Running a Windows TFTP Server

Running a Windows TFTP Server


There are several 3rd party free TFTP servers for Windows out there, but why use a 3rd party product when you already have a free TFTP server on the install CD? Lets roll!

First, grab the Windows Server 2003 resource kit, and install it.

Now open a shell and go to your I386 directory (CD or distribution share - doesn't matter).

Run expand tftpd.ex_ %systemroot%\tftpd.exe. Note you could place the .exe elsewhere if you like.

Still in the shell, change to the Windows 2003 reskit install directory and run instsrv tftpd %systemroot%\tftpd.exe.

Create a TFTP root directory. It can be anywhere and named anything. For example, D:\TFTProot.

Run the following commands to create / modify the appropriate registry values

reg add hklm\system\currentcontrolset\services\tftpd /v DisplayName /t REG_SZ /d "TFTP Server"
reg add hklm\system\currentcontrolset\services\tftpd\Parameters
reg add hklm\system\currentcontrolset\services\tftpd\Parameters /v Directory /t REG_SZ /d d:\tftproot

And finally, do a net start tftpd

And that's it. Of course it would be a good idea to set the appropriate NTFS permissions on the TFTP root directory, and run the service with a low privileged account.