Netboot.xyz docker container > how to see my custom ISO to boot off of

Cytomax · February 29, 2020, 2:45am

Question: I cant find my predownloaded ISO files (Kubuntu) when i PXE boot off of my netboot.xyz docker container

I can see them in the netboot.xyz web menu under Untracked Assets but cant find them when PXE booting from the desktop

docker-compose.yml

version: “2”

services: netbootxyz:

image: linuxserver/netbootxyz

container_name: netbootxyz

environment:

PUID=1000
PGID=1000
MENU_VERSION=1.9.9 #optional volumes:
/media/username/nfsset/containers/netbootxyz/config:/config
/media/username/smbshare/Software/ISO/Linux/:/assets

#optional ports:

3000:3000
69:69/udp
8080:80 #optional

restart: unless-stopped

netboot.xyz web menu

How do i boot off my Untracked Assets

I setup a netboot.xyz docker container using https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/netbootxyz

I am able to PXE boot a computer off of my netboot.xyz docker container

If i go to 192.168.0.10:3000 on my web browser > Local Assets

I am able to see my custom ISO’s under the “Untracked Assets”

I am not able to find my custom (Kubuntu) ISO in the menu when PXE booting

What am i missing

Thanks in Advance

driz · March 1, 2020, 12:48am

can you see the files when you goto http://192.168.0.10:8080 ?

Cytomax · March 1, 2020, 1:03am

Yes I can see all my custom iso in that link

driz · March 1, 2020, 3:17pm

oh i see what you’re doing wrong here, sorry. You need to unpack the ISO and make those contents available. Your best bet is to scroll down and find kubuntu and click download. You’ll get the correct data.

Cytomax · March 1, 2020, 3:46pm

So what you are saying is I cannot utilize a ISO, I have to unpack an ISO and then I’ll be able to boot off it of it… Never tried to unpack an iso you recommend any special software…thanks in advance

driz · March 1, 2020, 3:59pm

basically, though it’s likely much more efficient to download the assets from within the system, but yes, the pxeloader environment has no clue what to do with an ISO image

just mount the iso in the assets folder and restart the netboot container

DiabetoBandito · April 15, 2020, 7:49pm

Hello!

I am working on the same project, or at least similar. In my environment, we have been designing our own ISOs with Preseeding. My test scenario would be to run this container and build an Ansible command to start it up for any site that may need a device re-imaged.

Unfortunately, we have many sites running extremely slow speeds so that’s why we want to host the ISO locally.

I am a little confused when @driz said to unpack the ISO locally, or Mount it in that directory? Do you mean extract the contents of the ISO in my linked Assets directory? Or do you mean I can write a startup script that makes sure the ISO is mounted in my Linked Assets directory at all times?

I also see my ISO in my Untracked Assets, and don’t completely understand where I am suppose to find the ISO in the menu after I PXE boot.

All help is appreciated!

driz · April 16, 2020, 1:48pm

Assuming you’re still talking about windows:

mount your ISO (or unpack it) in a samba share
Verify you can see all the files via the built in http server.
boot the windows install environment
enable networking
mount the samba share to a drive letter
run setup.exe from the share

this is basically how WDS works as well. if your links are too slow to handle this, deploy with usb?

DiabetoBandito · April 16, 2020, 4:07pm

Sorry, should have specified.

100% Debian Linux.

driz · April 16, 2020, 4:54pm

in this case, you dont need to mess with the ISO, just look at your assets and tell it to download the debian version stuff you want, follow the netboot.xyz guidance (or our blog on netboot) for pointing locally

DiabetoBandito · April 17, 2020, 8:26pm

Thank you,

I have been following that guide, but the section where using Local Assets confuses me. I am trying to use it on a custom ISO I have, customized via Pre-seed. But it shows under Untracked Assets. I put the ISO into a location: /PXEassets, that was linked to the assets of the container.

Are you saying I still need to download certain stuff for Debian other than the ISO into the assets directory?

I used Docker Create:

docker create \
  --name=netbootxyz \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -p 69:69/udp \
  -p 8080:80 \
  -v /PXEconfig:/config \
  -v /PXEassets:/assets \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  linuxserver/netbootxyz

driz · April 17, 2020, 8:45pm

browse to the site, click local assets, check the squashfs, initird, and vmlinuz you want, click pull selected.

an ISO isn’t going to work across pxe, how would it get mounted or unpacked?