Boot a broken computer into Windows PE for recovery using only a rooted Android phone.
Set up a temporary rescue boot environment at home without buying dedicated PXE server hardware.
Run the server component on a regular computer with a JDK for local testing.
Boot a Debian installer over the network out of the box using the default script.
| vvb2060/pxeboot | margele/openzen | datafusion-contrib/streamfusion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 53 | 56 | 49 |
| Language | Java | Java | Java |
| Setup difficulty | hard | hard | hard |
| Complexity | 4/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Audience | developer | researcher | ops devops |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
Requires a rooted Android device and specific router settings, since DHCP and TFTP ports need privileged access.
Android PXE Boot Server is an Android app that turns a rooted phone or tablet into a temporary network boot server for a home network. It combines three small services, a ProxyDHCP responder, a TFTP server, and an HTTP server, so that other computers on the same network can boot from files the Android device is serving instead of from their own hard drive. This is meant for recovery and maintenance situations, such as booting a rescue tool like Windows PE when a computer will not start normally. It is not a full DHCP server. Instead it listens for DHCP requests and answers with just enough information, called ProxyDHCP, so that PXE capable computers can find the boot files without taking over normal network address assignment. To use it, you connect the target computer to your router by wired Ethernet, connect the Android device to the same router over Wi-Fi, and make sure the router does not block DHCP listening or the specific ports the app needs. Two of those ports, used for DHCP and TFTP, require root access on the Android device because they are privileged. Once connected, you place a rescue ISO file on the phone, in a NAS, or somewhere reachable online, open the app, adjust the included iPXE boot script if needed, and start the service. The app supports older BIOS based computers as well as newer UEFI systems, including 64 bit Intel and Arm devices, and its boot chain can work with Secure Boot using either the 2011 or 2023 Microsoft certificates, though the actual rescue image you boot must also support Secure Boot itself for that to work end to end. The app ships with three ready made boot script examples: one for booting Windows PE from an ISO over HTTP, one for chaining to another network boot setup, and a Debian installer example that is turned on by default so the app works right out of the box. The core server code is plain Java with no dependency on Android specific APIs, so it can also be run and tested directly on a regular computer with a Java Development Kit. The project is released under the Apache 2.0 license.
An Android app that turns a rooted phone into a temporary network boot server so other computers can boot rescue tools like Windows PE over Wi-Fi.
Mainly Java. The stack also includes Java, Android, iPXE.
Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you include the license notice and do not misuse project trademarks.
Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.
Mainly developer.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
double-check against the repo, no cap.