7.1 "Prepare for Image Capture" stuck at "Running"
Created: 08 Oct 2012 | 17 comments
Oddly enough, I have had this task working previously.
When I run the task now, it just sits at "Running". I have finally given up on it after trying it multiple times exceeding over 30 minutes. If I check the Client PC, the Agent shows that it has received and is running the task.
The task is set to reboot to PXE, which never happens during this process.
Are there any particular logs that I can look at to help me figure out why this task is not working?
Thank you
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Look in Task Manager to see if sysprep.exe is still running. If it is look at the sysprep logs, see the Online configuration phase section;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927521
Otherwise, use the Remote Altiris Agent Diagnostics (RAAD) tool:
http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO21449
to look at the Altiris Agent logs.
Authorised Symantec Consultant (ASC) with Endpoint Management Limited, an Authorised Symantec Delivery Provider based in the UK.
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Thanks for the help Andy. Looking at the logs within Online Configuration show no changes since September of this year. I will take a peak at the RAAD tool.
Right now my Prepare for Image Capture task has been running for nearly thirty minutes. Here are the logs that I was able to find using the RAAD tool:
PS, sysprep is still showing in task manager, even after 40 minutes.
Trying to run SysPrep manually now, which seemed to work and reboot the computer within 10 minutes. What could have went wrong with this Prepare task?
Your automation partition isn't downloading by the look of it. You need to check the agent to see if you can see why.
I'm not sure how sysprep can start without wrting any on the log files listed in the MS support article, that's most odd.
Authorised Symantec Consultant (ASC) with Endpoint Management Limited, an Authorised Symantec Delivery Provider based in the UK.
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I will try doing a full reinstall of the agent to see if that helps resolve this issue.
Here's an update:
I put down a new image of Windows 7 x64. I did a full uninstall of the Symantec Agent (and verified that all folders were deleted within C:\Program files and C:\Program Files (x86).
I then used the console to push out the Agent after rebooting the client device. Once that was fully installed, I restarted once more and checked the About section of the Agent, verifying that the Deployment plug-in was installed.
Once this was done, I launched the Prepare for Image Capture task, which has now been running for 30 minutes. When I first launched it, I could almost immediately see sysprep.exe start in the client's Task Manager. However, the Memory hardly fluxuates at all, normally staing around 1,700 K.
I am unsure of where to go from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
And here are the only log changes since I launched the Prepare for Image task (taken from RAAD):
If sysprep is running it must be wrting some sort of windows log file somewhere.
Authorised Symantec Consultant (ASC) with Endpoint Management Limited, an Authorised Symantec Delivery Provider based in the UK.
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I believe I have it narrowed down to the unattend file not wanting to process, which is why sysprep continues to run in a loop.
Which leads me to my next question:
It looks like the Prepare for Image task copies an unattend.xml file (and possibly a sysprep.inf) file from the server to the local machine. Where would those be stored on the server? And could those just be copied from the 6.9 server? If so, where are the unattend and sysprep files located on that one?
Thank you
There's no sysprep.inf file in Windows 7. I wouldn't mess with the default unattend.xml, I think they're compiled "on the fly" from the contents of the database anyway.
Can you copy the unattend.xml off and run it through Windows System Image Manager, part of the Windows Administrative Install Kit (WAIK)
Authorised Symantec Consultant (ASC) with Endpoint Management Limited, an Authorised Symantec Delivery Provider based in the UK.
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Well, this task appears to be using whatever unattend file is on the Altiris server, and then copies it to the client machine in the C:\Windows\System32\sysprep, as no unattend files are in that folder prior to.
This is confusing. The prepare for image task will continue to run, with the sysprep process running in the background for a long period of time, never doing anything. I checked the log in Windows\System32\sysprep\Panther (setupact.log) and see this:
I think the Prepare for Image Capture Task will create an unattend.xml from data in the database.
Have you copied this unattend.xml to a computer with the WAIK on in and examined it using Windows SIM?
Authorised Symantec Consultant (ASC) with Endpoint Management Limited, an Authorised Symantec Delivery Provider based in the UK.
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Here is the log file that is generated from Windows SIM when I try to open this unattend file:
Maybe the database thinks the PC is at a different stage to that which it's really at so is putting the wrong entries into the unattend.xml.
I'd either try and run this on a different PC or delete the PC record from Altiris and let it repopulate by sending Basic Inventory and try again.
Authorised Symantec Consultant (ASC) with Endpoint Management Limited, an Authorised Symantec Delivery Provider based in the UK.
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