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PXE Very Slow During the installation.

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Operating Systems Linux PXE Very Slow During the installation.
# 1  
Old 05-11-2011
PXE Very Slow During the installation.
Hi all,

I have a problem with PXE Server.
I have finished to configure PXE Server with DHCP.
when I create a new Machine on my vSphere and turn it on the installation process takes more then 2 hours .

I have configured on my ESX Server new Switch that is dedicated for this installation (closed Switch), and I've added the PXE Sever and the new server to this Switch.

while booting the new server, the PXE stages are very slow.
when getting to the installation progress (I have choose @Everything in the ks.cfg) its show me more then 2hours of installation of full RHEL installation.
anyone have an idea what can cause to the slow installation.

Thx,

I've added my dhcpd.conf and my tftp and .vmx.
Code:
#____ DHCP CONFIGURATION FILE.
allow bootp;
allow booting;

default-lease-time 86400;
max-lease-time 604800;

authoritative;

subnet 172.16.50.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
        range 172.16.50.20 172.16.50.50;
        filename "/tftpboot/pxelinux.0";
        next-server 172.16.50.10;
        option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
}

#____ TFTP CONFIGURATION FILE 
# /etc/default/tftpd-hpa
TFTP_USERNAME="tftp"
TFTP_DIRECTORY="/tftpboot/"
TFTP_ADDRESS="172.16.50.10:69"
RUN_DAEMON="yes"
OPTIONS="-c -l -s /tftpboot"

#____ VM MACHINE CONFIGURATION FILE
#!/usr/bin/vmware
.encoding = "UTF-8"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "7"
memsize = "1024"
numvcpus = "1"
displayName = "rheltest"
guestOS = "rhel5"

ide0:0.present = "TRUE"
ide0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ide0:0.autodetect = "TRUE"
ide0:0.startConnected = "false"

extendedConfigFile = "rheltest.vmxf"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
tools.upgrade.policy = "manual"

uuid.location = "56 4d d2 cc 1a 8a 3c 60-36 c8 8f 0f 71 63 35 7c"
uuid.bios = "56 4d d2 cc 1a 8a 3c 60-36 c8 8f 0f 71 63 35 7c"
cleanShutdown = "FALSE"
replay.supported = "FALSE"
sched.swap.derivedName = "/vmfs/volumes/47b17e0f-f7a4e222-1b37-0010f30f45e4/rheltest/rheltest-1f2189a6.vswp"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "4194304"
tools.remindInstall = "TRUE"
hostCPUID.0 = "0000000a756e65476c65746e49656e69"
guestCPUID.0 = "0000000a756e65476c65746e49656e69"
userCPUID.0 = "0000000a756e65476c65746e49656e69"
hostCPUID.1 = "000006f6000208000004e33dbfebfbff"
guestCPUID.1 = "000006f600010800800022010febfbff"
userCPUID.1 = "000006f6000208000004e33dbfebfbff"
hostCPUID.80000001 = "00000000000000000000000120100800"
guestCPUID.80000001 = "00000000000000000000000120100800"
userCPUID.80000001 = "00000000000000000000000120100800"
evcCompatibilityMode = "FALSE"

#ethernet0.virtualDev = "vlance"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
debugStub.linuxOffsets = "0x0,0xffffffff,0xc65ee28,0x0,0xc65ee3c,0x0,0xfc05215c,0xffffffff,0x0,0x0,0xc65ee08 ,0x0,0xc65ee18,0x0"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0.sharedBus = "none"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"
scsi0:0.fileName = "rheltest.vmdk"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

scsi0:0.redo = ""
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

Ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet0.networkName = "VM Network 2"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:63:35:7c"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

Last edited by pludi; 05-11-2011 at 08:38 AM..
# 2  
Old 05-11-2011
If I'm understanding you right, it's not the PXE communication that's happening slowly, but everything after it?
# 3  
Old 05-12-2011
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
yes and no,
When I'm creating new VM Machine and PowerOn it.
It's take more the 1 min to load the stage2.img file from the PXE.
# 4  
Old 05-12-2011
My first thought is the network, maybe a duplex mismatch. I don't see anything in the config file that would make it slow.
# 5  
Old 05-12-2011
DHCP/BOOTP/PXE, while theoretically nearly instantaneous, can in fact be annoyingly slow because servers and clients these days do a lot of extra checking with ARP to make sure the address they've been assigned isn't yet inhabited.

How large is stage2.img anyway?
# 6  
Old 05-13-2011
Hi all,
Thanks for the reply.

first - the size of the stage2.img is 87m so if we do the math it's should download it in a few sec with giga nic.

second - in this ESX box, I have only those two machine.
I have also created a specific switch in the ESX for this propose and I didnt connected it to nic because I don't want him to have a lag to the LAN.

third - I have stopped the unnecessary service in my Debian to isolate the problem but still working like a turtle.
# 7  
Old 05-13-2011
TFTP can be quite slow because it uses UDP and default packet sizes are typically 512-bytes. Try increasing the packet size.
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