How to Troubleshoot SCCM OSD PXE Issue | ConfigMgr

Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot in SCCM enables administrators to easily access the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) across the network via PXE. PXE is an industry standard created by Intel that provides pre-boot services within the devices firmware that enables devices to download network boot programs to client computers. In this article, we will brief how to troubleshoot SCCM OSD PXE issues.

If your are not aware how PXE boot process work in Configuration Manager then you should start with this Microsoft article. The article well explained PXE boot process in Configuration Manager.

Troubleshooting SCCM OSD PXE Issues

Let’s understand how to troubleshoot SCCM OSD PXE issues. There are different components involved in PXE boot process and you need to be aware about those to pin point the issue.

1. Verify IP Helpers

IP helpers is used to forward DHCP broadcasts to DHCP servers which are in different network subnets. The DHCP request generated by the client computer is a broadcast that doesn’t travel outside the local subnet or VLAN. The IP helpers need to be configured in the Routers so that DHCP broadcasts are forwarded to DHCP / PXE server hosted in different subnets.

If you suspect an issue with IP helpers configuration then connect with your organization network team to validate if IP helpers configured to forward DHCP requests to DHCP server & PXE Enabled Distribution Point.

The following details will be required to configure IP helpers in routers.

Source VLAN / Subnet which you will use for PXE based OS deployment
IP Address of PXE Enabled Distribution Point
DHCP Server IP address

2. Troubleshooting DHCP Discovery

A PXE error code is dispalyed on screen if PXE boot process fails before WinPE starts. Following are the error message you might see.

PXE-E51: No DHCP or proxyDHCP offers were received

This error indicates that the PXE client did not receive a reply to DHCPDISCOVER message. The possible cuase for this problem can be following:

There is no DHCP server in network or server / service is down.
The DHCP server is not configured to service PXE client
The IP Helpers not cofigured to forward DHCPDISCOVER request to DHCP server in different subnet.

PXE-E52: proxyDHCP offers were received. No DHCP offers were received

This error indicates that the PXE client has received one or more proxyDHCP offers, but no valid DHCP offer. The possible cuase for this problem can be following:

There is no DHCP server in network or server / service is down.
The DHCP server is not configured to service PXE client
The IP Helpers not cofigured to forward DHCPDISCOVER request to DHCP server in different subnet.

PXE-E53: No boot filename received

This error indicates that the PXE client received a reply to its DHCPDISCOVER message however the boot file information was missing . The possible cause for this problem can be following:

The DHCP Option 66 & 67 are not properly configured to provide PXE server and boot file details. This is applicable if you are using DHCP server to provide PXE server and boot file name details to client.
The IP Helpers not configured to forward DHCPDISCOVER requests to PXE server in different subnet.

4. PXE boot stuck at “Start PXE over IPv4 / Start PXE over IPv6” screen

Issue:

When you try to perform a SCCM OSD PXE based imaged deployment, the “Start PXE over IPv4” screen appear and it’s get stuck there without any further progress.

Cause:

The Task Sequence has been deployed on Unknown Computers only. Hence any PXE boot request for known device ( Machine already present in SCCM) will be rejected by SCCM.
The device was imaged earlier with SCCM and a record already present in SCCM database for the device.
You are using a ‘USB to Ethernet Adapter’ with multipe devices and MAC address of Adapter already present in SCCM database.

You can see following entries in SMSPXE.LOG file on PXE Enabled Distribution Point for the device you are trying to PXE boot. The location of smspxe.log file on PXE enabled distribution point is \\DP server\SMS_DP$\SMS\Logs

D3:15:C2:5C:6A:C7, X023984C-15DB-99Z2-A25D-F43DB2F4X123: Device is in the database.

D3:15:C2:5C:6A:C7, X023984C-15DB-99Z2-A25D-F43DB2F4X123: no advertisements found

SMSPXE.LOG File on PXE Enable Distribution Point

Solution:

Device already present in SCCM : Delete the machine record from SCCM. You can find the machine record in SCCM with Device Serial Number, MAC address or SMBIOS GUID. The serial number can be found in SCCM only if client was active and sent hardware inventory to SCCM.

Find device in SCCM with MAC address:

Find Device in SCCM with SMBIOS GUID:

Using USB to Ethernet Adapter to build multiple devices: If you are using single USB to Ethernet Adapter to build multiple devices then MAC address of the adapter need to be whitelist. The MAC address need to be added in SCCM from Hierachy Settings Properties > Client Approval and Conflicting Records tab > Duplicate hardware identifiers

This will allow SCCM to ignore the hardware ID of the devices for the puropse of PXE boot and client registration.

SCCM : Client Approval and Conflicting Records

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