Image Deployment using Ghost and the CS Application Server

This describes the method by which CSCF can put an operating system on a machine by either booting from CD or booting off the network. In either case, the images are stored on asmiov.cscf and deployed using Symantec's Ghost

Related tools

• RIP (R)ecovery (I)s (P)ossible Linux rescue system
  • Locally modified - see RIP
• Windows Product Key Update Tool - can be used to update the Windows Product Key in special cases such as Laptop imaging where a vendor OEM vendor version of Windows was used to create the image. This permits restoring the corect key to each Laptop.

Note this is only useful when creating an image for a batch of machines from the same vendor

CD Boot images

Boot CSCF Research Boot CD

• Location: ISO Image \\asimov.cscf.uwaterloo.ca\rawiso\exports\bootdisk.iso
• If you have problems with DHCP - or - you are not on the vlan 420 private network you can boot this CD and use manual settings.

RIP + GHOST CD"> Boot RIP + GHOST CD

• Location: ISO Image \\asimov.cscf.uwaterloo.ca\rawiso\exports\linux_utils\RIP\RIP13.7\RIPLinuX-13.7.iso
• See: RIP
• See: PXEBootFilesExample
• See: UbuntuScripts

Network Boot Images - PXE booting

• Configure your port for Vlan 420 (make sure it is trunked from the switch!)
• Configure your PC to PXE boot from the network card
  • Note You may need to go into the BIOS and enable the boot rom function and set the boot priority to use the network first (often know as IBA - Intel Boot Agent)
• If you have problems with DHCP - or - you are not on the vlan 420 private network you can boot this CD and use manual settings.
• To view your systems Device Boot Menu try pressing F12 or as a last resort F8
  • Pick your network device from the list. (You will see your hard drive, CDROM, Possibly USB media devices and, hopefully, your network card - the network card device name can be really obscure on some systems)
  • Your system should now try to contact a DHCP server
• If DHCP booting works you should see a boot menu within a few seconds - up to half a minute on some of our Extreme switches.

PXE Boot Menu

RIP has been modified to automatically map several network shares to ASIMOV

• CORE,IMAGES,BACKUPS2,EXPORTS ...
• The primary choose is RIP + GHOST - see: RIP - recommended method

Using Ghost

• Choose LOCAL -> DISK -> FROM IMAGE
• Look in [IMAGES] Network Drive
• Click on Core
• Click on X2GEN0??.GHO (or whichever is the latest version)
  • Note version x2gen12
• Pick Destination Drive - make sure this is correct if you have more then one drive!
• Verify that the partition sizes are OK - GHOST can AUTO resize proportionally if the disk in smaller/bigger. All partitions need to be at least the size of the data, but usually much more
• Pick OK -> YES to verify (wait about 18 minutes) -> Reset computer

Legacy DOS boot image

Not suggested unless no other method works

Legacy Resources

• WindowsNetBoot Updated Network Boot Disk
  • Replaces Barts Bootdisk: Located Here

DOS based image - Universal Network Boot

• At the boot: Menu prompt, choose "Latest Universal Network Boot" (2.88 Meg) or the (1.44 Meg) version
  • You can use the cursor keys to pick the menu item you want
• If the image loads you will see a menu with a 10 second timeout
  • The defaults should work on VLAN 420

Usage Notes for Boot Disk (via Network or CD)

• You can use the cursor keys and mouse to move between options on a menu
• Press Enter will open an option for more settings or to be edited
• If you PXE booted you should see:

    Status    Local name     Remote Name
    ----------------------------------------
    OK   X:      \\SERVER\EXPORTS
    OK   N:      \\SERVER\NEXUS
    OK   O:      \\SERVER\CORE
    OK   S:      \\SERVER\SYSPREP
    OK   I:      \\SERVER\IMAGES
    OK   Z:      \\SERVER\BACKUP2
    
    *****************************************
    Try ghost -FNI if you have slow transfers
    *****************************************
    
    X:\BOOTDISK\GHOST>ghost -FNI

Ghost Versions

• X:\BOOTDISK\GHOST\GHOST.EXE is version 11.5 (and is required for the latest images)

Starting Ghost

• GHOST -FNI
  • I find that ghost -FNI works best if you see slow transfers
• Ghost Command Line options
• GHOST -nousb - if you find you system locking up
• Click on OK

Ghost Freezing on older motherboards

• ghost -nousb - older motherboards have a problem with USB support and can cause GHOST to lookup
• Seen on P4B motherboards

Using Ghost DOS Legacy version

• Choose LOCAL -> DISK -> FROM IMAGE
• Look in I:[IMAGES] Network Drive
• Click on Core
• Click on X2GEN04.GHO (or whichever is the latest version)
  • Note version X2GEN05 and later require Ghost11
• Pick Destination Drive - make sure this is correct if you have more then one drive!
• Verify that the partition sizes are OK - GHOST will AUTO resize proportionally if the disk in smaller/bigger. All partitions need to be at least the size of the data, but usually much more
• Pick OK -> YES to verify (wait about 18 minutes) -> Reset computer

Post-install steps

Fix Grub / Linux if necessary

If you have installed the "Unified" image, you will need to fix the Linux installation, including the grub loader. The system will not boot properly. You will need the "Rescue Disk"

• See: UbuntuInstallNotes for further details

Windows Post-install steps

See WindowsPostInstallSteps for adding the Windows User

Deployment Sheet

• Fill out and include the Grad PC Deployment Info Sheet (this really needs updating!)
• and the Grad PC Desktop "Leave Behind" Sheet

• old-obsolete Twiki-based GradPcDeploymentSheet

Restore your boot settings

• If you configured your PC to PXE boot from the network card, you should reset that now
  • may need to go into the BIOS