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  • 1.  How to apply configuration settings to a new PC without installing client

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 01:27 PM
    Hello,

    Is it possible to ghost a computer with a boot CD so that a template configuration is applied (to modify the name, domain, and network settings). We do not want to have to configure windows on a new PC and install the ghost client just to get the configuration settings applied after ghosting.

    Thank you,
    Ryan


  • 2.  RE: How to apply configuration settings to a new PC without installing client

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 01:32 PM
    Probably,
     
    Generate a config file from the console on a machine you have the client on by pushing a clone task to it.  When it boots to DOS interrupt the boot and look for ghregupd.reg  Copy that file off the machine. 
     
    Examine/modify it however you need to and then place it in the CDboot you need for the machine  along with ghost and something new to GSS 2.0,  ghconfig.exe
     
    After you image the machine run ghconfig (with ghregupd.reg in the same dir) and if you don't get a ghconfer.txt  then it succeeded.  No error is displayed if it fails, you just see ghconfer.txt
     
    I have not tried this on a client without ghost installed but since 2.0 this ghconfig.exe thing runs in the DOS boot and when the machine comes up the first time its got the right name/info.  Seems to me the client is unnecessary as it was in the past versions because config didnt happen until the first boot and the ghost client started.  If you want to join a domain though, the client does that on the first boot so it will be required for that.
     
    I am as I type modifying my PXE boot PERL scripts that generate a ghregupd.reg file for me that I use to config the machine after the fact.

    Message Edited by David.Poprik on 04-26-200710:34 AM



  • 3.  RE: How to apply configuration settings to a new PC without installing client

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 02:55 PM
    Just for fun I gave it a whirl...
     
    I removed the ghost client from a machine then ran ghconfig with the ghregupd.reg file in place and it renamed it just fine.  So.. Myth Confirmed!
     
    As I said before though, if you are joining a domain thats a different story, the client is needed for that.


  • 4.  RE: How to apply configuration settings to a new PC without installing client

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 11:51 PM
    David - well done on trying this out. It is a new feature in GSS 2.0 and the idea behind it was to allow people to easily apply configuration changes without the need to install anything. The configuration file, ghregupd.reg, follows a very simple layout, which is documented in the manual.

    As you mentioned, you can apply all the supported configuration settings apart from joining a domain - for that the "Standalone Configuration Client" is needed - or indeed a "regular" Symantec Ghost Console Client. To join a domain, you must first install the client of your choice and then boot to DOS and run ghconfig.exe with the configuration file in the same folder. After it does its thing you can reboot back to Windows and you should now belong to a domain.

    A thing worth noting is that ghconfig will try and figure out where your Windows installation resides. You can see which Windows it will modify by running "ghconfig.exe windows". It will display a list of all the Windows installations it finds and also which one it is going to modify (the one identified as "default"). You can override the automatic selection by specifying the directory where Windows is installed: "ghconfig.exe /w=1.3:\WINNT" - this might be handy if you have a dual-boot setup. You can also override the location where the configuration files is picked up from: "ghconfig.exe /c=c:\configurations". In both cases you specify the path to the folder containing the files of interest.

    Regards,
    Aggie


  • 5.  RE: How to apply configuration settings to a new PC without installing client

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 04:42 AM
    Take a look at my article... it solves your problem: http://nico.berlee.nl/faster-deployment-of-new-pcs-using-gss-2/


  • 6.  RE: How to apply configuration settings to a new PC without installing client

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 08:04 AM
    Everyone,

    Thank you very much for all the great info.

    Ryan


  • 7.  RE: How to apply configuration settings to a new PC without installing client

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 09:29 AM
    Not to toot my own horn any more but I didnt want to get to technical with my explanation.  I actually dug out the ghconfig.exe change because I was using the /replace switch with ghost in my pxe boot and it was no longer working as of GSS 2.0.  I was getting an error after it imaged. 
     
    Our layout:
     
    1600 PC's in multiple subnets across a large university campus.  One central ghost console server and multiple remote ghostcast servers using statically named sessions for PXE boot.  I can also get the console to remotely spawn sessions on those servers via a clone task initiation (a much longer explanation than I care to get in to now).  My favorite method at the moment is putting the image on each machine in a subdirectory of the windows partition and ghosting each machine from its own hard drive.  That has afforded us the greatest reliability as network topography/nic drivers and annual hardware changes seem to yield new problems all the time.
     
    We have a netboot option that via a perl script will name the machine and set paramaters such as wins/dns etc.. by generating the ghregupd.reg file.  I generate a file nightly from each client that contains mac address/host name and IP.  I put that file in my netboot manually every few weeks (still looking for an automated way to do it but havent spent a lot of time on it) and when the machine comes up I compare mac address by piping the output of the nic driver load to a txt file and having perl parse it for the mac and looking it up in that list.  If the mac is known I display the name asking if the user wants to use that found name or they can optionally enter it manually.  There is a 60 second timeout that auto runs with the derived name.  the netboot will even determine if the image is copied down to the hard drive (with help from omnifs) and use it if it is current or fail over to a ghost cast session.
     
    I also have a service running on the console server that updates the WMI info in the console database with status of the image that is copied down.  Each client sends this status info to a web service that passes it along to the console database.  IE, ready to image or not and I use that WMI info to make dynamic machine groups based on that queries of that wmi status info to be able to image machines that are ready.
     
    Point being, I have been dismantling and figuring out how ghost works for the last 5 years and writing my own custom code to make it work the way it always should have.   When I get around to it I intend to impliment   a web page to initiate/define tasks as well.  I am wondering when symantec will catch up?

    Message Edited by David.Poprik on 04-27-200706:35 AM