Troubleshooting issues with PXE

Overview

While PXE services don't tend to have many issues, you may occasionally run into issues with PXE reps.

Issues seen at Tufts

With some PXE reps, you may get errors when attempting to PXE boot from them. While there can be a variety of causes (detailed here, this is generally fixed by disabling some of the F8 options on the PXE rep. Additional instrucions can be found here: http://community.landesk.com/support/docs/DOC-22479

Generic issues

Enable logging for Landesk PXE service

If you are having issues, it may be worthwhile to enable logging to help track the issue.
In order to enable logging change the registry key “PxeMtftp_DebugOutToFile_On” under HKLM\Software\INTEL\PXE on the PXE rep to "1". Then, either restrat the computer or the Landesk PXE MTFTP Service. The Log file pxemtftp.log can be found in c:\program files\LANDesk\PXE\System

http://community.landesk.com/support/docs/DOC-11704

Troubleshooting PXE server

Landesk has a very detailed article with a collection of PXE errors and troubleshooting steps. The article can be found here: http://community.landesk.com/support/docs/DOC-8358

Most issues with PXE stem from missing drivers in the WinPE image. The article here explains how to update drivers in the WinPE image.

Missing network driver from the WinPE image

Example

Typical scenario is that computer is able to boot of the PXE server, but then it hangs when request information from the PXE server and doesn't continue to the user prompt for authentication.

- computer is trying to reach the PXE server after boot in WinPE - the IP address for the server shows as 127.0.0.1

- the network card has amber light on

Resolution

1. Check what version of WinPE you have on the PXE rep, and compare with the version on the Landesk core. If the version on the PXE rep is older, redeploy the PXE rep as detailed here.

PXE rep WinPE location - C:\Program Files (x86)\Landesk\PXE\System\images\boot\boot.wim

Landesk core WinPE location -  \\SSVMLDESKCORE\ldmain\landesk\vboot\boot.wim

2. If still having a problem PXE, most likely the WinPE image on the core doesn't have the appropriate drivers, and they need to be added. The procedure is detailed here.

Information on the Tufts IT Knowledgebase is intended for IT Professionals at Tufts.
If you have a question about a Tufts IT service or computer/account support, please contact your IT support group.