You can configure a VM to boot over the network in a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE). booting over the network is called PXE booting and does not require the use of installation media. When starting up, a PXE-enabled VM communicates with a DHCP server to obtain information about the boot file it requires.
Configuring PXE boot for an AHV VM involves performing the following steps:
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Configuring the VM to boot over the network.
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Configuring the PXE environment.
The procedure for configuring a VM to boot over the network is the same for managed and unmanaged networks. A VM that is configured to use PXE boots over the network on subsequent restarts until the boot order of the VM is changed.
To configure a PXE environment for a VM on a managed network on an AHV host, do the following:
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Log on to the Prism web console, click the gear icon, and then click Network configuration in the menu. The Network dialog box is displayed.
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On the Virtual Networks tab, click the pencil icon shown for the network for which you want to configure a PXE environment. The VMs that require the PXE boot information must be on this network.
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In the Update Network dialog box, do the following:
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Select the Configure Domain Settings check box and do the following in the fields shown in the domain setting sections:
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In the TFTP Server name field, specify the host name or IP address of the TFTP server.
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If you specify a host name in this field, make sure to also specify DNS settings in the Domain Name Servers (comma separated). Domain Search (comma separated) and domain Name fields
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In the Boot File Name field, specify the boot file URL and boot file that the VMs must use. For example, tftp://ip_address/boot_filename.bin, where ip_address is the IP address (or host name, if you specify DNS settings) of the TFTP server and boot_filename.bin is the PXE boot file.
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Click Save.
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Click Close.