Setting up a DHCP server
One free software DHCP server is ISC dhcpd.
For &debian-gnu;, the isc-dhcp-server package is
recommended. Here is a sample configuration file for it (see
/etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf):
option domain-name "example.com";
option domain-name-servers ns1.example.com;
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
server-name "servername";
subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.1.200 192.168.1.253;
option routers 192.168.1.1;
}
host clientname {
filename "/tftpboot.img";
server-name "servername";
next-server servername;
hardware ethernet 01:23:45:67:89:AB;
fixed-address 192.168.1.90;
}
In this example, there is one server
servername which performs all of the work
of DHCP server, TFTP server, and network gateway. You will almost
certainly need to change the domain-name options, as well as the
server name and client hardware address. The
filename option should be the name of the
file which will be retrieved via TFTP.
After you have edited the dhcpd configuration file,
restart it with /etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server restart.
Enabling PXE Booting in the DHCP configuration
Here is another example for a dhcp.conf using the
Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE) method of TFTP.
option domain-name "example.com";
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
allow booting;
allow bootp;
# The next paragraph needs to be modified to fit your case
subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.1.200 192.168.1.253;
option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255;
# the gateway address which can be different
# (access to the internet for instance)
option routers 192.168.1.1;
# indicate the dns you want to use
option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.3;
}
group {
next-server 192.168.1.3;
host tftpclient {
# tftp client hardware address
hardware ethernet 00:10:DC:27:6C:15;
filename "pxelinux.0";
}
}
Note that for PXE booting, the client filename pxelinux.0
is a boot loader, not a kernel image (see
below).
If your machine uses UEFI to boot, you will have to specify a boot loader
appropriate for UEFI machines, for example
group {
next-server 192.168.1.3;
host tftpclient {
# tftp client hardware address
hardware ethernet 00:10:DC:27:6C:15;
filename "debian-installer/amd64/bootnetx64.efi";
}
}