Setting Up a Local PXE Server to Boot a Netboot Install of Rocky Linux 10

  • Installed the required packages:
sudo dnf install -y lorax httpd tftp-server dnsmasq
  • Enabled the httpd service:
sudo systemctl enable --now httpd
  • Enabled the tftp service:
sudo systemctl enable --now tftp
  • Download the Rocky Linux 10 DVD ISO:
wget https://download.rockylinux.org/pub/rocky/10/isos/x86_64/Rocky-10.0-x86_64-dvd1.iso
  • Unpacked the DVD ISO and created the BaseOS and AppStream repositories:
mkdir /mnt/dvd
sudo mount -o loop ~/Rocky-10.0-x86_64-dvd1.iso /mnt/dvd
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/rocky10-dvd
sudo cp -av /mnt/dvd/. /var/www/html/rocky10-dvd/
  • Generated a Rocky Linux 10 image with Lorax: 
    sudo lorax --product "RockyLinux" --version "10" --release "10" --source "https://download.rockylinux.org/pub/rocky/10/BaseOS/x86_64/os/" --source "https://download.rockylinux.org/pub/rocky/10/AppStream/x86_64/os/" --isfinal --logfile lorax.log --buildarch x86_64 --volid "RL10_LIVENET" /tmp/lorax-out
  • Copied out the boot files to the TFTP server:
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/rocky10
sudo cp /tmp/lorax-out/images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img} /var/lib/tftpboot/rocky10/
  • Copied over the necessary installer stage 2 files:
sudo cp -r /tmp/lorax-out/images/ /var/www/html/rocky10/
  • Mounted the required boot files:
mkdir /tmp/efiboot
sudo mount -o loop /tmp/lorax-out/images/efiboot.img /tmp/efiboot
  • Created the boot directory:
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/rocky10/EFI/BOOT
  • Copied over the files to the boot directory:
sudo cp -av /tmp/efiboot/EFI/BOOT/* /var/lib/tftpboot/rocky10/EFI/BOOT/
  • Edited grub.cfg under /var/lib/tftpboot/rocky10/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg and applied the boot and repo configuration:
cat << "EOF" | sudo tee /var/lib/tftpboot/rocky10/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg
menuentry 'Rocky Linux 10 Install (PXE Boot)' {
    linuxefi /rocky10/vmlinuz inst.stage2=http://192.168.1.150/rocky10 inst.repo=http://192.168.1.150/rocky10-dvd
    initrdefi /rocky10/initrd.img
}
EOF
  • Edited dnsmasq.conf to boot via PXE:
cat << "EOF" | sudo tee /etc/dnsmasq.conf
# Enable DHCP on libvirt default network (192.168.1.0/24)
interface=enp2s0
bind-interfaces
domain-needed
bogus-priv
log-dhcp

# DHCP range for PXE clients
dhcp-range=192.168.1.2,192.168.1.249,12h

# PXE boot loader (UEFI)
dhcp-boot=rocky10/EFI/BOOT/grubx64.efi

# Enable TFTP and set root
enable-tftp
tftp-root=/var/lib/tftpboot
EOF
  • Restarted the dnsmasq and httpd services:
sudo systemctl restart dnsmasq
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Allow the appropriate services through firewalld:

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=tftp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=dns --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=dhcp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Disable SELinux:

sudo setenforce 0
sudo sed -i 's/^SELINUX=.*/SELINUX=permissive/' /etc/selinux/config

Updated: