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iPXE
DeveloperiPXE project
Initial release2010, 15–16 years ago
Stable release
1.21.1[1] / December 31, 2020; 5 years ago (2020-12-31)
Written inC
TypeBoot loader
LicenseGPLv2+
Websiteipxe.org
Repository

iPXE is an open-source implementation of the Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) client software and bootloader, created in 2010 as a fork of gPXE (gPXE was named Etherboot until 2008).[2] It can be used to enable computers without built-in PXE capability to boot from the network, or to provide additional features beyond what built-in PXE provides.

While standard PXE clients use only TFTP to load parameters and programs from the server, iPXE client software can use additional protocols, including HTTP, iSCSI, ATA over Ethernet (AoE), and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE). Also, on certain hardware, iPXE client software can use a Wi-Fi link, as opposed to the wired connection required by the PXE standard.

The iPXE client is a superset of, and can replace or supplement, prior PXE implementations.

iPXE is the official replacement for gPXE. It has every feature of gPXE, and users can seamlessly upgrade from gPXE to iPXE.[2]

PXE implementation

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iPXE can be booted by a computer either by replacing (re-flashing) the existing standard PXE ROM on a supported network interface card (NIC), or by booting the NIC's standard PXE ROM and then chainloading into the iPXE binary, thus obtaining its features without the need to re-flash a NIC. iPXE firmware embeds its configuration script into the firmware image, thus any changes to the configuration require a NIC to be re-flashed.

iPXE implements its own PXE stack either by using the network card driver provided by iPXE, or the standard PXE UNDI driver if iPXE is chainloaded from a standard PXE ROM. Implementing an independent PXE stack allows clients without the standard PXE ROM on their NICs to use an alternative iPXE stack by loading it from an alternative medium.

Boot manager

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Although its basic role was to implement a PXE stack, iPXE can be also used as a network boot manager with limited capabilities for menu-based interaction with end users. iPXE can fetch boot files using multiple network protocols, such as TFTP, NFS, HTTP or FTP.

iPXE can act as a boot loader for the Linux kernel, with support for multiboot. For other operating systems, for example Windows CE, iPXE chain-loads corresponding Microsoft boot loader. Additionally, iPXE is scriptable and can load COMBOOT and COM32 SYSLINUX extensions, which, for example, allows SYSLINUX-based graphical menu capabilities to be available for network booting.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Tags". GitHub. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  2. ^ a b ipxe.org - iPXE FAQs, 2011-12-02
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📚 Artikel Terkait di Wikipedia

ISCSI

"Chainloading iPXE". ipxe.org. Retrieved 2013-11-11. "Burning iPXE into ROM". ipxe.org. Retrieved 2013-11-11. "iPXE - Open Source Boot Firmware". ipxe.org. Retrieved

GPXE

summer 2010, and several projects are migrating or considering migrating to iPXE as a result. gPXE can be loaded by a computer in several ways: from media

FOG Project

Execution Environment (PXE). It makes use of TFTP, the Apache webserver and iPXE. It is written in PHP. The configuration tool developed by the FOG Project

Preboot Execution Environment

world has produced over the years non-standard derivative projects like gPXE/iPXE offering their own ROMs. While Intel based ROMs have been implementing the

Windows Preinstallation Environment

to replace MS-DOS boot disks and can be booted via USB flash drive, PXE, iPXE, CD, DVD, or hard drive. Traditionally used by large corporations and OEMs

Container Linux

over a network using Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) in general, or iPXE as one of its implementations. CoreOS also supports deployments on various

Coreboot

Linux kernel, but it can load any other stand-alone ELF executable, such as iPXE, gPXE or Etherboot that can boot a Linux kernel over a network, or SeaBIOS

Comparison of Linux distributions

alpinelinux.org. Retrieved 12 November 2016. "Netboot Alpine Linux using iPXE - Alpine Linux". "Sisyphus - intro". Sisyphus.ru. Archived from the original