ProxyDHCP/PXE Configuration

~~Translation~~After ~~pending..~~the thin client powers on, the network card sends a broadcast request to the network and expects a response from a DHCP server containing an IP address. It's fine if the IP address is managed statically or dynamically by the DHCP server. The openthinclient server’s ProxyDHCP service also listens for DHCP-REQUEST packets on the network and identifies clients based on their MAC address. If these clients have not yet been created as valid clients, they appear in the openthinclient Manager under PXE Clients.

If the MAC address is registered as a ThinClient in the openthinclient Manager, the client is served by the openthinclient server, i.e., the openthinclient Manager’s ProxyDHCP service supplements the DHCP server’s response with options 66 and 67.

DHCP option 66 is the hostname or IP address of the openthinclient server. Option 67 is the boot file name. Depending on the settings in the openthinclient Manager, option 67 is either set to /pxelinux.0 (for TFTP boot) or /lpxelinux.0 (for HTTP boot).

Configure the openthinclient server to use the ProxyDHCP service and reserve the DHCP ports for it.

Configuration

PXE Services

The various values for the PXE services explained in detail:

EavesdroppingPXEService

This PXE service implementation operates passively by "eavesdropping" on DHCP OFFERs from a DHCP server. If an address is offered to a PXE-enabled client, it sends an additional PXE offer. It accomplishes this by binding to port 68, the DHCP client port, which must remain free of other DHCP client activity. Therefore, it's best to deploy this service implementation on hosts with statically configured addresses. On MS Windows, disable the "DHCP client" service in the Control Panel.

SingleHomedPXEService

This PXE service implementation assumes a single-homed server host. The PXE proxy service is bound to the default address. Replies are sent from a fixed server address that can be configured statically. If no static address is configured, the first non-loopback local interface is used.

BindToAddressPXEService

This PXE service implementation works by binding to all addresses on all interfaces individually. This approach succeeds when broadcast packets are also received by sockets bound to individual addresses rather than the default address. It works fine on MS Windows and Linux running within XEN, and it's compatible with most UNIX servers.

SingleHomedBroadcastPXEService

PXE Service Policy

Here, specify which thin clients the openthinclient server should serve.

Registered Clients Only

If this option is selected, the server will serve only explicitly created thin clients.

The process is as described above, i.e., after the first power-on, the thin client is detected and listed under PXE Clients. Then, double-click to edit, assign a name, select the location and hardware type, and finally the client appears under Thin Clients.

All PXE clients via the default profile

If this option's selected, all thin clients are supported.

Every powered-on thin client appears under PXE Clients. Creation's optional for startup; the system supports every thin client on the network.

Default Profile: Assignment and Settings

Configure settings for the default profile and assign applications.

To do this, manually create a thin client in the openthinclient Manager and assign it a MAC address 00:00:00:00:00:00.

Assign a hardware type and, optionally, attach devices such as a keyboard either through direct assignment or by linking them to the hardware type.

To support Thin Clients with unique settings, configure individual profiles. For the "00: client" hardware type, select a kernel, i.e., 32-bit or 64-bit.

Follow the same procedure to assign applications; assign the application or application group to the 00: client.

Note, both "00: clients" and explicitly created thin clients can be set up in the openthinclient Manager. If the client is created with its own MAC address, the system applies this assignment and setting; otherwise, it applies the setting for the "00: client".