PXE Boot

Overview

Morpheus includes a built in PXE Server to enable easy and rapid bare metal provisioning.

Prerequisites

  • DHCP server with following config added to dhcpd.conf
allow booting;
allow bootp;
option option-128 code 128 = string;
option option-129 code 129 = text;
next-server morpheus-appliance-ip;
filename "pxelinux.0";

Note

Replace morpheus-appliance-ip in the dhcpd.conf file with your Morpheus appliance IP address.

  • Internal Appliance URL (PXE) set in Administration - Settings. For PXE-Boot your appliance needs to be routable directly with minimal NAT masquerading. This allows one to override the default appliance url endpoint for use by the PXE Server. If this is unset, the default appliance url will be used instead.
  • Mac or IP addresses of PXE target mapped in {morpheus} Infrastructure -> Boot - Mapping
  • Target host configured for Network boot in BIOS

Note

On the Morpheus Appliance, PXE is enabled by default and port 69 is forwarded to the Internal PXE port 6969. These settings are configurable in in the pxe: section of /opt/morpheus/conf/application.yml.

Mapping

Add Mapping

  1. Select the Mapping tab then click the Add Mapping button.

  2. From the New Mapping Wizard input the following information:

    Match Pattern

    Mac address separated by ‘:’ or an ip address filter

    Description(optional)

    Description of the new mapping.

    Active

    Flag to denote the mapping as active or disabled.

    Operating System

    List of operating systems for the mapping.

    Boot Image

    Lists available PXE boot images.

    Answer File

    Lists available answer files.

    Cloud

    Lists the available clouds.

    Server Mode

    List of server modes:: unmanaged, Managed, Bare metal host, Container host, VM host, and Container & VM host.

  3. Save

Once the mapping is added, and the target host is powered on, the {morpheus} PXE menu will load and PXE boot will start.

Edit Mapping

  1. Click the edit icon on the row of the mapping you wish to edit.
  2. Modify information as needed.
  3. Click the Save Changes button to save.

Delete Mapping

  1. Click the delete icon on the row of the mapping you wish to delete.

Answer Files

Answer files are like lists of answers for questions that you know the setup program is going to ask but the user is not prepared to answer. They contain one or more sections, and each section contains one or more properties in the form name=value. Morpheus provides Answer Files for ESXi, CentOS, Ubuntu and XenServer, and user can add their own.

Add Answer Files

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.

  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar

  3. Select the Answer Files tab then click the Add Answer File button.

  4. From the New Answer File Wizard input the following information

    Name

    Name of the answer file.

    Description(optional)

    Description of the new answer file.

    Active

    Flag to denote the mapping as active or disabled.

    Script Name

    Name of the new answer file.

    Script Version

    Version of the new answer file.

    Script

    The script for the new answer file.

  5. Save

Edit Answer File

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.
  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar
  3. Select the Answer Files tab
  4. Click the edit icon on the row of the answer file you wish to edit.
  5. Modify information as needed.
  6. Save Changes

Delete Answer File

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.
  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar
  3. Select the Answer Files tab.
  4. Click the delete icon on the row of the answer file you wish to delete.

Images

Morpheus provides Images for ESXi, CentOS, Ubuntu and XenServer, and user can add their own Images.

Add Images

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.

  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar

  3. Select the Images tab then click the Add Image button.

  4. From the Upload Virtual Image Wizard input the following information

    Name

    Name of the Image.

    Operating System

    List of available operating systems.

    Storage Provider

    List of available storage providers.

    Image Path

    Path of the image.

    Visibility

    Private or Public

    Account

    List of accounts to allow permission to this image.

  5. Save Changes

Edit Image

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.
  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar
  3. Select the Images tab
  4. Click the actions drop down and select edit.
  5. Modify information as needed.
  6. Click the Save Changes button to save.

Convert Image

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.
  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar.
  3. Select the Images tab
  4. Click the Actions drop and select Convert.

Download Image

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.
  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar.
  3. Select the Images tab
  4. Click the Actions drop and select Download.

Remove Image

  1. Click the Infrastructure link in the navigation bar.
  2. Click the Boot link in the sub navigation bar.
  3. Select the Image tab.
  4. Click the Actions drop and select Remove.