View source

Booting from a TFTP server has the advantage that you do not have to recreate a boot-medium every time you change a binary. Thus, for development and debugging, the use of a TFTP server is highly recommended. Each current distribution has a TFTP server package. If you want to load binaries via PXE from your TFTP server you will need [http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=tftpd-hpa&searchon=names&suite=all&section=all tftp-hpa].

Once you installed the TFTP server it can be started on demand by inserting the following line into your ''/etc/inetd.conf'' (if it isn't already):

 tftp  dgram  udp  wait.5000  root  /usr/sbin/tcpd  /usr/sbin/in.tftpd /tftpboot

The last parameter in the line (''/tftpboot'') tells the TFTP server where to look for files. If this directory does not exist, create it. Also create a directory ''boot'' in your home directory. Then create a symbolic link from that ''boot'' directory to a sub-directory with your user name in ''tftpboot'':

 cd /tftpboot
 ln -s /home/<your login>/boot <your login>

Put your [[menu.lst]] files and binaries into that directory or link them. You can, for instance, link the ''bin'' directory from your build directory into your ''boot'' directory. Now, each entry in the [[menu.lst]] that loads from the TFTP server will fetch the files from your ''boot'' directory. The menu.lst entry:

 module (nd)/tftpboot/<your login>/bin/x86/bootstrap

Will load the file bootstrap from your ''boot'' directory. You have to specify the full path (including ''tftpboot'') because you can specify more than one directory as parameters for ''in.tftpd'' and the TFTP server has to know which to look in. Please consult the man page of the TFTP server for further details.

When booting with [[QEmu]]'s TFTP server, you do not have to have a running TFTP server, but the layout of the directories should be the same.

If you are the sole user of the TFTP server you may, of course, specify the ''boot'' directory directly as the parameter of the TFTP server. In a multi-user environment with a single TFTP server the above setup proved useful.