Ghost Solution Suite

Hi,

is it possible to have a server using a DHCP address when booting in the Virtual Partition though this server is configured with a fixed address in its OS ?

Thanks,
Jean-Pierre

Just reserver a DHCP address in your server. Everytime it gets a request from that MAC you'll get the same IP. ...it's manual work though, but I do this on my home network.

cheers,

Hi,

thanks for your answer.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work with my configuration.

The server has a fixed address used to communicate with the Console in its OS.
As proposed, I have made a DHCP reservation for the server NIC MAC address.
When I launch a task in the GSS Console (GSS 2.5.1), the server restarts using the Virtual Partition mechanism.
Then, when its boots in WinPE, the same OS fixed IP address is reused (instead of the DHCP address reserved) but this fixed address is not working in the WinPE context.

So, I tried to find a way for forcing the DHCP addressing in the Virtual Partition but could not succeed until now.

Thanks,
Jean-Pierre

Wow. You're right I just tested it here and am getting the same results. I guess the startnet script pulls the current IP info from the host OS. I don't really like that.

I'm curious why you would need or want a different IP in your virtual partition. What am I missing? :)

Hi,

it is related to the network configuration used in the OS.

I asked my colleague who is using GSS why he needed a different IP address, he answered :
"there are 4 virtual boards on the system and the DNS and networks flows are causing a problem with the static IP used in WinPE.
So we have to pass through DHCP which delivers all the information."

Thanks,
Jean-Pierre

I have a suggestion. It will take a bit of work, but it should work around this.

1. Create a backup copy of the file C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Ghost\Template\common\winpe\ghost\start.bat
2. In the properties of the original start.bat, deselect "Read-only".
3. Open start.bat with notepad.
4. Enter the following line just above “start ngctw32 –console”:

• netsh int ip set address local dhcp

1. Save your changes.
2. Open the Ghost Boot Wizard
3. Create a copy of one of the WinPE images, edit it and add any driver to force the image to be recompiled.
4. Assign this custom PE to the Ghost client in question.
5. Run a refresh task on the affected client to copy over the customized version of PE.
6. See if the client now behaves as desired.
7. Restore the backup copy of the file C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Ghost\Template\common\winpe\ghost\start.bat

Hi,

thank you for your suggestion.

Unfortunately, it did'nt work "as is" in my environment : in WinPE, the NIC was still configured with the OS fixed IP address.

But, based on your suggestion, I found a simple solution which seems to work.

I have slightly modified the line you suggested to add in the start.bat file.
I have added the following one, just above "start ngctw32 -console" :
netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connexion 2" source=dhcp
("Local Area Connexion 2" refers to the NIC used in WinPE to communicate with the Console).

I have not rebuilt the WinPE image using Ghost Boot Wizard, just patched the start.bat script in the ghost directory of my "Virtual Partition" WinPE environment and relaunched the task.
When the client machine has rebooted in WinPE, the netsh statement has been applied, the NIC has been reconfigured using DHCP addressing and the communication with the Console has been established.

Best,
Jean-Pierre