[27452] in resnet
Re: Imaging Student Computers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jeremy Mlazovsky)
Fri Mar 9 13:35:35 2012
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Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2012 11:20:10 -0500
Reply-To: Resnet Forum <RESNET-L@listserv.nd.edu>
From: Jeremy Mlazovsky <jmlazovsky1@UDAYTON.EDU>
To: RESNET-L@listserv.nd.edu
In-Reply-To: <B3C0241889401F4AB97A55E980BABBA00134598F9519@EXV01.wcu.edu>
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I am not speaking for our central IT department which is responsible for
servicing our students' computers - I am not sure what they are doing.
My unit maintains fac/staff and lab computers for the College of Arts and
Sciences. We are now at the point where we have standardized upon a
universal Windows 7 Pro (64-bit) drive image. It contains all of our
standard software such as Office 2010, Adobe Reader, Firefox, etc. Every
couple of months we update the image with new updates so that the next time
that we restor the image to a computer it contains up-to-date software.
This image can be restored to any PC which has a 64-bit processor. At the
moment, the biggest issue is that we need to install device drivers for
newer hardware, though our goal is to at some point include driver packs
for our standard configurations so that we don't have to copy them to USB
drive, copy them to the hard drive, install, etc.
We also do not include some software such an Symantec Endpoint Protection
and our ZENworks agent - they get installed afterwards using our
post-imaging scripts. We do it this way because when we install this
software it creates unique GUIDs instead of using the GUID that is created
and retained inside the drive image.
These are the basic steps we use to create and maintain this image:
1.) We used Microsoft's tool to create an Autounattend.xml file. We then
installed Windows 7 Pro x64 in a VMWare virtual machine using that
Autounattend.xml file. This creates a Windows 7 install which runs in
Audit mode (you'll keep getting a popup whenever you login to the desktop).
We reboot the VM and back it up via Microsoft ImageX. This becomes the
base image for the universal image. We also take a snapshot of the drive
in VMWare.
2.) In VMWare, we boot back into Windows and cancel the Audit Mode popup
whenever it appears. We install all of our software, updates, etc, making
sure to take VMWare snapshots every once in a while so we can go back if we
later discover we messed something up along the way without starting over
again from the very beginning.
3.) Once the system is ready to be imaged, we take one final snapshot.
Then we run SysPrep. We have two SysPrep batch files and two
corresponding Unattend.xml files. One set of those files when run tells
SysPrep to run in such a way that it removes all knowledge of installed
device drivers from the system and forces a redetect of devices upon reboot
- this is what we use to ensure that the image will restore to different
hardware configurations. The other set of files when run tells SysPrep to
retain the device driver settings - we use this is if we want to create an
image for lab machines, etc when we can guarantee that we will reimage a
large number of identical computers since it will save us the time of
installing the same drivers by hand for all of those machines.
The command for running SysPrep to retain knowledge of devices at bootup
(note: you need to make an Unattend-nopersistdevice.xml file and store it
at the proper location):
"C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe" /generalize /oobe /shutdown
/unattend:"C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Unattend.xml"
The command for running SysPrep to force redetection of devices at bootup
(note: you need to make an Unattend.xml file and store it at the proper
location):
"C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe" /generalize /oobe /shutdown
/unattend:"C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Unattend-nopersistdevice.xml"
4.) SysPrep will then shutdown the computer. We boot it up again and
immediately boot into our ImageX interface and back up the drive as a drive
image (do NOT reboot into Windows before you backup the hard drive or
you'll have to revert to your last snapshot and pickup from there). THIS
image is what we restore to machines which need to be reimaged.
5.) After a reimage, we go ahead and run post-imaging scripts which do
things like rename the computer, install SEP and ZENWorks, etc.
Most of the information you will need to recreate this process appears to
be documented in this link:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349348(v=3Dws.10).aspx
Hope that helps.
Jeremy Mlazovsky '02
Director of Information Technology
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, Ohio 45469-2201
937-229-2166
Leadership UD 2009
Please contact CAS Help (937-229-2166, cashelp@udayton.edu) for service
requests.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 9:07 AM, Andy Voelker <avoelker@email.wcu.edu> wrote=
:
> I=92m doing some research on imaging student computers and wanted to get
> peoples=92 weigh-in. Here is our situation:****
>
> **- **Students bring their own computers. They bring what they
> can afford and we service whatever they bring. We have standards, but th=
ey
> are very=85 shall we say=85 accommodating. This means that we service 83=
279423
> different brands and 8907248928749837283 different models.****
>
> **- **We provide Microsoft Office for all students. We also
> provide Symantec antivirus (which will hopefully change soon)****
>
> **- **Currently we are making slipstream windows discs with all
> service packs and most updates included. We then dump this on to a high
> speed flash drive and install it from there.****
>
> **- **We then install the operating system, get any drivers off
> devid.info, run the office installer, and the antivirus installer****
>
> **- **Finally, for all those additional pieces of freeware we
> run a standardized Ninite package. Done.****
>
> **- **We probably perform about 6 reformats per week, average.**=
*
> *
>
> ** **
>
> This process doesn=92t take too long, but I=92m sure it could be a lot
> better. The problem is making a generic image that will run well on
> 8907248928749837283 different models of computer.****
>
> ** **
>
> My questions are:****
>
> ** **
>
> is it worthwhile to upkeep generic images for Windows 7 32-bit, 7 64-bit,
> Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit, and XP?****
>
> ** **
>
> What is your imaging solution?****
>
> ** **
>
> Are the generic images as stable and well performed as a clean format?***=
*
>
> ** **
>
> -- Andy Voelker****
>
> avoelker@email.wcu.edu****
>
> Manager of Student Computing in the Technology Commons****
>
> Western Carolina University****
>
> Be sure to check out the WCU TechTips Podcast at
> http://www.youtube.com/WesternCarolinaU!!****
>
> Check the status of your IT requests at any time at http://help.wcu.edu/ =
!
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> ___________________________________________________ You are subscribed t=
o
> the ResNet-L mailing list.
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe or search the archives, go to
> http://LISTSERV.ND.EDU/archives/resnet-l.html____________________________=
_______________________
>
___________________________________________________
You are subscribed to the ResNet-L mailing list.
To subscribe, unsubscribe or search the archives,
go to http://LISTSERV.ND.EDU/archives/resnet-l.html
___________________________________________________
--20cf307d04169d626404bad1c5ed
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I am not speaking for our central IT department which is responsible for se=
rvicing our students' computers - I am not sure what they are doing.<di=
v><br></div><div>My unit maintains fac/staff and lab computers for the Coll=
ege of Arts and Sciences. =A0We are now at the point where we have standard=
ized upon a universal Windows 7 Pro (64-bit) drive image. =A0It contains al=
l of our standard software such as Office 2010, Adobe Reader, Firefox, etc.=
=A0Every couple of months we update the image with new updates so that the=
next time that we restor the image to a computer it contains up-to-date so=
ftware.</div>
<div><br></div><div>This image can be restored to any PC which has a 64-bit=
processor. =A0At the moment, the biggest issue is that we need to install =
device drivers for newer hardware, though our goal is to at some point incl=
ude driver packs for our standard configurations so that we don't have =
to copy them to USB drive, copy them to the hard drive, install, etc.</div>
<div><br></div><div>We also do not include some software such an Symantec E=
ndpoint Protection and our ZENworks agent - they get installed afterwards u=
sing our post-imaging scripts. =A0We do it this way because when we install=
this software it creates unique GUIDs instead of using the GUID that is cr=
eated and retained inside the drive image.</div>
<div><br></div><div>These are the basic steps we use to create and maintain=
this image:</div><div><br></div><div>1.) We used Microsoft's tool to c=
reate an=A0Autounattend.xml file. =A0We then installed Windows 7 Pro x64 in=
a VMWare virtual machine using that Autounattend.xml file. =A0This creates=
a Windows 7 install which runs in Audit mode (you'll keep getting a po=
pup whenever you login to the desktop). =A0We reboot the VM and back it up =
via Microsoft ImageX. =A0This becomes the base image for the universal imag=
e. =A0We also take a snapshot of the drive in VMWare.</div>
<div><br></div><div>2.) In VMWare, we boot back into Windows and cancel the=
Audit Mode popup whenever it appears. =A0We install all of our software, u=
pdates, etc, making sure to take VMWare snapshots every once in a while so =
we can go back if we later discover we messed something up along the way wi=
thout starting over again from the very beginning.</div>
<div><br></div><div>3.) Once the system is ready to be imaged, we take one =
final snapshot. =A0Then we run SysPrep. =A0We have two SysPrep batch files =
and two corresponding Unattend.xml files. =A0One set of those files when ru=
n tells SysPrep to run in such a way that it removes all knowledge of insta=
lled device drivers from the system and forces a redetect of devices upon r=
eboot - this is what we use to ensure that the image will restore to differ=
ent hardware configurations. =A0The other set of files when run tells SysPr=
ep to retain the device driver settings - we use this is if we want to crea=
te an image for lab machines, etc when we can guarantee that we will reimag=
e a large number of identical computers since it will save us the time of i=
nstalling the same drivers by hand for all of those machines.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The command for running SysPrep to retain knowledge of =
devices at bootup (note: you need to make an=A0
Unattend-nopersistdevice.xml=A0=A0file and store it at the proper location)=
:</div><div>"C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe" /generalize=
/oobe /shutdown /unattend:"C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Unattend.xml&q=
uot;
</div><div><br></div><div>The command for running SysPrep to force redetect=
ion of devices at bootup (note: you need to make an Unattend.xml file and s=
tore it at the proper location):=A0</div><div>"C:\Windows\System32\Sys=
prep\sysprep.exe" /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:"C:\Windo=
ws\System32\Sysprep\Unattend-nopersistdevice.xml"=A0</div>
<div><br></div><div>4.) SysPrep will then shutdown the computer. =A0We boot=
it up again and immediately boot into our ImageX interface and back up the=
drive as a drive image (do NOT reboot into Windows before you backup the h=
ard drive or you'll have to revert to your last snapshot and pickup fro=
m there). =A0THIS image is what we restore to machines which need to be rei=
maged.</div>
<div><br></div><div>5.) After a reimage, we go ahead and run post-imaging s=
cripts which do things like rename the computer, install SEP and ZENWorks, =
etc.</div><div><br></div><div>Most of the information you will need to recr=
eate this process=A0appears=A0to be documented in this link:</div>
<div><a href=3D"http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349348(v=3Dws.=
10).aspx">http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349348(v=3Dws.10).as=
px</a>
</div><div><div><br>
</div><div>Hope that helps.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Jeremy Mlazovsky '02</div><div>Director of Informat=
ion Technology</div><div>College of Arts and Sciences</div><div>University =
of Dayton</div><div>300 College Park</div><div>Dayton, Ohio 45469-2201</div=
>
<div><a href=3D"tel:937-229-2166" value=3D"+19372292166" target=3D"_blank">=
937-229-2166</a></div><div><br></div><div>Leadership UD 2009</div><div><br>=
</div><div>Please contact CAS Help <a href=3D"tel:%28937-229-2166" value=3D=
"+19372292166" target=3D"_blank">(937-229-2166</a>, <a href=3D"mailto:cashe=
lp@udayton.edu" target=3D"_blank">cashelp@udayton.edu</a>) for service requ=
ests.</div>
<br>
<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 9:07 AM, Andy Voe=
lker <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:avoelker@email.wcu.edu" target=
=3D"_blank">avoelker@email.wcu.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote cla=
ss=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;pa=
dding-left:1ex">
<div lang=3D"EN-US" link=3D"blue" vlink=3D"purple"><div><p class=3D"MsoNorm=
al">I=92m doing some research on imaging student computers and wanted to ge=
t peoples=92 weigh-in.=A0 Here is our situation:<u></u><u></u></p><p style=
=3D"margin-left:20.25pt">
<u></u><span>-<span style=3D"font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">=A0=A0=
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 </span></span><u></u>Students bring their own compute=
rs.=A0 They bring what they can afford and we service whatever they bring.=
=A0 We have standards, but they are very=85 shall we say=85 accommodating.=
=A0 This means that we service 83279423 different brands and 89072489287498=
37283 different models.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p style=3D"margin-left:20.25pt"><u></u><span>-<span style=3D"font:7.0pt &q=
uot;Times New Roman"">=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 </span></span><u></u=
>We provide Microsoft Office for all students.=A0 We also provide Symantec =
antivirus (which will hopefully change soon)<u></u><u></u></p>
<p style=3D"margin-left:20.25pt"><u></u><span>-<span style=3D"font:7.0pt &q=
uot;Times New Roman"">=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 </span></span><u></u=
>Currently we are making slipstream windows discs with all service packs an=
d most updates included.=A0 We then dump this on to a high speed flash driv=
e and install it from there.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p style=3D"margin-left:20.25pt"><u></u><span>-<span style=3D"font:7.0pt &q=
uot;Times New Roman"">=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 </span></span><u></u=
>We then install the operating system, get any drivers off <a href=3D"http:=
//devid.info" target=3D"_blank">devid.info</a>, run the office installer, a=
nd the antivirus installer<u></u><u></u></p>
<p style=3D"margin-left:20.25pt"><u></u><span>-<span style=3D"font:7.0pt &q=
uot;Times New Roman"">=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 </span></span><u></u=
>Finally, for all those additional pieces of freeware we run a standardized=
Ninite package.=A0 Done.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p style=3D"margin-left:20.25pt"><u></u><span>-<span style=3D"font:7.0pt &q=
uot;Times New Roman"">=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 </span></span><u></u=
>We probably perform about 6 reformats per week, average.<u></u><u></u></p>=
<p class=3D"MsoNormal">
<u></u>=A0<u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">This process doesn=92t take too=
long, but I=92m sure it could be a lot better.=A0 The problem is making a =
generic image that will run well on 8907248928749837283 different models of=
computer.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><u></u>=A0<u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">My quest=
ions are:<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><u></u>=A0<u></u></p><p c=
lass=3D"MsoNormal"> is it worthwhile to upkeep generic images for Windows 7=
32-bit, 7 64-bit, Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit, and XP?<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><u></u>=A0<u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">What is =
your imaging solution?<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><u></u>=A0<u=
></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"> Are the generic images as stable and well =
performed as a clean format?<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><u></u>=A0<u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">-- Andy =
Voelker<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><a href=3D"mailto:avoelker@=
email.wcu.edu" target=3D"_blank">avoelker@email.wcu.edu</a><u></u><u></u></=
p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">
Manager of Student Computing in the Technology Commons<u></u><u></u></p><p =
class=3D"MsoNormal">Western Carolina University<u></u><u></u></p><p class=
=3D"MsoNormal">Be sure to check out the WCU TechTips Podcast at <a href=3D"=
http://www.youtube.com/WesternCarolinaU" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"c=
olor:blue">http://www.youtube.com/WesternCarolinaU</span></a>!!<u></u><u></=
u></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal">Check the status of your IT requests at any time at =
<a href=3D"http://help.wcu.edu/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blu=
e">http://help.wcu.edu/</span></a> !<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal=
"><u></u>=A0<u></u></p>
</div><br clear=3D"all">=20
</div>
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