NAME

genpxelinux.pl - generate pxelinux configuration files

SYNOPSIS

genpxelinux.pl [--tftpboot dir] [--template file] [--debug level]

DESCRIPTION

Genpxelinux.pl generates pxelinux configuration files. Pxelinux uses simple config files that do not have any sort of conditional support or macro expansion. Pxelinux generally either loads a default configuration file or one that is specific to a particular machine.

Genpxelinux.pl will generate multiple configuration files from one template. It will also generate the menu files that are displayed to users.

The alternatives to using genpxelinux.pl to generate configuration files for pxelinux is to either make them by hand or use something like menu.c32 to provide menus.

EXAMPLE CONFIGURATION FILE

SERIAL 0 $(9600) 0x003
DEFAULT disk
TIMEOUT 200
PROMPT 1

#SET 9600 9600

#SYSTEM	01-00-06-5b-3a-31-d1 dell1
#FOR dell1	#SET memlimit mem=3050m
#FOR dell1	DEFAULT nfs2

#SYSTEM 01-00-06-5b-04-cb-4d dell2
#FOR dell2	#SET memlimit mem=3050m
#FOR dell2	DEFAULT nfs1

# must set $(nfs1) and $(nfs2)
#INCLUDE /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/config.gen

#MENU DISPLAY
<Ctrl-F><digit> for menus:
1-disk booting  3-Disk tools      5-tbd         7-dell stuff    9-tbd
2-Linux         4-hardware testng 6-misc        8-tbd           0-this menu
DEFAULT is $(directive_DEFAULT)

#END

############################################################################
#MENU F1
			Disk Booting
#END
############################################################################

LABEL disk
	# MENU		localboot
	LOCALBOOT 0
LABEL lb80
	# MENU		"localboot 0x80"
	LOCALBOOT 0x80
LABEL lb81
	# MENU		"localboot 0x81"
	LOCALBOOT 0x81
LABEL hd0mbr
	# MENU		<hd[0123]mbr>     mbr boot off disk 0,1,2,3
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd0
LABEL hd0a
	# MENU		<hd[0123][abcd]>  boot off disk 0,1,2,3 partition a-d (1-4)
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd0 1
LABEL hd0b
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd0 2
LABEL hd0c
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd0 3
LABEL hd0d
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd0 4

LABEL hd1mbr
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd1
LABEL hd1a
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd1 1
LABEL hd1b
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd1 2
LABEL hd1c
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd1 3
LABEL hd1d
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd1 4

LABEL hd2mbr
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd2
LABEL hd2a
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd2 1
LABEL hd2b
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd2 2
LABEL hd2c
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd2 3
LABEL hd2d
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd2 4

LABEL hd3mbr
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd3
LABEL hd3a
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd3 1
LABEL hd3b
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd3 2
LABEL hd3c
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd3 3
LABEL hd3d
	KERNEL	chain.c32
	APPEND	hd3 4


############################################################################
#MENU F2
			Linux Recovery Mode
#END
############################################################################

LABEL nfs1
	#MENU		Diskless, $(nfs1)
	KERNEL linux/staid-vmlinuz-2.6.12-3
	APPEND root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=$(nfs1) console=tty0 console=ttyS0,$(9600) panic=30 no1394 $(memlimit)
	IPAPPEND 1

LABEL nfs2
	#MENU		Diskless, $(nfs2)
	KERNEL linux/staid-vmlinuz-2.6.12-3
	APPEND root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=$(nfs2) console=tty0 console=ttyS0,$(9600) panic=30 no1394 $(memlimit)
	IPAPPEND 1

############################################################################
#MENU F3
			Disk Tools
#END
############################################################################

LABEL ibm1
	#MENU F3	IBM's Drive Fitness Test
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/dft32_v405_b00_install.img
LABEL ibm2
	#MENU F3	IBM's Drive Feature Tool
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/ftool_198_install.img
LABEL maxtor
	#MENU F3	Maxtor's MaxBlast
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/maxblast.img
LABEL seagate
	#MENU F3	Seagate Seatools
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/seatools-1.09.img
LABEL killdisk
	#MENU F3	killdisk from the ultimate boot cdrom
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/killdisk.img

############################################################################
#MENU F4
			Hardware Testing
#END
############################################################################

LABEL memtest86+
	#MENU F4	MemTest86+, http://www.memtest.org
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/memtest86+-1.70.img
LABEL memtest+
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/memtest86+-1.70.img
LABEL memtest
	#MENU F4	memtest86
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/memtest86.img
LABEL memtest86
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/memtest86.img
LABEL sniff
	#MENU F4	PCI Sniffer, http://www.miray.de/products/sat.pcisniffer.html
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/pcisniffer.img

############################################################################
#MENU F6
			Miscellaneous Stuff
#END
############################################################################

LABEL ntpasswd
	#MENU F6	NT Registry & Password reset tool
	# http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html
	KERNEL memdisk
	APPEND initrd=tools/bd050303.bin

MACROS

Genpxelinux.pl supports the following macros and directives.

#SYSTEM address system-name

The #SYSTEM directive tells genpxelinux.pl to generate a configuration file for the system that asks from a particular address. All related configuration entries use the system name.

Pxelinux asks for configuration using a somewhat strange way of writing ethernet mac addresses: 01-hh-hh-hh-hh-hh-hh. The #SYSTEM parameter will accept the pxelinux version or you can write the address in the more usual HH:HH:HH:HH:HH:HH format.

Pxelinux also looks things up by their IP address written in hex. And shortened one hex digit at a time. The #SYSTEM parameter will accept IP addresses written in the normal dotted-quad format and convert them to the pxelinux hex format.

#SET name value

Set a macro to expand to a particular value. Macro expansion is done with $(name). Macros are expanded in both the configuration file and in menus.

Macros are allowed in directives in a couple of places. Where they are used in directives, their value is checked at the time the directive is parsed.

Normally, macros are expanded just before the configuration files and menus are written.

Undefined macros expand to the emtpy string and do not generate a warning.

The $ macro is pre-set to $. $($) expands to $.

#FOR system-name #SET name value

Set a macro for a specific system.

#FOR $(name1) #SET name2 value

For each system, if the macro $(name1) is defined, set the $(name2) macro. Macros are can be defined on a per-system basis so this might be used to set further options for a group of systems.

#FOR system-name DIRECTIVE

Pxelinux defines directives for its configuration file. The directive that is most likely to be overridden is the DEFAULT directive that specifies the default boot action.

#FOR $(name) DIRECTIVE

For each system, set the pxelinux directive if $(name) is defined.

#MENU menu-name

Append the following lines (until #END) to the named menu. The menu names are: F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 DISPLAY. DISPLAY is the default menu that is automatically shown at startup.

Genpxelinux.pl forces Menu F10 to be the same as initial menu (DISPLAY).

Pxelinux supports some additional menus beyond F10 but these directives are not currently supported by genpxelinux.pl.

Tabs will be converted to spaces because pxelinux doesn't display tabs correctly on most consoles.

#MENU menu-name system-name

Append the following lines to the named menu for a particular system.

#MENU menu-name $(macro)

For each system, append the following lines to the named menu if $(macro) is defined.

#INCLUDE filename

Parse filename as an additional configuration template. If filename happens be a directory, parse all of the files in the directory.

LABEL SECTIONS

Within a LABEL section, the following macros are supported:

#ITEM item_description

Add to the last menu modified by a #MENU directive a line like:

item_name		item_description

The item_name comes from the word after LABEL.

#ITEM menu_name item_description

Add to a particular menu (F1 .. F9 or DISPLAY).

#ITEM menu_name-system_name item_description.

Add to a particular menu for a particular system.

menu_name-$(macro) item_description.

For each system, add to a particular menu if $(macro) is defined.

#ITEM <item_name> item_description

Override the item_name and add to the last menu modified by a #MENU directive.

#ITEM menu_name-system_name <item_name> item_description.

Override the item_name and add to a particular menu for a particular system.

#ITEM menu_name-$(macro) <item_name> item_description.

Override the item_name and for each system, add to a particular menu if $(macro) is defined.

FILES

The default locations for things are:

/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/template.gen
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/IP&ethernet-addresses
/tftpboot/menus/*

THANK THE AUTHOR

If you need high-speed internet services (T1, T3, OC3 etc), please send me your request-for-quote. I have access to very good pricing: you'll save money and get a great service.

LICENSE

To install genpxelinux.pl, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm genpxelinux.pl

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install genpxelinux.pl

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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