Not able to reach WDS Server to capture image

[MrEclipseguy]

Hi all,

 

I've been trying to get my WDS server up and running for some time now, and have had some success. I was able to load WDS in native mode as I had not had any previous imaging tools in use on the server ie. RIS... I worked through getting the boot and capture images loaded and working, also got a master image built and syspreped. I was then able to capture it up to the WDS server, again after the learning curve in my head.. Everything was great, then I got some new desktop hardware. Went from a Dell Optiplex 745 to a 755. When I tried to throw an image on it the same one I used for the 745's it came back and said the nic driver was not compatible. So I figured I needed to inject the driver to the boot and capture image. I have now successfully done that through WinPE, but when I go to capture the image, I select to put it straight to the WDS server and it sits there trying to connect for several minutes then comes back and tells me it can't. I'm a small shop, so I can afford the time to mess with things, but It's getting frustrating that I cannot get this thing working smoothly. Thanks in advance for any assistance that can be offered

[anyweb]

good info, does the dell optiplex 745 still work using the process you have set up already ? ie: is the problem only affecting your new hardware ?

[MrEclipseguy]

good info, does the dell optiplex 745 still work using the process you have set up already ? ie: is the problem only affecting your new hardware ?

 

Unfortunately I do not have any 745's to test this with. Every one I have is out on the floor and I'm now getting the 755's.

 

I have however done some more playing and now have a new issue besides the issue of getting to the server. I've built the master machine and sysprepped it. When I go into PXE I now cannot select a volume to capture. Read that if this occurs that I may need to re-run the sysprep. When I try this I now get an error that the grace period has expired and it will not be reset. Although it looks like the sysprep goes on and completes I never get notification that it has. If a reboot back into windows I do get the reseal, and am able to run through that and all is good. However if I can't get it up to the server I have no way of imaging other machines.

 

Could I have a corrupt deploy.cab file (Pulled directly from the XP CD that came with the 755's?

If I try re-running sysprep on the same built machine it always comes back that the grace period has expired, why?

 

I also noticed that during the sysprep setup that there is one area "Time Zone" that if clicked on says it cannot change the settings there, and when I click "ok" it boots me out of sysprep and I have to start the setup over. This is happening when I am setting up the configuration settings before I choose Mini-setup and select Factory.

 

I've removed all of my boot images and redone them I now have a boot.wim from the Vista DVD, and it has been injected with the drivers from the desll website for the 755. After creating that I was able to create a capture file as well. I'm assuming that the drivers have been applied as the file size for both has gone from 319MB to 328MB.

 

Also when I go into the cmd prompt within PXE, an ipconfig /all returns nothing as does a ping to the WDS server.

 

Where in the process am I losing my network connectivity?

How am I making the connection and seeing the server during PXE boot if I really don't have a connection to it?

[anyweb]

hi Mike

 

i will setup a wds server today and see if i can figure out where you are going wrong, please be patient as I set it up

 

cheers

anyweb

[MrEclipseguy]

hi Mike

 

i will setup a wds server today and see if i can figure out where you are going wrong, please be patient as I set it up

 

cheers

anyweb

 

Any,

 

Thanks for the assistance. Just to give a little more feedback. I have updated the BIOS on the Dell from A08 to A09 Dell support said that there were numerous NIC updates within the new BIOS. I have gotten past the sysprep issue of the grace period, and the selection for the volume by instead running minisetup and reseal instead of selecting factory during the sysprep. Now I'm able to select a volume to capture Although not sure why the issues with one vs. the other???? I'm past it. Tried to capture the image after all the changes and updates and still am unable to get to the server. I've gotten reassurance that the driver that I have injected into the boot.wim is the correct driver R162323 or E1e5132.inf

 

On another note. I'm getting an IP address when I PXE boot and do the F12 shuffle prior to getting into the capture mode.

 

I'm just stumped at this point.

[anyweb]

hi Mike

 

I wonder could this be related to your issue > http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPo...2&SiteID=17

 

We solved the issue by placing a simple switch in between the station and the cisco switch to bypass the spanning tree portfast issue.

[MrEclipseguy]

hi Mike

 

I wonder could this be related to your issue > http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPo...2&SiteID=17

 

No luck.

 

I did find however that I was using the wrong boot.wim file and only had a boot index of 1. My understanding is that you need a boot index of 2 in order for the drivers to be used that were injected since it uses the second pass if you will for booting. Still a no go after getting the right boot.wim though.

[anyweb]

ok you are obviously not injecting the network drivers properly

 

do you have a link to a howto somewhere that you followed ?

[MrEclipseguy]

ok you are obviously not injecting the network drivers properly

 

do you have a link to a howto somewhere that you followed ?

 

Don't have a link, but these are the steps I've taken to inject a driver.

 

Add additional network card drivers to boot.wim

 

3. Update the WDS boot image to include the new third-party network driver. To do this, follow these steps.

 

Note The following procedure assumes that the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) is installed on the WDS server. If the Windows AIK is not installed on the WDS server, you can perform the same procedure on another computer that does have the Windows AIK installed. Then, map a network drive to the WDS server.

a. On the WDS server, click Start, click Run, type wdsmgmt.msc, and then press OK.

b. Under your WDS server, double-click Boot images.

c. Right-click the boot image that you want, and then click Disable.

d. Right-click the same boot image, click Properties, and then click General.

e. Note the name and location of the boot image that is displayed in the File name box.

f. At a command prompt, type the following:

C:\program files\windows aik\tools\petools\copype.cmd x86 c:\windowspe-x86

Note Keep this command prompt window open for the next step.

Imagex /info Drive:\remoteinstall\boot\x86\images\boot.wim

Notes

• Drive:\remoteinstall represents the path at which the Remoteinstall folder is installed.

• Boot.wim is the name of the boot image.

 

g. Note the boot index number of the bootable image that is displayed. To identify the boot index number, locate the line that contains "boot index: X."

 

Note X is the boot index number. The number indicates that image number X is marked as bootable and that the image is to be updated. The second image is the default image that you would typically modify. However, always verify which image is marked as bootable.

h. At a command prompt, type the following:

Imagex /mountrw Drive:\remoteinstall\boot\x86\images\boot.wim 2 mount

peimg /inf=path to inf file\driver.inf mount\Windows

imagex /unmount /commit mount

Notes

• Drive:\remoteinstall represents the path at which the Remoteinstall folder is installed.

• Driver.inf is the name of the third-party driver.

Path to inf file is the location of the inf file

• The Imagex /mountrw command mounts the specified image, with read/write permissions, to the specified directory.

 

 

4. Enable the boot image on the WDS server. To do this, follow these steps:

a. On the WDS server, click Start, click Run, type wdsmgmt.msc, and then click OK.

b. Under WDS server, double-click Boot images.

c. Right-click the boot image that you want, and then click Enable.

 

 

 

 

If the above method produces errors follow this method instead.

 

Create a new folder at the root of the C: drive. Call it WinPE

 

:\>MD C:\WinPE

 

Disable the Boot.wim from the WDS server console

 

Using Copype.cmd form the WAIK, extract the WinPE tools to a folder on C:

 

:\>”C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\copype.cmd x86” C:\Windowspe-x86

 

This command extracts the WinPE tools to a folder on the C: drive and updates the PATH variable to include the necessary tools. Leave this CMD windows open for use during the process

 

Using imagex.exe mount the boot.wim file from the WDS server to the C:\WinPE folder

 

:\>imagex /mountrw drive:\remoteinstall\boot\x86\images\boot.wim 2 C:\WinPE

(My Example: imagex /mountrw J:\remoteinstall\boot\x86\images\boot-(2).wim 1 c:\winpe\mount)

 

This command will mount the boot.wim file to the C:\WinPE folder in Read/Write [rw] mode for editing. Be sure to disable the boot.wim file from the WDS console before running this command. The 2 represents the second pass of the boot process. This is where driver files are injected.

 

Using peimg.exe inject the .inf driver files into the mounted boot.wim image file

 

:\>peimg /inf=”Path to inf files\driver.inf” /image=C:\WinPE

(My example: peimg /inf=c:\dell\drivers\r162313\win2k_xp\b57win32.inf c:\winpe\mount)

 

This command will inject the driver files into the boot.wim image. Substitute Path to inf files for your path and driver.inf for the actual name of the driver file. Include the “” only if your path contains spaces.

 

Example: :\>peimg /inf=C:\Driver Files\e1000325.inf” /C:\WinPE

 

Finally, unmount and save your boot.wim file using this command

 

:\>imagex /unmount /commit c:\WinPE\mount

 

Create a new Capture.wim file based on the updated boot.wim following the same directions detailed above. This will ensure that the drivers are available in both Capture and Boot images

 

 

I've gotten drivers injected succesfully, or so I think. At least it completes successfully, and unmounts as if it was done right. I need to try a few more drivers, but in talking to Dell the E1e5132.inf file from the R162323 driver file on their site is the correct one. I have the entire guide I've used if you want me to email that to you.

[anyweb]

hi Mike

 

i've tested capturing an XP pro sp2 image using WDS and in the process completely re-read (and slightly edited) the WDS capture guide I wrote.

 

It successfully captures the image and stores it on my WDS server, I can then PXE boot the client back to the server and I can see the windows PE menu with options that are as follows:-

 

WDS - Windows XP/Vista Deployment

Windows Vista/XP WDS capture

Windows Vista/XP WDS deploy

 

 

if i then choose to deploy the image it will list the XP image I captured earlier,

 

is this where your's fails, if not please specify...

 

cheers

anyweb

[MrEclipseguy]

hi Mike

 

i've tested capturing an XP pro sp2 image using WDS and in the process completely re-read (and slightly edited) the WDS capture guide I wrote.

 

It successfully captures the image and stores it on my WDS server, I can then PXE boot the client back to the server and I can see the windows PE menu with options that are as follows:-

if i then choose to deploy the image it will list the XP image I captured earlier,

 

is this where your's fails, if not please specify...

 

cheers

anyweb

 

Mine fails to reach the server when I've PXE booted and selected to capture the image from a sysprepped machine. I am able to choose a volume to capture, I throw in the image name and description and at the next page choose a location to save the image locally, in my case C:\temp\Optiplex.wim, then I tick the box to put the image up to the WDS server and throw in the WDS server name and hit connect and it sits there for about 3 or 4 minutes then comes up with the error that it cannot make the connection to the WDS server.

 

If I hit Shift F10 and do a ipconfig /all it returns no IP address. If I ping the WDS server it fails

 

When I PXE boot it does show that it is assigning an IP address. I see the NIC is talking whether I'm plugged straight in or throgh a switch.

 

I've walked through my entire setup and config of the WDS server. In the past I was able to get an Optiplex 745 imaged up and was able to make contact with the WDS server. I do have a 745 that I can test with to see if that even works still. I think what I'll do is see if I can image one up based on the config I currently have, and if I can do that then that will let me know that it is something to do with the 755's, most likely the NIC. Will let you know how it turns out.

 

In the mean time if you have any suggestions let me know.

 

............................Fast Forward.........................

 

I plugged in a 745 I had sitting around and sysprepped it then PXE booted and was able to make contact with the WDS server and am in the process of imaging it up to the server. So, that leads me to believe the issue lies with the 755 either driver or other issue. Has anyone else had any success with a Dell Optiplex 755 and WDS imaging?