Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

---

This is a detailed technical introduction to how bare metal server boot and provisioning processes work. This presentation covers the key technologies required, including PXE, DHCP and Netboot. Covers key concepts and challenges related to bare metal automation.

Includes short demo videos.

Learn more about bare metal at rackn.com/provisioning-automation/.

0:00 Introduction
1:24 In concept, Provisioning is Easy! We're just installing an operating system on a server or switch! Why is that so hard?!
4:43 Exploring Provisioning Approaches
7:49 Bootstrapping is a multi-stage process
7:59 First: Get on the network
9:36 Then get a BETTER Bootloader
10:50 Each stage is actually a NEW 0/S Load
14:25 Provisioning is more than PXE
16:55 Hardware varies, so Install must be guided by templates
17:51 And then you can actually connect to start configuring the system!
18:18 Automating Provisioning means Connecting all these steps together
24:41 Typical PXE Questions