How to Use Qiling PXE Boot Tool Easily
Quick Navigation:
- About Qiling PXE Boot Tool
- The Advantages of the Qiling PXE Boot Tool
- How to use the Qiling PXE Boot Tool
- Start Qiling PXE Boot Service
- Setting Clients within LAN for Network Boot
When a computer fails to boot, a common solution is to use a bootable CD, DVD, or USB memory stick with a Linux or Windows PE boot image. However, when faced with the task of installing or running software on a large number of computers, such as 100 machines, using a bootable device for each one becomes impractical and time-consuming. Some computers may not even have a CD drive or be able to boot from a USB device, adding to the complexity.
What is the easiest way to solve this problem?
When faced with the task of booting and installing software on a large number of computers, the process can become overwhelming and time-consuming. However, with the Qiling PXE Boot Tool, you can simplify this process and achieve your goals with ease.
About Qiling PXE Boot Tool
The Qiling PXE Boot Tool allows you to boot multiple computers on the network from a single, centralized location. This is achieved by using a boot image stored on a designated server machine.
The Qiling PXE Boot Tool allows you to create a centralized boot image that can be used to boot multiple client computers. Once booted, you can use the tools provided with the image file to perform various tasks on the client machines.
IMPORTANT COMPATIBILITY NOTES
To use a PXE boot, each client computer must have:
1. A network card (NIC) capable of "Wake on LAN" mode.
2. The network card must support PXE booting.
3. To use the Qiling PXE Boot Tool, you need to establish a wired Ethernet connection to the network. This is a requirement for the tool to function properly.
The Advantages of the Qiling PXE Boot Tool
Compared to other PXE tools, the Qiling PXE Boot Tool stands out with its additional useful features. These enhancements make it a more powerful and versatile tool for managing client machines.
- The Qiling PXE Boot Tool can directly create a Linux bootable ISO or Windows PE bootable ISO image file. Alternatively, you can create a bootable ISO file by using the Qiling Disk Master -> Utilities -> Create Bootable Media option.
- If you want to use powerful Windows PE image with desktop, you can create an ISO file with Qiling PE Builder, which is freeware offered by Qiling, and then, you can use it with Qiling PXE Boot Tool.
- To access powerful network administration features, you can utilize the Qiling Disk Master. This tool provides a comprehensive set of network management capabilities without the need to deploy additional plug-ins or programs.
How to use the Qiling PXE Boot Tool
Start Qiling PXE Boot Service
Step 1. Install Qiling Disk Master on a server or PC that can boot normally. Select "Tools" and then select "Create bootable media Tool".
Step 2. Choose the one of the Preboot Execute Environment to start your PC.
Three Options:
- Boot from Qiling Windows system: This is a recommended option, so the tool helps you to easily create a Windows PE system image for network boot.
- Boot from Qiling Linux system: This option can be useful for booting older or Linux based computers on the network.
- Boot from a custom image file: You can load the special micro-system created by Qiling PE Builder or Bart PE.
Step 3. After clicking "Start Service", the Qiling PXE Boot Tool will configure related data automatically and start the service to wait for target computers.
Setting Clients within LAN for Network Boot
Set client computers within LAN for network boot.
Power on the client computer while repeatedly pressing the required key to enter the computer's BIOS (usually, the F2 or Del keys, but this depends on the PC manufacturer, so please check the documentation if needed), then enable "Network Boot" in the BIOS setting.
Restart the client computer and enter the BIOS/UEFI screen in the same way as described above.
The following steps describe how to configure PXE network boot.
Boot mode selection
Click Bios Features -> CSM Support -> Boot Mode Selection, and press Enter in "Boot Mode Selection" and a pop-up window will appear, and you should choose "UEFI and Legacy" or "Legacy Only".
Enable the PXE boot option
Choose "LAN PXE Boot Option ROM" with down arrow, and turn its status from "Disabled" to "Enabled".
Set the PXE option as the first boot device
You can select "Boot Option # 1" in "Boot Option Priorities", and then select "Realtek PXE B02 D00" as well as press Enter.
Alternative to setting the first boot device
You can also reboot the computer and hit a key (may be F12 or F11), then a window will pop-up below, and then select the first boot device: "Realtek PXE B02 D00" and press Enter.
Finally, you can see the following screenshot, this means your computer is booting from PXE over the network. You may need to wait for a few minutes depending on the speed of the network and the size of the bootable image file.
Notes:
- The PXE boot process may take a few minutes to complete, depending on the speed of your network and the size of the bootable image file. You can expect to see a progress bar or other indicators of the boot process on your screen.
- To facilitate PXE booting, all computers that require PXE boot must be connected to the same network. This ensures that the PXE boot server can communicate with the computers and provide them with the necessary bootable image.
- To ensure optimal network performance when using PXE boot, consider dividing the PXE boot clients into smaller groups. This approach can help mitigate potential network congestion and speed issues.
- The Qiling PXE Tool includes a built-in DHCP server, which can be utilized when an existing DHCP server is not available or accessible. This feature enables the Qiling PXE Tool to manage IP addresses and provide PXE boot services without relying on an external DHCP server.
Conclusion:
The PXE boot tool enables simultaneous PXE booting of multiple client computers, streamlining the system image restoration process. This feature allows administrators to restore the system image to multiple clients at once, saving time and increasing efficiency.
FAQs:
Q: To configure the PXE service on the server side, follow these steps:
A: 1. Run the program to configure PXE service. You can choose "Boot from Qiling Windows PE system", "Boot from Qiling Linux system", or "Boot from custom image file". Then click "Start Service" button. If the current system doesn't have the required environment to create a bootable image file, the program will prompt you to install Windows AIK or ADK.
2. After you have finished configuring server-side, ensure the client-side and server-side both exist in the same LAN and network segment.
3. Check whether DHCP server exists in LAN or not. There must be a DHCP server in LAN. If you don't have a DHCP server, you can use some software such as TFTPD32 to build it.
4. If the client computer's motherboard is set to UEFI boot mode, you may need to change to legacy BIOS boot mode and enable the PXE boot option in BIOS to resolve PXE boot issues.
5. Restart the client computer to start up the system through the network booting.
Tips:
Optional: Temporarily close all firewalls, including Windows firewall and third-party program firewall before running the feature.
Optional: You may be prompted that some ports are in use by other programs, when starting the PXE service. You may enter the CMD command prompt, and separately type: netstat -aon|findstr "67", netstat -aon|findstr "69", netstat -aon|findstr "4011" to check if the 67, 69, 4011 ports of server-side are in use by other programs. If so, please type tasklist|findstr "PID" to find out which processes are using these ports, and then manually end the processes using these ports.
Q: When using PXE, you may encounter issues where it fails to create a Windows PE bootable image file. Here are some possible reasons and solutions to help you troubleshoot the problem:
A: Causes may be:
1. When attempting to create a Windows PE bootable image file, you may encounter an error message indicating that the required environment is not present in the current system. In this scenario, the program will prompt you to install Windows AIK (Automated Installation Kit) or ADK (Assessment and Deployment Kit), and then restart the program to try again.
2. When the program is installed in a directory containing non-English characters, you may encounter an error message indicating that the program failed to create a Windows PE bootable image file. In this scenario, the program will prompt you to use the "Create Bootable Media" function in Qiling Disk Master to create a Windows PE bootable ISO image file, and then store it in the program installation directory.
3. When a bug occurs, you may encounter an error message indicating that the program failed to create a Windows PE bootable image file. In this scenario, the program will prompt you to use the "Create Bootable Media" function in Qiling Disk Master to create a Windows PE bootable ISO image file, and then store it in the program installation directory.
4. If the "Create Bootable Media" function in server-side program is running, creating Windows PE bootable image file in the PXE function will fail. Please wait until the progress of "Create Bootable Media" in server-side program is completed, and then continue with the operation in the PXE function.
Q: In some cases, the client-side may fail to boot from the network even after configuring the PXE service in the server-side. This can be due to several reasons.
A: 1. If the server-side and client-side do not exist in the same network segment, the server-side neither receives the request from client-side nor sends data to the client-side. The inability to communicate results in the client-side failing to use the PXE function to boot from server-side. In such a case, configure the server-side and client-side with the same network segment.
2. If the LAN on which the server-side and client-side exist does not have DHCP server, the client-side cannot obtain the IP address when booting from the network. To solve this problem, add a router with DHCP service to the LAN, or use third-party software such as TFTPD32 to configure DHCP service on another computer.
3. The client-side using PXE function to boot from the network may be affected if the firewall of server-side is enabled. In such case, close the firewall of server-side.
4. Boot failure will occur if the client-side uses UEFI boot mode to start up from the network. Currently the PXE function in the program does not support UEFI boot mode. To correct this, enter into motherboard settings to change the UEFI boot mode into legacy BIOS boot mode.
5. It may be that the logged-in user in server-side is not an Administrator account. In such a case, the configured PXE service fails to start automatically after logging in. Please run Qiling PXE Tool with administrator privileges, and then click "Start Service" button. Restart from the client-side to try again.
6. When using the PXE function to boot from the network, it's essential to ensure that the client-side device is connected to the server-side through a wired network. The PXE function does not support communication through a wireless network card.
Q: When using the PXE function to boot from the network, system startup can fail due to several reasons. Here are some common issues that may cause system startup to fail:
A: 1. The selected bootable image file might have a problem. Please re-create a bootable image file, or use "Create Bootable Media" function in Qiling Disk Master, or use Qiling PE Builder.
2. If the selected bootable image file is too large, or the computer's memory too small, boot failure may occur because of insufficient memory. Please select a smaller bootable image file.
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