SAL's NETWORK BOOT

Network boot Linux, BSD, DOS and tools like hdt, memtest, ...

Supported operating systems:

• RPM based Linux distributions:
  • Fedora (s) (m)
  • CentOS / CentOS Stream (s) (m)
  • AlmaLinux (s) (m)
  • Rocky Linux (s) (m)
  • Scientific linux (s) (m)
  • openSUSE (m)
  • Mageia (m)
• DEB based Linux distributions:
  • Debian (m)
  • Ubuntu (m)
• Other Linux distributions:
  • Slackware (m)
  • ArchLinux (m)
  • Alpine Linux (m)
• Live distributions:
  • GParted (m)
  • Clonezilla (s)
  • SystemRescueCD
  • Kali Linux
• BSD systems:
  • OpenBSD (m)
  • NetBSD (m)
  • FreeBSD (m)
  • GhostBSD (m)
• FreeDOS images:
  • UBCD FreeDOS (s)
  • Ultimate boot CD (s)
  • FreeDOS src (installation iso) (s)
• Tools:
  • Hardware detection tool (HDT) (s)
  • MemTest86+ (s)

Legend:

• (s) - signed and signature is verified before boot
• (m) - booting from an official mirror

Requirements:

• x86 (32 or 64 bit) PC with network connection

Optional but recommended:

• network configuration from DHCP server
• PXE enabled network card

FAQ

• How to start?
  Look into ipxe/ dir for how to boot your favorite system.
• What is the shortest way to chainload this menu from another ipxe/gpxe (for example from qemu's internal pxe)?
  chain https://salstar.sk/boot/
  No need to specify filename, ipxe/gpxe user-agent is autodetected and proper content will be sent.
• What is the shortest way to call other scripts, which are not present in menu?
  Just type "chain scriptname". For example "chain lspci". No need to type ".ipxe" extension, it will be added automatically.
• Is it opensource?
  YES! It's released under GPL v2. You can download sources from my git repository:
  git clone https://www.salstar.sk/git/pxeboot.git
• Do you have more questions/suggestions?
  Contact me at ondrejj(at)salstar.sk.

Screenshots

Main menu:

              SAL's BOOT MENU [Local IP: 10.0.2.15 on virtio-net] 

   Default: 
      Boot local hdd [l] 
   Operating systems: 
      Fedora x86_64 [f]
      CentOS x86_64 [c]
      AlmaLinux x86_64 [a]
      Debian amd64 [b]
      FreeDOS [d]
      Chain other netboot sites [O]
      Other systems [x]
   Options: 
      Architecture: x86_64 (64bit) [A]
      Kernel parameters: [/]
   Tools: 
      Hardware tools [t]
      Predefined systems menu [=]
      Select iPXE console [,]
      iPXE shell [s]

Extended main menu:

              SAL's BOOT MENU [Local IP: 10.0.2.15 on virtio-net] 

   Default: 
      Boot local hdd [l]
   Operating systems: 
      Fedora x86_64 [f] 
      CentOS x86_64 [c]
      AlmaLinux x86_64 [a]
      Rocky Linux x86_64 [r]
      Scientific Linux x86_64 [S]
      openSUSE x86_64 [o]
      Mageia x86_64 [M]
      Debian amd64 [b]
      Ubuntu amd64 [u]
      ArchLinux [H]
      Alpine Linux [A]
      Slackware 64 bit [L]
      GParted 64 bit [g]
      Kali Linux (>5GB RAM required) [K]
      SystemRescue [R]
      Clonezilla [z]
      BSD systems [y]
      FreeDOS [d]
   ... 

Kernel parameters:

                               Kernel parameters 

   Current: 

   Basic parameters: 
      Autopartition [a] 
      Disk selection [d]
      Package selection [p]
      Serial console ttyS0/ttyS1 [s]
      VNC installation [v]
   Advanced parameters: 
      Text mode install [t]
      Force en_US language [l]
      Change predefined root password [w]
      Custom configuration URL [c]
      Network configuration (bonding or static) [n]
      ksdevice configuration [k]
   Other: 
      Edit parameters [e]
      Return to main menu [x]

Fedora version selection:

                                     Fedora 

   Current (supported) 
      Fedora 41 x86_64 [3] 
      Fedora 40 x86_64 [1]
   End of life (unsupported) 
      Fedora 39 x86_64
      Fedora 38 x86_64
      Fedora 37 x86_64
      Fedora 36 x86_64
      Fedora 35 x86_64
      Fedora 34 x86_64
   Testing and development 
      Fedora rawhide x86_64 [r]
      Fedora development x86_64 [d]
      Fedora 42_Beta x86_64 [b]
      Fedora 42_Aplha x86_64 [a]
      Fedora dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/stage x86_64 [A]
   Change Fedora mirror 
      Use ftp.linux.cz as mirror server
   Official netboot 
      Fedora boot.fedoraproject.org [f]

Fedora installation type selection:

                                Fedora boot type 

   Install: 
      Fedora 40 x86_64 
      Fedora 40 x86_64 minimal server kickstart [k]
      Fedora 40 x86_64 desktop kickstart [d]
   Rescue: 
      Fedora 40 x86_64 rescue [r]
      Fedora 40 x86_64 rescue with sshd [s]
   ISO boot: 
      Fedora 40 x86_64 direct boot using isolinux [i]

Files in this folder: