It all went down to penalties before Sol Davis squeezed Town into round two of the Carling Cup firing home their fifth penalty to Rovers' three.
A throughball from Chris Coyne saw Adam Boyd put Luton ahead from the edge of the box with a smart shot going beyond the right hand of keeper Steve Phillips.
Boyd could have had another midway through the first half with a shot which left Phillips hanging in the air as it curled wide off his left post.
But as that second goal didn't arrive Rovers found their nerve and settled down and Luton keeper Marlon Beresford was happy to push a shot from Craig Disley onto a post.
Rovers were lacking a cutting-edge but made up for it in effort.
As they haggle over striker Junior Agogo's move to Forest they again left him out and missed his touch of class.
But they were building well from the middle led by Sammy Igoe and Richard Walker, who was to score their equaliser in the second half, missed out with a good chance set up for him at the far post by Byron Anthony.
Dean Morgan was always looking for the vital pass to Boyd and Rovers were lucky to survive several of his raids with their goal intact. When he got in a shot himself he beat the keeper but not the offside flag.
It was a tight decision and on the hour became an important one as Walker hit his equaliser sliding in his shot as he went down under pressure.
This goal spurred Luton boss Mike Newell into a double change as he sent on a new strikeforce of Carlos Edwards and Rowan Vine.
They had 25 minutes but extra time loomed as Ahmet Brkovic got in two chances, first with a bicycle shot well covered by Phillips and then a final shot against the bar.