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Xangle Camera Server

Network, image & recovery

Advanced

Use these procedures when you need to change the boot network, prepare a fresh boot-server card, or recover a Pi image outside the normal operator workflow.

Change the boot-server network

Use this guide when the default Xangle boot network conflicts with another network or when preparing a fresh boot-server card.

Before you change anything

A boot-server network change affects three parts of the system:

  • The boot server's static Ethernet address.
  • DHCP, TFTP, and NFS settings on the boot server.
  • The boot-server address embedded in the cardless clients' network-boot command line.

Use a dedicated Ethernet adapter for the isolated boot network. Keep the computer's normal LAN or Wi-Fi connection separate for internet access.

The subnet and server address must match. For example:

Subnet: 10.72.0.0/21
Server IP: 10.72.0.211

Do not use 10.52.1.0 as the subnet with /21; a /21 subnet must start on a multiple of eight in the third octet.

Edit the card

  1. Shut down the boot-server Pi cleanly and remove its microSD card.

  2. Insert the card into Windows. The FAT boot partition may appear as E:. The drive letter can differ.

  3. Open:

    E:\xangle\boot-network.conf

  4. Edit the values, keeping the file as plain text:

    MODE=boot-server
SUBNET=10.72.0.0
PREFIX=21
SERVER_IP=10.72.0.211

  5. Make sure the boot-server card still contains boot-server-configured and configure, and does not contain reset.

  6. Safely eject the card and put it back in the Pi.

  7. Boot the Pi. The boot-network service validates the file and updates the static address, DHCP settings, and netboot command lines.

  8. Restart the Windows computer, or disable and re-enable its dedicated Ethernet adapter.

  9. Leave the adapter set to obtain an IP address automatically. The boot server's DHCP service should assign it an address in 10.72.x.x.

  10. Reboot the cardless clients only after the Windows adapter has a 10.72.x.x address and the boot server responds at 10.72.0.211.

If Windows does not get an address

Use this manual configuration only when the dedicated adapter remains on 169.254.x.x or otherwise receives no DHCP lease. Run PowerShell as Administrator, and replace Ethernet 3 with the actual adapter name:

Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet 3" -Dhcp Disabled

Get-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet 3" -AddressFamily IPv4 |
   Remove-NetIPAddress -Confirm:$false

New-NetIPAddress `
   -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet 3" `
   -IPAddress 10.72.0.50 `
   -PrefixLength 21 `
   -AddressFamily IPv4

Leave the gateway and DNS fields empty. Do not use the boot server's address on the Windows adapter.

Check the adapter and boot server:

Get-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet 3" -AddressFamily IPv4
Test-Connection 10.72.0.211

The standard default file is:

MODE=boot-server
SUBNET=10.42.0.0
PREFIX=21
SERVER_IP=10.42.0.211

If the file is absent, the existing boot-server configuration is left alone.

Fresh-image requirement

The Windows file works only when the image or XNN bundle includes the boot-network helper and boot service. If E:\xangle\boot-network.conf is missing from a fresh card, the image does not support this workflow yet.

Safety and recovery

Do not reboot cardless clients until the Windows adapter has a lease on the new subnet and the boot server responds.

If the boot server becomes unreachable:

  1. Restore the previous values in E:\xangle\boot-network.conf.
  2. Restore the previous static address on the dedicated Windows adapter.
  3. Boot the server again.
  4. Confirm the boot server responds before rebooting cardless clients.

When the previous values are the standard Xangle network, restore:

MODE=boot-server
SUBNET=10.42.0.0
PREFIX=21
SERVER_IP=10.42.0.211

Do not edit or remove the Pi bootloader EEPROM configuration as part of this network change. Network boot still depends on the cardless clients' boot order.