29.7 Setting Up Devices for Imaging

The following sections cover procedures to prepare devices for imaging. The procedures that are applicable to you depend on your imaging deployment strategy. For more information, see Section 29.3.2, Deploying Preboot Services In a Network Environment.

If you are using Preboot Services (PXE) as your imaging method, you need to enable PXE on the device. For more information, see Section 29.2.1, Using Preboot Services (PXE).

If you are using a ZENworks partition as your imaging method, you need to create the partition on the device. For more information, see Creating a ZENworks Partition.

If your cloned virtual or physical machine does not boot up properly, you must disable the use of persistent device names for networks and storages for CODE 10 products. For more information, see Section 29.7.3, Disabling Persistent Device Names.

The following sections contain additional information:

29.7.1 Device Requirements

This section gives the requirements for using a network-connected device.

It is possible (but usually not as convenient) to image a device without connecting to the network. Such operations can’t be fully automated.

The following are the requirements for the device:

Table 29-7 Device Requirements

Device Must Have

Because

A supported Ethernet card

The device must connect with the imaging server to store or retrieve the images. This connection is made when the device is under the control of the ZENworks Imaging Engine. Therefore, make sure the device has a supported Ethernet card. For more information, see Supported Ethernet Cards.

Free disk space for a ZENworks partition (optional)

Unless you are using PXE, unattended operations require a ZENworks partition to be installed on the device hard disk, so that the ZENworks Imaging Engine can gain control when booting. The default partition size is 150 MB, and the minimum partition size is 50 MB. This partition is not required if you are performing manual imaging operations using bootable CDs, DVDs, or diskettes. Partition size can be in megabytes of disk space.

Standard hardware architecture

NEC* PC98 architecture is not supported.

PXE enabled

If you are using Preboot Services, PXE must be enabled in the BIOS. For more information, see Section 29.2.1, Using Preboot Services (PXE).

Supported imaging partition type

The only supported partition types for imaging are the ReiserFS, Ext2, and Ext3 file systems.

NOTE:ZENworks Linux Management imaging does not support devices running boot managers, such as System Commander. Boot managers create their own information in the MBR and overwrite the ZENworks boot system, which prevents the device from communicating with the imaging server. If you are using boot managers in your environment, you should disable or remove them before performing imaging operations.

29.7.2 Enabling a Device for Imaging Operations

Use one of the following methods to enable a device for auto-imaging operations:

Using PXE

You can set up a device to be automatically imaged from Preboot bundles by enabling PXE on the device.

For more information, see Section 29.6.1, Enabling PXE on a PXE-Capable Device.

Using a ZENworks Partition

If you cannot enable PXE on the device, you can use a partition to perform unattended imaging operations.

For more information, see Creating a ZENworks Partition.

Using a CD or DVD

If you cannot use the PXE or ZENworks partition methods to automate imaging of your devices, you can manually image a device using an imaging CD or DVD.

For information, see Section 30.1.3, Setting Up Disconnected Imaging Operations.

29.7.3 Disabling Persistent Device Names

If you try to boot a cloned virtual machine or a physical machine, the following problems might occur:

  • Unable to find file systems

  • The network is not up

  • Change in the network device names

To fix these issues, you must disable the persistent device names for network and storage before cloning the devices.

Disabling the Persistent Network Device Names

Review the following sections to understand how to disable the persistent network device names for SLES 10, SLED 10, SLES 9, and NLD:

Disabling the Persistent Network Device Names for SLES 10 / SLED 10
  1. Reset the udev configuration for the network devices by executing the following command:

    cat < /dev/null > /etc/udev/rules.d/30-net_persistent_names.rules command.

  2. Rename the Ethernet configuration files to initialize the Ethernet devices on boot.

    1. Go to /etc/sysconfig/network.

    2. Find the ifcfg-eth file for each Ethernet device. In the filename, the trailing identifier for an Ethernet device represents the MAC address for the device.

      For example, in the ifcfg-eth-id-00:AA:BB:11:22:33 file, the trailing identifier, AA:BB:22:33, is the MAC address for the device.

    3. Rename the file to ifcfg-ethX, where X represents the number of Ethernet devices on the system. For example, the name for the configuration eth0 is ifcfg-eth0.

  3. In the /etc/sysconfig/network/config file, change the value of FORCE_PERSISTENT_NAMES to No.

  4. Reboot the device.

Disabling the Persistent Network Device Names for SLES 9 / NLD

You must rename the Ethernet configuration file to initialize the Ethernet devices on boot.

  1. Go to /etc/sysconfig/network.

  2. Find the ifcfg-eth file for each Ethernet device. In the filename, the trailing identifier for an Ethernet device represents the MAC address for the device.

    For example,

    In the ifcfg-eth-id-00:AA:BB:11:22:33 file, the trailing identifier, AA:BB:22:33, is the MAC address for the device.
    
  3. Rename the file to ifcfg-ethX, where X represents the number of Ethernet devices on the system. For example, the name for the configuration eth0 is ifcfg-eth0.

Disabling the Persistent Storage Device Names

To disable the persistent storage device names for SLES9/SLES10/SLED9/SLED10:

  1. Search for the /dev/disk/by-* references in the boot loader configuration file /boot/grub/menu.lst and the file system table /etc/fstab.

  2. Store the mapping of /dev/disk/by-* symlinks to their targets in a scratch file: ls -l /dev/disk/by-* > /tmp/scratchpad.txt.

  3. Remove storage-specific entries, such as SAN or iSCSI volumes, that are not local to the system.

  4. In /boot//grub/menu.lst and/etc/fstab files, replace the /dev/disk/by-* entries from the scratch file with the device names the symlinks point to.

  5. Reboot the device.