I have a question regarding Ghost CE 8.0 and sysprep. The Symantec documentation has to be some of the most poorly written documentation I've ever seen. Some of the wording is so vague it gives me a headache.
I have a model computer with XP Pro. The Ghostcast server also runs XP Pro. I have a target computer that is the exact hardware configuration as the model. The image create task includes running sysprep. I did not run the sysprep.exe file because according to a Symantec site written especially for using sysprep with 2000 and XP, it said to not run sysprep if using the Ghost Console.
From:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/docid/2000081610075225"If using Symantec Ghost 7.5 or 8.0 and the Ghost Console to create the image file before rolling it out, do not run Sysprep. Instead, continue with the instructions in the section "Configuring Ghost 7.5 or 8.0 to run Sysprep."
It also said that the sysprep files (I assume those are the sysprep.exe and setupcl.exe files even though the symantec pdf is not clear on what a sysprep file is) do not need to reside in the root c:\ if using the console.
From:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/docid/2000081610075225"Ghost 7.5 and later does not require this folder to be on the root of the C drive."
On the sysprep tab of the image create task, I check the box to run sysprep. I did not check the box to run the mini-setup wizard because there was no sysprep.inf file to process. I checked the box for sysprep to assign a SID.
Here's is where I get lost. Since I did not run the sysprep.exe, I'm expecting ghost to run it as part of the image task. If that is the case, where is the sysprep.inf file that is supposed to result from that? According to the ghost reference guide pdf doc, all files from the sysprep folder & subfolder are stored in the console local data area. Where in the world is that? I see nothing in the console referencing sysprep. These files are also supposed to be copied to the console client computer. But I don't see them anywhere on the client. Are they part of the virtual partition?
And if the model client already had a configuration, why is it that I had to enter all the information again when it rebooted after pulling the image? To add to that, I had to ctrl-c to get out of ghost and reboot into windows in order to enter the information.
As you can see, I have no idea how this sysprep is supposed to work. It doens't seem all that intuitive to me. I would expect ghost to run sysprep, pull the necessary data from the configuration settings of the model computer (i.e. name, ip info, username etc) without my intervention. Then when the image is pushed, pull the necessary data from the target configuration as well that is stored in the console. To me that's how automated it's supposed to be. I shouldn't have to spend any time at the keyboard after adding all the necessary target machines to the console. Or am I giving this app too much credit?