About Netboot

Netboot images are small (<1MB) images that can be used to download the latest Arch Linux release on the fly upon system boot. It is unnecessary to update the netboot image, the newest release will be available automatically.

Netboot uses customized iPXE builds. The Linux kernel, initramfs and squashfs files for the live system are downloaded from an Arch Linux mirror. The integrity of all downloaded files is verified with cryptographic signatures.

Requirements

To use netboot, the following requirements must be met:

  • Wired (ethernet) internet connection with DHCP autoconfiguration

  • Sufficient memory to store and run the live system

Download

ipxe-arch.efi - loong64 UEFI executable

ipxe-arch.iso - loong64 UEFI iPXE iso

Using

The ipxe.efi image can be used to launch Arch Linux netboot in UEFI mode. The ipxe.efi image can be added as a boot option via efibootmgr, launched from a boot manager, like systemd-boot, grub or rEFInd, or directly from the UEFI shell.

Installation with efibootmgr

First install the efibootmgr package, then download the UEFI netboot image.

Assuming your EFI system partition (ESP) is /dev/sdd1 and mounted under esp, you should move it as follows—let us also give it a more friendly name:

# mkdir esp/EFI/arch_netboot
# mv ipxe.*.efi esp/EFI/arch_netboot/arch_netboot.efi

Then you can create a boot entry as follows:

# efibootmgr --create --disk /dev/sdd1 --part 1 --loader /EFI/arch_netboot/arch_netboot.efi --label "Arch Linux Netboot" --unicode

用法说明

下载文件： ipxe-arch.efi，并保存到 <ESP> 分区的 /EFI/arch_netboot 目录中。

假设你的<ESP> 分区挂载到了 /boot/efi 目录，则参考以下命令：

# mkdir /boot/efi/EFI/arch_netboot
# sudo cp ipxe-arch.efi /boot/efi/EFI/arch_netboot/arch_netboot.efi

从UEFI Shell 手动启动

重启按F12，在界面中选择 UEFI Shell，进入UEFI Shell 环境，输入以下命令启动：

Shell> fs0:
Shell> EFI\arch_netboot\arch_netboot.efi

为UEFI 增加新启动项

假设您的 <ESP> 分区为 /dev/sda1，在操作系统下使用 efibootmgr 命令，将为UEFI 增加一个新的菜单项：

# efibootmgr --create --disk /dev/sda --part 1 --loader /EFI/arch_netboot/arch_netboot.efi --label "Arch Linux Netboot" --unicode

之后开机时，通过按 F12 调出快捷菜单，并选择Arch Linux Netboot 来启动网络安装。

为Grub 增加菜单项

假设您的<ESP> 分区的UUID为1234-5678，则创建 /boot/grub/custom.cfg 文件，内容参考以下内容：

menuentry 'Arch Linux Netboot' {
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod fat
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  1234-5678
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1234-5678
        fi
        chainloader /EFI/arch_netboot/arch_netboot.efi
}

开机进入 Grub 菜单时，将多出一项 Arch Linux Netboot 启动菜单，选择之后，将进入网络安装环境。