(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Very much a newbie to Linux and I love Puppy as it works on everything I have needed it for.
I am now trying to set it up as a network boot server for another Linux machine (not puppy), I have succesfully set up DHCP but I now need a TFTP server.
I have searched all the usual places but cannot find a .pup or similar that will do the job.
Any suggestions ?

Thanks

LanPuppy by sunburnt here in the forum includes a TFTP server. You can also search for TFTP binaries for Linux (say, from Slackware) and use it. (Am on trip now, so I have no access to the binary that I used.)

Netbooting in Puppy 4.1.2 was just recently implemented, so TFTP is just starting to be in demand.

raffy

Thanks for the prompt response but this was what I was afraid of, as I said I am a newbie so comments such as find a TFTP binary and use it, while being a simple thing once you have done it, is a black art as far as I am concerned.

I have used the Puppy Package Manager to download and install such things as the DHCP server but I have never needed to get down into the guts of the thing (windows has a lot to answer for).

If there is a simple description of acheiving what you have suggested then I will happily give it a go.

Thanks

I'm using 'dnsmasq' for DHCP and TFTP on a Puppy Linux machine.

I compiled it from source and it was working out of the box. If I have time next weekend I can try to make Pet-Package.

Seems there is a lof of interest in 'Netbooting' now.

Hi guys; I hate to say it but my Puppy stuff is in total disarray.
I had a tftp server made into a Puppy package awhile back.
I posted it here years back, so I don't even know if it's still here.

I got the binary files "tftp-hpa" from Debian.
It takes a little effort to get it working (some files to tweak).

LanPuppy PXE booted the kernel & initrd.gz files & mounted the SFS file over a Samba mount.
It's slower than Barry's humungous initrd.gz file but ran with less memory.

I assume you want to make Puppy PXE boot?
If so I can walk you through it depending on how you want to boot Puppy.

Guys

To give you a little more information.
I am trying to bring up an Emerson MicroTCA system that will be running WindRiver PNE/LE (a real time Linux), it is currently a diskless system so I need something for it to boot from. Once it is up and running I will pass it over to the software developers to do the rest. To enable it to boot I need TFTP, DHCP and PXE. I have all the kernel / ramdisk images available.
I could do this with Windows but I would really rather not for a number of reasons.

The ‘server’ with Puppy 4.1 is an old Dell laptop, Puppy loaded directly on to a clean disk using live-Puppy bootable CD, only additional software so far is the dhcp server installed via the package manager.

I have had a look at dnsmasq and it looks just what I need, if you could make a Pet-Package that would be great, alternatively instructions as to how I could download and compile from source would be a good start (remember I am new to Linux).

Thanks

Hi!

I burned a few hours of midnight oil and made a package for dnsmasq setup as TFTP server. It's pretty basic and I hope it works for the people who want to play with netbooting.

1) Install the package dnsmasq-2.46-i486.pet.

2) Copy the vmlinuz and initrd.gz (humungous) to /root/tftpboot. The folder is created during package installation.

3) Start DHCP and TFTP server for netbooting by typing the command 'ppxe start' in the terminal.

That's all. Make sure that the firewall is disabled or open the ports for DHCP and TFTP. Also disable any other DHCP server connected to the same subnet, as there might be a conflict.

Then set your client to 'Network Boot' or 'PXE Boot' and it should boot from the TFTP server.

I uploaded the package to ftp://puppy:puppylinux@ftp.servage.net in the folder TFTP. I hope that is ok. I'm pretty new to this community and don't know where to 'publish' a package for testing.

Need to catch some sleep now.

Thanks very much, that worked just as required, TPTP, DHCP and PXE working.

Thanks again.

Good to hear that it's working.

Hi MagicZaurus

I have tried your package but seem to have a problem.

I am using the humongous 4.12 and have used that to pxe boot from a windows machine (I really do not want to have to use windows) so I know the humongous file is good.

When I try your package it seems to find the server but not the files to boot. The messages go by very quickly but it says something along the lines of: cannot find file root/tftpboot/ and sometimes some weird symbols after (though only on occasion).

I have no firewall running and am connecting through a cross over cable directly between the two network cards

I an going to try to reinstall the dnsmasq-2.46-i486.pet but wondered if you have come across this in your experience.

Any help appreciated.

Gary

gary101 wrote:When I try your package it seems to find the server but not the files to boot. The messages go by very quickly but it says something along the lines of: cannot find file root/tftpboot/ and sometimes some weird symbols after (though only on occasion).

I downloaded the file but could not unzip it (to inspect the config files).

It could be a filename or file permissions problem, especially if the file comes from Windows. The names vmlinuz and initrd.gz should be in lowercase.

If the names are alright, then there's some corrupted file somewhere.

Hi Gary!

I'm currently traveling and not online so often. At the same time I only have my notebook and no second machine to test PXE booting here.

As mentioned by Raffy I suggest to check the file permissions for vmlinuz and initrd.gz.

Maybe you can set your BIOS to only network booting and no other boot device, then you might be able to see the error message at the end.

It seems that DHCP and TFTP server is working in your setup, but cannot find/access the vmlinuz when requested from the client. Maybe you can post the contents of your folder /root/tftpboot with file permissions.

MagicZaurus

MagicZaurus wrote:Hi!

I burned a few hours of midnight oil and made a package for dnsmasq setup as TFTP server. It's pretty basic and I hope it works for the people who want to play with netbooting.

1) Install the package dnsmasq-2.46-i486.pet.

2) Copy the vmlinuz and initrd.gz (humungous) to /root/tftpboot. The folder is created during package installation.

3) Start DHCP and TFTP server for netbooting by typing the command 'ppxe start' in the terminal.

That's all. Make sure that the firewall is disabled or open the ports for DHCP and TFTP. Also disable any other DHCP server connected to the same subnet, as there might be a conflict.

Then set your client to 'Network Boot' or 'PXE Boot' and it should boot from the TFTP server.

I uploaded the package to ftp://puppy:puppylinux@ftp.servage.net in the folder TFTP. I hope that is ok. I'm pretty new to this community and don't know where to 'publish' a package for testing.

Need to catch some sleep now.

hey where can I download it? I need pxe support too.

Hi!

Sorry was offline for some days. I uploaded the package to ftp://puppy:puppylinux@ftp.servage.net, but it seems that place has been cleared.

Is there any other place to hold this 'unofficial' package?

bbmak maybe you can send me your email by PM and I can email you the package.

Magic Zaurus

MZ, sorry I missed this, do you still have a copy of this package? I would be happy to give you an account on www.ecomoney.eu for it.

I found this tftp server, compiled by memeyou

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=272027

Is this the same package? Will it work in the same way?

Hi Ecomoney!

I just emailed you my package. Sorry for not answering faster here.

My package includes the conf files modified for netbooting. The rest is most likely the same, but I didn't check.

Are you netbooting all the clients at 'The Mission'?

MZ

Ahh thank you, the settings in the other package were proving very difficult for me to understand.


Yes all of the clients at the "mission" are netbooted from a smoothwall box, but I would like to produce a version that would netboot from a CD based puppy, thus eliminating all hard disks in the system.

You can run the DHCP server on the Smoothwall box and the TFTP on a Puppy box. It shouldn't be a problem to burn the initrd.gz and vmlinuz onto the same CD as the Puppy and serve them for the netbooting clients.

How is the performance when you boot up many clients at the same time?

MZ

Performance can be "slow" (by puppy standards) when it comes to booting. At the moment they take 1 min 30 seconds when a single computer is booting, and more when booting 2 or more simultaneously. The computers are always turned off one by one so not a problem really.

It would be nice if a puppy computer could also have a dhcp server as well as the tftp for netbooting...with one ethernet port being "internet in" and the other ehternet out(attached to the netbooted cybercafe P.C.'s) that way I could create a cd that would simply boot a cybercafe (or a HanSamBen childrens distro!) from one CD.