[WDS Task Sequencer questions]

Hello all,

I had some requests for my script, i will post it here so it's findable for others who might also be intrested.

ZTI_Diskpart:

I renamed the ZTI Diskpart to a descriptive name. Let's say ZTIDiskaprt_Citrix.wsf. This will become the diskpart script that will only be used for Citrix servers.

I made a new diskpart file with all the diskpart commands:

select disk 0
clean
create partition primary align=16065 SIZE=20000
assign letter=c
active
create partition extended
create partition logical size=42000
assign letter=d
create partition logical size=5500
assign letter=p
exit

The primary align section works around some errors i had when formatting disks from WindowsPE. The subsequent deployments would not boot to setup and report that no operating system was found. Creating a 16MB offset fixes this. ????

Next up is the ZTIDiskpart script itself.

First change the diskpart file it uses:

sDiskPartFile = oUtility.ScriptDir & "\Citrix_disks.txt"

You will find this piece of code at the top of the script.

Next is the formatting:

	'//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	'//  Format the disk
	'//----------------------------------------------------------------------------


	oLogging.CreateEntry "About to run quick format: C:.", LogTypeInfo

       iRetVal = oShell.Run("FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS /V:Win2K3_System_Root /Q /Y", 0, true)
	If iRetVal <> Success then
                oLogging.CreateEntry "ERROR - Quick format returned a non-zero return code, rc = " & iRetVal, LogTypeError
		ZTIProcess = iRetVal
		EXIT FUNCTION
	Else
		oLogging.CreateEntry "Format completed successfully.", LogTypeInfo
	End if


	oLogging.CreateEntry "About to run quick format: D:.", LogTypeInfo

       iRetVal = oShell.Run("FORMAT D: /FS:NTFS /V:Data_Storage /Q /Y", 0, true)
	If iRetVal <> Success then
                oLogging.CreateEntry "ERROR - Quick format returned a non-zero return code, rc = " & iRetVal, LogTypeError
		ZTIProcess = iRetVal
		EXIT FUNCTION
	Else
		oLogging.CreateEntry "Format completed successfully.", LogTypeInfo
	End if

	oLogging.CreateEntry "About to run quick format: P:.", LogTypeInfo

       iRetVal = oShell.Run("FORMAT p: /FS:FAT32 /V:PAGEFILE /Q /Y", 0, true)
	If iRetVal <> Success then
                oLogging.CreateEntry "ERROR - Quick format returned a non-zero return code, rc = " & iRetVal, LogTypeError
		ZTIProcess = iRetVal
		EXIT FUNCTION
	Else
		oLogging.CreateEntry "Format completed successfully.", LogTypeInfo
	End if

I just copied the first line three times and put in the values i wanted, this seems to work fine.

Copy the script to the Scripts directory in the Distribution$ share.

Now you can modify the build to use %scriptroot%\ZTIDiskpart_Citrix.wsf this will instruct the tasksequencer to use the modified script.

This should format your harddisk with three partitions, the right filesystem and sizes. My biggest fear was breaking the tasksequencer because it comes in very handy for multiple changes to a deployment. This way i can still use it and have my own formatting and image applied.

I said it wasn't pretty but it works.

Regards,

Pants

[Using PE to install Windows Server x64 - Part2]

What i have done to create our X64 images is to install a reference system, sysprep it and then capture it using the imagex tool.

Now it can be deployed using the BDD2007 X64 Pe disk. Works really well. Only the task sequencer is a bit of a pain in the a**.

[ImageX Access denied?]

Installed a new machine and this one works like a charm.

Must be a isolated incident.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

Regards,

Pants

[BDD 2007]

I think you need to use the litetouch PE image and deploy the install to a machine.

After this you run BDD in capture mode to capture the WIM file from the machine.

After this you load it up in WDS, when loaded in WDS you can add the WDS images in BDD under the builds header.

When loaded in WDS it can be deployed. You can choose to use BDD for deploying your images trough the Task sequencer. Or you can associate a unattended file with you WDS image and just manually imagex it to the drive.

[WDS Task Sequencer questions]

After some trial and error i found some answers.

%scriptroot% represents the z:\scripts folder which is a network drive mapped to \\servername\distribution$\scripts

What i did is, i copied the ZTIdiskpart script and screwed around in it till it formatted the 3 drives, if anybody is intrested i'll post my additions to it.

I also mutilated the LTIapply script to apply my 3 images to the partitions, this also works now.

Now my deployment goed as follows:

Winpe boots up

Enter credentials

Enter servername

Pick image

Using the task sequencer i:

Partition and format 3 drives

Apply the images to the drives.

Reboot

Use Sysprep.inf for the minisetup.

After the first reboot task sequencer:

Configures the services

Deletes the pagefile on the C drive.

Creates a pagefile on the p: drive.

Reboots again:

After this it says that setup completed with no errors.

It's still a little rough around the edges but this way i can deploy a fully installed citrix server in about 20 to 30 minutes. Not bad

If anybody has some good ideas about improving this, please let me know.

Regards,

Pants

[WDS Task Sequencer questions]

Hello,

I've been working with BDD2007 and WDS for a few weeks now and i have a couple of questions regarding the task sequencer.

First: How can i use my own diskpart script or change the one supplied by MS? My scripting skills are sorely lacking and i find that the scripts are not really descriptive in explaining how to modify them.

I want to import my own diskpart script because i need 3 partition for our server, if i put in my own CMD script the tasksequencer will hang post-install because it can't find stuff. I have searched google for the ZTIdiskpart script and the consensus is to let BDD do the formatting or else the post-install scripts will hang.

When the task sequencer is running it will use the %scriptroot% variable, is this a network drive corresponding to the scripts Directory in the distribution share? ( it uses Q:\ AFAIK )

How does the control directory work when creating builds and is it possible to put my build specific scripts in here instead of the scripts directory?

I am sorry if i sound like a noob but i haven't found a diagram explaining how everything works together. I dont't find the BDD process very transparant and have trouble understanding what's called when and from where.

I found it easier to just drop to a command line and do all the stuff from there instead of using the wizards. ( map drive, capture image, Diskpart and format the disk )

However the computername prompting is very nice and i have some scripts that need to run post-install so the task-sequencer is very handy only i don't grok it yet.

Kind regards,

Pants

[ImageX Access denied?]

I think it's the windows file protection directory.

I really don't want to mess with it if i don't have to

[ImageX Access denied?]

I could give that a try, except i would like it to just work.

Will the DLLCACHE be rebuilt, i haven't found a satisfactory answer about that.

Regards,

Pants

[ImageX Access denied?]

Ok,here goes.

Install windows XP sp2 with all applications and hotfixes.

Sysprep & reseal.

Reboot to PXE.

Start up the Litetouch WinPE2.0.

From the wizard exit to command prompt.

Map a network drive to our WDS server.

from this network drive i run.

imagex /capture c: z:\winxpSP2.wim

It then goes off verifying the files and it hangs at the DLLCACHE directory at some DLL. If i run the command again it hangs at different file in the DLLCACHE folder.

I can't really figure if there is something wrong with these files or something else is happening that triggers this error.

I have succesfully used this method to capture Win2K3 Servers.

Is this detailed enough? I'm more than happy to supply more information.

Kind regards,

Pants

[ImageX Access denied?]

Hello,

I am using the new WDS for a few weeks now and i must say it's a great step forward from RIS but i'm having a weird problem capturing images.

I have a Windows XP SP2 installation which is completely rebuilt from the ground up with all the latestes software and service packs, when i want to capture it ImageX goes trough it's verifying process and hangs at the DLLCACHE\something.dll saying it's got a access denied.

Now the weird part is everytime it's a different file in this folder.

I've tried searching for a answer but i can't find any info on this.

Maybe unrelated but it's almost the same symptom:

I have a WDS test server on a completely isolated network that gave a similair error on the .NET framework assemblies.

Access denied on system.enterprise or somesuch. It's the version 2.0 of the file. If i look at the file is seems fine and has no weird permissions or anything.

This is on a Windows 2003 R2 X64 machine.

If anyone has any info on this i would be very much obliged.

Regards,

Pants