Advanced Hardware Independent
Imaging for Absolute Manage
May 2015
IMPORTANT If you have access to this document, you must have completed an Absolute
Professional Services (PS) engagement for Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute®
Manage by Absolute Software, which provided you with support for the initial installation,
configuration, and set up of Advanced Imaging.
Disk imaging on Windows devices is a challenge for organizations that have desktop and laptop
models from various vendors, which each need different hardware drivers and operating system
configurations. Different departments that use a mix of these devices will need different
configurations and applications. Often, organizations attempt to resolve this challenge by building a
disk image for each computer model per department. Unfortunately, doing so adds more complexity in
the areas of maintenance and updating of these disk images.
The Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging service solves this disk imaging challenge for
organizations by providing a process to create a hardware independent image. Advanced Imaging is an
operating system disk image that you can distribute to any PC hardware model from any vendor. This
capability allows an organization to have one disk image instead of many. The Advanced Imaging
integration with Absolute Manage software distribution can then dynamically build machines based on
organizational attributes, such as department.
The Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging service is delivered as an Absolute Professional
Services (PS) engagement that supports customers to implement and customize this service. The PS
engagement provides a comprehensive imaging solution, integrating open-source and readily available
Microsoft technologies with Absolute Manage for Windows devices. Advanced Hardware
Independent Imaging is both flexible and customizable to fit an organization’s Windows disk imaging
needs.
The Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging engagement from Absolute Professional Services
assists with the initial planning and provides IT environmental recommendations for the best results.
The engagement also includes designing and testing the mutually agreed upon architectural and
technical requirements, and assisting with the core server build, installation, and configuration for a
production-ready, best practice solution.
This document provides information on the following topics:
• Audience
•
•
•
Minimum system requirements
About Advanced Imaging
Installing Advanced Imaging
•
Configuring and setting up Advanced Imaging
•
Setting up the reference image
•
Reimaging a client device
•
Syncing remote Images Share servers
•
Migrating user data from the previous OS with USMT
•
Tracking reimaging operations
•
Using Advanced Imaging without PXE
•
Using WDS with UEFI
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
•
Understanding the Images share folder structure
•
Working with advanced configuration options
•
Troubleshooting Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging
•
Contacting Global Support
•
Copyright information
Audience
Advanced Imaging (AI) requires an understanding of Absolute Manage and PC imaging methods.
Absolute System Engineering staff evaluate your designated participants to determine which type of
PS engagement best suits your organization depending on your personnel’s proficiency with Absolute
Manage and their breadth of knowledge related to disk imaging.
This document is intended for Absolute Manage Administrators and other IT professionals who have
completed one of the Absolute Professional Services (PS) hardware independent imaging
engagements.
Minimum system requirements
The components for the Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging service and Advanced Imaging
application need the following minimum system requirements:
• The Absolute Manage PXE server and Advanced Imaging components must be installed on
Windows 2008 R2 or higher.
• The Absolute Manage PXE server cannot be installed on your DHCP server.
• For reimaging UEFI-only computers that do not support legacy BIOS mode, Microsoft’s WDS
must be substituted for the Absolute Manage PXE server. A PXE boot image in WIM format is
provided for WDS.
• A functional Absolute Manage installation with software distribution configured.
• If the computers you want to reimage reside on a different subnet than the PXE server itself,
IP helpers must be added based on your networking configuration. Alternatively you can edit
DHCP scope options to redirect clients to the PXE server.
• Volume license key for any Windows desktop operating system that Advanced Imaging is
configured to register.
Advanced Imaging supports image creation and deployment of Enterprise/Professional versions of
Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. Older versions of Windows OS or consumer versions are not supported. Thirdparty OEM versions of OS installation media are not supported either. A 64-bit processor on the
endpoint is a requirement, regardless of OS architecture.
Advanced Imaging supports the ability to capture images of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 64-bit and
Windows 7 32-bit. All images, regardless of OS architecture, must be deployed to a computer with 64bit hardware. For example, deploying an image of Windows 7 32-bit to a PC with a 32-bit Atom
processor will fail.
NOTE Currently Windows 8 and 8.1 32-bit are not supported.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
About Advanced Imaging
Advanced Imaging provides a Windows disk imaging methodology that uses proven, off-the-shelf
technologies to create and deploy hardware-independent Windows disk images. Components of
Advanced Imaging include:
• PXELinux, which is both well documented and easily customized
• Microsoft Windows Imaging (WIM) file format, which maintains compatibility with other
imaging solutions and maximizes disk image compression.
• Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) version 5.0 (64-bit)
• User State Migration Tool (USMT) for large-scale automatic deployments, which is a
command line utility program that is well documented and supported by Microsoft
Advanced Imaging is built on an open architecture of BAT, VB, and HTA (HTML application) scripts that
are configured to provide default functionality. Absolute Professional Services will provide assistance
with further customization to fit an organization’s specific requirements.
This section provides information on the following topics:
• Prerequisites
• Advanced Imaging Process
Prerequisites
You must have the following items in place before you proceed:
• Absolute System Engineering staff will evaluate your personnel who are responsible for disk
imaging in your organization to understand their depth of disk imaging and hardware
independent imaging knowledge to determine which engagement term best suits your
organization.
There are two distinct PS engagement terms that are prerequisites for using hardware
independent imaging:
○ Users with comprehensive disk imaging knowledge and advanced experience with
Absolute Manage are recommended for a two-day engagement.
○ Users with limited disk imaging and/or limited Absolute Manage knowledge are
recommended for a four-day engagement.
Your personnel must successfully complete the PS Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging
commitment.
•
•
You must have the required minimum system requirements in place.
You must own Absolute Manage because Advanced Imaging works with this product.
Advanced Imaging Process
There are two distinct phases that occur when a client device boots from the network and the
workflow presented next describes each one.
Phase 1 Imaging Process starts when a client device boots with PXE/USB or receives an Image
command from Absolute Manage, and Phase 2 Post-Imaging starts after the image operation
completes and the client device reboots.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
Phase 1
Imaging Process
A device boots with PXE/
USB or receives an Image
command from Absolute
Manage.
An option is
selected from the
customizable PXE
menu and you can
configure a
password.
Yes
PXE boot?
No
WinPE imaging
environment loads
and checks for
imaging work to
do.
No work
to do
The WinPE Imaging
menu loads and shows
the Capture or Restore
an Image option.
Capture
A description is
entered for the
image and the
image is captured
to the Images
Share server.
Work to do
Restore
If they exist, the
computer name,
attributes, and
user migration file
are preserved.
The hard drive is
formatted and the
assigned image is
restored.
The computer
name, attributes,
and image are
chosen using the
dialog.
The driver pack for
this device model
is added to the
image.
The current
Absolute Manage
agent is added to
the image.
The image
operation is
complete now and
the device reboots
to start Phase 2.
Phase 2
Post-Imaging
The device
reboots from
Phase 1 and
begins to sysprep.
Sysprep installs
the drivers added
from Phase 1 and
reboots the device.
The Absolute
Manage Agent
initializes and runs
a software check
Software assigned
to this device type
is installed.
The Absolute
Manage Agent
from Phase 1 is
installed.
The device is joined to
the domain and placed
in the assigned
computer’s OU.
The device reboots and
remains at the login
prompt, ready for a user
to login and begin using
the device.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
Installing Advanced Imaging
The initial installation of Advanced Imaging is provided for you under your PS engagement. However,
you may need to know this procedure in the future and you can always engage Absolute PS when
needed.
Advanced Imaging potentially has the following four major components:
• the Absolute Manage PXE server
• an Images share where the disk images and driver packs reside
• an Advanced Imaging update, if available
IMPORTANT A master Images share must reside on the PXE server, however you can set up
additional local Images shares at remote locations that have slower WAN connections. During the
reimaging process you can force a client device to connect to a local Images share closer to it instead
of the one on the PXE server.
This section provides information on the following tasks:
• Installing the Absolute Manage PXE server
• Configuring your DHCP server for PXE support across subnets
• Installing the Advanced Imaging server
Installing the Absolute Manage PXE server
Installing the Absolute Manage PXE server adds a service named Absolute Manage – PXE Server that
acts as both a DHCP proxy and a TFTP server. Because of this, the Absolute Manage PXE server
software cannot be installed on the DHCP server. Also, the PXE server cannot be installed on a
system with any kind of virtualization software present because the virtual networking components
can conflict with the PXE server, preventing it from correctly serving network-booted clients.
By default, the PXE server adds an exception for itself in the Windows firewall. If a third-party firewall
is installed on the PXE server, you need to add an exception for the Absolute Manage – PXE Server
service.
To install the Absolute Manage PXE server:
1. Run the setup.exe file.
2. When prompted, specify the location of the winpe.wim file.
3. When the installation completes, PXE boot a test device to verify its functionality.
IMPORTANT You can install the Absolute Manage PXE server on any computer except for the
DHCP server.
NOTE The Absolute Manage PXE server only supports devices that use legacy BIOS. For devices that
only support UEFI, you must install and configure the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) role.
Booting from USB works for both legacy BIOS and UEFI devices. For more information, see “Using
WDS with UEFI” on page 25.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
Configuring your DHCP server for PXE support
across subnets
Advanced Imaging uses the PXE protocol to network-boot Windows devices to take a source disk
image of a reference system and for bare-metal imaging devices.
IMPORTANT If the devices you want to reimage are on the same network segment as the PXE
server, you don’t have to set these scope options.
For your PXE server to serve clients on different subnets, you may need to set up IP helpers to point
to your PXE server.
Another alternative is to configure the DHCP server to allow devices on different subnets (other than
the PXE server) to network-boot, by setting these scope options on your DHCP server. The Boot File
Name below is specific to the Absolute Manage PXE server.
To set scope options on your DHCP server:
1. 066 Boot Server Host Name*
Set this value to the IP address of the PXE server.
NOTE DNS and WINS names are not supported.
2. 067 Bootfile Name*
Set this value to pxelinux.0.
* These scope options may show under different names on non-Windows DHCP servers; they may be labelled as
next-server or tftp-server-name and bootfile-name or filename.
Installing the Advanced Imaging server
The Advanced Imaging server is a Windows SMB share that you can host on any Windows 2008 R2 or
higher computer with sufficient hard disk space and network bandwidth. Although you can install
secondary copies of the Images share on additional systems other than the Absolute Manage PXE
server, a primary copy must always reside on the PXE server itself.
To install the Advanced Imaging MSI:
1. Run the Advanced Imaging <x.x.x>.msi file.
The Advanced Imaging installer performs the following post-installation actions:
a) Automatically creates a user named imageac.
b) The install location is shared out under the Images share name.
c) The imageac user is assigned read and write permissions.
d) The local Administrators group is assigned Full Control on both share and NTFS
permissions.
2. Run the Advanced Imaging Update <x.x.x>.msi if provided.
3. Verify connectivity by using either a local or domain admin account to remotely access the
Images share over the network.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
This installation procedure can be performed on remote devices for each site. This installation will
create a local Images share so that devices for that remote site will perform the image operations
locally, rather than across the WAN.
Configuring and setting up Advanced Imaging
Advanced Imaging is flexible and customizable to meet the needs of our customers’ organizations.
This section describes the required and optional settings needed to complete the configuration of
Advanced Imaging.
This section provides information about the following topics:
• Configuring Advanced Imaging
• Creating a driver pack for specific computer models
• Building and uploading the driver pack
• Importing imaging command templates and custom info fields
• Deploying the post-imaging cleanup script
Configuring Advanced Imaging
You must configure Advanced Imaging first because many of the settings in the other tasks that follow
in this section affect the state of your reference disk image.
To configure Advanced Imaging:
1. Run the Configure Advanced Imaging utility in one of the following ways:
• Click the Windows Start menu > Advanced Imaging > Configure Advanced Imaging.
• Directly from c:\Advanced Imaging\AIConfig.exe.
NOTE Items marked with a red asterisk (*) require that you run the PrepTool wizard again on
the reference VM and take a new disk image, which changes some of the files embedded on
the reference VM.
2. This step is optional.
Click the Computer Names tab, which is valid only when PXE/USB booting new devices.
Devices can be provided with a computer name based on MAC addresses or Serial Numbers.
For each line, enter the MAC Address, Serial Number, and Computer Name.
The imaging process searches this list and upon finding a match with the MAC Address or
Serial Number, the Computer Name you provide is assigned to the device. For more
information, click , which is found at the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
You can edit this list either inline or by clicking Open in Notepad.
When you’re done, click Save.
NOTE If the device was imaged previously with Advanced Imaging, the Computer Name
field is prepopulated with the device name used for the last imaging operation.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
3. This step is optional.
Click the Locations & Departments tab, which is where you edit locations and departments
for the lists that you can open on the Windows PE IMAGE RESTORE MENU.
You can assign Locations and Departments attributes to devices, which are retained by the
imaging process. The Absolute Manage Agent leverages the values for these attributes, which
are used to determine what additional software or configurations are performed, in the postimaging process.
When you edit this list, do not alter the sections in brackets. The values shown in this list are
also shown on the Windows PE IMAGE RESTORE MENU. For more information, click .
You can edit this list either inline or by clicking Open in Notepad.
When you’re done, click Save.
NOTE The Configure Advanced Imaging utility normally removes spaces in the OU path to
avoid syntax errors that can prevent the reimaged computer from joining Active Directory
correctly. If your AD OU names contain spaces, disable this feature by adding the following
registry setting:
HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Absolute Software\Advanced Imaging\AllowSpacesInOUPath
The data for the value does not matter; the value simply has to exist.
4. If you are joining devices to an Active Directory Domain, you must perform this step.
Click the OUs tab to edit OU paths of the list that you can open on the Windows PE IMAGE
RESTORE MENU.
As devices are joined to an Active Directory Domain, you need to define a default OU path.
For some organizations, computer device objects may reside in several OU paths. The list
represents the valid computer OU paths for an organization and the values shown in this list
are shown on the Windows PE IMAGE RESTORE MENU. For more information, click .
You can edit this list either inline or by clicking Open in Notepad.
When you’re done, click Save.
5. If more than one Images Share server exists, you must perform this step.
The imaging process searches this list to determine which Images Share server is local. The
first entry in each line shows the first three octets of the subnet on which the targetted device
is connected, followed by the IP Address of the local Images Share server for that given
subnet.
Click the Server List tab to edit the list of secondary Images servers from which devices can
pull disk images and driver packs based on their IP addresses. For more information, click .
You can edit this list either inline or by clicking Open in Notepad.
When you’re done, click Save.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
6. This step is optional.
When an organization needs to enforce a customized desktop background for their devices,
this tab provides the integration options.
Click the Backgrounds tab to set or edit desktop wallpaper and login background for the
devices.
a) In the Set desktop wallpaper area, you have the following options:
• Enforce custom wallpaper: select to use on user’s profile with BgInfo. Any changes
to desktop wallpaper is for the current session only.
Click Change Walllpaper to specify a custom wallpaper to enforce.
NOTE For more information about BgInfo, see https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/
library/bb897557.aspx.
•
Embed info in wallpaper: Open the list and select one of the following options:
○ None – don’t embed hostname in the upper right corner of the wallpaper.
○
○
Default – embed hostname in the upper right corner of the wallpaper.
Custom – use your own custom .bgi configuration file.
Click Upload BGI File to specify your custom .bgi configuration file.
b) For Windows 7 only, in the Set login background area:
• Enable Custom login background to set the custom background for the CTRL-ALTDELETE screen.
• Click Change Background to specify a custom CTRL-ALT-DELETE background.
7. This step is required after the reference image is captured, which is described in “Setting up
the reference image” on page 14.
Click the Disk Images tab to show available disk images including Image Description, Image
File Name, Image Content Size, and Image Size for all currently available images.
For each version of OS, a default image must be activated. This activated image is the
assigned image when you use the Image to <OS> -local command template in Absolute
Manage.
You can take the following actions, which update the images list:
a) Refresh List – click to check for new disk images and update the WIM image list.
b) Activate Image – click to copy selected image and rename it to basewin7, basewin7x86,
or basewin8 to work with the imaging command templates.
c) Rename Image – click to choose the disk image you want to rename.
d) Delete Image – on the background Disk Images tab, highlight the Image File Name and
copy it to the clipboard.
Click Delete Image and on the Remove Image dialog paste the file name into the empty
field and click OK to permanently delete the disk image from the Images share. This step
is intentionally difficult.
8. Click the Wrap-up tab.
The post-image operations finish with a script called wrapup.bat. This section configures two
post-image options for joining a device to the domain and activating Windows.
NOTE Although joining a domain and activating Windows are optional, you must export the
wrapup.bat file (described a bit later in step c).
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
You can set the following options:
a) In the Edit wrapup.bat area, set the options that apply to your organization:
• Enable Join the computer to domain using the following credentials to join the
device to the Active Directory (AD) domain. Existing devices are placed in the same
location in AD as they were before. New devices are placed in the OU path chosen on
the IMAGE RESTORE MENU.
To add a new device to the default container, which is usually the Computers
container, on the IMAGE RESTORE MENU at the OU path select none.
•
•
•
•
Domain – enter the domain credentials for joining the computer to AD. We
recommend you create a domain account specifically for this purpose and delegate
access permissions for this task.
Username – type the user account name from the above domain for joining the
device to AD.
Password – type the password associated with the user account name you entered.
Confirm – type the password again to confirm.
b) In the Activate Windows area, you can set the following options:
• Enable Activate Windows to register and activate Windows.
• Windows 7 Serial Number – Enter the Windows 7 serial number you want to use
when registering and activating Windows.
• Windows 8 Serial Number – Enter the Windows 8 serial number you want to use
when registering and activating Windows.
c) Click Copy Files to Desktop to copy wrapup.bat and removeletter.bat to the wrapup
folder on the desktop. You need to create a software distribution metapackage and
subpackage for these scripts. An importable metapackage definition is provided.
9. Click the Miscellaneous tab, which is where you provide configuration options for various
other image operations, all of which are shown next.
IMPORTANT All settings are optional except step c, which is required for the Absolute
Manage Agent.
a)
In the Manage partition settings area, set the following options:
• Enter the Size of 2nd partition (in GB) in dual partition configuration.
You can increase the size for very large disk images and driver packs. Basic Windows
7 images are about 3 GB, whereas basic Windows 8.1 images are about 4 GB in size.
If there are apps that you want to reinstall from a local source using custom fields, it
could make sense to include them on this second partition.
•
•
Select Create Microsoft Reserved Partition for UEFI-based computers to create a
128 MB Microsoft reserved partition in case an application needs it.
Click Save Settings to update this configuration.
b) In the Set Windows PE password area, you can set the following options:
• Select Require password to capture and restore image if you want to restrict
access to the Windows PE imaging environment. This option is intended for use with
third-party PXE servers, other than the Absolute Manage PXE server, which may not
support password authentication.
• Enter a password and confirm it.
• Click Save Password.
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Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging for Absolute Manage
c)
In the Upload agent area, you must export a customized Absolute Manage Agent
configured to point to your Absolute Manage Server from the Agent Deployment Center.
For more information, see the section titled “Installing Absolute Manage Agent using the
Agent Deployment Center” in the Absolute Manage User Guide.
• This step is required. Specify a custom Agent to install as part of the imaging process
and click Upload Agent.
NOTE If you want to customize the Agent further, run the Agent Customizer utility
on the exported Agent installation files. Download the Agent Customizer utility from
the Power Tools section of the Absolute Manage Resource Center (AMRC) at http://
amrc.absolute.com.
•
These optional items can be set:
○ Select Install agent tray app to do so as part of the reimaging process.
○ Click Configure Tray App to open the Configure Agent Tray App dialog where you
set the help desk menu label and the URL it points to for the agent tray app.
Click Save Changes.
d) In the Set access password area, set the following options.
This option enables a password for the Configure Advanced Imaging config utility itself.
It’s meant to restrict access so only the person responsible for disk imaging can make
changes to its settings.
• Enter a password that lets you access and enter it again to confirm this password.
• Click Save Password.
e) In the Miscellaneous area, set the following options:
• Clear Enable reboot to troubleshoot hardware independent imaging errors that are
not caught correctly.
Doing so lets you drop to the command line and run the Debug Util to view log files
and determine what may have gone wrong.
•
•
Select Block input during reimaging to lock the keyboard and mouse during the
Post-Imaging phase of the disk imaging process after the disk image is laid down.
Doing so prevents a user from logging in prematurely. A solid white screen with a
message is shown, thereby letting users know they can log in again after either two
reboots or on the next reboot.
Open the list for OS Language and select the language you want to set for the OS
display and keyboard language for the new installation of Windows.
Creating a driver pack for specific computer
models
Driver packs are installed to the c:\drv folder after the base image for the OS is laid down. Windows
looks in this folder for drivers for unknown devices during the plug-and-play phase. At a minimum, you
must include the driver for the Ethernet card in the driver pack.
IMPORTANT If the Ethernet card driver is not in the driver pack, the Absolute Manage Agent cannot
call in and you cannot download additional drivers for other devices when the reimaging is complete.
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The INF, DLL, and SYS driver files must be exposed for Windows plug-and-play to install the drivers
correctly after reimaging. Some hardware vendors provide driver packages for their enterprise models
in this format as an SCCM driver pack.
HP SCCM Driver Packs
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/ads/
clientmanagement/drivers-pack.html
Run the spXXXXX.exe file to extract
the contents to:
c:\swsetup\spXXXXX
Lenovo SCCM Driver
Packs
http://support.lenovo.com/en/
documents/ht074984
Run the <model-os-date>.exe file and
install the package to extract files to:
c:\DRIVERS\SCCM\<model_os_date>
Dell SCCM Driver
Packs
http://en.community.dell.com/
techcenter/enterprise-client/w/wiki/
2065.dell-command-deploy-driver-packsfor-enterprise-client-os-deployment
Use an archiving utility such as 7-zip to
extract the contents of the CAB file.
If there is no SCCM driver pack available from your hardware vendor for your device’s model, you must
download each driver individually for the model of your computer and extract the contents.
To create a driver pack when you have all drivers available:
1. On your desktop, create a temp folder and add a drv subfolder within it.
Ensure that the drv subfolder is the only folder in the temp folder. You can create the driver
pack on any computer and not just the model you want to image.
Here’s an example of the folder structure:
> ParentFolder
> Drv
> Driver 1
> Driver 2
> Driver 3
In some instances you may actually want to remove drivers for a particular architecture or OS
to reduce the size of the driver pack if you’re certain that you’ll never install that edition of
Windows on client devices.
Save this driver structure to a file server. Best practice is to name the Parent folder after the
device’s model name; for example, ThinkPadT410, LatitudeE6430, or EliteBook2540p.
2. Copy all of the drivers into the drv subfolder. These driver files should contain the appropriate
drivers for the computer model you’re building the driver pack for, and take into account the
architecture and version of Windows you’ll deploy to that computer model.
3. The hardware vendor may provide drivers in .exe installers or .zip file format.
You need to extract the contents of these files so Windows has direct access to the INF, DLL,
and SYS files that comprise the drivers.
In instances where extracting the contents of the driver installer is not possible, extract them
from Windows using a third-party driver extraction utility.
Building and uploading the driver pack
When the drivers for the computer models are extracted and placed in the folder structure described
earlier, the driver package can be built. The BuildDrvPack.exe utility, which is referenced in the next
task, is a standalone executable that you can run on any Windows device. This utility compresses the
drivers for a particular computer model into the WIM file format for use by the imaging process.
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To build and upload the driver pack:
1. Run the BuildDrvPack.exe utility from the \\Images_Share_server\Images\models folder.
2. The Model of current computer field indicates the computer model of the system on which
the utility is running and is copied automatically to the clipboard.
3. In the Name for driver pack field enter the WMI model name for the device.
• If the device running the BuildDrvPack utility is the same model, press CTRL+V to
populate the WMI information automatically.
• If the device running the BuildDrvPack utility is a different model than the drivers being
packaged, you have two options. Choose one of the following:
○ Run the BuildDrvPack.exe on a device of the same model. Make a note of the WMI
name shown and type this value into the Name for driver pack field.
○ PXE boot the device of the drivers being packaged and click RESTORE on the WinPE
IMAGE RESTORE MENU. At the bottom of the RESTORE dialog, the WMI model name for
that device shows. Make a note of this name and type this value into the Name for
driver pack field.
NOTE The device model name cannot have any spaces in it.
4. Click Select Driver Path and specify the parent folder that contains the drv subfolder into
which you placed all of your drivers.
NOTE The parent folder that contains the drv folder should not contain any extraneous files
or folders.
5. Click Build Driver Pack to save the driver pack to the desktop.
6. In the Server Address field, specify the address for the server that hosts the Images share
and click Upload Driver Pack to upload the driver pack to the models folder on the share.
If using the hostname returns an error message, try this step again using the IP address.
The Status field indicates the current status of uploading the driver pack.
Importing imaging command templates and
custom info fields
To import the Advanced Imaging command templates and custom info fields, double-click the
following items:
• Command templates
\\Images_Share_server\Images\postdeployment\Command Templates\Imaging
Command Templates.amcommands
•
Custom info fields
\\Images_Share_server\Images\postdeployment\CustomFields\customfieldsimaging.lanrevcfdef
You can use some custom fields, such as Image-Department and Image-Location, to group Agent
devices for targetting software packages and licensing specifications, whereas others, such as ImageLast Reimage Date and Image-Version provide critical information about the image currently
deployed on the device.
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Deploying the post-imaging cleanup script
To deploy the post-imaging cleanup script:
1. Double-click the \\Images_Share_server\Images\postdeployment\wrapup
metapackage\SDPackages.ampkgprops file to import it into the Server Center.
This action adds a metapackage named Imaging Wrapup Metapackage that contains a
subpackage named Imaging Wrapup Package.
2. The executable payload for the Imaging Wrapup Package is named wrapup.bat. Edit this
payload and click Select.
3. From the wrapup folder on your desktop, select the wrapup.bat script and click OK.
NOTE The wrapup folder was created when you completed the task “Configuring Advanced
Imaging” on page 7, step 8 on page 9 in particular.
4. Set the following options for the imported packages:
Table 1 Setting options for the imported packages
Imaging Wrapup
Metapackage
Imaging Wrapup
Package
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Installation user context
not applicable
System account user
After installation, restart
✓
✓
Install the software only on computers
where the software specified is present
✓
✓
Identify software by Windows File
✓
✓
✓
✓
Option
Install when:
A user is logged in (checked)
No user is logged in (unchecked)
Priority: High
Path is c:\windows\imaged.txt
5. Save your software distribution and licensing changes to the Server Center window.
6. Edit the Imaging Wrapup Metapackage and add any other subpackages that you want to
install on the client device immediately after reimaging.
Ensure that the Imaging Wrapup Package is always at the top of the packages list.
7. Assign the Imaging Wrapup Metapackage to a computer group that contains your reimaged
computers.
8. Save your changes to the Server Center again.
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Setting up the reference image
Based on completing the previous tasks, Advanced Imaging is now configured.
The section provides the tasks necessary to build the base reference Windows installation. These
tasks are separated into three distinct areas:
• Building a base reference Windows installation
• Preparing the base reference Windows installation for imaging
• Capturing the base Windows disk image
IMPORTANT Although you can do this on a physical computer, it’s much more straightforward to
use a virtual machine that PXE boots.
Building a base reference Windows installation
To build a base Windows disk image:
1. Install Windows 7 or 8.1 Pro or Enterprise from the official Microsoft media.
IMPORTANT You cannot use retail versions of Windows. Also, you cannot use OEM
Windows OS installation media that ships with a specific computer model either.
When you install Windows, configure it to install on a single partition so there is no System
Reserved partition.
a)
Boot from the Windows installation media. On the first Install Windows page, press
Shift+F10 to open a CMD prompt, where you do the following:
i) Run diskpart.
ii) Run select disk 0.
iii) Run clean.
iv) Run create partition primary.
b) Close the CMD window to return to the Install Windows page and continue with the OS
installation.
2. When asked to create a default local admin user account, do not name it admin.
Advanced Imaging uses this admin account, which is embedded in the default sysprep
answer file to auto-login and perform imaging tasks during the reimaging process. The
sysprep answer file overwrites whatever password you specify for this admin account with
abs0lute.
3. Patch the OS, depending on which version of Windows you’re working with:
• For Windows 7: At a minimum you must install the Kernel-Mode Driver Framework
version 1.11 update. This update is required to support kernel-mode drivers for some of
the latest disk drives that ship with recent computers. You can download this update from
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2685811.
Install the appropriate version, which is the one that matches the OS architecture of the
reference computer.
•
For Windows 8: This update is not needed for Windows 8 or higher, because it’s already
included as part of the OS.
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4. If there are any other apps that are mandatory across your organization’s computers, such as
antivirus software, you can install them as well.
NOTE If you’re using a VM, take a snapshot of your reference VM in case you need to reprep or update your reference VM in the future.
Preparing the base reference Windows
installation for imaging
To run the preparation wizard (PrepTool):
1. From the reference computer, connect to the \\Images_Share_server\Images\referenceprep
folder and double-click PrepTool.exe to start the Reference Computer Prep Wizard.
2. Click Prep Reference VM for Imaging.
3. On the Image Info page, enter the information for your image and click Set Image Properties
to save it.
This information is written to HKLM\System\Absolute in the reference computer registry.
You can view these values using Custom Fields in Absolute Manage.
4. On the Optional Cleanup page, check the option for the items that you want to disable and
click Clean Up Optional Items.
5. On the Add User dialog, add any default local user accounts that you’d like to have on the
reimaged devices. Click Done when you’re finished.
NOTE Remember that you cannot choose admin because that account is reserved for
internal use by Advanced Imaging.
6. On the Configure Advanced Imaging utility > Miscellaneous tab, check that an Agent
version is shown.
If no Agent version is shown, export a customized Agent and upload it so that you see an
Agent version here.
7. On the Ready to Sysprep confirmation message, click OK to begin the sysprep process.
When the process is done, the system shuts down automatically.
Capturing the base Windows disk image
After the reference VM is prepped, you’re ready to take a reference image by PXE booting it from the
network. If PXE is not available, then boot it from a USB thumb drive. Instructions on how to create
this bootable thumb drive are found in the section “Using Advanced Imaging without PXE” on
page 22.
To capture a reference disk image:
1. PXE boot the reference computer from the network or a USB thumb drive.
Press F12 at the BIOS boot screen and choose the LAN option.
Different computer models may require a different key to access the boot media selection
menu.
It may make sense for you to change the BIOS configuration to move the LAN or Network
option to the top of the boot order so you don’t have to press a shortcut key to boot from the
network.
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2. On the Absolute Software logo page, press the Insert key within five seconds of the PXE boot
to boot directly into the Windows PE imaging environment.
3. On the Absolute Manage MAIN MENU page, click the CAPTURE icon.
4. On the Absolute Mange Image Capture Description page, in the field enter a description of
your reference image and click Capture.
This description is embedded into the WIM image.
The disk image is placed at the root of the Images share and named in the following format:
<OS><architecture>_<day><date>_<time>.wim.
5. Activate this image for use as the default image as instructed in step 7 in the task
“Configuring Advanced Imaging” on page 7.
Reimaging a client device
There are two ways to reimage a client device, depending on whether or not an Absolute Manage
Agent is already present:
• For bare-metal reimaging of a new PC, PXE/USB boot the device from the network and on the
MAIN MENU click the RESTORE icon. Computers can be named manually or automatically based
on the Ethernet MAC address or on the computer’s serial number.
• To restore a disk image on an existing PC with a functional Agent installed, you can trigger the
appropriate command template on the existing computer entry. The Agent reorganizes the
Windows boot menu to boot locally from the Windows PE imaging environment to restore
the disk image.
This section provides information on the following topics:
• Bare-metal imaging a computer
• Imaging existing Absolute Manage devices
• Reimaging devices previously imaged with Advanced Imaging
• Updating the disk image and driver pack on the hidden secondary partition
• Configuring Advanced Imaging Single and Dual Partition Options
Bare-metal imaging a computer
A computer is considered bare-metal when it’s newly out-of-the-box and/or when the hard drive is
new.
To image a bare-metal computer:
1. PXE/USB boot the client device from the LAN.
2. If you’re using PXE, within the five second timeframe between the PXE screen closing and
the Absolute Software logo showing, press the Insert key to boot into the Advanced Imaging
Windows PE environment.
If you press any other key within 5 seconds, a boot menu shows where you can select
between booting to the local hard drive or the Windows PE imaging environment. If you
select the Windows PE imaging environment, you are prompted to enter the required
password.
3. On the MAIN MENU window, click the RESTORE icon.
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4. On the IMAGE RESTORE MENU window, provide the following information in the appropriate
fields:
• Select your Department: open the list and make your selection.
• Select your Location: open the list and make your selection.
• Enter your Computer Name: If the device was previously reimaged with Advanced
Imaging, this field is prepopulated with the same computer name used last time. If you
configured this name using the Computer Names tab, this field is prepopulated with the
name you entered. Otherwise, enter the name of your computer.
• Enter the OU Path: open the list and make your selection.
• Select your Image: open the list and select the disk image to restore.
• At the partition options, select whether to use a Single Partition or Dual Partitions.
For more information, see “Configuring Advanced Imaging Single and Dual Partition
Options” on page 20.
•
This step is optional. Enable the Migrate User Settings checkbox if the user state has not
already been preserved. See “Migrating user data from the previous OS with USMT” on
page 21.
NOTE This checkbox does not apply to bare-metal devices.
5. Click the large right-pointing arrow at the bottom of the page to proceed with the image
restore.
Imaging existing Absolute Manage devices
To use the Image to <OS> -local command template with existing Absolute Manage devices—that
is, devices with a current Absolute Manage Agent installed—the devices must first have the boot files
copied locally.
IMPORTANT This procedure is only necessary for pre-existing Absolute Manage devices. After a
device is imaged with Advanced Imaging, perform the task “Reimaging devices previously imaged
with Advanced Imaging” on page 19.
To image a functional Agent that has never been reimaged with Advanced Imaging:
1. Run the Set Imaging Values command template on the targetted devices to set the location,
department, and partition scheme. For more information, see “Importing imaging command
templates and custom info fields” on page 13.
2. Run the \\Images_Share_server\Images\postdeployment\setupimgfiles\setupimg.bat
script on the targetted devices with the Execute Script command under the System user
account context to copy the Windows PE imaging environment files to the targetted devices
first.
You need to edit the following line to point to the address of your PXE server:
set IMAGESERVER=192.168.123.199
If you have multiple Images shares, then add a line entry like the one shown next for each
subnet and the address of the server that hosts the share that you want devices on that
subnet to download these files from:
IF %ipfirst3octets%==10.10.10 (set IMAGESERVER=10.10.10.199)
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3. Issue the Image to Win7/7x86/8 -local command template to the targetted devices, making
sure to edit the imageserver variable to point to the server hosting the Images share.
Also set defaultimage to the name of the disk image to be restored if it’s different than the
default disk image. By default, the device retains its existing computer name.
To rename the device, replace the default name with the new computer name. If you target
multiple Agents, then newname must remain as the default.
rem set ip address in the imageserver variable
set imageserver=192.168.123.199
set defaultimage=w7x64_Thu01222015_0912PM.wim
rem change the newname variable from default to force a new computer name
set newname=default
Reimaging devices previously imaged with
Advanced Imaging
As devices are imaged with Advanced Imaging, they appear as computer objects in the Absolute
Manage Administration application. You can distinguish these newly imaged computers from older or
non-imaged computers by referencing the values in the Image Version and Image Last Date custom
fields. Computers that have not been imaged have blank values.
To reimage devices previously imaged with Advanced Imaging:
1. This step is optional. Using the Set Imaging Values command template, you can set values
to alter the build-out of the imaging process. For more information, see “Importing imaging
command templates and custom info fields” on page 13.
2. Issue the Image to Win7/7x86//8 - local command template to the targetted device, making
sure to edit the imageserver variable to point to the server that hosts the Images share.
Set the defaultimage to the name of the disk image you want to be restored if it’s different
than the default disk image. By default, the computer retains its existing computer name.
If you want to rename the computer, replace the default setting with a new computer name.
For example:
rem set ip address in the imageserver variable
set imageserver=192.168.123.199
set defaultimage=w7x64_Thu01222015_0912PM.wim
rem change the newname variable from default to force a new computer name
set newname=default
3. Verify that the disk image you specified exists on the Images share before running the
command.
Updating the disk image and driver pack on the
hidden secondary partition
This section applies to devices that are configured to use the Dual partition mode. For more
information, see “Configuring Advanced Imaging Single and Dual Partition Options” on page 20.
You can update the disk image and driver pack on the hidden secondary partition by running the
\\Images_Share_server\Images\postdeployment\updateimage\UpdateImage.exe tool using
Execute Windows File command on the client device.
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To update the disk image and driver pack on the hidden secondary partition:
1. Create a new folder on your desktop, copy the UpdateImage.exe file into it, and add the OS
disk image and driver pack WIM files you want to update on the hidden secondary partition.
2. Place any other files and folders you want to copy to the hidden secondary partition in the
same folder and create a file named files.txt in the root of the folder you just created.
Enumerate the items aside from the WIM files that you want to copy, using a single file or
folder per line and making certain there is no extraneous white space; for example:
Testfile.txt
My custom folder
3. For the Execute Windows File command, choose the following options and then run the
command:
Source – UpdateImage.exe
Transfer all files in folder containing executable – click the checkbox to show it’s
checked
Execute as – System account user
Execution method – Install and launch
Configuring Advanced Imaging Single and Dual
Partition Options
Advanced Imaging supports two modes of imaging operations: Single and Dual.
By default, devices are configured in the Single partition mode. The Single mode relies on the
connection to the Image Server Share. During the imaging process, the local hard drive is completely
formatted, and the disk image, driver pack and migration file (if available) are stored and retrieved from
the Images Share server across the LAN.
For devices that are configured as Single, the custom information Image Dual Partitions field in
Absolute Manage will have the value of NO. To set one or more devices to Single partition mode, use
the Set Imaging Values command template and change the value of Dual to NO.
NOTE Using the Set Imaging Values command template only sets the values. This template does
not re-image the device.
You can also configure devices to the Dual mode. The Dual mode stores the image, driver pack, and
user migration file (if available) in a hidden partition on the local hard drive of the device. When a
device is first configured for Dual mode, the imaging process formats the complete hard drive, creates
the hidden partition, and copies the image, driver pack, and user migration file (if available) from the
Images Share server to this local partition. The remainder of the drive is then used as the target for the
imaging process.
If a device was previously imaged using the Dual mode, the next re-image command uses the image
stored on the local hidden partition. The hidden partition is detected and preserved, and the remainder
of the hard drive is formatted.
NOTE The image process checks the date stamp on the Images Share server image and compares
with the local copy of the image file. If the Images Share server image file is newer, the image
process will first copy the new image file and then proceed with the image process.
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For devices that are configured as Dual, the custom Image Dual Partitions information field in
Absolute Manage has the value of YES. To set one or more devices to Dual partition mode, use the
command template of Set Imaging Values and change the value of Dual to YES.
NOTE Using the Set Imaging Values command template only sets the values; this template does
not re-image the device.
Syncing remote Images Share servers
Using PXE is optional, however when the PXE server is installed, you must also install the Advanced
Imaging server on the same PXE server.
The imaging support files and share must exist on the PXE server, however, you do not have to store
the actual captured image files there. You can capture and store the image files on a different
Advanced Imaging server, but you must use the Configure Advanced Imaging utility (AIconfig.exe)
to redirect to this other server. For more information, see step 5 of the task “Configuring Advanced
Imaging” on page 7.
Whenever you make any changes to the master Images share, you must synchronize the changes to
remote secondary Images shares. If you are using a PXE server with Advanced Imaging, the master
Images share is the one that is hosted on the PXE server itself. If you are not using a PXE server with
Advanced Imaging, you may select any Images share as the master.
To sync remote Images Share servers:
1. Open the Configure Advanced Imaging tool and edit the Server List tab to include your
remote servers that host secondary Images shares.
2. Click Start > Advanced Imaging > Sync Images Shares to open the Sync Images Shares
utility.
3. Click Sync Images Share Servers.
The output of the sync operation shows in the top panel and any error messages show in the
bottom panel.
Migrating user data from the previous OS with USMT
Advanced Imaging provides user data migration by leveraging the Microsoft USMT (User State
Migration Tool). The default scanstate.exe script (User Migrate -Capture command template) uses
the miguser.xml and captures the currently logged-in user’s My Documents folder, Desktop, and IE
favorites. This process creates a local file on the workstation stored as:
c:\image\backups\%COMPUTERNAME%\USMT\USMT.MIG
IMPORTANT For user data migration with USMT to work correctly, the computer that you want to
reimage must maintain its existing computer name. If you must rename the computer and migrate the
user data, first reimage the computer and then migrate the user data as part of the reimaging
operation. Only rename the computer after the reimaging operation is complete.
The Advanced Imaging process stores this USMT.MIG file before formatting the drive. The file is
replaced after the image process. The post-imaging wrapup.bat script restores the user settings
upon the existence of this imaging file.
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To save and restore a user’s migration data, you must run the User Migrate -Capture command
template before the device is reimaged.
NOTE If the device was imaged previously using Advanced Imaging, you could also run the migration
process by checking the Migrate User Settings option on the IMAGE RESTORE MENU in Windows PE.
You can only run the User Migrate -Capture command template on devices that have the local USMT
files located in:
C:\Program Files\USMT
All devices that are imaged with the Advanced Imaging process will have the necessary files to run
the User Migrate -Capture command template located in:
C:\Program Files\USMT
To use the User Migrate -Capture command template on a device that was not imaged using the
Advanced Imaging process, you need to perform the following instructions:
1. If an Agent is not already present on the targetted device, install one using the Agent
Deployment Center.
2. If the device was not previously reimaged with Advanced Imaging, run the
\\Images_Share_server\Images\postdeployment\setupusmtfiles\setupusmt.bat script on
the targetted devices with the Execute Script command under the System user account
context to copy the USMT files to the targetted devices first.
You need to edit the following line to point to the address of your PXE server:
set IMAGESERVER=192.168.123.199
If you have multiple Images shares, then add a line entry like the one shown next for each
subset and the address of the server that hosts the share that you want devices on that
subnet to download these files from:
IF %ipfirst3octets%==10.10.10 (set IMAGESERVER=10.10.10.199)
3. Run the Force Migration User command template on the targetted device, while the user
you want to migrate is logged in.
4. Run the User Migrate -Capture command template on the targetted Agent.
You can alter or expand the use of the USMT by changing the parameters in the miguser.xml
file and the command line options in the User Migrate -Capture command template.
IMPORTANT Always keep backups of any configuration file that you want to alter.
Tracking reimaging operations
All completed imaging operations are logged in a CSV formatted file named image.csv in the root
level of the Images share. You can view this log file using the View Imaging Log app in the Advanced
Imaging program group.
Alternatively you can also open the file in Excel or another spreadsheet program to view a history of all
past imaging operations, including Machine Name, Image, Image Version, Dual Partition, Date,
Start Time, and End Time.
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Using Advanced Imaging without PXE
There may be some environments where PXE is already reserved for something else, such as the
phone system or booting thin clients. In addition, some devices such as tablets and ultra books have
replaced the Ethernet port with a USB Ethernet dongle that is not PXE-capable. It’s still possible to use
Advanced Imaging in these environments by creating a bootable USB thumb drive and booting the
client device from the USB thumb drive to restore the disk image.
This section provides information on the following topics:
• Configuring the USB thumb drive
• Configuring the USB hard drive
Configuring the USB thumb drive
As an alternative to PXE, you can configure a USB thumb drive or USB hard drive as a boot device for
Advanced Imaging.
To configure a USB thumb drive:
1. Using a Windows computer, connect the USB thumb drive and run the following commands
using the Windows DISKPART utility:
list disk
select disk n (where n is the disk number for the thumb drive)
clean
create partition primary
active
select partition 1
format FS=FAT32 QUICK OVERRIDE
NOTE The FAT32 file system can only create partitions up to 32GB. If the thumb drive is
larger, use the size=n parameter; for example:
create partition primary size=2000
2. Extract the contents of the \\Images_Share_server\Images\usbboot\rootusb.zip file to the
root of your USB thumb drive.
The following files and folders should be at the root of the USB thumb drive:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
golocal-usb.bat file
usb.sys file
bootmgr file
Sources folder
EFI folder
Boot folder
[BOOT] folder
3. Edit the golocal-usb.bat file at the root of the thumb drive in one of the following ways:
• If you only have a single Images share hosted on the PXE server, edit the following line to
reference the address of your PXE server:
set IMAGESERVER=192.168.123.199
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•
If you have multiple Images shares distributed within your environment, edit the following
line:
IF %ipfirst3octets%==XXX.XXX.XXX (set IMAGESERVER=<server_address>)
•
For each class C subnet, add a separate entry replacing XXX.XXX.XXX with the first 3
octets of the subnet and <server_address> with the IP address of the associated server
that hosts the local Images share; for example:
IF %ipfirst3octets%==192.168.123 (set IMAGESERVER=192.168.123.199)
You can now use the USB thumb drive to boot and image a computer.
Configuring the USB hard drive
You can use a USB hard drive to not only boot the computer into the Advanced Imaging process, but
also to perform the imaging without requiring an Images Share server.
To configure the USB hard drive:
1. Using a Windows computer, insert the USB thumb drive and run the following commands
using the Windows DISKPART utility:
list disk
select disk n (where n is the disk number for the USB hard drive)
clean
create partition primary size=2000
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format FS=FAT32 QUICK OVERRIDE
assign letter=H
select partition 2
format FS=NTFS QUICK OVERRIDE
assign letter=I
2. Extract the contents of the \\Images_Share_server\Images\usbboot\rootusb.zip file to the
root of H: on the USB hard drive.
The following files and folders should be at the root of H: on the USB hard drive:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
golocal-usb.bat file
usb.sys file
bootmgr file
Sources folder
EFI folder
Boot folder
[BOOT] folder
Edit the golocal-usb.bat file at the root of the USB hard drive in one of the following ways:
• If you only have a single Images share hosted on the PXE server, edit the following line to
reference the address of your PXE server:
set IMAGESERVER=192.168.123.199
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•
If you have multiple Images shares distributed within your environment, edit the following
line:
IF %ipfirst3octets%==XXX.XXX.XXX (set IMAGESERVER=<server_address>)
•
For each class C subnet, add a separate entry replacing XXX.XXX.XXX with the first 3
octets of the subnet and <server_address> with the IP address of the associated server
that hosts the local Images share; for example:
IF %ipfirst3octets%==192.168.123 (set IMAGESERVER=192.168.123.199)
3. On the I: partition of the USB hard drive, create a directory called Images.
4. Copy all files and folders in \\Images_Share_server\Images to I:\Images.
You can now use the USB hard drive to boot and image a computer.
Using WDS with UEFI
The Absolute Manage PXE server does not support devices with Unified Extensible Firmware
Interface (UEFI) configurations. You can use USB as an alternative for UEFI devices, however if an
organization needs PXE to work with UEFI devices, you can use the Microsoft Windows Deployment
Services (WDS).
To use Advanced Imaging with WDS:
1. Configure the WDS role for the Microsoft Server. For more information, see the Microsoft
documentation on this topic.
2. Rename the boot.wim file located in c:\RemoteInstall\boot\x64\images to boot.old.
3. Copy the winpe.wim file to c:\RemoteInstall\boot\x64\images and rename this file to
boot.wim.
The WDS server should now service legacy BIOS and UEFI devices.
Understanding the Images share folder structure
Table 2 shows and explains the folder structure of the Images share.
Table 2. Images share folder structure
Folder name
agent
backups
Purpose
Holds the custom Agent from the Agent Deployment Center that is
uploaded.
Storage for USMT MIG files on single partition computers.
data
Holds data lists including those for the location, departments, OUs,
servers, and images.
HTA
HTML Application for Windows PE menus to take and restore disk
images.
models
logs
postdeployment > Command
Templates
postdeployment > CustomFields
Location to which driver packs are uploaded.
Created dynamically by the Debug Utility as needed if you take
screenshots or upload log files.
Command templates for initiating reimaging remotely using Absolute
Manage.
Custom fields used to track device disk imaging data.
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Table 2. Images share folder structure (continued)
Folder name
postdeployment > wrapup
referenceprep
scripts
Purpose
Script used to clean up reimaged device and hide the second partition
in a dual partitions setup.
Reference computer PrepTool wizard.
BAT and VB script files for some of the disk imaging.
trayapp
Installer for the Absolute Manage agent tray app.
usbboot
Files for creating bootable USB thumb drive.
usermigration
USMT component files that must be deployed to existing client
devices before backing up user profiles.
Working with advanced configuration options
This section provides information on the following topics:
• Configuring the PXE server’s menu options
• Editing the default sysprep answer files
• Wrapping Up and Post-Image Operations
Configuring the PXE server’s menu options
To edit the PXE server’s menu options, you need to open that page.
1. Click the Windows Start menu > Absolute Manage > Configure PXE Menu.
2. By default, a PXE client that is booted from the network shows the Absolute Software logo for
five seconds, to allow for user intervention, before it boots to the local hard disk.
If the Insert key is pressed within those five seconds, the computer boots directly into the
Windows PE imaging environment.
If any other key is pressed, the user sees a PXE menu to choose between booting the local
hard disk or the Windows PE imaging environment.
If you choose to boot the Windows PE imaging environment, you are prompted for a
password, which is abs0lute, by default.
3. On the PXE server menu, you can choose to select the following options:
• By default, the Enable PXE menu background option is enabled to show an Absolute
Software logo. Clear this selection to show a black background for the duration of the PXE
menu timeout period.
• The Timeout (in seconds) option is where you specify the number of seconds that can
elapse before the system boots to the hard disk when there is no input from the user.
• The Enable password option is where you indicate that if any key other than the Hidden
key is pressed during the Timeout period, a password is required to boot into the
Windows PE imaging environment.
• The Password option is the password you need to enter to boot into the Windows PE
imaging environment.
• The Enable hidden key option is set to bypass the PXE boot menu and authentication.
• The Hidden key option is pressed to bypass the PXE boot menu and to boot directly to
the Windows PE imaging environment.
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4. Click Save Settings to apply your changes.
5. If you changed your Windows PE WIM image, click Update WinPE WIM File to select your
new Windows PE WIM file and replace the old one on the Absolute Manage PXE server.
Editing the default sysprep answer files
Default sysprep answer files are provided for each OS supported by Advanced Imaging. If you want to
add other settings, we recommend that you merge your existing sysprep answer files with the default
ones provided, instead of replacing them.
NOTE Make a backup of these files before changing them, in case you need to back out of the
changes.
The default sysprep answer files are located at:
\install_folder\referenceprep\win7\system32\sysprep\sysprep71.xml
\install_folder\referenceprep\win7x86\system32\sysprep\sysprep71x86.xml
\install_folder\referenceprep\win8\system32\sysprep\sysprepwin81.xml
\install_folder\referenceprep\win8x86\system32\sysprep\sysprepwin81x86.xml (not valid)
IMPORTANT Windows 8.1 32-bit is not supported although there is a placeholder for it.
When merging your existing sysprep answer file with the default files provided by Advanced Imaging,
do not alter the default local admin account that’s present because it’s used by Advanced Imaging to
automatically log in and to perform many of the administrative tasks during the imaging process.
Wrapping Up and Post-Image Operations
A post-installation package performs the cleanup actions before the device is returned to its user. The
following cleanup actions are carried out using a set of BAT files that are deployed with software
distribution after the device is reimaged:
• Disabling the admin account auto-login.
• Hiding the second partition in a dual partition configuration.
• Deleting the admin account used for auto-login.
• Restoring user migration state data.
• Setting the time zone.
• Joining the computer to Active Directory.
• Registering and activating Windows.
For more information, see “Deploying the post-imaging cleanup script” on page 13.
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Troubleshooting Advanced Hardware Independent Imaging
The troubleshooting section provides common fixes for problems encountered when reimaging.
This section provides information on the following topics:
• Resolving PXE booting problems
• Resolving disk imaging problems
• Resolving common problems
Resolving PXE booting problems
When a client device is unable to PXE boot, the following actions should resolve the problem:
• Make sure that the PXE server is not installed on the DHCP server.
• Verify that the Absolute Manage – PXE Server is started and that it’s listening for PXE and
TFTP traffic.
You can view a list of listening endpoints on the Absolute Manage PXE server with the
TCPView utility (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897437.aspx).
Under Process, look for PXEServer.exe and under the State column, you should see a status
of LISTENING.
•
Verify that a third-party firewall is installed on the PXE server.
If it is, ensure that there is an exception for the Absolute Manage – PXE Server service.
•
Verify whether or not the TFTP service is accessible from another device.
You can verify this situation by downloading a file from this device using TFTP.
The TFTP client is not installed by default on some versions of Windows. You may need to
activate it using the Programs and Features control panel.
•
Verify that there is no virtualization software installed on the same system as the PXE server.
The virtual networking components can interfere with the PXE server’s ability to serve clients.
If you need virtualization software to create your reference VM, install it on your desktop
instead of on the PXE server.
•
You’re unable to PXE boot a reference VM.
Verify that you have installed the VirtualBox extension pack to enable Intel PXE boot ROM
support for the virtualized Intel NICs.
Resolving disk imaging problems
Table 3 shows log files that are generated during the image capture and restore processes.
Table 3. Log files generated during the image capture and restore processes
Log file location and name
x:\windows\temp\DiskImaging.log
Description and troubleshooting help
The go.bat file writes entries to this location as it enters and leaves
various code blocks.
By examining where this log file terminates abruptly, you can
determine where the error occurred in the go.bat file so you can look
at the relevant code block.
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Table 3. Log files generated during the image capture and restore processes (continued)
Log file location and name
x:\windows\temp\imagex.log
Description and troubleshooting help
Normally, this file is empty unless there is an error reading a file during
capturing or restoring a WIM file.
If the specified WIM image file you want to restore is not present, you
will not see any error messages here because the disk image was
never restored.
However, in the DiskImaging.log you’ll see an error message that
restoring the disk image failed. The exit error code for imagex is also
included in this error message.
A list of available imagex exit error codes is found at:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749447(v=ws.10).aspx
x:\windows\temp\dism.log
This file is generated only when capturing a Windows 8.1 reference
image.
Normally there are entries for each file captured, however all that’s
shown is some meaningless code.
If there is an error reading a file during the image capture, then these
codes are followed by actual error messages.
By default, dism is configured to only log errors. If you want to log
additional information, edit the \scripts\captureimage.bat to increase
the log level. A list of available log levels are found at:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825079.aspx
Table 4 provides information about resolving Advanced Imaging problems.
Table 4. Troubleshooting disk imaging problems
What’s the problem?
How do you resolve it?
The reference VM is not partitioned
correctly or was not prepped with
PrepTool.
Advanced Imaging automatically detects if the reference VM is not
partitioned correctly or was not prepped with the PrepTool wizard.
You are prompted about this problem and asked to remedy the
situation before you continue.
There’s an error capturing the disk
image with imagex or dism.
1. Roll back to a VM snapshot that was taken before you ran the
PrepTool wizard.
2. Defragment the virtual HD.
3. Run the chkdsk /f command on the virtual HD.
4. Run PrepTool.
5. Capture the disk image again.
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Table 4. Troubleshooting disk imaging problems (continued)
What’s the problem?
How do you resolve it?
There’s a problem restoring the disk
image or driver pack.
When this problem occurs, you’re asked if you want to drop to the
command line to troubleshoot.
If this doesn’t happen, but you find that the reimaged computer does
not boot correctly afterward, then clear the Enable reboot option on
the Miscellaneous tab of the Configure Advanced Imaging utility
and reimage the device again.
When finished, you are automatically dropped to the command line.
At the command line, run debug to open the Debug utility, which
you can use to do the following:
• View log files using Notepad.
• View the environment variables where a lot of the imaging
information is stored.
• Take screen captures of the Windows PE imaging environment to
capture the output and any error messages in the CMD window
from the failed disk imaging operation. These screen captures are
saved to the \\Images_Share_server\Images\logs folder.
• Copy all log files to the \\Images_Share_server\Images\logs
folder.
Resolving common problems
Table 5 provides information about common problems and their resolutions.
Table 5. Common problems and their resolutions
Problem
Error message states
Resolution
Installing the Advanced
Imaging.msi seems to
run fine, however an error
message opens.
There was a problem creating the
imageac account and Images share.
For guidance on how to fix this
problem, see the task “Installing the
Advanced Imaging server” on
page 6.
Reboot the system and manually run:
Error message opens in
the CMD window in
Windows PE imaging
environment.
System error 1312 has occurred. A
specified logon session does not
exist. It may already have been
terminated. The system cannot find
the drive specified.
Verify that the imageac account was
created correctly and was assigned all
permissions except for Full Control for
both sharing and NTFS permissions.
\install_folder\PostInstall.exe
If the imageac account does not exist,
then manually run:
\images\PostInstall.exe
Also check to see that the account was
not disabled due to an expired password.
The VirtualBox reference
VM cannot boot into
Windows PE correctly.
Windows Boot Manager message:
Windows failed to start. A recent
hardware or software change might
be the cause. Status: 0xc0000225.
Info: An unexpected error has
occurred.
Ensure that the following configuration
options are set for the VM and try again.
System > Motherboard – check Enable
I/O APIC
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Table 5. Common problems and their resolutions (continued)
Problem
Error message states
Resolution
At the end of running the
Reference VM PrepTool,
when the system is
getting sysprepped, an
error message opens.
A fatal error occurred while trying to
sysprep the machine.
Roll back your VM to a snapshot before
you ran the Reference VM PrepTool
wizard.
Restoring a disk image to
a VirtualBox VM during
testing results in an error
message.
Your PC needs to restart. Please
hold down the power button. Error
Code: 0x000000C4
Shut down the VM and change its
settings to specify Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
for the OS.
Uploading driver packs to
the Images share fails.
Driver pack upload failed.There was
a problem connecting to the server.
Use an alternate address for the Server
Address. If specifying an IP address
results in an upload failure, use a host
name instead, or the other way around.
Some peripheral devices
still show up as
unidentified in the Device
Manager after reimaging.
No error message shows.
Ensure that there’s a driver pack in the
\\Images_Share_server\Images\models
folder named after the computer model
of the device you just reimaged.
Stop the Windows Media Player
Network Sharing Service and run the
PrepTool wizard again.
You can get the device model name by
doing one of the following:
• running the BuildDrvPack utility from
the \\Images_Share_server\Images\
models folder on the reimaged
computer in question
• PXE booting the device and selecting
the RESTORE option. The model is
shown in red at the bottom of the
screen.
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Table 5. Common problems and their resolutions (continued)
Problem
On reboot after reimaging
a computer with Windows
7, a Windows setup dialog
opens.
Error message states
Resolution
Not an error message, but states:
The Kernel-Mode Driver Framework
version 1.11 update for Windows 7 is not
installed on the reference VM.
“Windows could not configure one
or more system components.
Windows installation cannot
proceed. To install Windows, click
OK to restart the computer, and
then restart the installation.”
This update is needed to support kernelmode drivers for some of the latest disk
drives shipping with recent computer
models. You can download this update
at:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2685811
The particular computer model you
reimaged happens to use a device with a
driver that requires this update. Be
certain to install the appropriate version
that matches the OS architecture of the
reference VM.
To update the disk, do one of the
following:
• Update the reference VM with this
update, run the PrepTool wizard
again, and PXE boot to capture a new
disk image file.
• Slipstream or inject the patch into the
existing reference image file, using
the WIM File Updater tool available
from the Advanced Imaging program
group.
The wrapup.bat postinstallation package does
not seem to be running.
Reimaged computers are
not joining the domain and
they are still auto-logging
in. There is no evidence
that the package has run
on reimaged computers
according to Absolute
Manage installation status
reports.
No error message shows.
You used admin for your
default admin account
when setting up Windows
and cannot log in after
reimaging a computer.
No error message shows.
• Check the configuration of the
Imaging Wrapup Metapackage and
Imaging Wrapup Package definitions
are set correctly as shown in Table 1
on page 14.
• Ensure that this package was
assigned to the required computer
group and that your changes were
saved to the Server Center page.
• Check that Windows can obtain an IP
address using ipconfig.
Whatever password you set for this
admin account was overwritten by the
one specified in the default sysprep
answer file.
You can issue an Execute Script
command for a BAT file for the net user
utility to reset the password for that
account.
In the future, use a different account
name for your default local admin
account, such as:
net user admin <new_password>
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Table 5. Common problems and their resolutions (continued)
Problem
Error message states
Resolution
Some of the settings
configured in the
Configure Advanced
Imaging utility are not
taking effect on reimaged
computers during the
reimaging process.
No error message shows.
Verify that there is an asterisk (*) next to
the items that are not working correctly.
These items require that the PrepTool
wizard is run on the reference VM and
that you take a new reference image.
Contacting Global Support
If you have difficulty with Advanced Imaging or any of its components, please contact Absolute
Software Global Support. We welcome your questions, comments, and feature requests. Please visit
us at http://www.absolute.com/support and follow the instructions on the page to contact technical
support in your region.
Copyright information
©2015 Absolute Software Corporation. All rights reserved. Computrace and Absolute are registered
trademarks of Absolute Software Corporation. LoJack is a registered trademark of LoJack Corporation,
used under license by Absolute Software Corporation. LoJack Corporation is not responsible for any
content herein. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For a list of patents issued to Absolute Software Corporation, see www.absolute.com/patents.
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