RAM-based Qubes OS over PXE Network Boot

Original forum link

https://forum.qubes-os.org/t/13909

Original poster

qstateless

Editors

deeplow

Created at

2022-09-28 05:10:46

Last wiki edit

2023-09-07 05:26:57

Revisions

5 revisions

Posts count

15

Likes count

4

This is a sub-topic fork of @alzer89's Automated Qubes OS Installation using Kickstart and/or PXE Network Boot, focused on creating a repeatable guide to PXE Network Boot a RAM-based Qubes OS.

Basic concept: Your Qubes OS installation sits on another computer with the PXE server software. You can then have as many client computers as you want PXE network boot from this RAM-based Qubes OS using only their network connection and no drives needed to boot from. Your client computers reboot to a 100% clean Qubes OS state each time. Scales to many client computers at once.

RAM-based Qubes OS over PXE Network Boot is very useful for:

• Running further stateless endpoint computers without storage drives in them.

• Anti-forensics. Nothing stored on endpoint computers, except firmware of the hardware parts. No drives necessary at all.

• Disposable Qubes OS. Just easily reboot to instantly make and boot a new clean install of Qubes OS many times per day.

• Quick centralized management & deployment of Qubes OS configurations/updates to multiple endpoint computers.

Interesting initial conversations and a general Qubes OS PXE installer implementation in the general topic thread mentioned above.

Note: If you'd alternatively just like to run a RAM-based Qubes OS from a normal boot drive, then this is already available using @xuy's Qubes in tmpfs.