Microsoft RIS & GUID/UUID issue

[Sbryan]

We have our RIS server configured, and we've RIPrep'd an image up to it, but just having one problem when we deploy it.

The only stage we're unfamiliar with is either pre-staging Active directory for the builds to avoid the identical GUID/UUID issue appearing on our network (which i understand is not something we want happening), or.. ignoring the RIS error message about identical GUID's and then cleaning them up in Active Directory afterwards (which RIS says you can do).

I cannot locate any info at all on what the process for that would be and DELL are proving to be next to useless.

Are there any kind souls here familiar with RIS and how to resolve this?

tia

Shane

[RogueSpear]

GUIDS or UUIDS (depending on who is speaking) are supposed to be unique to every computer in the world. But like MAC addresses and Social Security numbers in the USA, little glitches in the system can arrise. At one work site I have 5 identical Toshiba laptops that are quite old now. They were put out when the whole GUID thing was still pretty new. I applied a BIOS update to all of those laptops and ever since have been living with a rather big mistake on the part of Toshiba. They hardcoded the GUID into the BIOS update, therefor all 5 have the same GUID.

To get around this situation is easy, but a pain. RIS a laptop and then after the install is finished, go into Active Directory Users and Computers and change the GUID in the computer object to the MAC address preceeded with twenty numerical zeros (0).

Here's a second scenario. Sometimes the GUID for a computer is not readily available until you boot the computer and go through the RIS menus, where you will see it on the final screen before setup starts. In that case, a computer account was created in your AD under the Computers container. What you can do is write down the GUID, delete the computer account from AD, then go to Active Directory Sites and Services and force replication between domain controllers. Then create your new computer object in the OU of your choice, select the checkbox for "This is a managed computer", and enter in the GUID.

Lastly, if a computer does not have a GUID at all, you can make one by doing what I described above - enter in twenty zeros and then the MAC address.

[Sbryan]

thanks Rogue Spear, i'll give those great tips a shot ASAP. that is excellent, thank you very much.

i found an article that mentioned you could 'pre-stage' the pc you are RIS'ing by adding the computer to Active Directory first with the computers GUID and making it managed etc etc

however, after RIS'ing that pc it still picked up the GUID from the image being deployed to it, and then when i checked that computers AD object it had updated with the incorrect one.

this is frustrating because every RIS doco/article i found before attempting this, and even the official MS KB article mentions nothing about having to perform some sort of sysprep to strip unique system info from the pc you plan to create the RIS image from. at the end there's a small mention of the GUID but it doesn't really link to any other articles to explain itself in more detail.

even if i change the GUID for the imaged PC in Active Directory to and then check the pc using the cmd "wmic csproduct get UUID" it still shows the incorrect one so AD doesn't seem to be able to update the computers SMBIOS with the info i'm telling it to.

oh these are DELL pc's as well. there's nowhere to find the GUID before attempting to RIS the pc, but even then it only tells you the incorrect one that it's attempting to give to it, this is where it says "an identical GUID exists on the network" and it gives you the option of proceeding but cleaning it up in AD afterwards.

this is what im trying to find out how to do, clean it up afterwards

[Sbryan]

anyone got any advice on this?

that is, cleaning up Active Directory after RIS'ing a PC with an identical GUID?