steve... i have a 'reasonable' understanding of mac/ip addresses and dhcp servers... my issue is that what i envision will not have a dhcp server on the same 'network' segment as the client motherboard... as an example, imagine that you have a client computer 'A' connected to the internet via cable modem at IP address A1. imagine also that you have a master server 'M' at location M1. when the A device is turned on, or needs to be reconfigured, i'd like it to go crying back home to device M at location M1 for boot/install/config process/information.... this is the primary issue i'm trying to get my hands around... thanks bruce -----Original Message----- From: redhat-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:redhat-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Steve Phillips Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 1:30 PM To: General Red Hat Linux discussion list Subject: RE: booting up/installing linux... On Mon, 15 Nov 2004, bruce wrote: > ok... > > i'm confused... i'm going to have to find someone with PXE expertise who can > walk me though how this might/can work.. > There is not much to get confused about really. The PXE process is a very cut down DHCP client that simply requests on the wire for something to give it an IP address. It also incorporates some code that allows a device to pass it an image of say - a boot floppy, in order to use this image as a boot device as if it were a real disk. When yo utalk about secuirty issues, then yes, there are issues - if someone takes a PXE enabled device to another network, sets up their own DHCP server, gies the PXE device an IP and a boot image they can potentially boot the device. but it tends to be a physical "move to another network" which no doubt you would tend to notice. The PXE process is incredibly simple - it is quite litterally that, what you can do with it however can be quite complex as there are a number of combinations of this process that allow for things such as automated machine rebuilds, diskless workstations, jumpstart/kickstart installations etc etc Really, your best bet is to read some of the links from the google search and then play with it a little - as Ed said, you only need a dhcp server and to download some of the pxe stuff for linux to get it all going - if you have more specific questions after playing a bit then there are people here that can help but a generic question such as "whats this pxe stuff and how does it work" is probably a little outside the charter of this mailing list. PS: a basic understanding of the DHCP process would also help, it may pay to see if you can find something on that as well if you are uncertain what a MAC address is or how PC's get an IP from a DHCP server. (http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200004/im_dhcpb.html is a reasonable explanation) -- Steve. -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
