Preboot Execution, or PXE Booting, is a mechanism allowing local system administrators to provide operating systems and other configuration information to systems which do not have local data storage (e.g., hard drives), or to provide a centrally managed operating system image to multiple clients.
PXE boot services are provided, at no charge, to systems on a per-subnet basis, which means only one PXE boot server can be used on any given subnet and, once configured, will potentially apply to all systems on that network. System administrators will need to provide and manage their own PXE boot server, manage the boot time service, and generate their own configuration files and system images.
If your department would like to run a PXE boot service, please ask your local system administrator to contact the Network Systems group online. This service requires the following information:
- The IP address or hostname of the PXE server
- Server host name clients should use when requesting PXE information
- The full path name of the configuration file