The following sections cover procedures to configure ZfD imaging services. The procedures that are applicable to you depend on your imaging deployment strategy. (See Imaging Deployment Strategies.)
If a Windows workstation hasn't been registered as a Workstation object in NDS and you boot that workstation from an imaging device in auto-imaging mode, the imaging server is contacted and checks its Imaging Server Policy in NDS to determine which image to lay down on the workstation. If the base image specified by the policy is the same as the base image currently on the workstation (as reported by the imaging engine), the imaging server doesn't send any new images to lay down on the workstation, unless a flag is set in the policy to force down the base image again. If such a flag is set, or if the base image currently on the workstation is different than the base image specified by the policy, the imaging server sends down the new base image and any add-on images specified by the policy, and the imaging engine lays these images down on the workstation. In addition, if the imaging engine reports to the imaging server that data is missing from the workstation's image-safe area, the imaging server obtains the missing data from the Imaging Server Policy and sends it to the imaging engine, which then saves the data to the image-safe area. To define the Imaging Server Policy for one or more imaging servers: Prepare the various workstation images that the policy can prescribe. For details, see Preparing Images in Workstation Imaging in Administration. If a Server Package hasn't already been created to hold the policies for the target imaging servers, create one as instructed in Creating the Policy Packages. Right-click the Server Package > click Properties. Enable the Imaging Server policy > click Properties. Click Add > define the conditions under which the target imaging servers should send down a particular image > click OK. For details on how to perform this task, click Help in the New Image Selection Rule dialog box. Repeat the previous step as needed to provide rules that will cover all the workstations serviced by the target imaging servers. (Optional) If you want the imaging server to force down the base image determined by this policy even if it's the same as the base image currently on the workstation, select the check box on the bottom of the page. WARNING: Use this option with care, as laying down a base image destroys all data that was added to the workstation since the last base image was laid down. In most scenarios, you'll want to use this option only temporarily while a specific workstation is being imaged and not generally for all workstations, unless this policy is designed for a lab environment where you want the workstations to be reimaged every time they reboot. If you select this option only as a temporary measure, be sure to deselect it once the specific imaging task is done.
On the Image-safe Data tab, fill in the IP Configuration and Windows Networking pages. These pages supply image-safe data values that might be missing on the workstations that are serviced by the target imaging servers. For details on these pages, click Help. Click OK to save the policy. On the Associations page, add the containers and/or server objects that represent the target set of imaging servers. Click OK to save the association. Remember that the policy won't actually be consulted by the associated imaging servers unless the client requesting the imaging operation is an unregistered workstation that has been booted in auto-imaging mode. Most of the rules that comprise an Imaging Server Policy are in force only when the imaging server is servicing a request to auto-image a workstation. Such rules aren't in force when the imaging server is servicing a manual (command-line) imaging request. However, the following two rules in the Imaging Server Policy are always in force, no matter whether the imaging server is servicing an automatic or manual imaging request:
To define these general behaviors for one or more imaging servers: If a Server Package hasn't already been created to hold the policies for the target imaging servers, create one as instructed in Creating the Policy Packages. Right-click the Server Package > click Properties. Enable the Imaging Server policy > click Properties. Fill in the items on the Security tab. For how to do this, click Help. Click OK to save the policy. On the Associations page, add the containers and/or server objects that represent the target set of imaging servers. Click OK to save the association. Remember that these aspects of the server policy are always in force. If a Windows workstation has been registered as a Workstation object in NDS and you boot that workstation from an imaging device in auto-imaging mode, the imaging server is contacted and checks the Workstation object in NDS to see if the administrator has flagged it to receive an image. If so and the administrator hasn't specified which image to use, the imaging server consults the Workstation Imaging Policy associated with the Workstation object to determine which image to send down. To define the Workstation Imaging Policy for one or more workstations: Prepare the various workstation images that the policy can prescribe. For details, see Preparing Images in Workstation Imaging in Administration. If a Workstation Package hasn't already been created to hold the policies for the target workstations, create one as instructed in Creating the Policy Packages. Right-click the Workstation Package > click Properties. Enable the Workstation Imaging policy > click Properties. Click Add > define the conditions under which the imaging server should send down a particular image > click OK. For details on how to perform this task, click Help in the New Image Selection Rule dialog box. Repeat the previous step as needed to provide rules that will cover all the target workstations. Click OK to save the policy. On the Associations page, add the container, Workstation Group, or Workstation objects that represent the target set of workstations. Click OK to save the association. Remember that the policy won't actually be consulted by the imaging server unless you (or another administrator) flags a Workstation object to receive an image on the next boot. Disconnected imaging operations are inherently manual in the sense that they don't involve the network and thus can't be automated through NDS. To perform a disconnected imaging operation on a computer, you must have a storage device to hold the image that will be created or laid down, and that storage device must be locally accessible to the imaging engine (in Linux) when you boot the computer from the imaging device. The following sections explain how to set up and perform disconnected operations using different storage devices:
Because a CD is read-only, you can only use it as the storage medium for an image that will be laid down, not for an image that will be created. The steps to lay down an image from a CD depend on whether the CD is the bootable imaging CD or some other (non-bootable) CD. To lay down an image from the imaging boot CD: Use your CD-burning software to put the source image on the imaging boot CD. See Preparing a Bootable CD for details. Boot the target computer from the CD and type manual at the boot prompt. If the computer fails to boot, see Can't Boot a Workstation from the Imaging CD in Workstation Imaging in Troubleshooting. At the Linux prompt, type img d to view the available partitions. Note the partition number of the imaging CD. To lay down the image, use a command of the following format: img rlpartition /path/image.zmg where partition is the partition number of the imaging CD and path and image are the image path and filename from the root of the CD. When the imaging is done, remove the CD and do the following to boot the computer with the new image: For details on other related img command parameters, see Imaging Engine (img Command) in Imaging Utilities and Options in Workstation Imaging in Administration. To lay down an image from another (non-bootable) CD: Use your CD-burning software to burn the source image onto a CD. Boot the target computer from a ZfD imaging device and type manual at the boot prompt. Insert the second diskette if you are prompted for it. Insert the CD that contains the source image. At the Linux prompt, type cdrom.s to mount the CD. This mounts the CD to /mnt/cdrom. To lay down the image, use a command of the following format: img rl /mnt/cdrom/path/image.zmg where path and image are the path and filename of the image relative to the root of the CD. When the imaging is done, remove the imaging device (if applicable) and do the following to boot the computer with the new image: For details on other related command parameters, see Imaging Engine (img Command) in Imaging Utilities and Options in Workstation Imaging in Administration. When you boot a computer from a ZfD imaging device, you can create an image on, or lay down and image from, any primary FAT16 or FAT32 partition on an IDE or SCSI hard drive or Iomega* Jaz* drive. You can also use the local ZfD imaging (Linux) partition if one is installed. In all cases of creating an image, the target partition must have sufficient space. When you create an image, the partition in which you will store the image is itself excluded from the image. When you lay down an image, the source partition will not itself be altered. To create an image on a hard disk or Jaz drive: Boot the source computer from a ZfD imaging device and type manual at the boot prompt. Insert the second diskette if you are prompted for it. At the Linux prompt, type img d to view the available partitions. Note the number of the FAT partition where you'll store the new image. To create the new image, use a command of the following format: img ml[partition] /path/image.zmg where partition is the number of the partition to store the image in, and path and image are the path and filename of the new image relative to the partition root. If you omit the partition number, the local ZfD imaging (Linux) partition is used. For details on other related img command parameters, see Imaging Engine (img Command) in Imaging Utilities and Options in Workstation Imaging in Administration. To lay down an image from a hard disk or Jaz drive: Boot the target computer from a ZfD imaging device and type manual at the boot prompt. Insert the second diskette if you are prompted for it. At the Linux prompt, type img d to view the available partitions. Note the number of the FAT partition where the source image is stored. To lay down the image, use a command of the following format: img rl[partition] /path/image.zmg where partition is the number of the partition where the source image is stored, and path and image are the image path and filename relative to the partition root. If you omit the partition number, the local ZfD imaging (Linux) partition is used. When the imaging is done, remove the imaging device (if applicable) and do the following to boot the computer with the new image: For details on other related img command parameters, see Imaging Engine (img Command) in Imaging Utilities and Options in Workstation Imaging in Administration.Defining an Imaging Policy for Unregistered Workstations
Defining General Imaging Server Behavior
Defining an Imaging Policy for Registered Workstations
Setting Up Disconnected Imaging Operations
Using a CD
Using a Hard Disk or Jaz Drive