How to configure/setup a PXE server for UEFI boot for Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Solution Verified - Updated

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Issue

  • How to configure/setup a PXE server for UEFI boot for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7/8/9?

Resolution

NOTE: For RHEL 10 PXE configuration refer this article.

For the showcase, we will set up the following configuration:

  • Network ID : 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0
  • DHCP Server IP : 192.168.0.254/255.255.255.0
  • Subnet Range : 192.168.0.100-192.168.0.200/255.255.255.0
  • Gateway : 192.168.0.254/255.255.255.0
  • TFTP Server : 192.168.0.254/255.255.255.0
  • DNS Server : 192.168.0.254/255.255.255.0
  • Installation Repository : http://192.168.0.254/rhel-7.5

  1. Install the required packages

    # yum -y install tftp-server dhcp syslinux

  2. Configure the dhcpd service

    The /etc/dhcp/dhpd.conf file should look like the following:

        option space pxelinux;
    option pxelinux.magic code 208 = string;
    option pxelinux.configfile code 209 = text;
    option pxelinux.pathprefix code 210 = text;
    option pxelinux.reboottime code 211 = unsigned integer 32;
    option architecture-type code 93 = unsigned integer 16;

    class "pxeclients" {
        match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
	next-server 192.168.0.254;
        
        if option architecture-type = 00:07 {
            filename "shim.efi";
        } else {
            filename "pxelinux/pxelinux.0";
	}
    }
    
    subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
        option routers 192.168.0.254;
        range 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.253;
    }

  3. Configure the tftp server

    The tree structure of /var/lib/tftpboot should look like follows:

    /var/lib/tftpboot/
├── grub.cfg                                          => see below, the grub2 configuration file
├── grubx64.efi                                       => grub2 boot loader, taken from the grub2-efi-x64 package (is identical to the one in the .iso - EFI/BOOT/grubx64.efi)
├── images
│   └── rhel-7.5
│       ├── initrd.img                                => initial ramdisk from the .iso - images/pxeboot/initrd.img
│       └── vmlinuz                                   => kernel for the installation from the .iso - images/pxeboot/vmlinuz
├── pxelinux
│   ├── boot.msg                                      => a text message to display when booting legacy (BIOS-like), taken from the .iso from isolinux/
│   ├── initrd.img -> ../images/rhel-7.5/initrd.img   => a symbolic link with relative path, my iPXE BIOS insisted on rooting in /pxelinux
│   ├── pxelinux.0                                    => the bootloader for PXE booting in legacy, taken from the syslinux RPM from rhel-7.5 (/usr/share/syslinux)
│   ├── pxelinux.cfg
│   │   └── default                                   => the configuration of the bootloader (the menu), see below, but not used during UEFI boot, only legacy
│   ├── splash.png                                    => a splash image (picture), I don't think it's actually being used, taken from the .iso from isolinux/
│   ├── vesamenu.c32                                  => the binary that the bootloader chainloads to display the graphical menu, taken from the syslinux RPM (it's also on the .iso in isolinux/)
│   └── vmlinuz -> ../images/rhel-7.5/vmlinuz         => a symbolic link with relative path, my iPXE BIOS insisted on rooting in /pxelinux
└── shim.efi                                          => the bootloader that gets called from the PXE client during UEFI boot, taken from the shim-x64 RPM (is identical to the one in the .iso - EFI/redhat/shim.efi and EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI)

  4. Create the Menu files in the same directory with the contents below.

    • /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default

      default vesamenu.c32
prompt 1
timeout 300
display boot.msg
label linux
  menu label ^Install system
  menu default
  kernel vmlinuz
  append initrd=initrd.img ip=dhcp inst.repo=http://192.168.0.254/rhel-7.5
label vesa
  menu label Install system with ^basic video driver
  kernel vmlinuz
  append initrd=initrd.img ip=dhcp inst.xdriver=vesa nomodeset inst.repo=http://192.168.0.254/rhel-7.5

    • /var/lib/tftpboot/grub.cfg

      set timeout=60
menuentry 'RHEL 7' {
  linuxefi /images/rhel-7.5/vmlinuz ip=dhcp inst.repo=http://192.168.0.254/rhel-7.5
  initrdefi /images/rhel-7.5/initrd.img
}

  5. Enable and start the services

    # systemctl enable tftp.socket --now
# systemctl enable dhcpd --now

For more details, refer this link

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