Thanks to all who attended our Launch Webcast for Ghost Solution Suite 3.1. Special thanks to David Evans and Rob Barker for their presentation and demo reviewing some of the new features in this new release including:
- Support for multiple versions of WinPE
- Support for WinPE 10
- Linux PE update
- Automation folders (imaging without PXE)
- Partition based imaging
Play or Download the Webcast
Download the Webcast slides
- See below the file attached to this post
Ghost Solution Suite Links shared during the Webcast
IT Management Suite 8.0 Links shared during Webcast
Q & A transcript
Darren F. - 10:08 AM
Q: Scale-- at what number do we need deployment studio vs. GSS?
A: GSS scales well to about 3-5k machines depending on how heavily it’s used. Beyond that some customers use multiple servers or choose to switch to the more scalable Deployment Solution that can scale up to 50k on a single server. We have some GSS customers running over 100k devices over many servers, it’s just a case of keeping them maintained with automation.
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Patrick C.- 10:07 AM
Q: Do you ever plan on integrating GSS into NS to be able to schedule jobs using NS filters? Like the old DS web console.
A: Not right now, but using the ASDK for both products it shouldn't be difficult to get this working.
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Ben C. - 10:10 AM
Q: What if any support does Ghost provide for M2 Sata, and M2 NVME drives? We have had very hit and miss results with them. Thanks
A: We have these drives in some of the hardware we test with and with the correct drivers we have seen consistent results. Please log any issues with support and we’ll try and get them looked at.
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Mike H. - 10:12 AM
Q: Where can I get 3.1?
A: There is a trialware site on Ghost.com.
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Bobby D. - 10:15 AM
Q: Will I need new license from 2.5 and older? Will 3.0 upgrade w/o license?
A: GSS 2.5, 3.0 and 3,1 all require their own license and they are not forwards or backwards compatible. This is something we’re looking to improve.
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Jeff P. - 10:23 AM
Q: Are Automation Folders similar to Deployment Solutions (7.6) automation folders?
A: Yes, they are almost identical.
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Boon M. - 10:23 AM
Q: Are there still problems imaging MS Surface Pro 4 and has UEFI and Secure boot on?
A: This has been working well for us with some caveats. You should be good to go.
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Leroy C. - 10:26 AM
Q: I have Ghost 16 with Suite 3.0 that we purchased in January. Can this be upgraded to 3.1 for free?
A: Assuming you have a license type with maintenance you can upgrade for free, you should have received your license by email.
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Laurence E. - 10:28 AM
Q: Has stability been improved with GSS 3.1?
A: We are working on some known issues with the DAgent in automation and upcoming service packs will see improvements.
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Spencer J. - 10:30 AM
Q: Hello, Will this Webcast discuss the deployment solution software? Specifically hardware independent images?
A: Hi Spencer, the focus for today are the net new features in Ghost Solution Suite 3.1. I don't think we will specifically cover hardware independent images on today's webcast. Sorry. That would be a good topic for a future webcast.
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Keith L - 10:31 AM
Q: Any plans in doing a web based UI?
A: We're just starting a POC on creating a cloud based job execution portal. This will be the first step in creating a web console type experience but it will go further than that and offer some brand new ways of working.
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Mike H - 10:32 AM
Q: Who do I call to get a 3.1 license?
A: Put in a call to our customer care team and they'll send it over.
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Eric R. - 10:34 AM
Q: Will version 3.1 be available to 3.0 users?
A: Assuming you have a license type with maintenance you can upgrade for free, you should have received your license by email.
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Kevin C. - 10:35 AM
Q: Since upgrading to 3.1 we are having a problem deploying syspreped images. Could this have anything to do with the changes to Sysprep?
A: It could be. For Windows 10, you need to add credentials in the space provided. This is due to a change MS made to sysprep. If that doesn’t work, please log a support call.
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John M. - 10:35 AM
Q: Has the PXE/TFTP server performance been improved? When I beta tested GSS 3.0, it was extremely slow and unusable.
A: We haven’t made any specific changes but if you are having issues please log a call with support and we’ll be happy to help.
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Kirk E. - 10:31 AM
Q: Boot delay configuration coming to automation folders without having to manually script it? GSS 2.5 implementation of "automation folders" was a lot smoother than the 3.x.
A: We tripped over ourselves a little with the automation delay we introduced. I believe we fixed that actually. Please check 3.1 if you haven't already.
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Mike H. - 10:46 AM
Q: Whats the website to the Symantec Digital Library being talked about now??
A: Here is the link to the Symantec Digital Library https://www.symantec.com/content/elibrary/selibrary.html
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Brett M. - 10:47 AM
Q: Will there be a link to the training library sent out?
A: Here is the link to the Symantec Digital Library https://www.symantec.com/content/elibrary/selibrary.html
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Darryl W. - 10:47 AM
Q: Can both the altiris agent and the ghost agent reside on the same system?
A: The ITMS agent and GSS agent can live side by side.
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Sam H. - 10:48 AM
Q: Do you guys have LinuxPE hosted on the Symantec site?
A: Yes we do, both on the trialware and fileconnect sites
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David S. - 10:49 AM
Q: Will this tool allow us to make images of Windows 10 Education version in the same way we did in GSS 2.5?
A: Yes, I don’t know of any issues doing that.
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Steve D. - 10:49 AM
Q: The boot to production to complete configuration task is not checked by default when I go to deploy and image but the box above to automatically configure is. Do I need to check the boot to production box. Can you explain the difference?
A: The configuration option is required as it is what prompts the machine to reconfigure on reboot once deployed, this should remain selected. The reboot to production option will immediately reboot the machine but is left unticked because other configuration jobs may be required.
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Matt B. - 10:51 AM
Q: Is a server OS required for bare metal imaging? We have many GSS 2.5 stations with Win 7. There are no limitations as 2.5 doesn't use shares to deploy an OS to say 60 PC's. It seems the Win7 OS has a 20 connection limit.
A: GSS 3.x requires a Server OS.
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Dale E. - 10:52 AM
Q: How will Window 10 licensing work with creating a factory primary image and deploying to multiple computers without a product key?
A: It depends on the type of living you have have for your organisation. Here is a link to volume licensing details: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/itpro/windows/deploy/volume-activation-windows-10
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Jeff P. - 10:53 AM
Q: I need a new license for the 3.1 GSS Console, does this mean I need new licenses for the exisiting clients as well?
A: No, the GSS server itself is licensed and the clients automatically pick up a license from the server.
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Patrick M. - 10:53 AM
Q: What is the link for the digital library?
A: Here is the link to the Symantec Digital Library https://www.symantec.com/content/elibrary/selibrary.html
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Dale E. r- 10:53 AM
Q: Would you please forward the public training URL?
A: Here is the link to the Symantec Digital Library https://www.symantec.com/content/elibrary/selibrary.html
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Leroy C - 10:54 AM
Q: On-line training access?
A: Here is the link to the Symantec Digital Library https://www.symantec.com/content/elibrary/selibrary.html
These videos also may be very useful https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/ghost-solution-suite-30-how-videos
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Sergey K. - 10:55 AM
Q: Will there be GSS 3.1 Web Console feature?
A: We're just starting a POC on creating a cloud based job execution portal. This will be the first step in creating a web console type experience but it will go further than that and offer some brand new ways of working.
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Richard H. - 10:55 AM
Q: Will a 3.0 license work with 3.1?
A: No, you will need an updated license. Please contact customer care or your sales rep/partner.
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Denis B. - 10:55 AM
Q: What kind of help is available for education users besides tech support?
A: We have our E-library: https://www.symantec.com/content/elibrary/selibrary.html
Several how-to videos:
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/ghost-solution-suite-30-how-videos
Several webcasts:
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/ghost-solution-suite-30-howto-webcast-series
Beyond that we also have a paid for training course and our professional services team.
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Elvis R. - 10:56 AM
Q: Is there a resource available to be notified of HF releases?
A: Please subscribe to this group: http://www.symantec.com/connect/groups/endpoint-management-news
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Mark S. - 10:56 AM
Q: Will Live Update be introduced to GSS to update our servers?
A: We’re considering that as an option in the future. Personally, I would really like to get back to that.
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Raphael S. - 10:57 AM
Q: When this version will be available and where ?
A: GSS 3.1 was released on March 7th. If you are current on maintenance, you can download it from file connect https://fileconnect.symantec.com
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Mike H. - 10:57 AM
Q: Maintenance did not come with our license.
A: This is an issue that we should be able to resolve through our sales teams, please contact your rep.
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Saul M. - 10:58 AM
Q: What about the imgae size? With ghost image size was bigger than rdeploy.
A: Ghost uses a slightly different technique to take images compared to RDeploy, but by using compression and cleaning the image (remove pagefile etc), this usually has much more effect on the size of the image.
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Mark S. - 10:58 AM
Q: What is the future of WiFi imaging?
A: Still on the long term roadmap, just waiting for the right time to investigate.
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Attilio C. - 11:00 AM
Q: Is there an approved forum I can go to get questions answered?
A: Symantec connect is the place to go: https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/endpoint-management/forums/ghost-solution-suite
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Mary K. - 11:00 AM
Q: Will Macintosh support be increased in this solution.
A: Our Mac support is still management only natively. We are evaluating this with every release.
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Raphael S. - 11:01 AM
Q: The Vpartition feature will work in this version?
A: We have the concept of automation folders in GSS 3 now. This will hopefully do what you need.
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Denis B. - 11:02 AM
Q: Can I download another 30 day free trial?
A: Yes.
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Tim W. - 11:03 AM
Q: Hi Andrew. I am in the S. Central PA area. How do I find out who our sales rep is?
A: Hi Tim, please email me andrew_nicholson AT symantec.com and I will put you in contact with your rep? thanks!
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Aaron C. - 10:09 AM
Q: Will you bring back Reporting?
A: We do not have plans currently to add reporting to GSS.
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Ben P. - 10:40 AM
Q: We are using ImageX WIM files for our images. Are they still supported here?
A: Yes, they are supported as an option although Ghost is our primary recommended engine as we have no control over ImageX.
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Garry C. - 10:54 AM
Q: Will GSS still support child down stream remote PXE servers?
A: If configured correctly, you can have remote PXE servers.
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Raphael S. - 10:55 AM
Q:When this version will be available and where ?
A: GSS 3.1 was released on March 7 and is available at www.ghost.com
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Michael C. - 10:56 AM
Q: Why are GSS agent files flagged by your SEP product as 'Unknown' and 'Malicious' by the community?
A: Please log a support case whenever you find this, we work closely with that team and can rectify this quickly.
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M. Reed - 10:56 AM
Q: Have the DAgent be updated as well? Theres a KB article for the issue of a crashing Dagent but that wasn"t updated.
A: We’re working now on some of these issues and will have some updates soon.
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O'Neil A. - 10:57:50 AM
Q: Is there a simplified way to migrate GSS from the current server to a new server?
A: There are no new simpler methods for this, a traditional migration involving moving the database and files to a new server are required.
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O'Neil A. - 11:00 AM
Q: What's the best way to add scripts to kick off automated restore imaging to individual systems?
A: You need to create a job with a restore image task and drag it onto the required machine.
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Joseph M. - 11:00 AM
Q: Are there any enhancements to imaging performance? GSS 3.0 did not bring much of a boost over GSS 2.5.1. This is an area where Ghost is really starting to lag. With multicore CPUs, SSDs, and 10GbE networking, ghost itself seems to be the bottleneck by far. Competitors are turning in much much faster imaging times. This a huge deal for us since we regularly image hundreds of systems per day.
A: There are no specific enhancements in 3.1. But, we are going to look at this soon. We’re very aware that we are appearing slow compared to the competition. There are some settings that can be tweaked to give better performance but we need to make them easier to use.
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Omar A. - 11:00 AM
Q: Can i know the different between Microsoft MDT 2013 and Symantec Ghost Solution 3.1?
A: There are a huge range of differences, but basically MDT is a very manual tool that requires a fairly deep level of knowledge. GSS on the other hand does most of the hard work and gives an easy to use UI that can chain together all of your imaging and scripting requirements into one easy to deploy task. GSS also has inventory, software deployment, device configuration, in-built PXE, rich job scheduling, hardware independent imaging, and personality migration among many, many other things.
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Kirk E. - 11:00 AM
Q: I submitted a question about boot delays with automation folders and it was wrongly answered that the delay was no longer present. I believe the presenter misunderstood the question. When you install the automation folder, it adds a boot selection to the windows boot menu and the default 30 second delay when there are multiple boot options available. This was not addressed in the 3.1 release so my question was not answered correctly. From the presentation, I did not see much changed about automation folders other than Windows 10 PE support added. GSS 2.5 did not have this issue as it did not initialize it's equivalent to automation folders until you initiated a task that required booting to the PE environment, and then the boot loader would be reset so you would not have to worry about delays or other issues. This still needs to be addressed in the GSS 3.1 product as boot delays are problematic in our environment (and PXE is not an option for us). The forums have a band aid fix using the bcedit tool but that is not an acceptable long term solution (plus it adds complexity to imaging tasks that I'd rather not like to deal with).
A: I understood the question but thought it was resolved. I am working with the team to understand why this didn’t make it in.
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