Octofleet: Zero-Touch OS Deployment with PXE Boot 🐙

Octofleet Logo

Today was a highly productive day! We’ve extended Octofleet with a powerful new feature: Zero-Touch OS Deployment via PXE Boot.

What is Octofleet?

Octofleet is our open-source Endpoint Management Platform. Think of it as an octopus 🐙 with 8 arms, each handling a different server task: monitoring, patching, installing, configuring, securing, and more!

Imagine you have 50 servers or workstations that all need a fresh operating system. Normally that means: burning USB sticks, changing BIOS settings, clicking through installers… Boring!

With Octofleet, it’s now as simple as:

  1. Enter MAC address
  2. Select operating system
  3. Click “Create Job”
  4. Power on server → done!

No USB stick. No installer. No clicking around. Zero-Touch.

How Does PXE Boot Work?

PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) allows a computer to boot directly over the network – no local hard drive or USB required.

The flow:

1. Server starts → DHCP Request
2. DHCP responds with IP + PXE Server address
3. Server loads iPXE bootloader (via TFTP)
4. iPXE asks Octofleet API: "What should I do?"
5. API responds: "Here's your boot script for Windows Server 2025!"
6. WinPE starts → Partitions disk → Downloads image → Installs
7. Windows boots → Domain Join → Agent installed → DONE!

The beauty: Everything happens over HTTP. No SMB shares, no firewall headaches.

What We Built Today

🔧 Backend

  • Provisioning API with CRUD endpoints for Tasks, Images, and Templates
  • Dynamic iPXE generation – each MAC address gets its own boot script
  • Database schema for provisioning tasks with full state tracking
  • Status callbacks – servers report their installation progress back to the API

🎨 Frontend

  • Provisioning Dashboard with live data from the API (no more mock data!)
  • “New Job” Dialog – enter MAC, select OS, and go
  • Task Queue with real-time status (Pending → Booting → Installing → Done)
  • Auto-refresh every 10 seconds
  • Delete and retry functionality for failed tasks

📦 Windows Deployment

  • Windows Server 2025 (Standard & Datacenter editions)
  • Unattend.xml for fully automated installation:
    • German locale & timezone (customizable)
    • Admin password pre-configured
    • RDP enabled out of the box
    • Automatic Domain Join
  • WinPE Boot Image with curl.exe for HTTP downloads

🖥️ Hypervisor Support

  • Hyper-V Generation 2 (UEFI) – tested and working!
  • KVM/libvirt – template prepared with VirtIO drivers
  • Bare Metal – template for physical servers

The Tech Stack

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Octofleet UI                   │
│         (Next.js + Tailwind CSS)            │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
                  │ HTTP/REST
┌─────────────────▼───────────────────────────┐
│           Octofleet Backend                 │
│      (FastAPI + PostgreSQL + asyncpg)       │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
                  │ 
┌─────────────────▼───────────────────────────┐
│             PXE Server                      │
│   (dnsmasq + nginx + iPXE + WinPE)          │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
                  │ PXE/HTTP
┌─────────────────▼───────────────────────────┐
│            Target Server                    │
│      (boots via network → installed!)       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Why “Octofleet”?

Like an octopus with 8 arms, Octofleet handles multiple tasks simultaneously:

  1. 🔧 Patching – keeping systems up to date
  2. 🖥️ Installing – deploying fresh OS images
  3. 📊 Monitoring – tracking system health
  4. 🪟 Windows Management – domain join, roles, features
  5. 💻 Terminal Access – remote command execution
  6. 🌐 Networking – configuration and connectivity
  7. ⚙️ Configuration – settings and policies
  8. 🛡️ Security – vulnerability tracking and compliance

All from a single, unified platform!

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning! On our roadmap:

  • Ubuntu/Linux Support – Autoinstall & Cloud-Init integration
  • Windows 11 – for client deployments
  • Windows Server 2019 – legacy support
  • Live Status Callbacks – real-time progress in the UI
  • Systems Registry – provisioned systems as permanent entities

Conclusion

From “power on server” to “domain-joined & RDP-ready” now takes only 15-20 minutes. Without anyone lifting a finger. That’s the magic of Zero-Touch Deployment!

The code is open source on GitHub: BenediktSchackenberg/octofleet

Questions? Feedback? Hit me up on Discord!

🐙 Octofleet – Because server installation shouldn’t be boring.