Ghost Solution Suite

We just received our first HP EliteDesk 800 desktop computer, and it is using the Intel i217LM (PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_153A) network card, which I of course do not have a 32 bit Vista driver to make it work.  Has anyone seen a Vista or Server 2008 driver for this?  I am looking, but HP only has Windows 7 and Windows 8 drivers for it, and the Vista network packs I have downloaded from Intel do not have the 153A in them.

And before anyone asks, I am looking for the Vista driver because that is what the ghost PE uses, which is why i need it.

I am running GSS 2.5.1 updated to 2266 on a Win2kR2 box.

Thanks!

At this point, you may need to create a WinPE V3 boot environment by hand so that Win 7 drivers can be used. There are rumours that an updated version of Ghost is available to those who have a valid maintenance agreement, which does provide support for Win 7, etc,

Hi,

had the same issue with a current dell laptop. The i217LM is released since january 2013 and so no vista driver exists at the moment.

As EdT mentioned you can try it with a winpe 3 (this was my fix for the problem) or you have a try and rewrite the driver, but this could end in unstable function.

Regards

How to build your own WinPE 3 boot environment:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/adventures-winpe-31

EdT, i checked out your article about the PE3 environment, and i actually have one of those i use for when machines first come through my door.  My concern is the Virtual Partition that GSS puts down when you tell a client to clone after it is in the console.

Is there an easy way to make a new virtual partition that runs PE 3/4?  So that Ghost Builder updates that one, and not a Vista one?  that is my main concern!

Thanks!

Have not tried this as the method of editing PE3 and PE4 wim images is substantially different to PE2 and therefore the existing Ghost wizards for adding drivers to PE2 would not work with later versions.

However, once a wim file has been built manually, I don't see any immediate reason why it should not be used in place of an existing PE2 wim as the virtual partition source via the Ghost console.

i guess the part i dont know how to do is make GSS use that as the virtual partition.  I am OK with having to open it, edit it, etc.  I am sure i could even figure out how to make it start pinging my ghost server like the PE2.0 partition does.

but how do i make it use my new PE as the virtual partition it lays down, instead of the one it makes?  The only options in the "Virtual Partition PreOS" drop down are the same ones listed in Ghost Boot Wizard, and i dont know how to actually make a NEW one of those that would have the above PE in it.  (i do know how to copy a vista one and make that show up.  would i do that, delete all the files, and replace them [outside of the wizard once its created the structure]?)

WinPE basically mounts the boot.wim file into RAM to give an operating system that runs entirely from memory. Ghost Boot Wizard creates a custom boot.wim using a template version to which the drivers that you require are added.  I've not actually tried this, but if you replace the boot.wim created by GBW with the boot.wim you create manually, that should be 99% of what is required. You may also need to update the version of the bootmgr file with the WinPE3 version.

Hi,

I changed the winpe 2.1 environment with a winpe 3.1 environment. It's not supported, but the only thing you need is to change the boot.wim file. There is nothing more to change. I tested this with a DS 7.1 environment and it works like a charme and with full support of all hardware currently available.

For GSS 2.5 here is official TECH http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH194877

Regards

so, like md said, you CAN replace the boot.wim file in the PE profile under the COMMON folder.  

You will still need to make sure the manifest file has entries (i dont know if they have to be "correct", but the hardware has to be in there or it will fail to boot for missing drivers)

Next, the console did update the boot partition files, and rebooted the comp into PE3.1!  it started ghosting (since my new PE included the autopinging back to the server).  The CLONE finishes, but then the task fails on "Configuration - An error occured on the client but the error file could not be retrieved".  It then goes right back to pinging the server

I am now going to try cloning, but not configuring.  I dont know how well that will work since it tends to config inside the PE too...

It can Clone on its own, and it can config on its own, but when i combine them, they fail.  I remember this being an issue with ghost when win7 first came out too.

The good news is though it seems to be working, just not perfectly like before.  My next step is to try it on my i217 card and see if i can get that to work! (i have only been working with hardware i had working under Vista.  Limiting problems and all)

Would anyone be interested in me typing up the process for what i did up to this point?  I could make an article out of it

ok, weird quirk.  It can clone and config on its own in the same task if i boot into the PE from a CD or thumb drive.  But not when i start the task from the console if the comp was in Windows, and it reboots into the PE.  The only difference im seeing is that the PE is set for the 3.1 one on one machine, and the old 2.0 one on the other.

Maybe its hardware related too?

I will have to keep messing with this

Where does Ghost store the GhCfgErr.txt file?

Terry, I would be interested in your write up.

I have created a Win PE 3.1 image and put it on a flash drive per the mentioned instructions and that works for a thumb drive. I did this manually, of course. I can now launch ghost from a WinPE 3.1 environment.

However, when I place the boot.wim in the WinPE folder and then use the GSS boot wizard and try to create a thumb drive that way, it errors out with a 'this is an invalid .wim' file. Is this to be expected? Or did I miss a step somewhere?

funny enough, you actually ADDED a step!  do NOT use the GSS boot wizard after you replace the WIM.  Never try to open that again, it wont work!  I would suggest you take a working PE2 boot partition, copy it with a new name (WinPE3 is good!), and then find it in the common folder and replace the WIM.  you are set!

Though i will say i am having issues cloning and configuring in the same task from Windows, but if i boot to the PE first, it will work...

When you say 'working pe2 partition', I'm not 100% sure we're on the same page. Do you mean this folder:

C:\ProgramData\Symantec\Ghost\Template\common

and replace the existing PE2 directory, default WinPE, with a WinPE3 folder -using- the PE3 boot.win?

Just to clarify, I'm not using boot partitions in my client computers, just client installations that then boot to a PE environment. Do you mean that I should replace the boot.wim file of the PE2 client installation with a PE3 boot.wim file within any Ghost client installation as well?

so in the Ghost Boot Wizard there are normally 2 options (WinPE and WinPE 512).  You probably duplicated on of them to make your working partition.  They then get stored in folders under the above COMMON folder using the name in GBW.  So if you duplicated one you had working (call it WINPE3, for example), and then went to the COMMON folder and found the BOOT.WIM inside of that folder and just flat out replaced it with your PE3.0 wim, you can then change the default Virtual Partition to specific clients in the console.  Or you can even make a boot CD in GBW (using a PE2.0 option), then use Ghost Explorer to replace the boot.wim file inside the GHO file that it just created

Essentially, boot.wim is the WinPE operating system "image" that is loaded into RAM and run from there when your system boots into the virtual partition.

So imagine you have created a WinPE 2 image with Ghost Boot Wizard (GBW). GBW is just a simple GUI to handle the integration of additional drivers into the template boot.wim that comes with Ghost, as doing it manually is not such a simple process. When the new boot.wim is created, you can then find it in your source folders, and replace THIS instance with the WinPE V3 version you created manually.

You must not try to edit the WinPE 3 boot.wim file using Ghost Boot Wizard, as it will not work. Microsoft changed the way that WIM files are created and managed when going from V2 to V3 so V3 wims will require a different GBW to be released, should that ever come to pass.

Ah, I see the source of the confusion. I was not calling the 2 options WinPE and WinPE512 'partitions', but just preset PE configurations, since they're just folders with the requisite files, if I am thinking about this correctly.

So, after copying the BOOT.WIM to the newly created WinPE3 folder under 'common', and the setting it as the default virtual partition under Tools>Options>Client, I should be all set to run a sysprepped image from console, but I'm now having a different problem.

The system boots to the WinPE environment just fine, but its not connecting to the server. It sits there after executing the ghost32.exe from here:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH194877&profileURL=https%3A%2F%2Fsymaccount-profile.symantec.com%2FSSO%2Findex.jsp%3FssoID%3D13760731637910BwLdL8A9g46Ip6t1ixZyz44P6SZ0X6FAwhjJ

Now, this is a WInPE for a flash drive or boot drive of some sort, and not for the client.

I am using a boot.wmi from that particular set of instructions. Do I need to use a garden variety vanilla boot.wmi or does it have to be injected with ghost32, etc?

I think I get it now, but I'm still unsure what BOOT.WIM I am meant to use: The one that one can create when creating a bootable USB disk as in the link above, or the vanilla one without the injected ghost32.exe, etc. In other words, do I use the boot.wmi straight from the WAIK or do I craft one with ghost files injected, such as described above. Do I need to inject the drivers needed, or is the pre-created PE2 'index' of drivers sufficient to put those in place? Lastly, do I need to modify the startnet.cmd batch file (C:\winpe_x86\mount\Window\System32\startnet) with a new line stating "ghost32.exe", as described above, or will the client take care of that step?

I'm starting to think that the success of the boot.wim depends on what packages are installed. Of the available ones, it looks like the ones that EdT uses creates a WMI too large for ghost, which wants it below ~120MB. 

Looking at the listing of cabs, which ones are necessary for a succesful WinPE environment for the ghost client/server automated interaction?

The WinPE 3 boot environment in my article is intended as an all-purpose environment so I load all the modules in the script.

Most of these modules are not required, but I cannot recall with any certainty if any are required. However, it is easy to check what modules are in the boot.wim of the standard Ghost V2 templates by using the peimg /list command from the WinPE V2 command prompt. My article https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/readyadventures-winpe  covers the build details for V2 so you can use that as a reference for the peimg command rather than downloading the whole V2 WAIK.

Once you know for sure which modules are required, if any, you can amend the build scripts accordingly.

WinPE also supports a "clean up and re-export" operation where the WIM is exported to a new WIM and any redundant or deleted content is purged from the file, which can reduce the size also.

However, the ability for Ghost server to work with a V3 wim is definitely untested. It could well be that it's impossible to run a V3 wim if there is a size constraint within Ghost as operating systems tend to grow with each new release and the V3 kernel may be bigger than the V2 even before you add driver files.

Ultimately, you can still "image" machines using portable storage media such as external USB drives running WinPE V3 but to get the full functionality of the existing Ghost Solution Suite package will inevitably require an updated code release.

Here is where the fun begins!  it wont contact the server because nothing is telling it to.  you have to include the Ghost executables in the WIM.  Add them in a folder called "Ghost" inside the mount directory.

Next, you have to actually have the PE phone home.  do this by running the same script the PE2.0 setup does.  Steal it from one of your console boot partitions, and run it automatically from inside the PE.  Have the startnet.cmd file call it if necessary.

I am going to try to write an article about all of this today, so i will try to get this done!

I wrote up the process i did, and submitted it as an article for approval.  I will post that in here when/if its approved

Dear Terry and EdT,

Thanks for your continued follow up to this post. I think I'm most of the way there. 

I think the only part that I may be missing is what Terry refers to in an earlier reply, the script that allows the PE partition to phone home. That's somewhere in the console boot partition, but I'm not sure what that script looks like and where I'd find it on a console boot partition. Once I know that, I can invoke it in the startnet.cmd listing for start up executables along with ghost32 and I bet I'm in business.

i put that in my write up!  its pending approval.  i will put it here too.  the PE2.0 file calls this script:

1.     rem --- This will remove any traces of virtual partition from hard drive ---

2.     x:\ghost\gdisk32.exe /revert  >> x:\ghost\startlog.txt

3.      

4.     rem --- This will create primary OS drive configuration ---

5.     x:\ghost\ghost32.exe /setosdrives /blind >> x:\ghost\startlog.txt

6.     start x:\ghost\ngctw32.exe -console

put that in a script (i use startGhost.cmd) and have the STARTNET.CMD file call startGhost.cmd

Thanks, I will give this a try. Did you mean to leave step 3 blank?

I tried a simple configuration task (changing machine name) and it launched the processes, but it seems to be missing ghstwalk.exe, which I think is needed in there somewhere. It may want a whole host of executables too, like GhRegEdit32.exe and who knows what else. I'm going ot try putting in a few more, see how it goes.

yes!  i actually have that as a comment in the article

again from the article (they need to approve that!)

open a console boot partition that you have made some time before inside Ghost Explorer and steal all of the stuff in the Ghost directory.  put that all in a directory in your holding folder called "Ghost".  you want the following things in this folder: copy.bat (from the console partition), GDISK32, GhConfig32, Ghost32, Ghostoem32, ghreboot.bat (from the console partition), GhRegEdit32, ghvp.bat (from the console partition), NGCTW32 (this is the biggest piece, you NEED this.  get it from the console partition if necessary), your pubkey.crt, and the file VPartition.dll (from the console partition).  copy that directory over to "c:\winpe\mount\Ghost".  This whole step is MANDATORY for this to contact the server.  I am sure there will be questions on this step.  Ask below

The problem here is that the boot.wim file is then too large. GSS limits the boot.wim file size to 120 MB. I did notice that in the GSS template PE folder (C:\ProgramData\Symantec\Ghost\Template\common\WinPE3\ghost) there is a copy.bat batch script that simply copies stuff from the client to the virtual partition:

xcopy c:\ghost\*.* x:\ghost /s /y >> x:\ghost\startlog.txt

Including this in the startnet.cmd file may eliminate the need to have all the files included in the boot.wim image.

I'm going to try it and let you know how it goes.

I just realised that every time you mount and even delete files from a wim file it grows in size. One needs to optimize it like so:

Optimize the image by exporting a new image file. When you modify an image, ImageX and DISM store additional resource files that increase the overall size of the image. Exporting the image by using ImageX removes unnecessary resource files. Consider the following example:

imagex /export C:\winpe_x86\iso\sources\boot.wim 1 C:\winpe_x86\iso\sources\boot2.wim 

Delete the original Boot.wim file and rename Boot2.wim to Boot.wim.

Correction, the xcopy command would probably look more like this:

xcopy "C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Ghost\*.*" x:\ghost /s /y >> x:\ghost\startlog.txt

I've done this manually from the command prompt in the virtual partition PE3 environment and it works with the files copied over. Going to automate this in a script now.

This all may be unnecessary if you optimize your wim with the /export command, but it may be more 'bandwidth smart' to do it this way.

let me know!!  my WIM is 150MB, and it doesnt complain.

I think the reason mine complains is because my initial PE folder that I copied to make the PE3 version was not the PE512 but the 'normal' PE one, which has a size restriction. You may have started by using the PE512 one which, if memory serves, allows for a 512 virtual partition.

The good news is that I'm currently, as we speak, running a sysprepped image capture job using the console just fine.

I opted for your approach of copying the necessary files to the boot.wim rather than copying them from the client computer via batch file because for some boneheaded reason my batchfile didn't want to copy files correctly. Probably some esoteric dos-era rule on syntax I wasn't catching.

The not so great news is that the configuration task isn't working. The requisite files are in the x:\ghost virtual partition directory:

GDISK32.exe

GhConfig32.exe

Ghost32.exe

ghreboot.bat

GhRegEdit32.exe

ghvp.bat 

NGCTW32.exe

pubkey.crt, 

VPartition.dll 

The only one I'm missing is this one: Ghostoem32 I cannot find it on either my server or my client system. Do you know its function? 

Also, you specify that VPartition.dll, pubkey.crt ghreboot.bat and ghvp.bat have to be from the client partition. Are these machine specific files that Ghost collects on the fly from whatever the target machine is?

>I just realised that every time you mount and even delete files from a wim file it grows in size.

LOL - that was mentioned in one of my earlier postings - ie re-export the WIM to remove the barnacles left behind by earlier operations.

Yes, apologies. There's a lot to keep track of for a newbie to this such as myself. Although I have been using GSS for nearly a decade, I have not ever ventured into Windows PE stuff.

the article is up!

http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/creating-and-using-winpe31-image-gss-251

good point.  i definitely did use a 512 base

i dont know the function of ghostoem32, i just brought it for the ride.

VPartition.dll is there because without it you will get a warning that the console cant find it after the CLONE step.  

they are NOT machine specific, and i use the same set for each comp.  i put them in the GHOST folder, and Ghost does hit them up in some way

Excellent write up in that article, Terry. I've done my own write up, which is similar, but since its purely for self reference I'm not sure it'll be as helpful as yours.

I do have questions regarding that article, such as why you need to disable the firewall within the startnet.cmd file. Do you want the discussion to stay here or do you prefer to continue the discussion under your newly posted article?

you dont need to!  i just do it to eliminate that as a possibility for the computer not connecting to the ghost server.

If you want to ask that over there too (which is a good question), i will answer there also!

We just ran into this issue. There are still no Vista drivers for Intel i217LM that I find. It's is awesome that you guys managed to get it working by creating a PE 3 disc.

I was wondering though if there are any sign of Symante providing support for this issue. Is there an update for GSS coming out soon?

Also if I create a WinPE 3 can I use it with the ghost console? Will it break my current setup? I've added many NIC drivers and HDD drivers over the years.

Thanks Terry,

I've read and now I have my WinPE3 image built. I do have a question though. In one of the earlier posts you wrote

"You will still need to make sure the manifest file has entries (i dont know if they have to be "correct", but the hardware has to be in there or it will fail to boot for missing drivers)"

Can you explain this to me a little. I'm trying to ghost with the console with winpe3 and have a missing drivers error so the job fails. I guess I have to trick the console by entering fake information somewhere?

In the manifest file there is a section that says:

{
        what = checkDrivers,
        path = "{manifest}\\pci.manifest.txt"
    }

Can I remove that so it doesn't check for drivers?

I would laugh if i wasnt so sad over the death of GSS.  there is a thread here:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/when-will-come-new-version-ghost-gss-30

you can use the PE3.0 in the console.  you just have to assign it as the PE version for the client.  you can click on a computer (or folder to do it to all comps in that folder) and pick the PE it will boot to.  you just ant use the builder to edit that new PE

edit: spelling

i touch on that in the 2nd part of that article

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/faking-drivers-gss-251-winpe-31

it talks about making the files think the drivers exist