PXE + UEFI (64 bits)

[nick65go]

Question to A:I. "UEFI pxelinux.0". The A.I. answer was like:
"- pxelinux.0 is the PXE network boot loader exclusively for Legacy BIOS architecture. It does not work on UEFI systems.
- For UEFI network booting, you must use syslinux.efi (or pxelinux.efi) combined with the appropriate architecture-aware DHCP configuration".

Setting Up UEFI PXE Boot: To support both legacy and UEFI machines, your DHCP and PXE servers must be able to recognize the client's architecture (using Option 93) and serve the correct boot file.

1. Required UEFI Boot Files: Instead of relying on pxelinux.0, you will need to download and use the UEFI-compatible syslinux files:
- 64-bit UEFI: syslinux.efi (sometimes named pxelinux.efi)
- 32-bit UEFI: syslinux.efi (32-bit)  -- (aka EFI=UEFI1 for MacOS)
These files are typically found in the syslinux installation directory on your server or can be downloaded from the Syslinux Wiki.

2. Configure Your DHCP Server: Modern DHCP servers (such as dnsmasq or ISC DHCP) can dynamically detect if a client is Legacy BIOS or UEFI and serve the correct file automatically. Example dnsmasq configuration:

Code: [Select]

# Legacy BIOS (Architecture 0)
dhcp-boot=tag:bios,pxelinux.0,server_ip,server_ip

# UEFI 64-bit (Architecture 7 or 9)
dhcp-boot=tag:uefi64,syslinux.efi,server_ip,server_ip
3. Directory Structure: (Unlike BIOS, which reads configurations directly from the pxelinux.cfg/ root), UEFI setups often require a specific directory structure for loading menus and images.
- Place your syslinux.efi in your TFTP root directory.
- Place your pxelinux.cfg/ folder in the same TFTP directory so the boot-loader can read your configuration menu (e.g., default).

FYI: this info was not in TC wiki, so I thought is worth to mention this for (modern) UEFI only machines.

[patrikg]

Do you know you could add it to the wiki your self
Just use your forum credentials.
And maybe ask some forum moderator, to add you into the wiki.

[nick65go]

My (2 years old) laptop does NOT have: BIOS, floppy, CDROM / DVDROM, NIC ethernet. It has just UEFI, WiFi and USB3 + USB-C

So in the case for damage of local storage (HDD/SSD/Nvme) I may boot PXE only with an adapter/dongle USB-NIC. But then will be the speed of Network 100 MB/s (max.) versus a fast USB3 (formatted with EXT4 or XFS) of 400 MB/s.
Even an external SATA storage plug-in will boot from USB port. Plus after booting, we need the (local) HTTPS server, to serve the tcz (from USB or Network) at least for my WiFi 6x + firmware etc.

Summary: I think with advanced in technologies, the PXE booting +UEFI will remain "emergency" / poor man booting for modern machines. Still PXE booting remains suitable for BIOS, where: minimal sever + 100 Clients (without HDD).