Tài liệu Hardware Neutral Imaging with ImageX: The Ghost Killer pdf

We will visit: • File-based versus Sector-based Imaging • The WIM Image Format • Creating Multiple OS installations within a Single WIM Image • Image Injection on the fly • Creating Imag

Hardware Neutral

Imaging with ImageX:

The Ghost Killer

Expert Reference Series of White Papers

One of the toughest jobs facing Information Technology (IT) professionals is creating, managing, and maintain-ing the many Images that are required in our enterprise Networks Each hardware platform requires a separate image due to the confines of the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) which governs each hardware type The cost of imaging has been described by Network Managers as the “single most expensive task that is per-formed on a regular basis by Administrators” (Center for Internet Computing) to keep their networks up and running Also, keep in mind that every change to the image requires a complete rebuild to keep it viable What if I told you that your problems, overhead, cost of implementation, and headaches were a thing of the past? If you are like me, you would be jumping up and down, heaving a sigh of relief Well, I am proud to announce the day has arrived Microsoft has delivered the goods with ImageX, an exiting utility for creating and managing your images

In this discussion, I will delve into the topics that will result in your success and, ultimately, lower the total cost

of ownership of your implementations of Vista

We will visit:

• File-based versus Sector-based Imaging

• The WIM Image Format

• Creating Multiple OS installations within a Single WIM Image

• Image Injection on the fly

• Creating Images with ImageX

• Applying and Deploying Vista Images

• Hardware Neutrality with ImageX

Microsoft Delivers the Goods

Over the years, Microsoft has given the IT administrative community many new toys that have promised to make our lives and our jobs easier and more efficient However, these new toys were far removed from the imaging technology of the times We have heard, over the years, that the Microsoft imaging process would eventually be streamlined and fully automated It never failed, however, that we were left with a lot to be desired after these new products were finally introduced Microsoft has “Hit a Home Run” with the introduc-tion of software for automated answer file creaintroduc-tion, software for remote installaintroduc-tion services, software to generalize our images and a host of other applications But none of them have truly moved us closer to the day when we could abandon ghost with its sub-$10.00 per machine license fee that Symantec requires That is

Timothy H Euler, Global Knowledge Instructor, MCSE NT4.0, MCSE WIN2K, MCSE 2003, Sec+, Net+, Server+, CCNA, CCNP

Hardware Neutral Imaging with

ImageX: The Ghost Killer

until now; Microsoft has “Delivered the Goods” with its introduction of Vista and the ImageX imaging tool ImageX is a file-based imaging tool that allows for the preservation of data that already occupies your drives Because you are simply copying files to your drives, you can, at any time, add additional files within the image and preserve the foundation of the image The sector-based “ghost”-type images are highly invasive and will erase every bit of data that resides on the drive This has been a nuisance that we were forced to live with because the ghost-type, sector-based images were the only imaging technology going Ghost images are writ-ten sector-by-sector to the disk drive similar to the application of a file system through the format command This sector-by-sector write is also the sole reason that the ghost image must be placed on a drive that has identical or very similar characteristics to the drive on which the ghost Image was created File-based images have no requirements on the drive or partition size As long as the files can fit on the drive, then, so be it The ImageX utility creates and manages WIM Images (Windows Image, Image Format), which are the folder-based images of the future WIM provides the administrator with several key advantages over the traditional sector-based imaging of the past Yes, I did say the past First of all, WIM Images, as I mentioned previously, are hardware neutral For that reason, we can distribute them to different platforms with different hardware abstraction layers This is a huge benefit over sector-based images, which natively require the identical hard-ware Abstraction Layer to be in place on the machine to be imaged The WIM Vista scenario may require a total of two different possible platforms within Vista, those of 32-bit and bit platforms However, if your 64-bit machines can operate in 32-64-bit mode, then you really only need a single image until you are ready to move into the 64-bit world When you finally change platforms, then you can do away with the 32-bit image and create a single 64-bit image to meet the requirements of your enterprise The WIM Image format also allows for some serious compression of the images for faster deployment scenarios and reduced image size scenarios Combine that with single file instancing, which allows files that are to be duplicated through multiple operat-ing systems (OSs) to be deployed one time for all OS files to use This will also keep your images smaller and more efficient

Imagine deploying multiple OSs within a single image! Well, we can with the file format of the WIM image We can easily add additional folders containing files that represent all types of operating system files We can then configure which one lives on the active partition, and off we go, deploying a single instance of a WIM image with multiple OSs to meet our needs This same image can then be taken off line, mounted with ImageX,

edit-ed offline by adding new features or software to the base image All of this can be done with out re-compiling the image after we are finished We can add new service packs with ease, new hot fixes, OS configurations, and software all by simply adding new file and folder structures to the WIM Image with ImageX over a

Windows PE environment This image injection feature alone is responsible for slashing the cost of imaging by 80% Never again will you have to create a new image when management decides that all desktops need to have a piece of software added Simply mount the image, add the folder, and un-mount the image This task is simple and can be completed in no time

Ease of Use?

This all sounds great, but we must need an advanced degree to figure it out, right? Well, no, ImageX is a sim-ple to use command line tool that allows us to create, modify, and manage our images easily This tool is an absolute genius at what it does, so you don’t have to be ImageX can easily be scripted and automated with very little effort Just create your scripts, batch files, and the like, and let ImageX do its job ImageX can be run from the command prompt or through the Windows PE environment that ships with the Windows Automated Installation Kit

The ImageX core features let you capture a volume to a WIM file and apply a WIM file to a volume For exam-ple, the command to capture an image is nothing more than imagex /capture C: image.wim "Name" The command to apply an image to a volume is simply imagex /apply Image.wim 1, where 1 tells ImageX to apply the image from the file image.wim that has the index number 1

Of course, ImageX includes numerous commands for maintaining images and using them in creative ways Table 1 provides an overview of these commands

Table 1 Overview of ImageX Command-Line Options

Deploying the image is just as easy as creating the image As a matter of fact, installing Windows Vista, whether doing an in-place upgrade or a complete wipe-and-load, is a new, completely image-based process By compari-son to previous Microsoft operating systems, Windows Vista ships exclusively in the WIM image format

/append Appends a volume image into an existing WIM file

/apply Applies a volume image to the specified drive

/capture Captures a volume image into a new WIM file

/commit Commits the changes made to a mounted WIM

/compress Sets compression type to none, fast, or maximum

/config Uses the specified file to set advanced options

/delete Deletes an image from a WIM file with multiple images

/dir Displays a list of files and folders within a volume image

/export Transfers an image from one WIM file to another WIM file

/info Returns the store's XML descriptions for the specified WIM

/ref Sets WIM references for an apply operation

/scroll Scrolls output for redirection

/split Splits an existing WIM file into multiple read-only WIM parts

/verify Verifies duplicate and extracted files

/mountess Mounts an image, with read-only access, to the specified directory

/mountrw Mounts an image, with read-write access, to the specified directory

/unmount Unmounts the image mounted to the specified director

/? Returns valid command-line parameters for ImageX

Also of interest is the fact that the Vista “in-place” upgrade process works better than it did with its predeces-sor Windows XP Microsoft has abandoned the previous upgrade technology for a process that is better

described as a clean installation with the migration of user settings, documents, and applications from an older version of Windows The Vista “in-place” upgrade process is better described as a wipe-and-reload

Microsoft has provided a comprehensive set of tools for us to deploy Windows Vista Table 2 describes the main utilities used to create, manage, and distribute or deploy Microsoft Vista

Table 2 The Mail Utilities Used To Create, Manage, and Distribute or Deploy Windows Vista

Windows System Image

Manager (Windows SIM)

The tool that enables you to create answer files (Unattend.xml) and network shares or to modify the files contained in a configuration set You use Windows SIM on the technician computer, and then transfer your Unattend.xml file to the master computer before creating your installation image

answer file A text file that scripts the answers for a series of graphical user interface

(GUI) dialog boxes The answer file for Windows Setup is commonly called Unattend.xml You can create and modify this answer file by using Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) or the CPI APIs

catalog A catalog (.clg) is a binary file that contains the state of the settings and

packages in a Windows image

Windows Preinstallation

Environment (Windows PE)

A minimal 32-bit operating system with limited services, built on the Windows Vista kernel PE is used only in the preinstallation and deploy-ment of Windows

ImageX A command-line tool that captures, modifies, and applies installation

images for deployment in a manufacturing or corporate environment Windows Setup The program that installs the Windows operating system

System Preparation Tool

(Sysprep)

Sysprep facilitates image creation and prepares an image for deployment

to multiple destination computers

Windows Image A single compressed file containing a collection of files and folders that

duplicate a Windows installation on a disk volume

Windows Vista is built and distributed as a single image with the new WinWindows imaging (.wim) file format The wim file format can contain multiple images, enabling you to package several custom installations into one file Windows Vista is released as a multiple SKU image

You can enhance a Windows Vista image by using the desktop-engineering tools that Microsoft provides, such

as the Windows Automated Installation Kit, Windows System Image Manager, Windows PE, and ImageX for selection and addition of device drivers, software, and optional components, such as languages The following steps describe how to use the tools to deploy a Windows Vista disk image:

• Install the image on a test computer, add applications (e.g., Microsoft Office or a Line of Business Application), and then save the image to the network

• Deploy the image to the user by using tools that Microsoft provides, such as RIS technology with the Windows Distribution Services add-on You can completely automate the installation by using the Windows System Image Manager, the new scripting and answer file capabilities in Windows Vista .If you are upgrading a computer from an earlier version of Windows to Vista, then the setup program will migrate the users' documents, settings, and applications without prompting the user for input

Conclusion

Over the years, new exiting software products have been introduced from applications, utilities, operating sys-tems and protocols Each has its own place within the IT world However, few have answered the real

problems that Image Specialists have encountered in the past ImageX is a major break through that will make our jobs easier, decrease the cost of ownership within our image management, and will revolutionize image creation as we know it Regardless of your hardware platform, ImageX is for you Image creation is simple, image management is straightforward, and, most importantly, the cost reduction is real Microsoft has truly delivered the goods with Windows Vista, Longhorn, and ImageX

Learn More

Learn more about how you can improve productivity, enhance efficiency, and sharpen your competitive edge Check out the following Global Knowledge courses:

Migrating to Windows Vista

Implementing and Maintaining Windows Vista

For more information or to register, visit www.globalknowledge.comor call 1-800-COURSESto speak with a sales representative

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About the Author

Timothy H Euler is the Chief Information Officer for I.T Data Solutions based in Maryland He has 12 years of Advanced Networking experience, both in the Microsoft OS line and Cisco He is also an Instructor for Global Knowledge teaching in the Microsoft OS curriculum His certifications include MCSE NT4.0, MCSE WIN2K, MCSE 2003, Sec+, Net+, Server+, CCNA, CCNP