Ghost Solution Suite

Ok, so we still use an older version :-)

I've done this before with no issues and now I'm stumped.  Completely.

I work out in the field so I get to one of the offices that doesn't have Ghost installed and setup and I create a Ghost server.  I don't use the ghost console, just ghostcast server and a boot floppy to connect to it...nice and simple and it works...usually.

This is my method: On the server I share the Ghost directory in Program Files, and as a test I give Everyone Full access to the share, and I drop my image into that directory.

I use netbootdisk 6.2 which has my lan drivers, and I set the logon.bat file to net use to that share I just created- net use G: \\server\Ghost

Everything on the client side seems to work fine, I get an IP address, I connect to the share with local credentials (my ghost server is just a standalone XP workstation) and I try to connect to session XXX and it eventually times out.  Here's the rest of my logon.bat file:

net use G: \\server\Ghost 

G:
REM the next line just exits if it can't find ghost.exe
if not exist G:\ghost.exe goto err
ghost -ja=XXX

I haven't found much though I've been searching, the error I get from GHOSTERR.txt follows...but what pops up on the client screen is (paraphrasing, sorry) "when using the JA switch you must select disk/partition on the ghost cast server..."

However my Ghostcast is set up as follows:
session=XXX

Browsed to the image, as a restore

Disk number 1

Command line = -clone,mode=restore,src=@mcxxx,dst=1

I've found some things relating to using -ja on the client vs @mc on the server but they don't make much sense.  The client needs the -ja so it knows what session to look for, and by putting a session name on the ghost cast server, it automatically puts the @mc in the command line

Error Number: (622)
Message: Incomplete clone switch on the server side. Select Disk/
Partition No. on the server if the client is started using -ja switch.
Version: 8.3.0.1331 (Nov 28 2005, Build=1331)
OS Version: DOS v8.0
Command line arguments: -ja=cbp
Active Switches :
       AutoName

I don't know why autoname is listed there.  I don't have a ghost.ini file anywhere.  Seems this file should have some more info....?

Here's the kicker...when the client eventually bombs out I can launch G:\ghost.exe and select Local>Disk>From Image, browse to G: and select the image.  It works fine then...

Just an update...

I want my boot disk to just have the ghost -ja=xxx command so I never have to edit my boot disk.

I'd like to control the image operations and image file from the GhostSrv.exe.

Here's the error I get client side:

Usage Error 622

Incomplete clone switch on the server side.  Select Disk/Partition No. on the server if the client is started using the -ja switch

OK

FIXED!  It just hit me what was happening....

My situation is pretty unique as I don't really have one office I work at and sit at everyday.  I'm always someplace different out in the field and god only knows what the local people have set up...

Normally I just run ghost cast on my laptop, I have a bootable cd that contains ghost.exe and I connect with the -ja switch...

But one time when I was without my laptop and I needed a quick ghost cast server it occured to me, what do I need?  Ghostsrv.exe, ghost.exe, the image file, and a quick network boot disk....which thanks to www.netbootdisk.com with version 6.2 I have.  And since it's always new machines out of the box, and booting off a floppy doesn't require any bios changes, hence no need for KVM, why not do it the old fashion way? But ghost.exe doesn't fit on one floppy, and using 2, well that's just silly.

So at this site I decide (though I'd swear I did this once in Miami and it worked!) let me create a share (on a managers PC I have at every single site), dump the needed ghost files along with the image into the share, then boot the floppy, connect to the share, run ghost.exe and connect to the ghost cast server that I'm running on the SAME MACHINE as ghost.exe.... Duh!

It struck me that the difference when I was using the bootable cd was ghost was on the cd...in other words, a completely different place than the ghostcast server was running.  End result, connect to the share as it was and run ghost.exe from there, use the -ja switch on the client, only this time put the image on ANOTHER machine along with ghostcast, set the session up there so that there are 3 machines involved (not ideal but makes sense):

The client runs ghost.exe -ja=XXX

The managers pc has a share with ghost.exe that the client connects to and runs

A third pc contains the image file, and runs the XXX session on ghost cast

And it works!

Any ideas out there why you can't have ghost.exe running from the same machine you have ghostsrv.exe running from?

Ultimately it doesn't matter as now on my floppy I'm running:

ghost -clone,mode=restore,src=g:\image.gho,dst=1 -fx -sure

And I'm not running ghostsrv.exe.  I was just trying to avoid manually editing my boot floppy every single time I needed to change the image (or do a create instead of a restore), since it's much easier to make the change in the ghostsrv gui..

Oh well....