Ansible playbook to deploy a PXE server to serve ShredOS.
ShredOS is a small Linux distribution that embeds nwipe, a tool to wipe disks. ShredOS can be booted via USB or network (PXE).
Two elements are involved : the computer to be purged (the client) and a third-party machine (the server).
The server hosts three services:
- a DHCP server ;
- a TFTP server ;
- an FTP server.
To avoid polluting the local network with a DHCP server, it is assumed that the server has a dedicated network interface.
The client first retrieves a network configuration via the DHCP server.
In addition to the usual configurations (IP address, mask, gateway), the server provides additional options, including where to download the ShredOS boot image.
The boot image is stored on a TFTP server. Once the image has been loaded into RAM, ShredOS starts.
TFTP has a few drawbacks, especially if the server is running Debian, as the maximum achievable throughput is 4 MB/s.
There seem to be workarounds: running a server that runs a Redhat-based distribution (never tested) or using iPXE instead of the TFTP server.
The FTP server is not involved during the network boot.
This is a non-essential component, but useful if you want to control ShredOS configuration and archive PDF reports.
Ansible is a tool for deploying elements on a machine. For example, software, configuration files, users, services, etc.
To sum up, the aim of this repository is to configure the server.