /usr/lib/PXELINUX/pxelinux.0 /tftpboot/
   

8. Configure your PXE by creating /etc/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default. Add this lines:

   default vesamenu.c32
   timeout 100
   prompt 0
   noescape 1
   
   menu title PXE Boot Options
   
   label elementary0.4_live_amd64
     menu label Elementary OS 0.4 Loki Live AMD64
     kernel /elementary0.4_live/amd64/vmlinuz
     append nfsroot=[YOUR_IP/HOSTNAME]:/data/nfs/elementary0.4_live_amd64/ netboot=nfs ro file=/cdrom/preseed/elementary.seed boot=casper initrd=/elementary0.4_live/amd64/initrd.lz locale=de_DE bootkbd=de console-setup/layoutcode=de --
   

   Replace [YOUR_IP/HOSTNAME] with your IP address or your domain.

9. Replace /etc/dnsmasq.conf with:

   port=0
   log-dhcp
   
   dhcp-range=192.168.178.0,proxy  # Replace the IP address with your network subnet. 192.168.178.XXX => 192.168.178.0,proxy
   dhcp-boot=pxelinux.0  
   
   pxe-service=x86PC,"Network Boot",pxelinux
   
   enable-tftp
   tftp-root=/tftpboot
   

10. Restart dnsmasq

    systemctl restart dnsmasq.service

11. Boot your device and enjoy Elementary OS via Netboot. Please up vote this answer if it works for you. (: