Getting started
Debian netboot installer support
By default the role will download and prepare a set of Debian netboot installers for various OS releases. The Debian installers will be available via the boot menu, with a possibility to boot into the text, graphical or expert install. A preseeded configuration is also available for larger environments.
Optionally, the role can include the non-free firmware required by certain
devices (for example network cards) for convenience.The installation of the
non-free firmware is disabled by default, you can enable it using the
ipxe__debian_netboot_firmware
variable. The firmware will also be
enabled automatically if non-free repositories are configured on the host in
APT.
Additional services required
The debops.ipxe
role relies on other DebOps roles to provide the needed
DHCP and TFTP services. You can use either debops.dnsmasq on an internal
network to configure DHCP, DNS, PXE and TFTP services, or use
debops.dhcpd and debops.tftpd roles to set up a more
comprehensive network environment.
Example inventory
To configure iPXE boot firmware on a given host, you need to include in the
[debops_service_ipxe]
Ansible inventory group:
[debops_service_ipxe]
hostname
If you are using debops.dnsmasq to provide DHCP and TFTP services, you can configure iPXE environment on the same host. Alternatively, debops.tftpd role can be used to provide TFTP service on a separate host on the network, which is then specified via DHCP as the "next server" for other hosts to boot from.
Example playbook
If you are using this role without DebOps, here's an example Ansible playbook
that uses the debops.ipxe
role:
---
- name: Manage iPXE configuration files
collections: [ 'debops.debops', 'debops.roles01',
'debops.roles02', 'debops.roles03' ]
hosts: [ 'debops_service_ipxe' ]
become: True
environment: '{{ inventory__environment | d({})
| combine(inventory__group_environment | d({}))
| combine(inventory__host_environment | d({})) }}'
roles:
- role: ipxe
tags: [ 'role::ipxe', 'skip::ipxe' ]
Other resources
List of other useful resources related to the debops.ipxe
Ansible role:
Non-free firmware in Debian documentation page
How to include non-free firmware in Debian netboot installer
netboot.xyz - public network boot server, available from DebOps Boot Menu
SAL's Boot Menu - another public network boot server available via DebOps Boot Menu
Rackspace Boot Server, available via DebOps Boot Menu