PXE Everywhere components
PXE Everywhere includes the following components:
PXE Everywhere Central Server. PXE Everywhere Central is a web service that the PXE Everywhere Agents contact to determine if the booting PXE client requires a boot image. It does this by checking the Configuration Manager database to determine if there are any OS Deployment Task Sequences deployed to the booting PXE client (identified by that client's MAC address and SMBIOS GUID). The web service component of the PXE Everywhere Central Service can be installed on any IIS server that has good connectivity to the Configuration Manager Database server (it can be installed on the Configuration Manager site server if IIS is installed). PXE Everywhere Central also includes boot image tools, which can be installed on any system that has the Configuration Manager Console installed. To install, please refer to Installing PXE Everywhere Central.
PXE Everywhere Agent. PXE Everywhere Agent is a client module of the 1E Client (introduced in 1E Client 5.1 for PXE Everywhere v4.0). It is installed on all (or as many as you want) computers. It establishes a lightweight PXE service which listens for PXE boot requests broadcast on the local subnet. By default, the Agent listens on port 67, but will listen instead on port 2067 if the Agent has been configured to run in an environment that has DHCP Snooping enabled. When intercepted the agents will initiate an election and the elected agent will check, via the PXE Everywhere Central server, if there are any OS Deployment Task Sequences deployed to the booting PXE client. If so, the Agents will initiate a second election to determine the best agent to serve the Windows PE boot image to the booting PXE peer. The elected agent then responds to the booting PXE client with an offer of the boot image, which the PXE client then downloads over TFTP and boots into to start the Task Sequence. To install, please refer to Installing PXE Everywhere Agents.
PXE Everywhere Responder. PXE Everywhere Responder has its own installer (introduced in v4.0). It is only required to support networks that have DHCP Snooping enabled. DHCP snooping prevents PXE Everywhere Agents from receiving or responding to PXE requests on the standard UDP ports (67 & 68). As the PXE code built into the network adapter always broadcasts PXE requests on UDP port 67, it is necessary to load a custom boot loader from an authorized source (the PXE Everywhere Responder) that can then broadcast another request on the custom UDP port that is not blocked by the network switch and on which the Agents are configured to listen. Once the PXE Everywhere Agents intercept these requests on the custom port, the functionality of the agents remains the same as if DHCP snooping were not enabled. The network routers (IP helpers) must be configured to forward DHCP packets to the Responder and DHCP Snooping must be configured on network switches to authorize the Responder to receive and respond to DHCP requests. Booting PXE clients will always download the custom, light-weight boot loader (51KB) from the Responder but will download the much larger Windows PE boot image from a local peer. You can implement a single PXE Everywhere Responder for all clients, or you may prefer to implement regional or more localized Responders throughout your network. In either case, you will need to configure router IP helpers wherever DHCP Snooping is used, ensuring that the network configuration enables the designated Responder to receive and respond to PXE requests generated by PXE clients. To install, please refer to Installing PXE Everywhere Responder.