When you install the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin) on an existing Windows workstation, it saves certain workstation-unique data (IP address, computer name, etc.) to an area on the hard disk that is safe from reimaging.
The following sections contain additional information:
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent is an extension to the Windows bootup procedure on a workstation.
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) is installed on each workstation when you install the Desktop Management Agent. On Windows 98 workstations, the default location is windows\system\ziswin.exe. On Windows 2000/XP workstations, the default location is windows\system32\ziswin.exe. During installation of the Desktop Management Agent, you must select the Workstation Imaging feature on the Select Features page. For more information, see "Installing and Configuring the Desktop Management Agent" in the Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Installation Guide.
If you want to run the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent on a workstation without the Desktop Management Agent installed, you can install it manually. For more information, see Manually Installing the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (Ziswin.exe).
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) is also installed on the Imaging server (sys:public\zenworks\imaging\ziswin.exe, by default).
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent runs before any network communications are established. It enables you to:
When you install the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent on an existing Windows workstation, it saves certain workstation-unique data (such as the IP address and Computer name) to an area on the hard disk that is safe from reimaging. After the workstation is reimaged and Windows reboots, the agent restores the data from the image-safe area so the workstation can communicate on the network using the same identity as before.
A new workstation (with no Windows operating system) doesn't have a network identity established yet. You can define network identity information for such a workstation in a Novell eDirectoryTM policy and apply it when the workstation receives its first Windows image. In this scenario, the Windows image is put down (including the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent) on the workstation and the identity information from the eDirectory policy is written to the image-safe area on the hard disk. When the workstation reboots, the agent reads the data from the image-safe area and applies it to the Windows installation, thus establishing the workstation's network identity automatically.
The data that the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent saves to (or restores from) the image-safe area includes the following:
On a workstation that has just received a new Windows 2000/XP base image, in addition to restoring the above data, the agent also locates and modifies all instances of the Security Identifier (SID). This ensures that the workstation has a SID that is unique from other workstations that might receive the same image.
IMPORTANT: The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent does not save or restore any Windows2000/XP Domain information. If you change a workstation's domain and then restore an image, the workstation receives whatever domain is embedded in the new image.
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) is installed on each workstation when you install the Desktop Management Agent. You can also run the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent on a workstation without the Desktop Management Agent installed.
The following sections contain additional information:
You can use the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode to view and edit a workstation's image-safe data using a graphical user interface rather than from the command line or regedit. The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent combines the capabilities of the Image-Safe Data Viewer (zisview) to let you view a workstation's image-safe data and the Image-Safe Data Editor (zisedit) to let you edit this data.
The following sections describe the tasks that you can perform using the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent in interactive mode:
To run the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent in interactive mode, manually run ziswin.exe, for example from Explorer, the command line prompt, the Windows > Start > Run command, and so forth.
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe), is installed on each workstation during installation of the Desktop Management Agent (if you selected the Desktop Imaging feature). For Windows 98 workstations, the default location is windows\system\ziswin.exe. For Windows 2000\XP workstations, the default location is windows\system32\ziswin.exe. For more information, see "Installing and Configuring the Desktop Management Agent" in the Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Installation Guide.
If the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent is started as part of a boot sequence, it is automatically started in service mode. If the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent is started manually, it is automatically started in interactive mode.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click File > Reload Image-Safe Data.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click File > Save Image-Safe Data > Save.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click File, then click Export to File.
Browse to the location in which you want to save the file, then type the filename.
Click Save.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click File, then click Import from File.
Browse to and select the .zis file you want to import data from, then click Open to apply the imported image-safe data to the workstation.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click Edit, then click Modify Image-Safe Data.
In the Modify Image-Safe Data dialog box, modify the desired data on the Imaging tab:
Just Imaged Flag: If this option is selected, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin) reads data from the image-safe data store and writes it to the Windows registry. If this option is not selected, the Imaging Agent reads data from the Windows registry and writes it to the image-safe data store.
Last Base Image: Displays information about the last base image that was restored to this workstation. The imaging engine uses this information to prevent the same image from being restored to the workstation, unless you specify in Novell ConsoleOne® that the same image be restored.
Filename: The last base image that was restored to the workstation.
File Time: The time stamp of the last base image that was restored to the workstation.
File Size: The size of the last base image that was restored to the workstation.
Scripted Image: Indicates whether or not the last imaging operation was a scripted image.
Scripted Image Flag: If this option is checked, the last imaging operation was a scripted image. If this option is not checked, the last imaging operation was not a scripted image.
Script Checksum: Displays the checksum value representing the last script run. The imaging engine uses the checksum to prevent the same script from re-running on the workstation unless you specify in ConsoleOne that you want to rerun the same script.
Click the Identity tab in the Modify Image-Safe Data dialog box, then modify the desired data:
Object Name: The name of the Novell eDirectory Workstation object for this workstation.
Tree Name: The Novell eDirectory tree that contains the Workstation object for this workstation.
Object ID: The ZENworks Object ID for this workstation, which together with the workstation DN, uniquely identifies this workstation.
Click the Windows tab in the Modify Image-Safe Data dialog box, then modify the desired data:
NETBIOS Name: Displays the Windows NETBIOS name for this workstation. For Windows 2000/XP workstations, the computer name and the NETBIOS name are not necessarily the same. For these workstations, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent uses the DNS Hostname field in the image-safe data as the computer name, which takes precedence over the NETBIOS name entered here.
Workgroup: Displays the network workgroup that this workstation belongs to, if any. A workgroup is a group of users who work on a common project and share information on interconnected computers, often over a LAN.
Workstation SID: Displays the workstation's Security ID (SID), a unique number that identifies this workstation in Windows.
Clear SID: Clears this workstation's SID. If you clear the workstation's SID, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent generates a new SID if the agent is run in Enabled mode. To specify that the agent run in Enabled mode, click Edit, click Options, then click Enabled on the Mode tab. You must also set the Just Imaged flag (click Edit, click Modify Image-Safe Data, then click Just Imaged Flag on the Imaging tab).
Click the IP Settings tab in the Modify Image-Safe Data dialog box, then modify the desired data to configure the IP settings stored in the image-safe data area of this workstation:
Uses DHCP to Get an IP Address: Indicates that this workstation uses DHCP to obtain its IP address.
Uses a Static IP Address: Indicates that this workstation uses a static IP address.
Click the DNS tab in the Modify Image-Safe Data dialog box, then modify the desired data to configure the DNS settings stored in the image-safe data area of this workstation:
DNS Suffix: Displays the DNS context of the workstation.
DNS Hostname: Displays the DNS local hostname of the workstation. For Windows 2000/XP, this is the Computer name plus the first 15 characters of the NETBIOS name.
DNS Servers: Displays the names of DNS servers used for DNS name resolution. You can use the drop-down list to select another DNS server or you can use the browse button to enter additional DNS servers for this workstation.
Click OK.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click Edit > Clear Image-Safe Data.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click Edit > Copy to Clipboard.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click Edit > Options.
In the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent Options dialog box, modify the desired data on the Mode tab to select the mode for the ZENworks Windows Imaging Agent (ziswin) to run during the boot process:
Enabled: If this option is checked and the Just Imaged Flag is set (File > Edit > Modify Image-safe Data > Imaging tab), the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent will read data from the image-safe data store and write it to the Windows registry.
If this option is checked but the Just Imaged Flag is not set, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent will read data from the Windows registry and write it to the image-safe data store.
Disabled: If this option is checked, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent will run automatically during the boot process, but will exit without doing any work.
Re-enable After _ Boot: Enable this option and specify the number of boot cycles to take place before the imaging agent returns to an enabled state.
Uninstalled: If this option is enabled, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent does not automatically run during the boot process.
Click the Logging tab in the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent Options dialog box, then modify the desired data to specify history log and debug logging setting for the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin):
History Logging: Use the options in this group box to specify the location of the history log file and how many entries you want the log file to contain before discarding the oldest entries.
History Log File: Click the browse button to specify the location in which you want to store the history log file (ziswin.hst).
Maximum History Log Entries: Specify the maximum number of log entries that you want the history log file to contain. After the number of entries you enter in this field is reached, each new entry causes the oldest entry to be discarded.
Debug Logging: The debug log file, ziswin.log, is located in the system temp directory if the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent is run in service mode. The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent runs, by default, in service mode during each Windows boot process when the workstation is started. When you run the ziswin.exe executable file, by default, the agent is started in interactive mode and ziswin.log is located in the interactive user's user temp directory.
Single Log File: Enables debug logging and specifies that the current debug log file be overwritten during each boot process.
Multiple Log Files: Enables debug logging and specifies that a new debug log file will be created during each boot process. Each new log file will be given a unique name (ziswinx.log, where x represents a number that identifies each log file). Although these log files are small, you may want to periodically delete older files that you no longer need.
Click the Restore Mask tab in the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent Options dialog box, then use this tab to prevent restoration of certain image-safe data components to the workstation when the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin) restores image-safe data.
To prevent image-safe data from being restored to the workstation, check the box next to the desired component.
If the check box is enabled (a check mark displays next to an item), that information will not be restored to the workstation from the image-safe data.
If the check box is not enabled (a check mark does not display next to an item), that information will be restored to the workstation from the image-safe data.
Click the Collection Mask tab in the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent Options dialog box, then use this tab to prevent certain items from being overwritten in the image-safe data store when the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin) collects data from Windows.
To prevent image-safe data from being overwritten, check the box next to the desired component.
If the check box is enabled (a check mark displays next to an item), that information will not be written to the workstation's image-safe data. Any corresponding existing image-safe data will not be overwritten.
If the check box is not enabled (a check mark does not display next to an item), that information will be collected from the workstation and stored with the workstation's image-safe data. Any corresponding existing image-safe data will be overwritten.
Click OK.
Open the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) in interactive mode.
Click View > View History.
From the ZENworks Imaging Agent History dialog box, you can view the image-safe data's history, load a history file from another location, clear the workstation's image-safe data history, and view a specific history entry's details, including the image-safe data that was loaded during bootup and saved during shutdown. To view a specific history entry's data, select the entry in the ZENworks Imaging Agent History dialog box, then click Details.
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin) runs in service mode when no parameters are given on the command line. This will always be the mode when the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent is run automatically by Windows during the boot process (because of the registry entries made during the installation mode install process.) When it is in service mode, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent reads the registry to determine if it should be disabled or inactive. If the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent is not disabled and not inactive, it will read the image-safe data to determine whether to run in restoration or collection submode. If the Just-Imaged flag in the image-safe data is set, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent runs in the restoration submode. If the Just-Imaged flag in the image-safe data is not set, or if image-safe data does not exist on the machine, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent runs in collection submode.
The following sections contain more information:
To run the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent in the disabled submode of service mode, edit the workstation's HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NOVELL\ZENWORKS\ZISWIN Disabled registry setting.
When this string value is set to 1, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent exits without doing any work.
You can set a registry value to cause the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent to consider itself inactivated for a certain number of executions.
To run the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent in the inactive submode of service mode, edit the workstation's HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NOVELL\ZENWORKS\ZISWIN Inactive setting. You can set this value at anything greater than zero.
When the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent runs in service mode and determines that this registry value is set, the agent decrements the inactive count by one and then exits. When the inactive count reaches zero, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent reactivates itself and performs its normal collection or restoration work.
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent gathers Windows registry information necessary to populate the image-safe data store and writes that information to an area on the workstation's hard disk that is safe from reimaging. In so doing, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent will not collect information for any image-safe data components that are specified in the Do Not Collect entry in the registry. This functionality provides a means for administrators to prevent certain components in the image-safe data store from being overwritten with new data.
You can also edit the edit the workstation's HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NOVELL\ZENWORKS\ZISWIN Do Not Collect Mask to specify which components you do not want the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent to collect inside of the image-safe data store. This value is interpreted as a mask (as seen in the table below), with each component receiving one bit in the mask. To stop the collection of one item, specify its corresponding mask as the value in the registry. To stop the collection of multiple items, add the masks together and the sum is the value defined in the registry.
You can use the following values for the ZISWIN Do Not Collect Mask:
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent reads the information stored in the image-safe data store and restores that information into the Windows registry.
You can also edit the workstation's HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NOVELL\ZENWORKS\ZISWIN Do Not Restore Mask to specify image-safe data components that you do not want the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent to restore to the Windows registry upon successful completion of an image. This value is interpreted as a mask (as seen in the table below), with each component receiving one bit in the mask. To stop the restoration of one item, specify its corresponding mask as the value in the registry. To stop the restoration of multiple items, add the masks together and the sum is the value defined in the registry.
You can use the following values for the ZISWIN Do Not Restore Mask:
Following are common scenarios and example usages of the ZISWIN Do Not Restore Mask:
Windows Domain Environment: The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent does not currently add workstations to the domain. However, you can use SYSPREP to add the workstation to the domain. In this scenario, you can specify that the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent restore everything but the Workgroup. To do this, set the value of this registry key to 0x00000008.
DHCP Environment: Administrators who push IP and DNS configuration through DHCP do not need the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent to restore this information from image-safe data store. To not restore these two components, the value of this registry key is 0x00000110.
SYSPREP Naming Environment: Administrators can have a process (running during the mini-setup that SYSPREP performs) that names the NetBios name of the computer. Because the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent runs after SYSPREP, there could be a case where the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent is renaming the workstation (to its original name) after the proper name was determined during the SYSPREP routine. To have the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent not restore the NetBios name of a workstation, set the value of this registry key to 0x00000004.
If your environment has all three of the above mentioned configurations, add the four components' mask values. The resulting registry value is 0x0000011C.
If your environment needs only the Workstation Object, Workstation ID, and Workstation Tree to be restored after imaging, you would add up all the other components' mask values. The resulting registry value would be 0x0000013C.
If your environment does not need anything restored by the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent, the registry value can be set to 0xFFFFFFFF.
NOTE: You can use the registry REG_SZ value in HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NOVELL\ZENWORKS\ZISWIN Prevent Reboot=1 to prevent the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent from causing the workstation to reboot after performing work in Restoration mode.
To install the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent so that it runs automatically each time Windows starts, follow the instructions in Setting Up Workstations for Imaging.
To run the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent in installation mode, entering the following on the workstation's command line:
ziswin -install
The ziswin.exe file must be located in the workstation's windows\system32 directory for Windows 2000/XP workstations. For Windows 98 workstations, ziswin.exe must be located in the workstation's windows\system directory.
When you run ziswin.exe with the -install switch, the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent creates the registry entries necessary for it to run automatically during subsequent boot cycles of the workstation. This switch adds the String Value System with a Value Data of ZISWIN.EXE to the registry location so that ziswin.exe will execute during subsequent bootup sequences. On Windows 2000/XP workstations, this location is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS NT\CURRENTVERSION\WINLOGON. On Windows 98 workstations, this location is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENT VERSION\RUN SERVICES.
The ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent (ziswin.exe) is uninstalled if you uninstall the ZENworks Desktop Management Imaging Agent from the workstation.
If you want to uninstall only the ZENworks Imaging Windows Agent, you can run ziswin -remove from the workstation's command line. Running ziswin -remove removes the registry entries that cause ziswin.exe to be executed during the boot cycle; however, the ziswin.exe file is not removed from the workstation.