Windows iSCSI - chain bootx64.efi?

[misty]

For installing and then booting Windows from SAN (iSCSI Target) I am using two distinct stages -
* Stage 1 - SANHOOK target and boot WinPE - then run the installer
* Stage 2 - SANBOOT target and complete the installation.

For Stage 1 I have previously used wimboot to load WinPE. On BIOS systems I have more recently started chain-loading pxeboot.0 instead. This works well on BIOS systems.

Attempting to do something similar on UEFI systems (using a snp build), this time chaining bootx64.efi, fails. Error is 0x7b (inaccessible boot device). Avoiding the use of iPXE and using bootx64.efi as my network boot file works fine in loading WinPE.

Can Windows bootx64.efi be loaded/chain-loaded successfully from iPXE? If yes, how?

Regards,

Misty

[NiKiZe]

don't see why anyone would want to use pxelinux instead of iPXE.
If you want to "avoid" iPXE then maybe it would be better to ask somewhere else.

iPXE and wimboot to boot in efi env works fine, and the same goes for BIOS.
One of the greatest benefits with iPXE is that you can use fast http transfers instead of slow tftp transfers.

[misty]

(2017-02-14 12:41)NiKiZe Wrote:  ...don't see why anyone would want to use pxelinux instead of iPXE...

@NikiZe
Thanks for the response. I'm NOT using pxelinux. pxeboot.0 referred to in my first post is a Windows Network Bootstrap Program - used to load my WinPE. Process is to boot ipxe.pxe > attach my iSCSI target > use iPXE to chain pxeboot.0 > load WinPE using Windows native files > prepare target and install Windows to it.

I currently have eight different WinPE builds - all of which can be loaded from the same BCD store. All eight have entries for booting on BIOS firmware - seven have additional entries for booting on UEFI firmware - that's fifteen different entries in my BCD store. I find it easier in my setup to use the existing BCD store and Windows native files over wimboot.

HTTP is faster than TFTP, however changing ramdisktftpblocksize and ramdisktftpwindowsize (covered here) does improve WinPE transfer speeds.

Using pxeboot.0 or bootx64.efi (both Windows boot files) as Boot File in my PXE Server (Tiny PXE Server) has loaded WinPE without any problems on BIOS and UEFI firmware.

ipxe.pxe to SANHOOK my target, then chain pxeboot.0 to load WinPE is working as an alternative to iPXE and wimboot.

ipxe.efi to SANHOOK my target, then chain bootx64.efi to load WinPE fails. I would ideally like to have this option in addition to wimboot.

(2017-02-14 12:41)NiKiZe Wrote:  ...If you want to "avoid" iPXE then maybe it would be better to ask somewhere else....

I do not want to "avoid" iPXE. It does a great job with a wide range of features and is the backbone of my PXE server setup. Without it I cannot SANHOOK / SANBOOT my target. I would simply like an alternative to wimboot using Windows native boot files.

(2017-02-14 12:41)NiKiZe Wrote:  ...iPXE and wimboot to boot in efi env works fine, and the same goes for BIOS....

No argument from me. Again, I would like to be able to use iPXE and bootx64.efi as an alternative to iPXE and wimboot on UEFI hardware.

Regards,

Misty