Red Hat Summit Red Hat SummitSupportConsoleDevelopersStart a trialContact

Chapter 3. Configuring TFTP integration

You can integrate TFTP with Satellite to perform unattended installations by booting the operating system’s setup over the network.

3.1. Enabling the installer-managed TFTP service
Copy link

If you do not have a TFTP server available in your network, you can use the installer-managed TFTP service to perform unattended installations. With the installer-managed TFTP service, you can run a TFTP server with a low maintenance effort because Satellite fully manages the TFTP service, including the files on that service.

Procedure

  • Configure your Satellite Server or Capsule Server as the TFTP server: 

    # satellite-installer \
--foreman-proxy-tftp true \
--foreman-proxy-tftp-managed true
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

3.2. Integrating a generic TFTP server
Copy link

If you have a TFTP server in your network, you can integrate this service into your Satellite. The integration enables you to continue using your existing TFTP server. With this type of integration, Satellite uses the Network File System (NFS) protocol to access the root directory of the TFTP service.

Note

If you prefer a low maintenance solution that also manages files on the TFTP server, use the installer-managed TFTP service.

After you have prepared the TFTP server, integrate it into your Satellite Server or Capsule Server.

Prerequisites

  • You shared the /exports/var/lib/tftpboot on the TFTP server with NFS.

Procedure

  1. Create the directory into which you later mount the NFS share: 

    # mkdir -p /mnt/nfs/var/lib/tftpboot
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  2. Edit the /etc/fstab file, and add entry for the NFS share to mount them automatically when the system boots: 

    tftp_server_fqdn:/exports/var/lib/tftpboot  /mnt/nfs/var/lib/tftpboot  nfs  rw,vers=3,auto,nosharecache,context="system_u:object_r:tftpdir_rw_t:s0"  0 0
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  3. Mount the NFS share: 

    # mount /mnt/nfs/var/lib/tftpboot/
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  4. Configure Satellite Server or Capsule Server to use the TFTP server: 

    # satellite-installer \
--foreman-proxy-tftp true \
--foreman-proxy-managed false \
--foreman-proxy-tftp-root /mnt/nfs/var/lib/tftpboot \
--foreman-proxy-tftp-servername tftp_server_fqdn
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  5. For each affected Capsule, update the configuration of that Capsule in the Satellite web UI. For more information, see Section 3.3, “Associating the TFTP service with a subnet”.

3.3. Associating the TFTP service with a subnet
Copy link

After you configured or changed the TFTP provider, you must update the configuration of each affected Capsule in the Satellite web UI.

Prerequisites

  • You configured a TFTP server.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Subnets.
  2. Select the subnet name.
  3. On the Capsules tab, select the Capsule for TFTP.
  4. Click Submit.

3.4. Disabling TFTP for integration
Copy link

If you want to manually manage a TFTP service and not integrate it into Satellite, you must prevent Satellite from maintaining this service on the operating system and disable orchestration to avoid errors.

Note

Disabling TFTP in Satellite does not remove the related backend service on the operating system.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Subnets.

  2. For each subnet that is associated with the TFTP Capsule:

    1. Select the subnet.
    2. On the Capsules tab, clear the TFTP Capsule field.
    3. Click Submit.

  3. On Satellite Server, enter: 

    # satellite-installer --foreman-proxy-tftp false
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    Note

    Satellite does not perform orchestration when a Capsule is not set for a given subnet. When you disable Capsule associations, orchestration commands for existing hosts can fail if the expected records and configuration files are not present.

Back to top
Red Hat logoGithubredditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust. Explore our recent updates.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

Theme

© 2025 Red Hat