Deploying an iPXE (x86) device
=================================

This page describes the hardware and software setup for iPXE devices (x86
boards) More information on iPXE is available here http://ipxe.org/start


Preparing the target test device
--------------------------------

The target device will need the following:
* serial port
* network adapter supported by iPXE
* ability to boot from USB, CD-Rom
* OR a network adapter with a writable PXE ROM

Serial console support is not enabled in the standard binaries from
http://ipxe.org/ so a customized build is required. There is a pre-built binary
for USB drives available here:

https://images.validation.linaro.org/lava-masters/ipxe.usb

iPXE has colored text in the title prompt which can cause issues with the
expect library that LAVA uses to communicate with the device. To avoid this
issue the above USB binary has been patched to remove the color.


Dispatch Steps
--------------

The target boots iPXE from a USB disk or the network adapter ROM, and is
interrupted by LAVA. The kernel/ramdisk are fetched over HTTP from the
dispatcher and then booted. If an nfsrootfs is requested, it is extracted on
the dispatcher and then mounted by the device.


Kernel, Ramdisk and Rootfs considerations
-----------------------------------------

If you are considering only using a ramdisk, do not make it too large as you
are restricted by available memory. The ramdisk should have enough logic and
tools to automatically bring up the network interface which is connected to the
LAVA dispatcher. An alternative is an NFS rootfs which has much more storage
space.

If you intend to use an NFS rootfs, your kernel will need NFS and networking
support, or you will need an accompanying ramdisk with the modules/scripts to
support NFS root devices.

In any case, either your kernel or your ramdisk will need networking support
for LAVA jobs to complete.
