[27290] in resnet
Re: Imagex
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Isaac Holmes)
Fri Feb 10 11:33:33 2012
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Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:33:22 -0500
Reply-To: Resnet Forum <RESNET-L@listserv.nd.edu>
From: Isaac Holmes <iholmes@ND.EDU>
To: RESNET-L@listserv.nd.edu
In-Reply-To: <CAAobDyFsoT+O4=SPxvvwLCKm5e2OEKGyLRGPR_eVSSRO5MLqhw@mail.gmail.com>
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We have a process similar to Marc for our labs, once imaged during the firs=
t runonce sequence it queries DNS for the computer name and renames itself,=
on reboot it joins itself to the domain and then completes any remaining t=
asks. All of our lab machines DHCP a statically assigned IP address so the=
y can be looked up easily by IP.
Another way you can do it is to modify the unattend.xml file before the mac=
hine boots for the first time. After applying the image to the machine per=
form your lookup of the computer name against whatever source you prefer an=
d then edit the XML file with the correct name. Then it will be named corr=
ectly during the OOBE startup sequence and joined to the domain if you add =
the domain join information to the answer file as well.
You can do the same thing with the OU the machine is joined to also in case=
the computer object is not pre-created.
One thing to note is that you can store the username and password for the d=
omain join in the xml file, but it is stored in clear text, it will be wipe=
d from the file after use but it is there for a period of time. Other cre=
dentials like the admin password you have the option to have them stored in=
clear text or "encrypted". They aren't really encrypted it is converted t=
o a double byte text string and then 64-bit encoded, same goes for other pa=
ssword stored in the answer file, but they add some text to them under spec=
ial circumstances.
Isaac Holmes
Client Engineering Specialist
OIT Distributed Engineering Support
University of Notre Dame
B036 IT Center
(574) 631-3254
From: Resnet Forum [mailto:RESNET-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Joanne Po=
hlman
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2012 10:58 AM
To: RESNET-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: Imagex
thanks for the details - this is great! I cannot wait to try it!
Joanne
On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Doughty, Marc <marc_doughty@brown.edu<mai=
lto:marc_doughty@brown.edu>> wrote:
We have the machines join the AD automatically using entries in the unatten=
d.xml (we sysprep our machines), then they run a script I wrote to look up =
their own MAC addresses and rename themselves to what they're supposed to b=
e.
So the whole process is:
1. Tech boots machine to PXE, which loads the 'Windows Installer' from WD=
S server.
2. Tech selects image and deletes all partitions.
3. Computer reimages.
4. Computer auto-joins AD in specific lab OU. Has random name.
5. Computer looks itself up and renames to the correct name.
6. Computer reboots after a few minutes and is good-to-use.
Basically, the technician only has to boot to the network and select the im=
age, once they pull the trigger they can walk away. The only caveat is that=
someone has to delete the existing computer objects in AD before the scrip=
t renames the machine, otherwise there's a conflict. That might just be an =
AD permissions issue.
- Marc Doughty
"If you aren't sure who is the give-way vessel, you are the give-way vessel=
."
On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 9:12 AM, Joanne Pohlman <jmpohlma@owu.edu<mailto:jm=
pohlma@owu.edu>> wrote:
How much work do you have after the image is complete? I am thinking about=
it for my Windows7 labs, but now we have to visit each one, re-name them, =
and add again to Domain. It's a lot of work, especially in the larger labs=
.
thanks,
Joanne
On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Doughty, Marc <marc_doughty@brown.edu<mailt=
o:marc_doughty@brown.edu>> wrote:
We do things totally by-the-book with imagex. I actually use 'gimagex' most=
of the time since it's easier.
It's important to remember that WIMs are more like ZIP archives than images=
. You need to do all your partitioning and formatting separately from your =
ImageX'ing.
As far as comparison to Ghost... ImageX is a whole different kind of beast,=
and I love it. The single-instance storage of files internally means that =
I can pack six or seven images into the space that used to fit two. I can d=
o fast incremental backups. I can edit the image on-the-fly and add updates=
or drivers.
If you're going down this path, I highly suggest getting VMWare Workstation=
to build your images in a VM that you can snapshot, and get a WDS server u=
p and running so you don't have to image manually.
- Marc Doughty
"If you aren't sure who is the give-way vessel, you are the give-way vessel=
."
On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 2:46 PM, Joanne Pohlman <jmpohlma@owu.edu<mailto:jmp=
ohlma@owu.edu>> wrote:
Anyone using imagex to create images? If so, how does it compare to Ghost?
Thanks,
Joanne
--
Joanne M. Pohlman
Technical Support Specialist/Lab Manager
Information Services
Ohio Wesleyan University
740-368-3133<tel:740-368-3133>
jmpohlma@owu.edu<mailto:jmpohlma@owu.edu>
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he ResNet-L mailing list.
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EDU/archives/resnet-l.html ________________________________________________=
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--
Joanne M. Pohlman
Technical Support Specialist/Lab Manager
Information Services
Ohio Wesleyan University
740-368-3133<tel:740-368-3133>
jmpohlma@owu.edu<mailto:jmpohlma@owu.edu>
___________________________________________________ You are subscribed to t=
he ResNet-L mailing list.
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EDU/archives/resnet-l.html ________________________________________________=
___
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he ResNet-L mailing list.
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EDU/archives/resnet-l.html ________________________________________________=
___
--
Joanne M. Pohlman
Technical Support Specialist/Lab Manager
Information Services
Ohio Wesleyan University
740-368-3133
jmpohlma@owu.edu<mailto:jmpohlma@owu.edu>
___________________________________________________ You are subscribed to t=
he ResNet-L mailing list.
To subscribe, unsubscribe or search the archives, go to http://LISTSERV.ND.=
EDU/archives/resnet-l.html ________________________________________________=
___
___________________________________________________
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To subscribe, unsubscribe or search the archives,
go to http://LISTSERV.ND.EDU/archives/resnet-l.html
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nk=3Dpurple><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'f=
ont-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>We have a=
process similar to Marc for our labs, once imaged during the first runonce=
sequence it queries DNS for the computer name and renames itself, on reboo=
t it joins itself to the domain and then completes any remaining tasks.&nbs=
p; All of our lab machines DHCP a statically assigned IP address so they ca=
n be looked up easily by IP.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><spa=
n style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-siz=
e:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Another way you =
can do it is to modify the unattend.xml file before the machine boots for t=
he first time. After applying the image to the machine perform your l=
ookup of the computer name against whatever source you prefer and then edit=
the XML file with the correct name. Then it will be named correctly =
during the OOBE startup sequence and joined to the domain if you add the do=
main join information to the answer file as well. <o:p></o:p></span><=
/p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibr=
i","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNo=
rmal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";col=
or:#1F497D'>You can do the same thing with the OU the machine is joined to =
also in case the computer object is not pre-created. <o:p></o:p></spa=
n></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cal=
ibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMs=
oNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";=
color:#1F497D'>One thing to note is that you can store the username and pas=
sword for the domain join in the xml file, but it is stored in clear text, =
it will be wiped from the file after use but it is there for a period of ti=
me. Other credentials like the admin password you have the opti=
on to have them stored in clear text or “encrypted”. They=
aren’t really encrypted it is converted to a double byte text string=
and then 64-bit encoded, same goes for other password stored in the answer=
file, but they add some text to them under special circumstances.<o:p></o:=
p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-fami=
ly:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p cla=
ss=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-=
serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><spa=
n style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>Isaac Holmes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'fo=
nt-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Client Eng=
ineering Specialist <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=
=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p=
> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0p=
t;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>OIT Distributed Enginee=
ring Support<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-=
size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>University of=
Notre Dame<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-s=
ize:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o=
:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-fam=
ily:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>B036 IT Center<o:p></o:p></span><=
/p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibr=
i","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>(574) 631-3254<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=
=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-se=
rif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'=
><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:=
11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p><=
/span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:=
"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=
=3DMsoNormal><b><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-=
serif"'>From:</span></b><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma=
","sans-serif"'> Resnet Forum [mailto:RESNET-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] <b>On Behal=
f Of </b>Joanne Pohlman<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, February 10, 2012 10:58 AM<=
br><b>To:</b> RESNET-L@LISTSERV.ND.EDU<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: Imagex<o:p></=
o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNorm=
al style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'>thanks for the details - this is great!&n=
bsp; I cannot wait to try it!<br><br>Joanne<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=3DM=
soNormal>On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 10:44 AM, Doughty, Marc <<a href=3D"mai=
lto:marc_doughty@brown.edu">marc_doughty@brown.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p=
></p><p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'>We have the machin=
es join the AD automatically using entries in the unattend.xml (we sysprep =
our machines), then they run a script I wrote to look up their own MAC addr=
esses and rename themselves to what they're supposed to be.<br><br>So the w=
hole process is:<o:p></o:p></p><ol start=3D1 type=3D1><li class=3DMsoNormal=
style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 le=
vel1 lfo1'>Tech boots machine to PXE, which loads the 'Windows Installer' f=
rom WDS server.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso-margin-to=
p-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Tech selects=
image and deletes all partitions.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=3DMsoNormal sty=
le=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1=
lfo1'>Computer reimages.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso=
-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Co=
mputer auto-joins AD in specific lab OU. Has random name.<o:p></o:p></li><l=
i class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:=
auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Computer looks itself up and renames to the c=
orrect name.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso-margin-top-a=
lt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Computer reboot=
s after a few minutes and is good-to-use.<o:p></o:p></li></ol><p>Basically,=
the technician only has to boot to the network and select the image, once =
they pull the trigger they can walk away. The only caveat is that someone h=
as to delete the existing computer objects in AD before the script renames =
the machine, otherwise there's a conflict. That might just be an AD permiss=
ions issue.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0p=
t'><br>- Marc Doughty<br>"If you aren't sure who is the give-way vesse=
l, you are the give-way vessel."<br><br><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=
=3DMsoNormal>On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 9:12 AM, Joanne Pohlman <<a href=3D=
"mailto:jmpohlma@owu.edu" target=3D"_blank">jmpohlma@owu.edu</a>> wrote:=
<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'>How much=
work do you have after the image is complete? I am thinking about it=
for my Windows7 labs, but now we have to visit each one, re-name them, and=
add again to Domain. It's a lot of work, especially in the larger la=
bs.<br><br>thanks,<br>Joanne<o:p></o:p></p><div><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>O=
n Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Doughty, Marc <<a href=3D"mailto:marc_dou=
ghty@brown.edu" target=3D"_blank">marc_doughty@brown.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p=
></o:p></p></div><div><div><blockquote style=3D'border:none;border-left:sol=
id #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0=
in'><p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-bottom:12.0pt'>We do things totall=
y by-the-book with imagex. I actually use 'gimagex' most of the time since =
it's easier.<br><br>It's important to remember that WIMs are more like ZIP =
archives than images. You need to do all your partitioning and formatting s=
eparately from your ImageX'ing.<br><br>As far as comparison to Ghost... Ima=
geX is a whole different kind of beast, and I love it. The single-instance =
storage of files internally means that I can pack six or seven images into =
the space that used to fit two. I can do fast incremental backups. I can ed=
it the image on-the-fly and add updates or drivers.<br><br>If you're going =
down this path, I highly suggest getting VMWare Workstation to build your i=
mages in a VM that you can snapshot, and get a WDS server up and running so=
you don't have to image manually.<br clear=3Dall><br>- Marc Doughty<br>&qu=
ot;If you aren't sure who is the give-way vessel, you are the give-way vess=
el."<br><br><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=3DMsoNormal>On Thu, Feb 9, 20=
12 at 2:46 PM, Joanne Pohlman <<a href=3D"mailto:jmpohlma@owu.edu" targe=
t=3D"_blank">jmpohlma@owu.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNo=
rmal>Anyone using imagex to create images? If so, how does it compare=
to Ghost?<br>Thanks,<br>Joanne<span style=3D'color:#888888'><br clear=3Dal=
l><br>-- <br>Joanne M. Pohlman<br>Technical Support Specialist/Lab Manager<=
br>Information Services <br>Ohio Wesleyan University<br><a href=3D"tel:740-=
368-3133" target=3D"_blank">740-368-3133</a><br><a href=3D"mailto:jmpohlma@=
owu.edu" target=3D"_blank">jmpohlma@owu.edu</a><br>________________________=
___________________________ You are subscribed to the ResNet-L mailing list=
. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style=3D'color:#888888'>To subscribe, unsu=
bscribe or search the archives, go to <a href=3D"http://LISTSERV.ND.EDU/arc=
hives/resnet-l.html" target=3D"_blank">http://LISTSERV.ND.EDU/archives/resn=
et-l.html</a> ___________________________________________________ <o:p></o:=
p></span></p></div><p class=3DMsoNormal><br>_______________________________=
____________________ You are subscribed to the ResNet-L mailing list. <o:p>=
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_____________________ <o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></div></div></div><div><d=
iv><p class=3DMsoNormal><br><br clear=3Dall><br>-- <br>Joanne M. Pohlman<br=
>Technical Support Specialist/Lab Manager<br>Information Services <br>Ohio =
Wesleyan University<br><a href=3D"tel:740-368-3133" target=3D"_blank">740-3=
68-3133</a><br><a href=3D"mailto:jmpohlma@owu.edu" target=3D"_blank">jmpohl=
ma@owu.edu</a><br>___________________________________________________ You a=
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_______________________________ <o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=3DMsoNormal><=
br><br clear=3Dall><br>-- <br>Joanne M. Pohlman<br>Technical Support Specia=
list/Lab Manager<br>Information Services <br>Ohio Wesleyan University<br>74=
0-368-3133<br><a href=3D"mailto:jmpohlma@owu.edu" target=3D"_blank">jmpohlm=
a@owu.edu</a><br>___________________________________________________ You ar=
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