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Os deployment

  • 1.  Os deployment

    Posted Jan 05, 2008 01:50 PM
    Hi,
     
    I´m really deperate to get ghost to work with pxe.
    I need to deploy WINXP to new computers with no OS. I have installed a model computer and managed to get the image from it to ghost console.
     
    I now need to boot up all the computer that have no OS and deploy the image to them. I have installed the 3com pxe that comes with gss 2.0 but can´t get it to work.
     
    Has someone got a how to? I followed the "how to use 3com boot services with symantec ghost" found at symantecs service web but it does not work.
     
    Thankful for all help.


  • 2.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 05, 2008 07:42 PM
    Can't help you with the pxe (been meaning to try it but in our installation I do not have direct access to the dhcp servers to configure the boot file name...sigh) but for the last two batches of new machines (25-50 machines each time) I used usb keys to boot a ghost client connect to a multicast session and deploy a ghost boot partition (really quick to do so with 17 usb keys it did not take long).  The server was configured to restart when finished so this went about as quick as I could move the keys around and boot the machines.

    Once the machines were all running the installed ghost client I used the ghost console to deploy the final image remotely.  Now if your doing hundereds of machines this might not be the way to go... ;-)

    Hope that helps.


  • 3.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 06, 2008 09:11 AM
    Hello and thanks for your reply.
    I have about 200 clients to deploy XP to in one batch so I really need pxe or some other automated boot management.
    Still it´s always good to have a few "plan b´s" up ones sleeve.
     
    So if I understand you correct you create a ghost boot partition on a usb stick and boot the computer into console with it? From the console you run a image clone task with your os image?
    This is basically what I want to achieve but with the use of network boot instead of usb stick.
     
    Thanks again.


  • 4.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 06, 2008 05:58 PM
    Here's a couple of useful links for setting up PXE server.
    https://forums.symantec.com/syment/board/message?board.id=109&thread.id=6263
    https://forums.symantec.com/syment/board/message?board.id=109&thread.id=6544


    For the Ghost/Console Boot Partition, you'd need to create it from Ghost Boot Wizard under 'Console Boot Partition'

    Copy this .gho file onto your USB boot stick (can be created using Ghost Boot Wizard 'Standard Ghost Boot Package' option) and restore this image to your client machine.

    Once this completes, reboot the computer and it should automatically load the Ghost Boot Partition and make contact with the Console for you to run a restore task to.

    With 200 machines, using PXE is probably the quickest option.


  • 5.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 06, 2008 06:15 PM
    If using a USB stick, to boot the Ghost boot partition from, you may find than in the Ghost Console clone configuration that you need to increment the remote drive number by one.
     
    This will depend on whether or not your USB stick is emulating a floppy disk or a hard drive. If it's the later, then the USB stick is likely to appear as the first hard drive and the actual drive you want is the second drive.
     
    Dave
      


  • 6.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 06, 2008 06:21 PM
    That's a good point with USB sticks, it could be recognised as a hard drive.
    You can remove the USB stick after you restore the Ghost/Console Boot Partition to get around this.


  • 7.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 06, 2008 07:03 PM
    Bruce - depends if you really want to restore the boot partition to the the hard drive as an additional step. I use boot pens a lot and I tend to just boot off the pen straight into the virtual boot partition, then use Ghost Console to clone the image to the hard drive. Reboot into Windows and then you can use the Windows Ghost Client agent for any remaining operations from the Console.
     
    I also have my boot pens configured to allow me optionally to boot to a mapped network drive so I can use ghost.exe to image a room full of machines directly to a file server, which is quicker than setting up multiple image capture sessions through the console. This is useful in situations where a model computer image isn't always appropriate; for example whereby the room contains a mix of workstations and servers of different versions and configured to run different applications such as SQL, Exchange etc.
     
    Dave


  • 8.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 07, 2008 05:44 AM
    Hi all, and thanks for your help!
     
    I have tried both
     
     
    step by step and it won´t work. When I used the 3com pxe it would not even show up on the network ( I checked and restarted the service and server several times). I also tried with the pxe in Deploy center which shows up on the network and actually got the pxe boot menu once but it did not go any further.
     
    I also tried http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/on-technology.nsf/docid/2000103113200725 for setting up 3com with ghost. I followed the instruction step by step and the first time I got a boot menu but then it failed. After that I never got the boot menu again although I repeated the instruction exactly the same way several times.
     
    Thanks from someone in desperate need of pxe!


  • 9.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 09, 2008 01:27 PM
    We live and die by PXE over here.  I've skimmed briefly over the links you posted.  I dunno what you mean by "got a boot menu but then it failed", so it's a bit hard to help you out there.  I dunno anything about the Deploy Center stuff, we've used the 3COM stuff since Ghost 7.5 and it's worked great for us.

    Couple things, make sure you open up the firewall on your PXE/TFTP server for the PXE & TFTP services.  If you're using the 3COM stuff on a Windows XP or 2003 server, make sure you actually add a Program Exception to the firewall list.  When you do, it'll show you a list of installed programs, which includes the PXE and TFTP stuff.  This actually isn't the right program (sigh.)  Browse to .../Boot Services/ and select 3cpxes.exe and 3ctftps.exe (note the "s" right before the period.)  The "s" version of the .exe file is the actual service/daemon that runs and opens up the port and does work.  The program that is shown in the list of programs when you do "Add Program" exception is actually the control panel/GUI for the daemon.

    Run the BOOPTAB Editor, and remove all existing lines.  Then just add one line with all wildcards (????...) and tell it to use the file mba.pxe.  Run the Boot Image Editor, and make a PXE menu file with just one default line that boots to local hard drive and save that as C:/TFTPBOOT/mba.pxe.  I've click-by-click if you need it for this step.  Make sure you enable all the Logging stuff in both PXE and TFTP services.  It just makes it easier, you can always turn that off later.

    That should be enough to at least make a client that's PXE-booting up from the BIOS to see, download, and display the PXE boot menu (albeit with only one option right now.)  But that's good enough to see what works and doesn't, then you can get fancy after that.

    Depending on your DHCP server, some have an odd (to me) config about not providing IP addresses to unknown clients.  I suppose that's a good security tick if you want it.  If you have such an option configured, disable it temporarily at least so that any computer asking fora  DHCP IP address will get one.  One less thing to worry about.  Oh, make sure you enable the DHCP Proxy checkbox if needed - my checkbox is checked, since I have my DHCP server separate from my PXE/TFTP server.

    Good luck,
    PH



  • 10.  RE: Os deployment

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 05:26 AM
    I have checked the firewall and on the pxe server it is disabled. I have also checked the anti virus firewall and all is ok. When I use the deploy center pxe and search the network for pxe servers it shows up. When I tried the same with the 3com ( disabling the deploy center pxe of course) it shows up once. Then I tried to boot my client and it went through the pxe menu and started to load pc-dos. It then gets stuck on a line in dos-mode, saying "client iport 1346 connecnting to server iport 1347" and then it keeps trying and says acknowledging and restarting.
     
    The next time I tried the pxe server does not show up again on the network and the client never goes into the boot menu again. That´s when I gave up and went home.
     
    Here are som logs:
     
    The last try that I described above was on 2008-01-10
     
    3ComBOOTP.log
     
    2008-01-10 22:13 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:13 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:13 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:16 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:16 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:16 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
     
    3ComPXE.log
     
    2008-01-05 17:01 - Service started
    2008-01-05 17:01 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 13:35)
    2008-01-05 17:01 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 17:02 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-05 17:02 - Service started
    2008-01-05 17:02 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 13:35)
    2008-01-05 17:02 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 17:16 - Service stopped
    2008-01-05 17:16 - Program started
    2008-01-05 17:16 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 13:35)
    2008-01-05 17:16 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 17:16 - Server started
    2008-01-05 17:16 - Program exit
    2008-01-05 17:24 - Service started
    2008-01-05 17:24 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 13:35)
    2008-01-05 17:24 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 17:24 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-05 17:24 - Service started
    2008-01-05 17:24 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 13:35)
    2008-01-05 17:24 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 17:38 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 17:38)
    2008-01-05 17:38 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 17:39 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:39 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:39 - PXE: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:41 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:41 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:41 - PXE: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:42 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:42 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:42 - PXE: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:43 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-05 17:43 - Service started
    2008-01-05 17:43 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 17:38)
    2008-01-05 17:43 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 17:44 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:44 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:44 - PXE: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:58 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:58 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 17:58 - PXE: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-05 18:00 - Service started
    2008-01-05 18:00 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 17:38)
    2008-01-05 18:00 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 18:05 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-05 18:05 - Service started
    2008-01-05 18:05 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 17:38)
    2008-01-05 18:05 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 18:08 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-05 18:08 - Service started
    2008-01-05 18:08 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 17:38)
    2008-01-05 18:08 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 18:18 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 18:18)
    2008-01-05 18:18 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 18:25 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 18:25)
    2008-01-05 18:25 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 18:26 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-05 18:26 - Service started
    2008-01-05 18:26 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 18:25)
    2008-01-05 18:26 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-05 18:37 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-05 18:37 - Service started
    2008-01-05 18:37 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 18:25)
    2008-01-05 18:37 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-06 15:51 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-06 15:51 - Service started
    2008-01-06 15:51 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-05 18:25)
    2008-01-06 15:51 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-06 15:54 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 15:54)
    2008-01-06 15:54 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-06 16:01 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-06 16:01 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-06 16:05 - Service stopped
    2008-01-10 21:59 - Service started
    2008-01-10 21:59 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 21:59 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:00 - Service stopped
    2008-01-10 22:01 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:01 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:01 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:01 - Proxy: [00B0D086FD66] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:01 - Proxy: [00B0D086FD66] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:01 - Proxy: [00B0D086FD66] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:01 - Proxy: [00B0D086FD66] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:02 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:02 - Proxy: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:02 - PXE: [001D92302EC6] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:02 - Proxy: [00B0D086FD66] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:02 - Proxy: [00B0D086FD66] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:02 - Proxy: [00B0D086FD66] (STDSTH001)
    2008-01-10 22:03 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-10 22:03 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:03 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:03 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:05 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-10 22:05 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:05 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:05 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:06 - Service stopped
    2008-01-10 22:08 - Program started
    2008-01-10 22:08 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:08 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:08 - Server started
    2008-01-10 22:08 - Program exit
    2008-01-10 22:09 - Program started
    2008-01-10 22:09 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:09 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:09 - Server started
    2008-01-10 22:10 - Server stopped
    2008-01-10 22:10 - Program exit
    2008-01-10 22:10 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:10 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:10 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:11 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-10 22:11 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:11 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:11 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:13 - Service stopped
    2008-01-10 22:13 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:13 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:13 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:16 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:16 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:16 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service reconfigured
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service stopped
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Service started
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data file: D:\Program Files\TFTPBOOT\BOOTPTAB (2008-01-06 16:01)
    2008-01-10 22:18 - Data read: 6 hosts, 1 templates
     
    3ComTFTPS.log
     
    1/5/08 17:16 - Program started
    1/5/08 17:16 - Server started
    1/5/08 17:16 - Program exited
    Sat Jan 05 17:24:28 - Service started
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:39:39 127.0.0.1 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:39:40 192.168.40.2 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:39:40 127.0.0.1 DONE d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:39:40 192.168.40.2 DONE d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:39:45 192.168.40.2 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\pxe.sys
    Sat Jan 05 17:57:49 - Service started
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:58:30 127.0.0.1 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:58:30 192.168.40.2 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:58:30 127.0.0.1 DONE d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:58:30 192.168.40.2 DONE d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Sat Jan 05 17:58:38 192.168.40.2 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\pxe.sys
    Sat Jan 05 18:00:12 - Service started
    Sat Jan 05 18:26:20 - Service stopped
    Sat Jan 05 18:26:22 - Service started
    Sun Jan 06 15:51:05 - Service stopped
    Sun Jan 06 15:51:15 - Service started
    Sun Jan 06 16:05:16 - Service stopped
    Thu Jan 10 21:59:30 - Service started
    Thu Jan 10 22:00:00 - Service stopped
    Thu Jan 10 22:01:07 - Service started
    DOWNLOAD Thu Jan 10 22:02:17 127.0.0.1 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Thu Jan 10 22:02:17 192.168.40.21 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Thu Jan 10 22:02:17 127.0.0.1 DONE d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Thu Jan 10 22:02:17 192.168.40.21 DONE d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\mba.pxe
    DOWNLOAD Thu Jan 10 22:02:20 192.168.40.21 START d:\program files\TFTPBOOT\pxe.sys
    Thu Jan 10 22:07:22 - Service started
    Thu Jan 10 22:08:04 - Service stopped
    1/10/08 22:08 - Program started
    1/10/08 22:08 - Server started
    1/10/08 22:08 - Program exited
    1/10/08 22:09 - Program started
    1/10/08 22:09 - Server started
    1/10/08 22:10 - Server stopped
    Thu Jan 10 22:10:39 - Service started
    Thu Jan 10 22:13:43 - Service stopped
    Thu Jan 10 22:13:44 - Service started
    Thu Jan 10 22:16:26 - Service started
    I also tried to execute my "plan B" to use a usb stick to boot the computers into console but it didn´t work either. I´, beginning to feel like and idiot here! I used the "network boot package" in ghost boot wizard to create the boot package but when I try to boot with it the client never gets past "starting pc-dos". I retried it several times, re-created the usb boot etc. Nothing helps!