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don_arachchi
New Contributor

configure iphelper on fortigate

HI i am really new to fortigate or any firwall technologies. so do applogise for any miss leading information.. basically we are planning to move our antivirus server (kasperski) to a new OS 2019. so i was wondering do i need to configure iphelper/ip routing address point to the new server  on fortigate so it will be the new PXE server.  or does it od it automatically when i install kasperski. 

 

we are using windows DHCP. and all the pc are on the same subnet.

 

we are using fortigate 200E  which is our firewall as a the gateway. 

5 REPLIES 5
lobstercreed
Valued Contributor

You have a lot of confusing or outright contradictory information in this post.  "iphelper" is what you program on a router to point to a DHCP server that is not on the same subnet as the hosts that are DHCP clients.  It is done per subnet, and usually done on the router that serves as the default gateway for those hosts.  In this case it sounds like that would be done on the FortiGate, and must already work if you are using a Windows DHCP server. 

 

Settings that are programmed via DHCP, such as PXE server, are programmed on the DHCP server itself and have nothing to do with the router where iphelper is programmed.  The only time you would change the iphelper is if the DHCP server was moving.  So if you just need to update the PXE server and you're using a Windows DHCP server, you need to update it on the Windows DHCP server for all relevant scopes(subnets).

 

If you were using the FortiGate to actually *serve* DHCP and *not* act as an "iphelper", then you would need to change the PXE server setting in the DHCP options on the appropriate interfaces; this would have nothing to do with iphelper settings because they would not exist in this scenario.

natiT

I want to pickup this thread. Microsoft himself does not support DHCP Options for PXE Boots. Mentioned here You want to PXE Boot? Don't use DHCP Options. - Microsoft Tech Community and here Use PXE for OSD over the network - Configuration Manager | Microsoft Docs  You can find alot for Cisco (e.x IP Helper-Address Configuration for PXE Boot - SCCM | Microsoft Endpoint Manager | Enterprise Mobili...) but not for fortigate and we want to know how to get a PXE Boot running on it.  Kind Regards

natit

lobstercreed
Valued Contributor

Interesting.  We have used this(from your 3rd link) for years, but I guess you're right, it's technically not supported: 

 

If you have only 1 type of firmware (either BIOS or UEFI) with client system, DHCP Server & WDS server in different subnets. Then, DHCP scope options 66 (servername) and 67 (pointing to Network Boot Program) can be used which is much more easier to configure.

natiT

Is it possible in a FortiGate Firewall? I dont want to maintain DHCP Options on several DHCP Servers, different Architectures and etc. and its not supported from Microsoft so when i got errors they wont help me and just say: USE IPHelper... We added the PXE Server to the Interfaces DHCP Helpers but it does not work. :(

robgj56
New Contributor

Did you ever get this resolved? We recently moved to Fortigate and now WDS is no longer working across VLans

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