The Problem It Solves
Reimaging a machine during a repair used to mean hunting for the right USB installer, waiting through a manual setup wizard, and hoping the driver pack matched the hardware. Multiply that by a dozen machines on a busy week and the time cost becomes unsustainable.
PXE boot removes the physical media entirely. A machine powers on, hits the network, receives a boot image, and walks through an unattended install — all orchestrated from a single server.
How It Works
- DHCP server assigns an IP and points the client to the TFTP boot file
- iPXE chainloads a custom menu offering Windows 10, Windows 11, Ubuntu Desktop, and Ubuntu Server images
- Preseed and autounattend answer files drive fully unattended installations
- Post-install Bash scripts apply driver packs, configure network settings, and register the machine in the local inventory database
Impact
Average reimage time dropped from roughly forty-five minutes of hands-on work to under twelve minutes of mostly unattended deployment. The server now holds six OS images covering the most common repair scenarios, and adding a new image takes a single rsync command.
Plug in the cable, select the image, walk away. The machine does the rest.