Tag Archives: network boot

Booting ESX VMware Guest Machines from the Network

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KB ID 0000310 

Problem

I do a lot of deployment testing for things like WDS, Ghost and SCCM. Now my test bed is entirely virtual, so any new technology testing, or proof of concept work is a lot easier.

Anything that involves PXE booting the VM’s is not turned on by default though.

Solution

1. Either from the VM itself, or from its entry in your VI client “Edit the VM’s Settings”.

2. Options tab > Boot Options > Tick “The next time the virtual machine boots, force entry into the BIOS setup screen”.

3. Reboot the VM, and the BIOS will open, use the arrow/cursor keys go go across to the boot menu, then down to the network card. (Note your network card may be an Intel E1000).

4. Press the + “Plus Symbol” on the keyboard to move the network card to the top of the list > Press F10 to Exit > Select “Yes” to save the changes.

5. Now when the VM boots simply press F12 when prompted and the guest VM will attempt to boot from the network.

Note: If you having trouble booting to WindowsPE with VMXnet3 network cards see here.

 

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WDS – PXE Boot Error TFTP Timeout

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KB ID 0000485 

Problem

Seen when using WDS on Windows Server 2008 (and 2008 R2). When attempting to PXE boot a client machine, it sucessfully gets an IP address. But it times out at the TFTP stage.

This is a common occurance if the WDS server is also a DNS server. It happens on machines that have had the MS08-037 security update installed. Basically the ports that WDS needs are being reserved for DNS.

Solution

1. On the WDS server > Start > in the search/run box type regedit {enter}.

2. Navigate to:

[box]HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesWDSServerParameters[/box]

3. In the right hand window locate the UdpPortPolicy value and change it from 1 to 0 (Zero).

4. Then run services.msc > Locate the “Windows Deloyment Server Service” > Right Click > Restart.

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