Download Deploying the Utility Partition Image

Deploying Dell PowerEdge Servers Using
Microsoft Automated Deployment Services
Enterprise Product Group (EPG)
Dell White Paper
By Syama Poluri
September 2003
Contents
Executive Summary ...............................................................................3
Introduction ............................................................................................4
Supported Systems and BIOS Versions............................................5
Preparing the Server To Be In the ADS Environment....................6
Enabling PXE Support and Noting the MAC Address .....6
Changing the BOOT Sequence ..............................................7
Adding the System to ADS Database ...................................7
Capturing the Image .............................................................................9
Installing the Administration Agent ....................................9
Setting up Sysprep ...................................................................9
Capturing the Utility Partition...............................................9
Capturing the OS Partition ...................................................10
Deploying an Image ............................................................................11
Creating the Utility Partition ...............................................11
Creating the OS Partition ......................................................11
Deploying the Utility Partition Image ...............................12
Deploying the OS Partition Image......................................12
Supplementing the Deployment Agent Drivers Repository ......13
Troubleshooting ..................................................................................14
Table 1: Supported Systems and BIOS versions ...................................................................................... 5
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Section
1
Executive Summary
When you purchase computer hardware systems, the value of those systems to your
business does not begin until they are deployed and operational. New servers sitting
idle instead of operational in data centers are a waste of precious resources. The
administrator needs an effective way to deploy not only the operating system, but also
system management agents and applications to the servers. Depending upon the current
business requirements, the process, and the network setup, he can either deploy the
software to each server locally or to a group of servers remotely over the network.
Microsoft Automated Deployment Services (ADS) is a deployment framework to
remotely and automatically deploy operating systems in the Microsoft®
Windows® 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 families, as well as to
configure, maintain, and manage servers.
This paper provides information on how to remotely deploy Dell TM PowerEdgeTM servers
using Microsoft Automated Deployment services.
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Section
2
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide general guidelines on how to deploy Dell
PowerEdge servers using Microsoft Automated Deployment Services (ADS). ADS is a
deployment framework from Microsoft to remotely and automatically deploy operating
systems in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows Server 2003
families, as well as to configure, maintain, and manage servers. By using ADS, you can
help reduce administration costs of your data center. For more information about ADS,
see http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/ads.mspx.
ADS provides a remote deployment infrastructure that consists of tools and technologies
that can install an operating system on a bare metal server or re-provision an existing
server with a different operating system image.
The following are high level tasks that ADS can perform:



Preparing the server to be in the ADS environment
Capturing an image of the operating system from the existing system
Deploying the image to a target system
A detailed explanation of how to perform these tasks on Dell PowerEdge systems is
described in subsequent sections.
This paper assumes the reader is familiar with key aspects of server deployment and
Microsoft ADS from an operational standpoint.
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Section
3
Supported Systems and BIOS Versions
Table 1 is a list of supported servers and BIOS versions that have been tested with
Microsoft ADS. The Windows 2003 CD has all the driver files required by the Microsoft
ADS Deployment Agent Builder service for all the supported systems listed in the Table
with the exception of the PowerEdge 1750. The PowerEdge 1750 requires additional NIC
driver files to build the deployment agent. Please refer to the “Supplementing
Deployment Agent Drivers Repository” section of this document for more information.
Dell anticipates supporting more server models in the future. Even though BIOS versions
are listed here, Dell recommends using the latest BIOS version.
Table 1: Supported PowerEdge Systems and BIOS versions
System
Bios Version
Drivers for Deployment
Agent
1550
A07
2003 CD
2550
A08
2003 CD
1650
A05
2003 CD
2650
A08
2003 CD
1655 MC
A00
2003 CD
2600
A09
2003 CD
6600
A12
2003 CD
6650
A12
2003 CD
1750
A05
Need to Supplement
NIC Drivers*
650
A03
2003 CD
* Please refer to the “Supplementing Deployment Agent Drivers Repository”
section of this paper for more information.
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Section
4
Preparing the Server to Be in the ADS
Environment
Enabling the PXE Support and Noting the MAC Address
The PXE on the NIC that is connected to the ADS server should be enabled so that the
deployment agent can be loaded from the network. During the system boot up process,
press <F2> to run the system setup program. When the system setup program runs, the
main program screen appears (see Figure 1). Some of the options vary from system to
system.
Select <Integrated Devices> and press <Enter>. Look for fields that say “Primary
Embedded NIC” or “Secondary Embedded NIC” or NIC1 PXE or NIC2 PXE. Change the
value of the fields to either on, on with PXE, enabled, or enable with PXE to enable PXE.
PXE should now be enabled on the NIC that is connected to the ADS server.
The system should be rebooted in order for the PXE-enabled NIC to show up in the BIOS
boot sequence.
The MAC address of the embedded NICs is also displayed here. Please note the MAC
address as this MAC address is needed to add the system to the ADS device database.
Figure 1: System Setup Screen
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Changing the BOOT Sequence
The target device should try to boot from the Network (PXE) before it tries to boot from
the hard disk in order for ADS to push the deployment agent to the target device. The
standard boot sequence should be set as follows:
1. A:
2. CD-ROM
3. Network
4. Hard Drive
During the System boot up process, press <F2> to run the system setup program. When
the System Setup program runs, the main program screen appears (see Figure 1). Some
of the Options vary from system to system.
To change the boot sequence, select <Boot Sequence> and press <Enter>. Press the
SPACE bar to enable or disable the boot option or press - , + to move up and down or
refer to Table 1.1 for system setup navigation keys.
Note: The NIC for which PXE is not enabled cannot be seen in the boot sequence menu.
Please look at the instructions in the section entitled “Enabling the PXE support and
noting the MAC address” to enable PXE support.
Table 1.1 System Setup Navigation Keys
Keys
Action
Down arrow or <Tab>
Moves to the next field.
Up arrow or
<Shift><Tab>
Moves to the previous field.
Left and right arrows or
Spacebar
Cycles through the settings in a field. In many fields, you can also
type the appropriate value.
<Esc>
Exits the System Setup program and restarts the system if any
changes were made.
Adding the System to the ADS Database
The device can be added to the ADS database using its MAC address or SMBIOS UUID.
Default device identification is done using the MAC address.
The ADS controller service property “Device identifier” should be set to SMBIOS GUID
in order to use the SMBIOS UUID as the key for device identification .
SMBIOS GUID can be represented in two different formats; one is UUID order ( i.e., a
formatted string that includes “-“) and the other is raw format. PowerEdge servers
display SMBIOS GUID in UUID order during the PXE boot. Press the “Pause/Break” key
if you note SMBIOS GUID during the PXE boot process.
Remove the dashes (“-“) from the SMBIOS GUID noted from the PXE boot process and
use this value to add the device to the ADS database. For example, if the SMBIOS GUID
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displayed during the PXE boot process is “01234567-abcd-efbc-890a-ba9876543210,” then
use “01234567abcdefbc890aba9876543210” to add the device to the ADS database.
When the GUID value is entered in this unformatted string, ADS assumes it to be in raw
format and it will appear differently when displayed. The value is always stored as
formatted using dashes to separate the characters into blocks as: 8-4-4-4-12, where each
number represents the number of characters to include in each block. When the raw,
unformatted SMBIOS GUID is converted, the order is changed within the first three
blocks. For example, a raw value entered as “01234567abcdefbc890aba9876543210” will
appear as “67452301-cdab-bcef-890a-ba9876543210.”
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Section
5
Capturing the Image
Installing the Administration Agent
For the target device to communicate with the ADS controller, ADS administration
should be installed on the target device. Please refer to the ADS documentation for
information on how to install Administration agent.
Setting up Sysprep
Capturing Windows operating system images so that they can be deployed to other
systems through ADS relies on Windows sysprep technology. Before you capture the
image for deployment on target systems, it is recommended that you capture the image
without running sysprep so that you can restore the image target system its original state
if necessary.
If you have installed any applications on the target system, such as services, ensure that
they do not have any dependency with the target system's hostname, IP addresses, users,
or groups, other than built-in Windows users and groups.
Sysprep is a tool designed for corporate system administrators and other personnel who
need to deploy Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 on multiple systems. Sysprep
assigns a unique SID to each target system the first time the system is rebooted. Sysprep
also creates a miniature setup wizard, which runs the first time the target system reboots.
It is very important to set up the sysprep framework correctly so that the same image can
be deployed to systems with dissimilar RAID controllers and different network cards.
Capturing the Utility Partition
The utility partition is a bootable partition on the hard drive that contains system
configuration and diagnostic utilities. When the utility partition is not booted, it is
designated as a non–MS-DOS® partition. Contents of this partition are different for
different system models. This partition is hidden from the operating system; i.e., contents
of this partition are not visible from the Windows operating system.
As content of this partitions are different for different systems, the user should have
different ADS images for different systems.
The utility partition is always the first partition on the first hard disk for all factory
installed systems or any system on which an OS is installed using the Dell Server
Assistant CD. Following are the simple tasks to capture the utility partition:
<task description="Capture Utility Partition" doesReboot="false">
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<command>/IMAGING/imgbmdeploy.exe</command>
<parameters>
<parameter>$device.user.UPIMAGE$</parameter>
<parameter>\device\harddisk0\partition1</parameter>
<parameter>"This Image is UP captured from $device.user.SYSNAME$
"</parameter>
<parameter>/c</parameter>
<parameter>/client</parameter>
<parameter>/q</parameter>
</parameters>
</task>
Note: UPIMAGE and SYSNAME are the user variables for the tasks described above.
Capturing the OS Partition
Capturing the OS partition is no different from capturing the utility partition except for
small changes in partition information. The following are the simple tasks for capturing
the OS partition assuming the OS is installed on a second partition.
<task description="Capture OS image" doesReboot="false">
<command>/IMAGING/imgbmdeploy.exe</command>
<parameters>
<parameter>$device.user.OSIMAGE$</parameter>
<parameter>\device\harddisk0\partition2</parameter>
<parameter>"This 2003 Image from $device.user.SYSNAME$ "</parameter>
<parameter>-c</parameter>
<parameter>-client</parameter>
</parameters>
</task>
Note: UPIMAGE and SYSNAME are the user variables for the tasks described above.
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Section
6
Deploying an Image
Creating the Utility Partition
The Dell utility partition is a bootable partition on the hard drive that contains system
configuration and diagnostic utilities. When the utility partition is not booted, it is
designated as a non–MS-DOS partition. Contents of this partition are different for
different system models. This partition is hidden from the operating system; i.e., contents
of this partition are not visible from a Windows operating system. Following are the
simple tasks for creating a Dell utility partition:
<task description="Create Dell Utility Partition the disk">
<command>/bmonitor/bmpart.exe</command>
<parameters>
<parameter>\device\harddisk0</parameter>
<parameter>/init</parameter>
<parameter>/t:0xDE</parameter>
<parameter>/c:32</parameter>
</parameters>
</task>
Note: The Dell utility partition is of type 0xDE.
Creating the OS Partition
Creating the OS partition is similar to creating the utility partition but there is no need to
specify the init and partition type parameters. However, the user has to specify a new
option /a so that the OS partition can be marked active.
If you are not deploying the utility partition then you may have to initialize the disk
using the init option. Following are the simple tasks for creating a 5000 MB OS partition:
<task description="create Partition the disk">
<command>/bmonitor/bmpart.exe</command>
<parameters>
<parameter>\device\harddisk0</parameter>
<parameter>/C:5000</parameter>
<parameter>/a</parameter>
</parameters>
</task>
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Deploying the Utility Partition Image
After creating the required partitions, it is now time to deploy the image to the
corresponding partitions. Following are the simple tasks for deploying the utility
partition image:
<task description="Download Utility Partition image">
<command>/imaging/imgbmdeploy.exe</command>
<parameters>
<parameter>$device.user.UPIMAGE$</parameter>
<parameter>\device\harddisk0\partition1</parameter>
<parameter>-r</parameter>
<parameter>-client</parameter>
</parameters>
</task>
Note: UPIMAGE is a user variable that holds the utility partition image name.
Deploying the OS Partition Image
Deploying the OS image is similar to deploying the utility partition image. Following are
the simple tasks for deploying the OS image:
<task description="Download OS Partition image">
<command>/imaging/imgbmdeploy.exe</command>
<parameters>
<parameter>$device.user.OSIMAGE$</parameter>
<parameter>\device\harddisk0\partition2</parameter>
<parameter>-r</parameter>
<parameter>-client</parameter>
</parameters>
</task>
Note: OSIMAGE is a user variable that holds the utility partition image name.
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Section
7
Supplementing the Deployment Agent
Drivers Repository
The Deployment Agent is a memory-resident, minimal operating system that is
dynamically created for a device by the Deployment Agent Builder service. The
Deployment Agent Builder service does a scan on the target device for hardware device
information and then builds the RAMDISK image using the appropriate drivers.
Current versions drivers present in the Windows 2003 Enterprise CD are sufficient to
build the deployment agent for all the systems present in Table 1 except the PowerEdge
1750. Supplementing the drivers repository is required for the PowerEdge 1750.
Following are the general instructions on how to supplement the drivers repository.
1.
Download the latest Windows 2003 drivers for NIC and RAID
controllers from http://support.dell.com
2.
Extract the driver files to a temporary directory
3.
Stop the Deployment Agent Builder service
4.
Copy the driver files to % systemdrive%\programfiles\Microsoft
ADS\nbs\ repository\user\postsystem or %systemdrive%\
programfiles\Microsoft ADS\nbs\repository\user\presystem
directory.
5.
Start the Device and Deployment Agent Builder service
Note: You only need to supplement NIC drivers for the PowerEdge 1750. Please modify
the driver inf files to account for the issue described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base
article 824891.
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Section
8
Troubleshooting
Issue: Target system is not loading the deployment agent.
Symptom: System is added to the ADS database but never communicates to the ADS
server.
Diagnostics/Solution:
i)
If Spanning Tree is enabled on a switch port that PXE is attempting to
use, the inherent delay before the port starts forwarding packets can
cause DHCP to time out. You must either disable Spanning Tree on that
switch or turn on a feature that allows the port to begin forwarding
packets immediately. An example of such a feature is "port fast learning"
on Cisco switches.
ii)
The ADS server is down.
iii)
The target device is not connected to the management network.
iv)
The target device does not have PXE support.
v)
The target system is not set to boot to PXE first. See “Changing the BOOT
Sequence” section.
Issue: Error while loading the deployment agent.
Symptom: Target system starts downloading RAMDISK image but the process stops
with an error message “Windows could not start because an error in
RAMDISK image.”
Diagnostics/Solution:
i. Make sure you have latest system BIOS.
ii. If the drivers for the NIC or Mass Storage Controller are not available in
the Windows 2003 CD, please follow the instruction in “Supplementing
the Deployment Agent Drivers Repository.”
iii. Modify the inf file to fix the issue relating to the inf file parsing. Please
refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base article 824891 for more information.
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THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL
ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.
Dell and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to
refer to either the entities claiming the marks or the names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the
marks and names of others.
©Copyright 2003 Dell Inc. .All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
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