PXE boot info

Infoblox has support for pxe boot on networks you manage.

To edit PXE options for your network, go to the following location:

Data Management ->DHCP -> Networks

Select your network

Select the pencil icon to edit your network's properties.

Find the "IPv4 BOOTP/PXE" section - you may need to click the "Toggle Advanced Mode" box to find this option.

Click the "Override" buttons to edit the options under BOOTP Settings.  You will need to edit the "Boot File", "Next Server" and "Boot Server" options.

Of note:

  • use IPv4 addresses for "Next Server" and "Boot Server" - these are typically the same host
  • Use the "\" character to escape any existing "\" or spaces in filenames.
    • e.g. \\SMSBoot\\x64\\wdsmgfw.efi -- see the section on escaping characters below

Alternatively, you could set the same custom options under 'IPv4 DHCP Options" -> "Custom DHCP Options" -- but when compared with the above, this should be unnecessary.

  • 66 - "tftp-server-name"
  • 67 - "bootfile-name"

Option filters:

If there is a need for DHCP option filters for e.g. legacy vs UEFI, contact someone at infoblox@lists.wisc.edu we will need to configure the filter for you.

Escaping characters:

The following is quoted from the Infoblox NIOS 9.0.x Administrator's Guide, page 1167 in the PDF download:

Note that a few characters need manual escaping when you configure a DHCP boot file name, in order to keep the dhcpd.conf file consistent. If you do not use appropriate escape characters, then it might lead to a non working boot file name. The following characters require manual escaping:

  • '\t' - Tabulation character
  • '\r' - Carriage return
  • '\n' - New line
  • '\b' - Bell
  • '\xYY '- YY hex-number (a-f, 0-9)

For example, if you set the 'Boot File' to:

  • '\x86\topdir\subdir\file.img'

You might need to enter \x and \t as the manual escape characters:

  • '\\x86\\topdir\subdir\file.img'

You can also specify all \ as the manual escape character:

  • '\\x86\\topdir\\subdir\\file.img'

The above commands result in the underlying dhcpd.conf file:

  • '\x5cx86\x5ctopdir\\subdir\\file.img'

or

  • '\x5cx86\x5ctopdir\x5csubdir\x5cfile.img'

Keywords:
pxe bootp dhcp option custom 
Doc ID:
162728
Owned by:
Tim C. in DDI
Created:
2026-07-20
Updated:
2026-07-20
Sites:
DNS, DHCP, and IPAM