1:45 p.m.
I may have partially debugged this problem. (I am now trying ESXi5.5u1
instead of ESXi5.5, but that shouldn't make a big difference). I ran
tcpdump on the machine running cobbler (ie. ops) and rebooted the physical
machine on which I want to install esxi. It looks like the esxi installer
is looking for, and *really badly wants* a file called /boot.cfg file in
the root directory of the tftp server.
[root@ops ~]# tcpdump -n -i eth0 port 69
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 65535 bytes
13:54:25.689423 IP 172.29.2.0.ah-esp-encap > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 27 RRQ
"pxelinux.0" octet tsize 0
13:54:25.729213 IP 172.29.2.0.acp-port > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 32 RRQ
"pxelinux.0" octet blksize 1456
13:54:25.799020 IP 172.29.2.0.57089 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 79 RRQ
"pxelinux.cfg/34353739-3232-4d58-5138-333541344245" octet tsize 0 blksize
1408
13:54:25.801884 IP 172.29.2.0.57090 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 63 RRQ
"pxelinux.cfg/01-00-22-64-09-b4-d6" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
13:54:25.804445 IP 172.29.2.0.57091 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 67 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/mboot.c32" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
13:54:28.162020 IP 172.29.2.0.57092 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 39 RRQ
"/boot.cfg" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
I ran locate to find boot.cfg. I found 3 copies of boot.cfg and 1 copy of
cobbler-boot.cfg
[root@ops ~]# locate boot.cfg
/var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
/var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/cobbler-boot.cfg
/var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
/var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/efi/boot/boot.cfg
All copies of boot.cfg are the same.
[root@ops ~]# diff /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
/var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
[root@ops ~]# diff /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
/var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/efi/boot/boot.cfg
I decided to copy one of these boot.cfg files to the root directory of the
tftp server
[root@ops ~]# cp /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/boot.cfg
/var/lib/tftpboot/
I rebooted the physical machine on which I want to install esxi while
running tcpdump on the machine running cobbler (ie. ops). This time the
esxi installation gets a little further. The tcpdump output is below:
[root@ops ~]# tcpdump -n -i eth0 port 69
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol
decode
listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 65535 bytes
14:16:50.497304 IP 172.29.2.0.ah-esp-encap > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 27 RRQ
"pxelinux.0" octet tsize 0
14:16:50.500842 IP 172.29.2.0.acp-port > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 32 RRQ
"pxelinux.0" octet blksize 1456
14:16:50.551803 IP 172.29.2.0.57089 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 79 RRQ
"pxelinux.cfg/34353739-3232-4d58-5138-333541344245" octet tsize 0 blksize
1408
14:16:50.553676 IP 172.29.2.0.57090 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 63 RRQ
"pxelinux.cfg/01-00-22-64-09-b4-d6" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:16:50.556036 IP 172.29.2.0.57091 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 67 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/mboot.c32" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:16:52.902548 IP 172.29.2.0.57092 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 39 RRQ
"/boot.cfg" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:16:52.905537 IP 172.29.2.0.57093 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 40 RRQ
"/tboot.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
On the physical server that I am trying to install esxi, I get the
following error:
Loading operating system
/tboot.b00: file not found
Fatal error 15 (Not found)
Next I replaced boot.cfg with cobbler-boot.cfg and rebooted my physical
machine, watching the tcpdump
[root@ops ~]# cp /var/lib/tftpboot/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/cobbler-boot.cfg
/var/lib/tftpboot/boot.cfg
cp: overwrite `/var/lib/tftpboot/boot.cfg'? y
The tcpdump looks as follows:
[root@ops ~]# tcpdump -n -i eth0 port 69
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol
decode
listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 65535 bytes
14:28:38.428668 IP 172.29.2.0.ah-esp-encap > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 27 RRQ
"pxelinux.0" octet tsize 0
14:28:38.432558 IP 172.29.2.0.acp-port > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 32 RRQ
"pxelinux.0" octet blksize 1456
14:28:38.483118 IP 172.29.2.0.57089 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 79 RRQ
"pxelinux.cfg/34353739-3232-4d58-5138-333541344245" octet tsize 0 blksize
1408
14:28:38.485207 IP 172.29.2.0.57090 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 63 RRQ
"pxelinux.cfg/01-00-22-64-09-b4-d6" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:38.487562 IP 172.29.2.0.57091 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 67 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/mboot.c32" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.834637 IP 172.29.2.0.57092 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 39 RRQ
"/boot.cfg" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.837974 IP 172.29.2.0.57093 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 67 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/tboot.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.840040 IP 172.29.2.0.57094 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 63 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/b.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.842016 IP 172.29.2.0.57095 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 69 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/jumpstrt.gz" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.844013 IP 172.29.2.0.57096 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 69 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/useropts.gz" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.845904 IP 172.29.2.0.57097 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 63 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/k.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.847914 IP 172.29.2.0.57098 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 70 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/chardevs.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.850042 IP 172.29.2.0.57099 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 63 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/a.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.852167 IP 172.29.2.0.57100 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 66 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/user.b00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.854370 IP 172.29.2.0.57101 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 64 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/sb.v00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.856511 IP 172.29.2.0.57102 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 63 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/s.v00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
14:28:40.858534 IP 172.29.2.0.57103 > 172.29.3.31.tftp: 70 RRQ
"/images/VMware-5.5u1-x86_64/ata_pata.v00" octet tsize 0 blksize 1408
... ...
The console of the physical esxi machine shows the machine successfully
booting esxi5.5u1.
My conclusion is that copying cobbler-boot.cfg to
/var/lib/tftpboot/boot.cfg resolved the problem. Would any cobbler developers
or experts please verify that this is the correct thing to do?
Now onto kickstarting ESXi5.5u1 ...
I hope this post is helpful to others trying to gPXE boot and kickstart
ESXi5* installs.
-Razi
On Sat, Apr 26, 2014 at 10:24 PM, Razi Khaja <razi.khaja(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I'm running Centos 6.5 and Cobbler 2.7.0 checked out from
github:
[root@ops ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release
CentOS release 6.5 (Final)
[root@ops ~]# cobbler version
Cobbler 2.7.0
source: c5a7bb2, Sun Apr 27 00:24:56 2014 +0200
build time: Sat Apr 26 19:28:28 2014
My cobbler installation is able to successfully pxe boot systems on which
I install CentoOS 6.5, so I know that it is working, but I am having
difficulty with gpxe booting esxi5.5.
I have successfully imported the ESXi5.5
iso: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.5.0-1331820.x86_64.iso
I have installed the packages for gpxe, however, when I boot the machine
on which I want to install ESXi5.5, I get the following error:
> Loading operating system
> Configuration error while parsing /boot.cfg
> Fatal error: 15 (Not found)
Below is the distro report:
> [root@ops ~]# cobbler distro report --name=vmware-5.5-x86_64
> Name : vmware-5.5-x86_64
> Architecture : x86_64
> TFTP Boot Files : {'$local_img_path/*.*':
> '/var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/*.*'}
> Breed : vmware
> Comment :
> Fetchable Files : {}
> Initrd :
> /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/imgpayld.tgz
> Kernel :
> /var/www/cobbler/ks_mirror/vmware-5.5-x86_64/mboot.c32
> Kernel Options : {}
> Kernel Options (Post Install) : {}
> Kickstart Metadata : {'tree': 'http://@@http_server@
> @/cblr/links/vmware-5.5-x86_64'}
> Management Classes : []
> OS Version : esxi55
> Owners : ['admin']
> Red Hat Management Key : <<inherit>>
> Red Hat Management Server : <<inherit>>
> Template Files :
> {'/etc/cobbler/pxe/bootcfg_esxi55.template':
> '$local_img_path/cobbler-boot.cfg'}
I have already read previous similar posts for previous versions of
esxi5, but did not find those helpful:
https://lists.fedorahosted.org/pipermail/cobbler/2014-February/009284.html
https://lists.fedorahosted.org/pipermail/cobbler/2013-June/008869.html
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
-Razi