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I am trying to boot a device through pxe, this device is connected to a windows embedded 8 (industry/standard) host pc.

It should be possible I think and searches point me in the direction to using WDS. I just cant seem to find any references talking about running WDS on windows embedded.

I have included the modules for dhcp server and internet connection sharing in the image configuration editor. But I cannot find any configuration options for it.

If I run netsh in a cmd window it only gives me the command for dhcpclient, not dhcp (server).

Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Ow, and as a side note, I dont want to use any 3rd party dhcp server software.

Edit: It is acceptable to use other versions of windows embedded if they do support this feature. But I am convinced it should be able to work on the latest generation of Windows Embedded

Daanvl
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  • maybe using ICS? https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/b4338ff8-667b-4b92-ad9c-2d22a8a2e565/dhcp-server-on-wes7 I would not hold my breath. If you need a dhcp server and budget is a problem, a rasperry pi would work pretty well with dnsmasq. – natxo asenjo Jan 20 '16 at 09:40
  • I saw that link, but that only gets me part way there. I can share the connection and as a result the 2nd unit get an IP as if the 1st unit acts as a DHCP, but there ar no configuration options, let alone supplying PXE (or WDS) boot services over that DHCP. Ow and budget is not the issue, there are other constrains that prevent me from using something like pi :( – Daanvl Jan 20 '16 at 10:17
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    you might need to re-evaluate your goals and available means. I'm all for solving puzzles, but somewhere lines need to be drawn on what's possible – natxo asenjo Jan 20 '16 at 10:24

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Unfortunately WDS is unavailable as a service to run from Windows Embedded. To get WDS on on your hardware you will have to run any version of Windows server from 2008 and up. Windows server 2003 has RIS which is for older OS (E.G. XP 200, etc...)

To answer your question, The only way to make your Windows Embedded system a PXE server is to run 3rd party tools. And if your going to run 3rd party tools and only use your hardware as a PXE server, then I would recommend Linux.

Links: WDS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Deployment_Services

Windows Embedded - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Embedded

Ubuntu Server -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(operating_system)#Ubuntu_Server

Ubuntu server PXE - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallServer

TL;DR: No WDS on Win Embedded. Use Win Server for WDS. If you want to deploy older OSs (E.G. XP) or non MS OSs try Linux (E.G. Ubuntu Server).

Elliot Huffman
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  • Yeah unfortunately I am coming to the same conclusion. I do really need windows for the software that I have to run on it. And I really need Embedded for the UWF. But thanks for the assurance that It is infact not possible to combine those 2 features. – Daanvl Jan 20 '16 at 15:22
  • @Daanvl What are you running on your embedded system that needs windows? – Elliot Huffman Jan 20 '16 at 15:25
  • Touch screen user interface application. With a healthy but large chunk of c# based code that took years to make. – Daanvl Jan 21 '16 at 09:01
  • @Daanvl Oh, ok. Why would you run a server on a system that people have access to? (no judgement, just wondering why) – Elliot Huffman Jan 21 '16 at 13:41
  • well it is a composite system with multiple cpu boards, one for linux (because hardware) and one for windows (user interactions) But only space for 1 harddrive. so that is why i have the requirements for embedded plus server in one :P I am now trying to make it work with 3rd party pxe server software (serva) "edit": ow and the hdd has to be on the windows side cus the (physical) space on the linux side is filled with hardware specific stuff – Daanvl Jan 25 '16 at 06:53
  • @Daanvl I just finished making my `Raspberry Pi 2` a pxe server. It boots `WIM` files like it is nobodies business. You can even have multiple bootable images in one `wim` using linux (storage space savings). I would recommend linux if you do not have WDS available. A `Raspberry Pi 2` is $35. The SD card (storage) can be big or small, it is up to you. I have tried `serva` out. It did not work for me. Although that was a while ago. They might have fixed their issues. Check out `wimboot`, a `pxelinux` compatible module. – Elliot Huffman Jan 25 '16 at 14:00