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ArkDeploy PXE – First Run

This guide will get ArkDeploy PXE up and running for the first time.

ArkDeploy PXE provides a lightweight TFTP service for booting a Windows PE environment over the network using iPXE and wimboot.

1. Create the PXE Root

From the ArkDeploy PXE directory, run:

.\New-PxeRoot.ps1 -PxeRoot .\PXERoot

This downloads and prepares the files required to PXE boot Windows PE.

After running the script, your PXE root should look like this:

PXERoot\
├── ipxe.efi
├── wimboot
├── boot.ipxe
├── Boot\
│   ├── BCD
│   └── boot.sdi
└── sources\
    └── boot.wim

2. Add Your ArkDeploy WinPE Image

Create your WinPE environment using the ArkDeploy Toolkit.

Copy the resulting boot.wim to:

.\PXERoot\sources\boot.wim

ArkDeploy Toolkit v1.1.1 or later is recommended for PXE booting.

Version 1.1.1 introduced an embedded configuration fallback, allowing ArkDeploy WinPE to operate when no ArkDeploy USB media is present.

3. Configure DHCP

Your DHCP server must direct PXE clients to the machine running ArkDeploy PXE.

Configure:

DHCP Option 66 (TFTP / Next Server)
    IP address of the ArkDeploy PXE server

DHCP Option 67 (Boot Filename)
    ipxe.efi

For example:

Option 66: 192.168.0.49
Option 67: ipxe.efi

The ArkDeploy PXE server will display these settings as a reminder when it starts.

The machine running ArkDeploy PXE should have a stable IP address.

4. Start ArkDeploy PXE

Start the TFTP server with:

.\Start-TftpServer.ps1 -RootPath .\PXERoot

ArkDeploy PXE will begin listening for TFTP requests.

You should see:

ArkDeploy PXE. Press Ctrl+C to stop.
        arkdeploy.com

You can now PXE boot a compatible UEFI system.

Press Ctrl+C to stop the server.

Moving the PXE Root

The PXERoot directory does not need to remain inside the ArkDeploy PXE directory.

You can move it wherever you like and specify its location when starting the server:

.\Start-TftpServer.ps1 -RootPath "D:\ArkDeploy\PXERoot"

How It Works

The PXE boot process is intentionally simple:

UEFI PXE
   ↓
ipxe.efi
   ↓
boot.ipxe
   ↓
wimboot
   ↓
BCD + boot.sdi + boot.wim
   ↓
Windows PE
   ↓
ArkDeploy Toolkit

TFTP is used to bootstrap the Windows PE environment. Once WinPE has started, ArkDeploy can use its normal deployment methods for accessing and deploying Windows images.

Credits

ArkDeploy PXE uses components from the iPXE project:

  • ipxe.efi – iPXE UEFI network bootloader
  • wimboot – Windows Imaging Format bootloader for iPXE

Many thanks to the iPXE project and its contributors for making these components available.

iPXE: https://ipxe.org/

More ArkDeploy

ArkDeploy PXE is designed to work alongside the ArkDeploy Toolkit for capturing and deploying Windows images.

Visit:

https://github.com/ArkDeployDev/ArkDeployToolkit https://arkdeploy.com/