RAM-Only Ubuntu PXE Server
Budget: ₹600 – ₹1,500 INR
I need a full PXE‐boot solution built around Ubuntu 22.04. The goal is simple: up to a hundred client PCs must load a minimal Ubuntu desktop entirely into RAM, leave no trace on their local drives, and avoid mounting NFS shares from the server. Once the machine reboots, everything disappears.
Here is what I’m after:
• Install and harden an Ubuntu 22.04 server with DHCP (or proxy-DHCP), TFTP, and HTTP/FTP delivery paths suitable for 51–100 simultaneous boots.
• Build a lightweight desktop image (SquashFS or similar) plus initrd/casper overlay that copies itself into RAM at boot; the clients must never touch their disks once the kernel hands off to the OS.
• Configure PXELINUX/iPXE (or GRUB-netboot) menus so end-users can simply select “Ubuntu Desktop” and go.
• Prove the setup on standard-spec hardware, documenting every step, the final image size, and the peak RAM footprint per client.
• Deliver all scripts, config files, and a short run-book so I can reproduce or tweak the environment later.
If you’ve done stateless PXE or live-RAM boots before, this should be straightforward. Let’s get this network‐boot lab running smoothly.
Here is what I’m after:
• Install and harden an Ubuntu 22.04 server with DHCP (or proxy-DHCP), TFTP, and HTTP/FTP delivery paths suitable for 51–100 simultaneous boots.
• Build a lightweight desktop image (SquashFS or similar) plus initrd/casper overlay that copies itself into RAM at boot; the clients must never touch their disks once the kernel hands off to the OS.
• Configure PXELINUX/iPXE (or GRUB-netboot) menus so end-users can simply select “Ubuntu Desktop” and go.
• Prove the setup on standard-spec hardware, documenting every step, the final image size, and the peak RAM footprint per client.
• Deliver all scripts, config files, and a short run-book so I can reproduce or tweak the environment later.
If you’ve done stateless PXE or live-RAM boots before, this should be straightforward. Let’s get this network‐boot lab running smoothly.