unable to conect pxe server from windows xp

i'm trying to boot pxe from xp sp2 and conect with snapdeploy pxe server (in another xp sp2) and fail.

obviously, xp sp2 doesn't implement dhcp. is it mandatory a server operating system with dhcp to boot xp clients from pxe?

cheers, paketecuento

 

Hello paketecuento,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Complete System Deployment Software.

In case you do not have a DHCP server running in your network then IP address can be specified by doing the following:

- Boot from Acronis Snap Deploy Agent bootable CD or from PXE Server
- Once you get the menu where you are prompted to select which component to launch (Acronis Snap Deploy Agent, Windows etc.) press F11
- After getting the parameters window where there is the "quiet" parameter already specified, please add the ip-adress at the end of the string:

quiet ip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

- Press OK and select the Acronis Snap Deploy Agent component.

After Acronis Snap Deploy starts it should receive the IP-adress you have specified.

Here is a complete list of parameters that can be used for specifying network settings:

if=eth0 ip=x.x.x.x dns=x.x.x.x gw=x.x.x.x mask=x.x.x.x

where "if" is the identifier of the network card (eth0 is used by default), "ip" is the ip-adress, "dns" is the DNS ip-adress, "gw" is the gateway ip-adress, "mask" is the subnet mask.

Thank you.
--
Kirill Omelchenko

 

thanks for your indications.

Probably i'm not undestanding the main idea of your software.
pxe server is installed in an xp sp computer (which is intended to manage the network), also the console and os deployment service.

When i try to boot from any client (all with xp sp2), no acronis screen appears. intel undi pxe 2.0 is running and trying to connect to dhcp server, but there is no way to get an acronis screen or prompted me to select pxe server (in other machie). Is this correct? must i have install acronis pxe server in every client?

i press f11 ant prompt me to select which device to boot, but no acronis option is avalaible.

i don't know what to do. i did not try to boot form cd yet. i'm waiting to solve this inconvinience.

thanks

 

Hello paketecuento,

Please be aware that Windows XP Professional is not intended to be a product for server use. Accordingly, server software, like DHCP, is not included in the package. You may be able to find from a 3rd party DHCP or other server-type software that runs on XP Professional.

Please note that you should not install Acronis PXE Server in every client. Could you please describe step-by-step what do you see when trying to boot your target computer from the network?

Thank you.
--
Kirill Omelchenko

 

ok... i restart the computer and wait for booting black screen. then i can see three options: press f2 to enter setup, press f11 to select boot device and press f12 to select boot network.

I thought that this screen must show another option like "... press fXX to boot from acronis pxe server..." or something like this.

if i press f2 then go to bios. if i press f11, i can choose the booting device (hard disk, cd, pxe and floppy.... no more devices) and if i press f12, then go to booting pxe screen (yo know... dhcp not found..).

the question is: how can a xp sp2 client find the acronis pxe server without a server operating system (including dhcp capabilities) in the network and without pxe acronis option at booting screen?

thanks for your time...

 

The simple answer to your question is because the Acronis Server components (License Server, Deployment Server, etc.) are installed as a Service in Windows and as such do not necessarily need to be installed exclusively on a Windows Server platform system. You can install any or all the Acronis SD Server components on a Windows XP system.
Next, you are not going to find a "PXE Acronis Boot" as an option to boot from. The PXE software embedded in the motherboard BIOS uses the PXE technology to contact a DHCP Server in order to acquire an IP address, and with that is able to communicate with a Deployment Server in order to acquire a boot file and so forth.
That said, you need to provide details of how your Network is configured. For example, we would need to know how the other Windows XP computer (the one you said is running the PXE Server) gets it's IP configuration. Do the computers on your Network get their IP addresses from a Router/Switch or DSL/Cable modem?

 

ummhhh, thanks a lot for your suggestions!!!

i understand know. "somebody", say a router or dhcp server, must provide ip for clients. this is the question!!

xp sp2 doesn't do that, so i need my router give an ip to the cliente and then boot via pxe or booteable media.

thanks a lot, and sorry for your time.

¡¡ i'm growing as a it manager!

 

I think you have the idea but just understand the client machine is supposed to get it's IP address from a DHCP Server, regardless of where the "Server" resides, during the DHCP query of PXE boot That means the DHCP Server can be any of Router/Switch, Cable/DSL modem, Firewall, or other Network appliance, or even another computer on the Network, just as long as it knows to respond when an IP request is broadcast.
Snap Deploy gives you the flexibility to manually configure your Network settings when the Agent begins.

 

ok. now, i've made some tests, and works fine. i have 2 different networks. the first one, governed by a router. the second one, it's an academic (university) network.

The first one run properly if i configure all clients in dhcp mode, to get the ip from the dhcp server in the router. only one problem: it doesn't work with wireless client (wireless pci card). does anybody know how to manage wireless networks?

The second one run properly if i use thrid party dhcp software (for exaple, "vdhcp"). it's wonderfull deploy OS in an university network, beacause of the speed . in 2 minutes, you have done the job in one client...

great!!!

 

Snap Deploy will not work on a Wireless connection...at least not yet
I am confident as the product evolves the engineers will provide support for 802.11W