PXEChecker for Citrix Provisioning Services
Article ID: CTX217122
Updated On:
Description
Description
PXEChecker is tool designed to troubleshoot configuration and environment related issues during the PXE boot process in Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS). PXEChecker has two different tests:
- Legacy BIOS Test.- Simulates the PXE boot process and analyzes the DHCP options on the DHCP and PXE offers, and verifies that the bootstrap file can be downloaded successfully.
- BDM Test.- Shows the configuration options from a BDM ISO image and also downloads the bootstrap file.
Please note:
You can download the required file from the Citrix downloads website by visiting the following link: https://www.citrix.com/downloads/citrix-tools
Prerequisites
- PXEChecker can run on any Windows machine with .NET 4.0 or higher on the same subnet as the affected target devices as long as it is not a DHCP server.
- Firewall should be disabled or should allow the communication from and to PXEChecker.exe
Installing PXEChecker
To install PXEChecker, copy PXEChecker.exe executable file to the desired location. There is no installer required.
How to use PXEChecker
This tool can be used to run two tests namely Legacy BIOS test and BDM test.
Legacy BIOS test:
1. Select the test to run in this “legacy BIOS Test”
2. Click on “Run Test” button. The test could take up to a minute to complete depending on the environment.
3. The Progress window provides details about the DHCP offers received.
4. The Alerts window points out suspicious configurations detected by the tool.
BDM Test:
To perform the test, we should have the BDM ISO ready which is being used by the customer in their environment. If ISO is not ready, then create one by using “Boot Device Management” wizard.
1. Select the test to run in this case “BDM Test” and click on “Run Test”
2. Select the BDM ISO from the file open dialog.
3. It takes approximately a minute to perform the test.
4. Once done you can see the results in Progress and Alerts box. Progress windows what is there in the BDM ISO, it shows exact information that was used to burn the ISO. You can use this functionality to validate the customer created BDM ISO. Alerts box shows successful message if tsbbdm.bin was downloaded successfully else a failure and the reason logged into progress window.
Alerts Explained
| Type | Message | Explanation/Recommendation |
| Warning | DHCP offer received after x retries | This could indicate a network issue. Please collect bidirectional network traces between your DHCP server and the target device and contact Citrix support. |
| Critical | No DHCP offers received. | No DHCP offers where received. This could indicate a DHCP server issue or a network issue. Please check if your DHCP server is running and/or you have correctly configured your DHCP relay setting. |
| Critical | No offers from DHCP. All offers are from PXE Service. | Offers from PXE service were received, but not from the DHCP server. Therefore, the target device fails to acquire an IP address. Please check if your DHCP server is running and/or you have correctly configured your DHCP relay setting. |
| Success | <boot filename> successfully downloaded from <serverIP> | The bootstrap file was downloaded successfully. PXE is properly configured and working correctly. |
| Critical | PXE Service at <serverIP> did not send ACK. | PXEChecker received an offer from the PXE Service on <serverIP>, but it did not respond with an ACK to the request. Please check that the PVS PXE Service is running. |
| Critical | PXE Service is not running and Next Server or option 66 is not configured on DHCP offer. | When using DHCP options, Boot filename (option 66) is required. Please verify that option 66 is set on the DHCP Server and that it is pointing to a valid PVS server. If not using DHCP scope options, please verify that the PVS PXE service is running. |
| Critical | PXE Service is not running and bootstrap name or option 67 is not configured on DHCP offer. | When using DHCP options, TFTP Server Name (option 67) is required. Please verify that option 66 is set on the DHCP Server and that it is pointing to a valid PVS server. If not using DHCP scope options, please verify that the PVS PXE service is running. |
| Critical | Bootstrap file name is not ardbp32.bin. This is not from PVS PXE Service. | The bootstrap file on the DHCP offer is not ardbp32.bin. This suggests the offer is not from the PVS PXE Service, and that it is coming from another PXE device such as a thin client. |
| Warning | Multiple offers from DHCP servers (non PXE Service) received. | More than one offer from DHCP servers was received. This could indicate a rogue DHCP server. |
| Warning | "Bootstrap file name is configured on DHCP server <serverIP> and PXE Service is also running." | It is not best practice to use both DHCP scope options and the PVS PXE service in the same broadcast domain. Please disable whichever service is not being used. |
| Warning | "Next Server is configured on DHCP server<serverIP> and PXE Service is also running." | It is not best practice to use both DHCP scope options and the PVS PXE service in the same broadcast domain. Please disable whichever service is not being used. |
| Critical | "Exception downloading bootstrap < boot filename > from <serverIP>. | There was an error downloading the arbp32.bin file from the server <serverIP>. Please verify that PVS TFTP service is running, and that option 66 points to the correct TFTP server and/or option 67 points to the correct filename. |
| Warning | Skipping download of tsbbdm.bin since loginIp configured as 0.0.0.0 | You can configure up to 4 login servers in BDM ISO. If 4 of the same alerts are seen, it means that the ISO was misconfigured and needs to be created again. |
| Success | Tsbbdm.bin successfully downloaded from <serverIP> | The bootstrap file was downloaded successfully. BDM is properly configured and working correctly. |
| Critical | Exception downloading bootstrap tsbbdm.bin from server <serverIP> | There was an error downloading tsbbdm.bin from the server <serverIP>. Please verify that the PVS Two stage boot service is running, and that the login server is pointing to the correct server and/or filename. |
Uninstalling PXEChecker
To uninstall PXEChecker and undo changes made to the system, all you need to do is to delete PXEChecker.
Additional Information
Please note:
You can download the required file from the Citrix downloads website by visiting the following link: https://www.citrix.com/downloads/citrix-tools
