Ghost Solution Suite

Ghost Console version 8.3

Problem: need to delay the Task of cloning an Exchange servers until the Cloning task for the Domain controller has completed.

Constraints: Can not use PXE or Boot Disk's or Scheduled tasks. must all be run from Console.

Assumption: all we need to do is change the switch used when the console task calls the GhostCast server. using GhostCast server manually you wait for the clients to connect and then click "send". Using the Console we assume it uses the -o switch before it pushes the image? Can we edit the task so we get the send option?

We have a work-around using a wait.exe in the autoexec.bat from the dos drivers template,
also we can send the Clients a Console boot partition that leaves them polling the console server. (this is the best fix so far but from the console we do not know if they are in boot partition or we are just seeing the Client.

In short where are the console task and can we edit them?

Thanks in advance for the help and sorry for the long & confusing post

Hi,

Just to understand the problem clearly - is there anything stops you from just running two different tasks, one for domain controller and other for exchange servers?

Krish

Yes these are different tasks.

I will try and add some detail to the issue.

What I should of explained. we use ghost in a training environment where hosts have to be reset to a clean state every week.

The environment is 1 Domain Controller and 12 Exchange Servers.
we have 13 images and 13 tasks (you cannot clone exchange )

For an exchange server to shutdown cleanly it must be in contact with the domain controller. so we have to shutdown the exchange hosts first (can not use suspend or hibernate). once they are down they cannot be booted up again until they have been cloned.
But for the exchange servers to come up cleanly they need to see the Domain controller but the DC has to be cloned as well.

Hope this make things a little clearer.

Thanks

Ok, I think I understand what you want to do.

Basically, exchange servers should go out of Windows before DC goes down, and stay till DC is cloned. Then they should clone without booting back to Windows.

This seems to be a very specific process, and I cannot think of anything from the available features.

However, one option is to clone the machines with a 'Ghost Boot Partition' before cloning with actual Exchange Server image. You can create this using Ghost Boot Wizard. Select the correct network driver when creating.

Then run a Console task to Clone the Disk using Ghost Boot Partition. This will overwrite the whole disk (don't do this if you do not want to destroy the data in whole disk).
Now the machines will stay in DOS, communicating with Console.
Clone your Domain Controller, and then Clone the Exchange servers.

Hope this helps, let me know how it goes.

We have used sending the boot partition to the hosts this is the best fix so far.
The only issue with it from the console you cannot tell if the host is actually in boot console or you are just seeing the normal client.

when Ghost cast server is used in manual mode the setups are.

launch server
create a session name
select process "restore" or "create"
select image file
click accept clients...

from the client side boot into ghost
select ghostcast "multicast etc"
enter session name
enter server info
click ok to warning pop-up's etc.

But the session will not start until you click send from the server side

When you create a task in console I assume that the same steps take place
but when the console calls the ghost cast server session it adds switches like
-Ominutes or -Ncount to automatically start the session once clients connect?

So the original question was "Where is these task parameters held and can we edit them to remove the auto start switches?"

Yes I agree this is a very specific requirement but it will save us a lot of pain.
it the boxes come up in the wrong order there is no way back apart from reinstall
everything from scratch.

Many thanks for your help with this

Oops - I forgot to answer that.

Currently, when the GhostCast server is invoked from Console, the user interface is disabled and it is not possible to set those values. There is a way to change some parameters using advanced execute (if you right click a clone task and select advance execute) but it is limited to create log files and selecting bandwidth/transfer mode.

Reason to disable the UI is to prevent other complications if the settings are changed after starting a task. During a clone task, the operation of GhostCast server is tied up with other things like timeout settings and number of clients involved in the session. It is more than a straight command execution, so there is no way to edit these switches either.

If the GBP deployment is successful (if it says number of clients OK is '1', since you have a single task for each machine), it is a reliable indication that the clients are in DOS. If the Console is able to successfully restore the image, there is no Windows OS to boot up.

In case if an Exchange server comes up at the wrong time, you will have to re-start the imaging process form the beginning, but need not to re-install them, is that right?

Probably the other complication is having large number of tasks, since you have to use a unique image for each machine. Under normal circumstances, most effective way is to copy the specific image to each client machine and leave it there. Then you can define a 'local image' and if all the images have the same name, it is possible to define a single task to clone all the machines. Since it is possible to preserve the image during cloning, you don't have to transfer the image again either. But still I could not think of a way to use local image with delayed start of machines, since the task containing local images should start from Windows (if you start from DOS it will still boot to Windows to identify the image location)

Krish

What about this scenario (if you can do Wake on Lan):

1) Have a single task to SHUTDOWN the exchange servers. We have a task do a simple execute task like "net" and under network options turn on "Wake on Lan" and "Shut down machines when task is finished" - so the exchange servers are down at this point.

2) Clone the Domain Server

3) Clone all of the Exchange Servers and use the "Wake on Lan" Option to turn them back on.

Would that work?

The question I have is when you do the wake on lan in step 3 - will it boot to the "old" operating system first?

If so, how about doing the clone with the "Shut down machines when task is finished" option on exchange machines when task is finished - does it then come back to the OS after the clone and then shut down?

Sorry more questions.

Hi Mark,

Yes, that's what I was thinking at first too. But it seems the constrain is once the Domain controller is cloned, Exchnage servers should not boot to Windows at all before cloning. I presume what happens is if old copy of Exchange server tries to connect to the new DC, it will update DC. Then when the newly cloned ones try to connect to the server with the same details, it would not allow them to do so. I haven't experience this with Exchange servers, but had enough troubles with multiple domain controllers for the same domain, when they go out of sync in the same way.

I think in step 3, as you say, it would boot back to Windows with WOL, and connect to the new doamin controller and update it.

If you use shutdown after task is finished option, it will shutdown after booting to Windows. If the old domain controller is there by any chance, new Exchange servers will update the info based on old domain controller.

'897102136' ( :-) ) may be able to give more info with actual facts - looks like a catch-22!

Krish