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# PXEForge
Container-native PXE boot server. A Rust reimplementation of
[iVentoy (ventoy/PXE)](https://github.com/ventoy/PXE), designed from scratch
for Docker/OCI and OpenShift. Upload `.iso` files via the web UI; network
clients PXE-boot them.
> **Status:** Phase 3 MVP. Container image builds and runs, gate flow
> validated end-to-end (two clients join queue → operator assigns in UI →
> both wake within 1 s with the correct boot script). Ready for real
> hardware validation.
## Design non-negotiables
1. **Fully offline / air-gap deployable.** Zero CDN assets. Zero external
HTTP calls from the server, the browser, or the generated iPXE scripts.
Build the container once, run forever disconnected.
2. **iPXE is a backend implementation detail.** No `.ipxe` upload path, no
manual script editing, no iPXE terminology in the UI. Every knob in the
web UI maps to a specific script-generation behavior inside the binary.
3. **The client trust store is off-limits.** No test-signed drivers, no
`bcdedit /set testsigning on`, no certificates injected into WinPE or
the target OS.
## What it does
1. **DHCP proxy** (RFC 4578). Coexists with your existing DHCP server —
never assigns IPs. Listens on UDP 67 + UDP 4011.
2. **TFTP server** (RFC 1350 + RFC 2347/2348/2349/7440 option negotiation)
that serves architecture-specific iPXE binaries to firmware PXE ROMs.
3. **HTTP server** that serves the web UI, the generated iPXE boot scripts,
raw ISOs (with Range), and files inside ISOs without prior extraction.
4. **ISO introspection**: auto-detects the distro family and generates the
appropriate kernel+initrd or wimboot chain. No manual config.
5. **Hierarchical PXE menu** mirroring the Phase 2 spec:
```
Default > Boot from Local HDD
Installers > Linux Installers / Windows Installers
Tools > Utilities / PXEForge Shell / Network Card Info
Gated Deployment
```
6. **Gated Deployment queue** — the "horse race gate" flow. A client that
selects *Gated Deployment* gets a numbered position and waits. The
operator picks an ISO in the web UI and fires it to every waiting
client simultaneously.
7. **Web UI** (Netbox-style): sidebar nav (Dashboard / Clients / Gated
Deployment / Images / Settings / About), top tabs, dark theme, teal
accents. All assets served from the binary — no external requests.
8. **Settings API** lets you change the default boot-menu timeout (default
600s), the timeout action (stay / Local HDD / Gated Deployment), and
feature toggles like Windows ISO support. The iPXE scripts regenerate
on every request using current settings.
### Architectures supported on day one
| DHCP option 93 | Architecture | Binary served |
|----------------|-----------------|-------------------------|
| `0x0000` | Legacy x86 BIOS | `undionly.kpxe` |
| `0x0006` | IA32 UEFI | `snponly-i386.efi` |
| `0x0007`/`0x0009` | x86_64 UEFI | `snponly.efi` |
| `0x000B` | ARM64 UEFI | `snponly-arm64.efi` |
UEFI firmware that sends `HTTPClient` in option 60 is handled too — we
skip TFTP and respond with an HTTP URL.
## Quick start — MVP container (recommended)
```bash
# 1. Pull bundled iPXE binaries (~2 MB, one-time).
./scripts/fetch-ipxe.sh
# 2. Build the container image (~3 min first time).
docker buildx build -f deploy/docker/Dockerfile -t pxeforge:0.1.0 --load .
# 3. Run it on the box plugged into your PXE network. Set PUBLIC_IP to
# this host's LAN address so advertised iPXE URLs are reachable.
docker run -d --name pxeforge \
--network host \
-e PXEFORGE_PUBLIC_IP=10.0.0.5 \
-e PXEFORGE_DHCP_MODE=proxy \
-v $PWD/data/isos:/var/lib/pxeforge/isos \
-v $PWD/data/work:/var/lib/pxeforge/work \
pxeforge:0.1.0
# 4. Open the UI and drop an ISO in.
open http://10.0.0.5
```
Host networking is required in proxy mode so the container sees DHCPDISCOVER
broadcasts from the PXE VLAN. On macOS/Windows hosts Docker runs in a Linux
VM, so "host" means the VM — use `pxeforge-dev` in `docker-compose.yml` for
API-only testing on a laptop.
### Quick start — docker compose
```bash
# MVP / API testing on a laptop (no DHCP, high ports):
PXEFORGE_PUBLIC_IP=127.0.0.1 docker compose up pxeforge-dev
# Real PXE deployment on a Linux host (host network, DHCP proxy on):
PXEFORGE_PUBLIC_IP=10.0.0.5 docker compose up pxeforge
```
### Multi-arch build + push
For deploying to x86_64 servers, build both arches in one manifest:
```bash
# One-time: bootstrap a multi-arch builder.
docker buildx create --name pxeforge-multi --driver docker-container --use
# Build + push both linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 under one tag.
docker buildx build --builder pxeforge-multi \
--platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
-t ghcr.io/YOUR-ORG/pxeforge:0.1.0 \
--push \
-f deploy/docker/Dockerfile .
```
On an Apple Silicon host, the amd64 stage runs under QEMU emulation (~10-15 min for a cold cache). On a Linux x86_64 host, both arches build natively at normal speed. CI runners on GitHub Actions with `docker/build-push-action@v5` handle this cleanly.
### Build from source (no container)
```bash
./scripts/fetch-ipxe.sh
cargo run --release # needs NET_BIND_SERVICE or root for :80/:69
```
### Container health probes
| Endpoint | Purpose |
|-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| `/healthz` | Liveness — HTTP stack alive. Always 200. |
| `/readyz` | Readiness — 200 only if iPXE binaries bundled + ISO dir OK. |
| `/api/status` | Full JSON status: versions, assets, counts, live settings, SMB state. |
### Pre-seeding ISOs from a directory
For CI, pre-baked homelab deployments, or a fresh PVC, the binary has a
`seed` subcommand that imports every `*.iso` from a host path through the
same pipeline the web UI uses (introspection + boot-entry generation):
```bash
docker run --rm \
-v /my/iso-library:/seed:ro \
-v pxeforge-data:/var/lib/pxeforge/isos \
-e PXEFORGE_PUBLIC_IP=10.0.0.5 \
pxeforge:0.1.0 seed --from /seed
# Dry run first to see what would be imported:
docker run --rm -v /my/iso-library:/seed:ro pxeforge:0.1.0 seed --from /seed --dry-run
```
### Environment overrides
| Var | Default | Meaning |
|------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| `PXEFORGE_HTTP_PORT` | `80` | Web UI + boot script HTTP port |
| `PXEFORGE_TFTP_PORT` | `69` | TFTP port |
| `PXEFORGE_DHCP_PORT` | `67` | DHCP server-side port |
| `PXEFORGE_DHCP_MODE` | `proxy` | `proxy` or `disabled` |
| `PXEFORGE_PUBLIC_IP` | auto-detect | Advertised IP for clients. Startup **fails** if unset and auto-detect returns loopback. |
| `PXEFORGE_ISO_DIR` | `/var/lib/pxeforge/isos` | Where uploaded ISOs live |
| `PXEFORGE_WORK_DIR` | `/var/lib/pxeforge/work` | Scratch + runtime settings |
| `PXEFORGE_LOG` | `info,pxeforge=debug` | `tracing` filter |
## What the boot menu looks like on a real client
```
PXEForge - network boot menu
------------------------- Default -------------------------
Boot from Local HDD
----------------------- Installers -----------------------
Linux Installers >
Windows Installers > (only if enabled in Settings)
-------------------------- Tools --------------------------
Tools > Utilities / Shell /
NIC Info / Reboot /
Exit and continue BIOS
---------------------- Gated Deployment ------------------
Gated Deployment (join queue)
```
Linux/Windows submenus show file sizes iVentoy-style:
```
PXEForge - Linux Installers
[ 4376 MB] CentOS-7-x86_64-DVD-1810
[ 2002 MB] Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-38-1.6
[ 4699 MB] ubuntu-22.04.2-desktop-amd64
< Back to main menu
```
iPXE never appears in the UI — the whole hierarchy above is generated from
ISOs you upload via drag-and-drop in the web UI plus toggles in Settings.
## OpenShift
```bash
oc apply -f deploy/openshift/
oc -n pxeforge get all
oc -n pxeforge get route pxeforge -o jsonpath='{.spec.host}'
```
### Why a custom SCC?
The default `restricted-v2` blocks `hostNetwork` and all capabilities. PXE
cannot work without host network (CNI overlays don't deliver L2 broadcast
into pod netns), and we need `NET_BIND_SERVICE` to bind <1024. The custom
`pxeforge-scc` grants exactly those two and nothing else. No raw sockets,
no privileged mode — proxy-mode DHCP sidesteps the usual requirements.
### What's on host ports
| Port | Proto | Purpose |
|----------|-------|---------------------------------|
| 67 | UDP | DHCP server (proxy replies) |
| 69 | UDP | TFTP |
| 4011 | UDP | PXE Boot Server discovery |
| 80 | TCP | Web UI + HTTP boot assets |
The OpenShift Route only covers 80/TCP. Clients on the PXE network talk to
the node's host IP directly for UDP.
## Windows support
Enabled by toggling **Windows ISO support** under Settings. The flow:
1. Upload a stock Microsoft Windows install ISO (vanilla, no pre-processing).
2. On upload, PXEForge extracts the ISO and uses `wimlib-imagex` to rewrite
image index 2 (WinPE) of `sources/boot.wim`. It injects exactly two
plain-text files:
- `Windows/System32/winpeshl.ini` — tells WinPE to run `startnet.cmd`.
- `Windows/System32/startnet.cmd` — runs `wpeinit`, waits for the SMB
host to be reachable, `net use Z: \\<server>\<share> /user:guest`,
then `Z:\setup.exe`.
3. The container's Samba `smbd` serves the extracted install tree on :445.
4. The client gets chainloaded into wimboot → patched WinPE → Windows Setup
running off the SMB share. **Every binary the client executes is stock
Microsoft-signed.**
### What we never do
- Ship drivers — signed, test-signed, or otherwise — that load on the client.
- Install certificates into the target's trust store or WinPE boot policy.
- Recommend `bcdedit /set testsigning on` or any equivalent signing-policy
weakening.
### Credit & limitations
The SMB-based approach is adapted from [Bootimus](https://github.com/garybowers/bootimus)
(Apache-2.0). Re-implemented in Rust; no code was copied verbatim. Known
operational constraints inherited from the design:
- **Port 445 must be directly reachable from PXE clients.** `net use`
ignores alternate ports. In OpenShift this means `hostPort: 445` on the
deployment; on a host that already runs SMB it will collide.
- Windows 10/11 client SKUs are the tested target. Server SKUs untested.
- Hardware with NICs/storage controllers missing from WinPE's bundled
drivers will need a driver-pack injection step (not yet implemented).
## Gated Deployment
The "horse race gate" flow, end to end:
1. A client boots and picks **Gated Deployment** in the PXE menu (or falls
through on timeout with the default `timeout_action`).
2. The client joins the queue, gets a numbered gate position, and enters a
long-poll loop (25s per request, auto-renewed).
3. In the web UI's **Gated Deployment** tab, the operator sees each waiting
client with its MAC, IP, arch, and position.
4. The operator selects an image and clicks **Launch for all waiting**.
The server broadcasts the assignment to every gated client via a
`tokio::sync::Notify`; each client's next poll returns the boot script
for the chosen image.
5. Every client chains the same image at effectively the same moment — the
gate opens and the horses run together.
No user-facing iPXE anywhere in this flow. The client only ever runs
scripts we generate; the operator only interacts with the web UI.
## Architecture
See [`docs/architecture.md`](docs/architecture.md) for the protocol stack,
crate layout, and the full decision log.
## Licence
MIT OR Apache-2.0.