Updated 64-bit ipxe.efi (ipxe v1.21.1+) binaries

Products

• Deployment Solution
• Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

This KB article contains updated 64-bit ipxe.efi (ipxe v1.21.1+) binaries signed by Microsoft. These should provide a more stable WinPE PXE boot for systems with Secure Boot enabled (these binaries don't require disabling SecureBoot in BIOS settings). 

 

 

This update applies to both GSS (Ghost Solution Suite) and DS (Deployment Solution).

Environment

GSS 3.3 RU11 and earlier

DS 8.7.1 and earlier

NOTE: These are not applicable to versions equal or greater than GSS 3.3 RU12 and DS 8.7.2 (after these versions are released).

Cause

Known issue for new iPXE binaries 1.21.1+:

When "Local Disk/NextDevice" is manually chosen from the iPXE menu on some computer models, the boot process hangs instead of proceeding to boot from the next device.

 

Please notice that this is an issue in iPXE itself, not in our code.

Resolution

This article provides two binaries, and you may choose between them based on your environment -  in some cases, if ipxe.efi fails then snponly.efi should work:

 - ipxe.efi: contains a set of embedded drivers
 - snponly.efi: is without the embedded drivers

See the attached "64bit_ipxe_efi.zip".

Also, the updated binaries do not require disabling of DMA protections and Virtualization in the BIOS.

Steps to apply updated files are below:

For GSS:
Conduct a test run using one of the WinPE images to ensure that the new ipxe binary functions correctly in the customer's environment. Then, navigate to the appropriate folder of the PXE image on the PXE server(s) at ...\PXE\Images\MenuOptionXXX\X64 and replace the existing MenuOptionXXX.efi with either a renamed ipxe.efi or snponly.efi file.

If the test run is successful, proceed to the folder on the GSS server at ...\eXpress\Deployment Server\Bootwiz\platforms\iPXE and replace the existing ipxe64.efi with either renamed ipxe.efi or snponly.efi file. Then recreate the PXE images.

For DS:
Conduct a test run using one of the WinPE images to ensure that the new ipxe binary functions correctly. Then, navigate to the appropriate folder of the PXE image on the PXE (SBS) server at ...\Altiris Agent\Agents\Deployment\SBS\Images\<image_name>\x64\ and replace the existing ipxe64.efi with either renamed ipxe.efi or snponly.efi file.

After a successful verification, replace the following binary on the Notification Server so that every new PXE image will contain the updated iPXE binary: ...\Deployment\BDC\bootwiz\Platforms\iPXE\ipxe64.efi