In a previous article, Installing Linux via PXE using Windows Deployment Services (WDS), I talked about using PXELinux to enable deployment of WDS images, Linux distros and a multitude of tools. It got a bit heavy when trying to make this all work but the system is now up & running and we have already benefitted from it on many occasions. So here is my guide for Microsoft admins wanting to enhance their existing Windows Deployment Services server.
Step One – Install WDS
This should be obvious and if you are reading this I imagine you’ve done it already. Ours is running on a Windows Server 2003 box but it should work fine with the latest, more secure, stuff.
- We will be adding bits to the folders within the \\WDS\REMINST share
Step Two – Install PXELinux
PXELinux is part of the SysLinux package
- Download SysLinux from here
- There’s quite a bit in SysLinux but you only need to extract the following files
- ZIP\core\pxelinux.0
- ZIP\com32\menu\vesamenu.c32
- ZIP\com32\modules\chain.c32
- Copy the files into \\WDS\REMINST\Boot\x86
- Rename pxelinux.0 to pxelinux.com
- You also need to make copies of two original WDS files in this folder
- Copy pxeboot.n12 and rename it to pxeboot.0
- Copy abortpxe.com and rename it to abortpxe.0
- Create to new subfolders
- \\WDS\REMINST\Boot\x86\Linux
- \\WDS\REMINST\Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg
- The pxelinux.cfgfolder is where you store the files that make up the PXE boot (F12) menu.
- All the files we will put in there are text files, even though they don’t use a .txt extension
- First create a new text file called default. This is the first menu that loads.
- Paste the following text into it
04 |
MENU TITLE PXE Boot Menu (x86) |
05 |
MENU INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf |
06 |
MENU AUTOBOOT Starting Local System in 8 seconds |
08 |
# Option 1 - Exit PXE Linux & boot normally |
10 |
menu label ^Boot Normally |
17 |
MENU LABEL ^Windows Deployment Services |
19 |
# Option 3 - Exit PXE Linux |
- Now create a text file called graphics.conf
- This file controls how the menu is displayed. It’s very versatile so have a play around until it looks as basic or as flashy as you like
- Paste the following text into it
05 |
MENU COLOR BORDER 30;44 #00000000 #00000000 none |
06 |
MENU COLOR SCROLLBAR 30;44 #00000000 #00000000 none |
07 |
MENU COLOR TITLE 0 #00269B #00000000 none |
08 |
MENU COLOR SEL 30;47 #40000000 #20ffffff |
09 |
MENU BACKGROUND background.jpg |
- If you want to use a custom background, place it in the \\WDS\REMINST\Boot\x86folder.
- The image should be a 640×480 jpeg file.
- Make sure it has the same name as specified in the MENU BACKGROUND line in graphics.conf
- Now we need to change the default boot program in WDS
- Open the Windows Deployment Services Console
- Right Click on your Server and select Properties
- From the Boot tab change the default boot program for x86 architecture to \Boot\x86\pxelinux.com
- In Server 2008 R2 you have to use the wdsutil command line to set the the default boot program with these commands
1 |
wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86 |
2 |
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86 |
Step Three – Test it out
Before you go any further, do a test PXE boot to check everything is OK.
I use a Hyper-V VM to make this testing process quicker. Just make sure it’s set to boot to a legacy network adapter in the settings

If it doesn’t load make sure you have the following files and folders in the right place within the \\WDS\REMINST share
- \Boot\x86\pxelinux.com
- \Boot\x86\vesamenu.c32
- \Boot\x86\chain.c32
- \Boot\x86\pxeboot.0
- \Boot\x86\abortpxe.0
- \Boot\x86\background.jpg
- \Boot\x86\Linux\
- \Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg\
- \Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg\default
- \Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg\graphics.conf
Step Four– Add new boot options
If you can boot into the new menu and still load WDS then we are ready to add our Linux distros and other tools. If not, go back to step one and check everything.
This stage is relatively easy. It is just a case of putting the relevant netboot files for your preferred distribution in to the \Boot\x86\Linux folder and then adding a menu option for them. You can find more info on where to get these from on the official WDSLinux wiki. I’ll show you a more generic way of doing things using Debian as an example
- Create a new subfolder
- Download the netboot files (initrd.gz and linux) from a Debian mirror
- Copy them into the Debian subfolder
- Create a menu entry for them in \Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg\default
1 |
LABEL debian6Netinstall |
2 |
menu label ^Debian 6-0 Net-install |
3 |
# Load the correct kernel |
4 |
kernel /Linux/Debian/Linux |
6 |
append priority=low vga=normal initrd=/Linux/Debian/initrd.gz |
That’s all there is to it. As long as you download the correct files and boot the correct boot options on the append line of the menu, you should be OK.
What if I need 64-bit options
This is easy too just replicate everything we did in \Boot\x86 into \Boot\x64. Don’t forget to change the WDS Server boot program for the x64 architecture (as shown in step 2) to \Boot\x64\pxelinux.com
Taking it further
Hopefully you are reading this because you have numerous ideas of what you could boot to. To help you along I’ve included my current default menu as well as adding sub-menus for Linux and Tools. Most of them were fairly straightforward as they had special PXE version with instructions on their website, e.g. GParted & Clonezilla
default
04 |
MENU TITLE PXE Boot Menu (x86) |
05 |
MENU INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf |
06 |
MENU AUTOBOOT Starting Local System in 8 seconds |
08 |
# Option 1 - Exit PXE Linux & boot normally |
10 |
menu label ^Boot Normally |
17 |
MENU LABEL ^Windows Deployment Services |
19 |
# Go to Linux sub-menu |
21 |
MENU LABEL ^Linux Distros |
23 |
APPEND pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf pxelinux.cfg/linux.menu |
24 |
# Go to Tools sub-menu |
28 |
APPEND pxelinux.cfg/graphics.conf pxelinux.cfg/tools.menu |
linux.menu (save in same place default)
01 |
MENU TITLE Install a Linux Distro |
03 |
LABEL debian6.0-amd64-Netinstall |
04 |
menu label ^Debian 6-0 amd64-Net-install: |
05 |
kernel /Linux/Debian-Net-Install-amd64/Linux |
06 |
append priority=low vga=normal initrd=/Linux/Debian-Net-Install-amd64/initrd.gz |
08 |
LABEL Centos5.0-Install |
09 |
menu label ^Centos 5-0 32bit install: |
10 |
kernel /Linux/Centos-5.0-32-bit/vmlinuz |
11 |
APPEND ks initrd=Linux/Centos-5.0-32-bit/initrd.img ramdisk_size=100000 |
13 |
LABEL Debian-5.08-Installer |
14 |
menu label ^Install 5.08 (Lenny) |
15 |
kernel /Linux/debian-installer/i386/linux |
16 |
append vga=normal debian-installer/allow_unauthenticated=true initrd=/Linux/debian-installer/i386/initrd.gz |
19 |
MENU LABEL ^Back to Main Menu |
21 |
APPEND pxelinux.cfg/default |
tools.menu (save in same place default)
04 |
menu label ^Memory Test: Memtest86+ v4.20 |
05 |
kernel \Linux\memtest\memtestp |
07 |
MENU LABEL ^Clonezilla Live |
08 |
kernel \Linux\Clonezilla\vmlinuz |
11 |
MENU LABEL ^GParted Live |
12 |
kernel \Linux\gparted\vmlinuz |
15 |
GParted live version: 0.8.1-3. Live version maintainer: Steven Shiau |
16 |
Disclaimer: GParted live comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY |
19 |
MENU LABEL ^Back to Main Menu |
21 |
APPEND pxelinux.cfg/default |
Conclusion
This is a really useful tool to have in our SysAdmin arsenal. I encourage you to give it a go. Let me know if your successful, or if you are having any problems getting it working, in the comments section. I’d also love to hear of any other tools you’ve added to the PXE menu.