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Installing PXE Everywhere Agents

Summary

How to install PXE Everywhere Agents using the 1E Client installer and preparing a Configuration Manager Application for PXE Everywhere using the 1E Client Deployment Assistant.

Please ensure you have reviewed all Requirements before installing.

Installing PXE Everywhere Agents

The PXE Everywhere Agent is a client module in 1E Client, and is installed using the 1EClient installer (1EClient.msi). PXE Everywhere client provides a light-weight PXE server that responds to PXE boot requests from the local subnet and serves boot files to requesting PXE clients. It must therefore be installed on at least one client in each subnet where PXE booting is required, and preferably installed on all PCs in your environment thereby providing maximum availability (redundancy) and scalability (load-balancing) for PXE boot requests.

In addition to the binaries supplied by 1E, PXE Everywhere Agent requires a number of files that are distributed and licensed with the Microsoft Windows Automated Deployment Kit (ADK). The required files are listed in the table below, along with the location on the PXE Everywhere Agent that they need to be installed to.

FileDestination Location (relative to TFTPROOT)
boot.sdi\boot.sdi
abortpxe.com\boot\x86\abortpxe.com
bootmgr.exe\boot\x86\bootmgr.exe
pxeboot.com\boot\x86\pxeboot.com
pxeboot.n12\boot\x86\pxeboot.n12
bootmgfw.efi\boot\x86\bootmgfw.efi
bootmgfw.efi\boot\x64\bootmgfw.efi
wgl4_boot.ttf (optional)\boot\fonts\wgl4_boot.ttf

As these files are licensed by Microsoft, 1E are unable to include them in the installation media. However, you can use the 1E Client Deployment Assistant (CDA) to extract the required files from the ADK, create an installer transform and prepare an Application in Configuration Manager that will install the PXE Everywhere Agent with the appropriate settings and the additional Microsoft files.

On this page:

Preparing a Configuration Manager Application for PXE Everywhere Agent using the 1E Client Deployment Assistant

The 1E Client Deployment Assistant (CDA) is used to create an Application in Configuration Manager that installs the PXE Everywhere agent with the appropriate settings and also adds the required Microsoft boot files from the Windows Automated Deployment Toolkit (ADK).

First download and extract the latest version of the1E Client Deployment Assistant (CDA) from the 1E Support Portal (https://1eportal.force.com/s/endpointagentinstallertopic).

Also check the 1E Support Portal (https://1eportal.force.com/s/nomadtopicdetail) to see if there are any Hotfixes for PXE Everywhere. Download the latest Accumulated Hotfix (Patch) and extract its MSP file to include in the CDA folder structure.

The following is a summary of steps described in 1E Client Deployment Assistant - Running the wizard: PXE Everywhere settings.

  1. Right-click the extracted 1EClientDeploymentAssistant.exe and select Run as administrator
  2. On the Welcome screen click Next
  3. On the License Terms screen accept the license and click Next
  4. On the ConfigMgr Connection page select, if you are running this on the CM site server select Local ConfigMgr Site Server. Otherwise, select Remote ConfigMgr Site Server and enter the site server name and username and password that should be used to connect to the CM site. In a multi-site hierarchy enter the name of the CAS site server. Click Connect to test the connection. Once connected, click Next
  5. On the General Settings screen, enter a UNC path for Application Content Source and Package Content Source. The wizard will create a 1E\PXE Everywhere\4.0.x.x folder in this location that will become the source for the CM Application Deployment Type. Do not check the Distribute Content checkbox (we’ll do that later). Click Next
  6. On the Agent Selection screen, uncheck all products except PXE Everywhere 4.0.0.x and enter a valid PXE Everywhere license key. Click Next
  7. On the PXE Everywhere 4.0.0.x screen, uncheck Create Package and leave the remaining settings as is. Click Next
  8. On the PXE Everywhere Settings screen
    1. Enter the location of the Windows ADK (the wizard needs to extract Microsoft files from the ADK and add them to the application source). If you are running the wizard on the CM site server, the ADK should be installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit.
    2. Modify the PXE Everywhere Central web service URL, replacing  pxe.contoso.com  with the FQDN of your PXE Everywhere Central web server
    3. Click Next
  9. On the Summary screen, review the settings and click Create. The wizard will generate a Transform that includes all the custom properties and a CAB file that includes the files extracted from the ADK. It will then create a Collection, Application and Deployment in Configuration Manager.
  10. When the wizard completes, click Finish

From the Configuration Manager console, confirm that the CDA has created:

  • an Application named 1E PXE Everywhere 4.0.0.x
  • a Collection named 1E PXE Everywhere 4.0.0.x - Required 
  • required Deployments for the 32-bit and 64-bit Deployment Types to the 1E PXE Everywhere 4.0.0.x Collection

You should also confirm that the application source files include the following, after which you can distribute to Distribution Points.

  • the PXE Everywhere agent installer 
  • an installer transform 
  • files extracted from the Windows ADK

Modifying the PXE Everywhere Agent installation command line to support DHCP Snooping

>When deploying 1E Client enabled PXE Everywhere Agent to support DHCP Snooping you will need to configure them to use port 2067, which is the default used by the PXEEverywhere Responder, or a custom port if used. The wizard for CDA does not currently support setting the port to 2067 therefore you will need to manually modify the installation command line of the Configuration Manager application, before deploying it to clients.

  1. From the Configuration Manager console, go to the Software Library workspace, expand Application Management > Applications and double-click the 1E Client Application to view the application properties.
  2. Select the Deployment Types tab then double-click the 1E Client x64 Deployment Type to view the deployment type properties.

  3. Select the Programs tab and modify the Installation program command line, appending MODULE.PXEEVERYWHERE.DHCPPORT=2067 as indicated below. DHCPPORT must be in UPPERCASE as it defines a public installer property. If you need to use an alternate custom port, specify the correct port number with the DHCPPORT property. This port must match the AltServerPort defined on the PXEEverywhere Responder. 

    msiexec /i 1E.Client-x64.msi REBOOT=ReallySuppress /l*v %TEMP%\PXEEverywhere-Install-4.0.0.x.log /qn TRANSFORMS="1E.Client-x64.mst" MODULE.PXEEVERYWHERE.DHCPPORT=2067
  4. Save the 1E Client x64 Deployment Type and repeat steps 2 and 3 for the 1E Client x86 Deployment Type.

Alternatively you can edit the MODULE.PXEEVERYWHERE.DHCPPORT installer property in the 1E.Client-x64-5.0.0.xxx.mst transform file created by 1E Client Deployment Assistant (CDA), and replace the MST file in the application content.

Deploying the 1E Client enabled PXE Everywhere Agent

You will need to distribute application source to Distribution Points.

Once distributed, simply add devices to the 1E Client 5.0.x.x - Required Collection in order to deploy the Agent to those devices.

Next steps

To verify the PXE Everywhere installation, please refer to Verifying: PXE Everywhere Central.