Installing the PXE server on Windows

This topic describes how to install a PXE server and the TFTP server, which are functional components required for the BMC Server Automation provisioning solution, on Microsoft Windows. The topic includes the following sections:

For Linux and UNIX installations, see Installing the Application Server and components (Linux and UNIX).

Before you begin

Before you install the PXE server, note the following prerequisites and requirements:

For successful provisioning, the RSCD agent must be installed on the same host computer as the PXE server. You can install the agent before or after you install the PXE server.
The PXE server installation task requires you to specify information about the database that you plan to use for provisioning. If you plan to set up a multidatabase provisioning environment, specify one database here in the PXE installation task, then add additional databases as described in Setting up a multiple database provisioning environment.
If the PXE and DHCP servers are running on separate host computers, the PXE server must be able to receive the initial DHCP packet broadcast from the target server being provisioned. If the PXE server is on a different subnet than the target server, an IP Helper address must be added to the network router to forward broadcasts from the target server to the PXE server.
To perform this installation, you must have local administrator privileges.
If you are installing the PXE server on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008, make sure that the Internet Information Server (IIS) 6 Metabase Compatibility component and the IIS 6 Metabase Management Console component are installed.
If you are using Windows Terminal Services or Citrix Presentation Server to install or if you are installing on Windows 2003 or 2008, use one of the following methods to install:
- Install in Install mode rather than Execute mode. For information, see Using Install mode instead of Execute mode.
- Install using the Windows Add or Remove Programs utility.
On 64-bit Windows systems, confirm that the <WINDIR>\SysWOW64 directory contains a copy of the chcp.com file. The installer uses this file to set the code page of standard output (stdout). You can obtain the file from a 32-bit version of Windows.

To install the PXE server

	Step	Example screen
1	Install the remote PXE/TFTP server Navigate to the directory containing installation files. Run the PXE86-WIN32 installer file on the Windows machine you plan to install the PXE/TFT server. Click Run. Select the language in which you want to run the installer and click Next.
2	The PXE/TFTP installation wizard introduces you to the installation process. Click Next.
3	Read the End User License Agreement (EULA) and click Yes to proceed. The Customer Information window opens.
4	Enter your name and the name of your organization, and then click Next. The Choose Destination Location window opens.
5	The default installation location for the PXE is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic\PXE. Alternatively, you can click Browse to change the installation location. Click Next to use the default location. The Network Configuration window opens.
6	Confirm that the host name and IP address of the computer on which you are installing the PXE server are correct.
7	Specify where the DHCP is located. If a DHCP server is running on: The computer on which you are installing the PXE server, select Locally (On this server). Another server or network device, select Externally (On another server). If the DHCP server is located on another host computer, the installation program automatically configures this server to function as a DHCP proxy. Note: You must configure the DHCP server differently, depending on whether it is installed on the same computer as the PXE server. For more information on configuring the DHCP server, see Configuring a DHCP server on Windows and Configuring a DHCP server on Linux. BMC recommends that you install the PXE server and the DHCP server on different host computers. Click Next. The TFTP Root window opens.
8	Do one of the following: Accept the default TFTP root directory, which is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic\PXE\tftproot. Choose another directory, click Browse. The TFTP server must reside on the same server as the PXE server. The TFTP server downloads the boot image during the provisioning process. The TFTP root directory is the location from which the files are read. Click Next. The Selected Components window opens.
	Review the current settings to confirm that you have specified the correct installation configuration, and then click Next.
9	A progress bar indicates the progress of the installation until the Post-Configuration Options window opens. The PXE/TFTP server is installed.
10	You can configure the PXE server as part of the installation by selecting the Configure the PXE server option and clicking Next. (See Configuring the PXE and TFTP servers for more information about this option.) Alternatively, you can configure the PXE/TFTP server at a later time by using the PXE/TFTP Server configuration tool.
11	Click Finish to exit the wizard.