Configuring a TFTP server with Auto Deploy files
A TFTP server is a remote storage that will be used to store configuration or boot files. The TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) requires no authentication. More details and a protocol walkthrough is available at its wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivial_File_Transfer_Protocol.
A TFTP server will be contacted during the Auto Deploy process for PXE-booting the server on which ESXi will be deployed. Hence we need to deploy a TFTP server and configure it with a gPXE boot image and the configuration files.
There are many freeware TFTP servers on the internet to choose from. I have deployed WinAgents TFTP server manager.
http://www.winagents.com/en/products/tftp-server/
The installation of the TFTP server manager is pretty straightforward. Make sure it is installed on a Windows machine and the service is started before you begin.
How to do it…
The following steps will help you configure the TFTP server to facilitate PXE booting:
- Deploy the WinAgents TFTP server, by installing it on a Windows machine.
- Click on the Auto Deploy icon to bring up the configuration screen at the vCenter Inventory Home.
- Make a note of the BIOS DHCP file name
undionly.kpxe.vmw-hardwiredthat will be used as the string value to the DHCP scope option-67 (boot file name) and then download the TFTP boot ZIP (deploy-tftp.zip) file.If there is a security alert not letting you download the file then enable File Download in the security settings.
Here are the steps to enable file download and retry downloading the TFTP boot ZIP.
- Go to Control Panel.
- Bring-up the Internet Options.
- Navigate to the Security tab.
- Select the appropriate Zone. In most cases, it is the
Internet. - Click on the Custom Level button and scroll down to the Downloads category.
- Enable File download and retry the download of the TFTP Boot Zip file.
The following screenshot shows the contents of the TFTP boot ZIP file:
- Extract
deploy-tftp.zipand then drag-and-drop its contents onto the TFTP server Virtual root (\) folder of the WinAgents TFTP server.
How it works…
The TFTP server is used to configure the gPXE boot image and the configuration files. The TFTP server will be contacted during the Auto Deploy process for PXE-booting the server.
There's more…
For more information on the TFTP server, PXE, and gPXE refer to Page: 20 in the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-51-installation-setup-guide.pdf.