Organizations in various sectors require multiple hardware assets. When organizations distribute assets to their employees, many have to deploy the boot files manually in individual devices, a tedious and time-consuming process—and especially when it’s necessary for 100 or more employees.
ManageEngine DDI Central, a centralized platform for managing DNS, DHCP, and IPAM, provides you with templates so you can efficiently implement one-time configurations for your devices. These DDI Central templates leverage the power of Preboot Executive Environment (PXE) to ensure you realize time and cost-saving benefits.
Download a 30-day, free trial now to explore the advantages of utilizing DDI Central’s PXE boot templates in your organization.
What is PXE?
Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) is a standardized client-server environment that launches software retrieved from a network based on a set of standards associated with the client class. PXE helps devices quickly load boot files from a DHCP server. It replaces USB devices and hard disks for boot file deployment.
Every system in the organization sends a DHCP request to the organization’s DHCP server for the IP address of the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server. The DHCP server utilizes a predefined PXE template which is used to match the criteria and value of the request via fields like Match String, Offset, Length, and Match Value.
After successfully matching the values in the DHCP request, the DHCP server will provide the IP address of the TFTP server and the location of the boot file to be installed. The system then proceeds to the TFTP server and installs the PXE boot file, also known as PXE bootstrap loader. This loader initializes the client’s device and downloads all the components of the boot file.
Why you should choose DDI Central’s PXE
Here are five reasons why DDI Central’s PXE templates benefit your organizations network stability and efficiency:
One-time configuration
Manually configuring the PXE settings multiple times for each boot file deployment is an overwhelming labor-intensive process that can introduce human errors that harms productivity, especially for larger organizations with numerous devices. Utilizing PXE templates ensures efficiently because they can be configured and associated with the client class once. This helps an organization automate the boot file installation without repeatedly configuring the PXE settings. Every boot file deployment from that will follow the predefined rules in the template, providing uniform activation on all devices.
Seamless deployment
DDI Central’s PXE templates help you automate installing boot files to multiple devices at once, saving time in the process to deploying individual devices. This ensures all devices are deployed with boot files. DDI Central benefits larger organization by providing multiple boot file deployment options with its PXE templates for better network efficiency.
High scalability
When organizations start to grow bigger and the number of employees increase, the hardware assets provided with the boot files installed also increase. PXE templates efficiently manage the increasing load of devices and ensure deployment stability simultaneously with the organization’s growth.
Centralized management
Managing multiple devices and checking whether all are installed via boot files is a tedious process for network administrators. DDI Central benefits administrators by utilizing templates to deploy monitoring devices that use boot files, which provides them with control over the boot file deployment from a single window. This also ensures that those devices are PXE booted.
How can you configure DDI Central’s PXE Templates?
On DDI Central homepage, go to DHCP > Configurations > Templates.
Click Add templates and provide the name, type of template, and other configuration details in the fields.
Next, we will have a separate section called Match Substring containing fields that need to be filled with essential data. These fields help you define the way DHCP servers are identifying DHCP requests and how they are responding with different types of PXE clients.
The Match Substring helps you match the substring of a client’s DHCP request while joining the network, and to identify and allow which type of machines can use the PXE boot template. Let’s go through and understand each fields:
MATCH SUBSTRING: The type of string you want to match with the DHCP client’s request. This string can be an identifier like”PXE boot” for identifying the client’s device is PXE boot capable or not. It can also be a vendor MAC (mac address) prefix within the hardware, which identifies hardware vendor the PXE bootable client.
OFFSET: The value to be provided for initiating the DHCP server to match data. It begins from the starting point of pattern matching, and the matching of string characters depends on the value given in the field.
LENGTH: The number of characters you want to match after the Offset, i.e., the length of the substring to be matched. For example, If “PXE boot” is your match string, it’ll always be nine characters long, so the length would be set to nine.
MATCH VALUE: The value in the DHCP request you would expect to be matched at the position defined by Offset and Length.
NEXT SERVER: Where you should provide the IP address of the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TPTF) server’s IP address so that your DHCP server can provide the location of the boot file to the client for PXE boot process.
CONDITIONAL STATEMENT: This enables you to distribute multiple different boot files to different clients by applying logic to the DHCP options. Each statement would require else if and else construct for DDI Central to recognize and provide the boot file.
These attributes ensures that the right DHCP clients gets the right boot file information for a proper PXE boot process.
Are you still relying on hard disks and USB drives for boot file installation in multiple devices for your organizations?
With the help of DDI Central’s PXE boot templates, you organization can enable an efficient and effective boot file deployment. DDI Central helps monitor devices for boot file installation from a single window, and utilizes a one-time configuration of the PXE template for consistent boot file deployment which is essential for you organization’s hardware assets.
DDI Central’s PXE boot templates are a great choice for seamless and efficient boot file deployment for your devices.
Download a free, 30-day trial now to explore how DDI Central’s PXE works.
