Booting network installation from ipxe disk using IPMI KVM

SCREENSHOT 11) After hitting Enter the initramfs will be downloaded from the URL provided.

The HTTPS is not supporeted.

main menu
download the initramfs image

SCREENSHOT 12) The iniramfs from the URL provided has been downloaded successfully.

main menu
ipxe initramfs downloaded

SCREENSHOT 13) “boot” command boots the server with the kernel (and kernel settings) and initramfs downloaded from the previous steps.

main menu
ipxe boot with kernel and initrd options

SCREENSHOT 14) The kernel is booting. Unpacking the initramfs and continue the boot process to it.

main menu
ipxe kernel boot

SCREENSHOT 15) The dracut is starting services needed for the installation wizard.

The installation wizard files are downloaded successful. In this step if the user receives multiple dracut timeouts, there is a problem with the network configuration settings set in the iPXE’s “kernel” paramenter in the above steps. A successful download line means the network is configured properly.

main menu
ipxe dracut starting services

SCREENSHOT 16) The CentOS 8 Installation wizard is starting…

main menu
CentOS Linux 8 Installation starting

SCREENSHOT 17) More services for the CentOS Linux 8 Installation wizard are starting…

main menu
CentOS Linux 8 Installation starting more services

SCREENSHOT 18) The installer is downloaded from the Internet and all is ready to start it.

main menu
starting CentOS 8 installer

SCREENSHOT 19) The first window of the CentOS Linux 8 installation wizard.

Click on “Continue”.

main menu
Welcome CentOS Linux 8 installation

SCREENSHOT 20) The installer sets automatically the “Installation Source” (the same as the booting URLs in iPXE’s kernel and initrd) and the network settings except for the hostname.

Click on “Network & Host Name” to check the network setttings.

main menu
installation summary

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