Ubuntu Netboot For Linux

Welcome to the Quantal Quetzal edition of Ubuntu Netboot, an open source and freely available project that allows experienced Linux users with special requirements or system administrators to boot the Ubuntu Linux operating system over the network using PXE (Preboot Execution Environment).

Ubuntu 12.10 is dubbed Quantal Quetzal and was officially announced by Canonical on October 18, 2012 along with several other Ubuntu flavors. Support for this version ended on May 16, 2014, which means that it will no longer receive software updates and has been archived for historical purposes only.

The netboot images provided on the download page (see above) support the 64-bit (amd64), 32-bit (i386), Armel OMAP, ARMhf OMAP, ARMhf OMAP4, ARMhf Highbank, ARMhf ArmadaXP, PPC (PowerPC) 32-bit and PPC (PowerPC) 64-bit instruction set architectures.

This means that Canonical dropped support for the non-PAE 32-bit (i386) and Armel OMAP4 hardware platforms, which were supported on the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) release, which forces us to ask them to bring support for even more architectures in upcoming editions of this project.

We have specified the meaning of network booting in several other past reviews of Ubuntu Netboot, as the project's soul purpose is to enable users to boot the Ubuntu installation system over the network, boot the Ubuntu Linux operating system from a LAN (Local Area Network), or mount the local file systems with NFS.

Using this method, anyone will be able to install Ubuntu from an existing Linux or UNIX system, over Parallel Line IP (PLIP) or by using PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) via FTP or HTTP. Detailed installation instructions are provided by Canonical at https://help.ubuntu.com/12.10/installation-guide/.

Summing up, Ubuntu Netboot 12.10 is a great product that allows system administrator or advanced users with special requirements to boot and install Ubuntu over the network. Keep in mind though, that this version works only with the Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) distribution.