Deployment Solution

I am running Deployment Solution 6.9 SP1. I successfully upgraded from 6.5 to 6.9 SP1 over the summer. Installation was a success - everything worked. I now am trying to reimage some workstations but I cannot get them to PXE boot. I receive the error "PXE-E55: ProxyDHCP service did not reply to request on port 4011." After considerable searching here are some specifics:

- This is not a new installation. Workstations have been able to boot to PXE many times since upgrading to 6.9 SP1 (although I have not tried in several months.)

- The PXE server is not located on the same box as DHCP. DHCP is on my SBS box.

- I do not even have Option 60 as an option to set on my DHCP configuration.

- When I receive the error, it also says "Client IP: 192.168.1.114 MASK: 255.255.255.0 DHCP IP: 192.168.1.14". The Client IP address is available in DHCP when I check. However, even after I receive this error, DHCP does not show issuing this IP address (it shows as available.) The Subnet Mask is correct as is the DHCP IP (1.14 is the IP of my SBS server which handles DHCP.)

- All Altiris related services have been restarted and are currently started on the PXE server.

- I renamed the pxe.ini file and restarted the service, creating a new pxe.ini file.

- I have tried to PXE boot from two separate workstations (different models), getting the same result.

Any help would be appreciated.

is the PXE server on the same network?  like 192.168.1.X  if not you will need to add a iphelper to your dhcp and point it to the DS server.

ElectroMN,

Wuzfuzzy is right -if your Deployment Server is on a different subnet you'll need an IP Helper pointing at your DS box which hosts the PXE services. But from the looks of things I suspect this is all on the same private subnet?

If you are all on the same subnet I'd first temporarily disable the firewall on your Deployment Server. Then try to PXE boot some clients and see what happens. If they PXE boot now you know its a firewall change that's done it.

If PXE booting still doesn't work, then its time to look at the logs. The next place to look would be the PXE service logs,

1. In the Data Logs tab of the PXE Server Configuration Utility ensure all the log options are enabled.
2. Restart all your DS Services (a reboot might be easier)
3. In services.msc,  ensure all the Altiris services are started. Specifically those relating to PXE,
   • Altiris PXE Config Helper
   • Altiris PXE Manager
   • Altiris PXE MFTP Server
   • Altiris PXE Server
4. Collect PxeLog_Manager.Txt, PxeLog_Server.Txt & PxeLog_Mtftp.Txt
5. Then PM me and I'll take a look if you want.

I'll post back to this thread anything interesting from the logs with the relevant extracts.

Kind Regards,
Ian./

Overhere our network-experts forgot to put the DHCP-forwarder to also point to the PXE-server.
Problems looked like they were related to PXE, but in the end it wasn't.

Thanks for the responses. My notification did not work so I didn't see that you responded until recently. Although we do have multiple subnets here, the DHCP server and the PXE server are on the same subnet. I have a support contract with Symantec so I exhausted that option. Using Wireshark, they were able to determine that it has to do with the response from the DHCP server. The DHCP server is giving a NAK response and nobody is really sure as to why. The tech's were going to get back to me but I think I was back-burnered.

Did your wireshark traces show multiple DHCP server's responding by any chance? I'm assuming in Windows the IP stack is fine, so my guess is that there is some conflict in the DHCP responses being received in the PXE boot process.

Kind Regards,
Ian./

Here is an update to this post. The Wireshark traces appear to show that everything is behaving as it should. The PXE client sends out a Discovery and receives two responses back (one from the DHCP Server and one from the PXE Server.) The PXE Client then requests an address from the DHCP server, the DHCP server receives the request, but the DHCP server replies back with a NCK. In the DHCP Server log, it just shows message 15, which it says "a lease was denied.

We uninstalled and reinstalled Microsoft DHCP Server and we are still receiving the exact same messages and behavior.

Can you post your wireshark trace?

The problem I have is i get pxe e55  I used wire shark the request for dhcp is going out but not being ack.
I running ds 6.9 sp4 dhcp is infoblox. any ideas how to set up

i fix with this settings: tools -> Pxe conf. settings -> dhcp discovery Third Party DHCP
bye

I tried third party dhcp and still no go.  I do wire shark and it show where the request going out but ack is responding on 000.000.000.000
did virtual p/c as client on ds server.  still get pxe e53.  any sugguestion.  should the infoblox be set on the client side or the server side.

Do you have Option 66, and 67 Configured on your DHCP server?