Configuration

All configuration options can be controlled via the GUI. The GUI edits the rules.onr file which will be described below.

Basic ONB-Classic Configuration

{
    "compVersion": "2.0.0",
    "enablepxe": true,
    "enabletftp": true,
    "enablehttp": true,
    "lastconloglevel": 4,
    "lastfileloglevel": 4,
    "lastfilelogloc": "log.txt",
    "lastints": "vmnet8,vmnet3,vmnet1,",
    "httpport": 80,
    "broadcastmode": 0,
    "allowisoextracting": true,
    "tftp": {
        "rootfolder": "./tftpboot"
    },
    "pxerules": [
        {
            "clientid": "iPXE",
            "bootfile": "menu.ipxe"
        },
        {
            "arch": "8,9",
            "bootfile": "ipxe.efi"
        },
        {
            "bootfile": "undionly.kpxe"
        }
    ]
}

We will discuss the top part of ONB-Classic’s config file, a separate page will discuss the “pxerules”. This is a JSON file that is loaded at startup to configure the application.

Setting	Description	What it does
compVersion	Compatible Version	This tells which version of config this is. Some updates ONB-Classic do not require a config update, some do.
enablepxe	Should PXE auto start	This controls if PXE will auto start when the app starts.
enabletftp	Should TFTP auto start	This controls if TFTP will auto start when the app starts.
enablehttp	Should HTTP auto start	This controls if HTTP will auto start when the app starts.
lastconloglevel	Console log level	What logging level from 0 to 4 should the console start at.
lastfileloglevel	File log level	What logging level should we print to the log file.
lastfilelogloc	Log file location	Where should the log be, relative to where the app starts.
lastints	Interfaces to use	Comma separated list of interfaces to use, can be found using the -lsint flag in terminal.
httpport	HTTP server port	Port to run the HTTP server on.
broadcastmode	Type of DHCP Broadcast	0 is local subnet, 1 is global broadcast, 2 is both. More on this later.
allowisoextracting	Allow live extracting	If this is on the HTTP server will attempt to read ISO and zips.
tftp	TFTP server settings	As of version 2 config, the only thing in the TFTP settings area is the folder for TFTP and HTTP to use as root.

Note

broadcastmode - With broadcast mode 0, selected adapters will get a DHCP packet sent to your local network broadcast. When running broadcast mode 1, we send the boot response via global broadcast to 255.255.255.255. If you have a system that is dual homed, with multiple interfaces running, this may only send on your top gateway. mode 2 is attempt to send in both styles.

Note

macOS over the years has changed a lot about how it and Java’s networking stack work together. You HAVE to run mode 0 with macOS as of around 2022, mode 1 or 2 will fail.

The mac sometimes enables a built in DHCP server, disable it with “sudo /bin/launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/bootps.plist” if you get an error about not being able to bind to port 67.

Note

The GUI will always say it is launching logging at level 4 for console and 0 for file, but then it passes through the level the user set.

PXE Rules Configuration

{
    ...
    "pxerules": [
        {
            "clientid": "iPXE",
            "bootfile": "menu.ipxe"
        },
        {
            "arch": "8,9",
            "bootfile": "ipxe.efi"
        },
        {
            "bootfile": "undionly.kpxe"
        }
    ]
}

Above is an example of a pxerules section, with support for UEFI booting. Below are the different options that can be applied to each rule. The system processes the rules in order until it finds one that matches. This means the rules should go from most specific, to least specific, ending with a generic rule to boot anything. The above config has the iPXE menu to give if iPXE has loaded, other wise it tries the UEFI rom, if the packet does not have a UEFI architecture flag, then we default to the standard BIOS rom. None of these are required, but without any filters the first rule will always be given out.

Filter Options

These filters apply the rule if all match.

Setting	Description	What it does
clientid	DHCP Client ID	A booting PC is “PXEClient”, then iPXE changes it to “iPXE”.
hardwareid	MAC address	A machines MAC address.
arch	Architectures	Machine architectures, comma separated, this binary will use.

Note

The arch numbers correspond to RFC4578.

Type - Architecture Name

0 - Intel x86PC

1 - NEC/PC98

2 - EFI Itanium

3 - DEC Alpha

4 - Arc x86

5 - Intel Lean Client

6 - EFI IA32

7 - EFI BC

8 - EFI Xscale

9 - EFI x86-64

10 - ARM-32Bit EFI

11 - ARM-64Bit EFI

Note

Here we use decimal for the ARCH type, the reference material uses hex.

Server Options

These are the options that are set once a rule matches. Only bootfile is required.

Setting	Description	What it does
bootfile	Boot File	Which file should be given out.
tftpip	TFTP Server IP	What is the IP of the TFTP server to use, blank will set the address to this machines responding address.
serverip	Server IP	This sets DHCP option 54, to give out a custom local IP.