ACD Windows 2000 System Administration notes

From: Subject: ACD Windows 2000 System Administration notes Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 11:09:05 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://acd.ucar.edu/~fredrick/win2k/unattended.html X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 ACD Windows 2000 System Administration notes

ACD Windows 2000 Workstation Unattended Install - CDROM

The = CD-ROM=20 Image=20

ACD=20 Windows 2000 setup procedure=20

ASP=20 Windows 2000 setup procedure=20

Technolo= gies and=20 references used in this procedure=20

Improvem= ents yet=20 to be made=20

The CDROM Image

This CDROM image can be downloaded as an ISO = file which=20 you can use CD-recording software to burn to a CD-R disc.=20

cd.iso=20

The CD-R disc supercedes the old boot floppy we were using. = Features=20 now include:=20

Bootable CD-ROM=20
Can run Partition Magic from a RAM disk (no longer a need for the=20 Partition Magic bootable diskettes which were often quite slow)=20
Can run either=20
- ACD Auto Install which includes Windows 2000, Service = Pack 2,=20 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, Acrobat 5, VNC, Netscape 4.78, = Opera 5, QVT=20 term 5 with ssh support, ws-ftp lite, and other applications.=20
- bare-bones Install which includes just Windows 2000 and = Service=20 Pack 2.
Can run 3Com Etherlink XL setup for DOS=20
Automatically ejects the CD-ROM after the first OS load so that = you don't=20 have to be there to eject the CD during the 1st reboot in the Windows = 2000=20 install process=20
Supports FAT32 for installs now! This means that you no longer = have to=20 start with a 2GB FAT partition -- instead start with a FAT32 partition = of any=20 size you desire, and make that partition the active partition.=20
Menu options allow you to select the domain to join (choose either = "ACD"=20 or "ASP") and also to choose a machine name.=20
This process has the capability to load drivers such as video or = network=20 drivers that weren't on the Windows 2000 CD. It does this by setting = these=20 unattended install options and preloading the device drivers into the=20 respective "drivers" folders in i386\$OEM$\drivers:
```
[Unattended]
    UnattendMode=3DDefaultHide
    OemPreinstall=3DYes
    =
OemPnpDriversPath=3D"drivers\nic;drivers\video;drivers\video\ATIDrive"
    OemSkipEULA=3Dyes
    TargetPath=3D\WINNT
    FileSystem=3DConvertNTFS
    DriverSigningPolicy=3Dignore
```
One unattended setup file is here -- = however, the CD=20 ISO image may have a more current one.=20
The postinstall is run from "\\acdnt\win2k\postins.cmd"

The ACD Windows 2000 install procedure

Back up all important user files=20
Boot from the CD-ROM=20
- Choose "p" for partition magic=20
- Create a FAT32 partition and make it active. It should be at = least 2 GB=20 in size.=20
- Some computers have system partitions, Linux partitions, or user = data=20 partitions. Be sure to preserve these if they are needed (especially = the=20 Compaq system partitions)
Reboot once partition magic has finished it's work. Reboot onto = the same=20 CD-ROM disc.=20
Using menu options, use option n to select the NetBIOS name=20
Use option d to select the ACD domain.=20
Choose "i" to begin the install=20
Go do another job, have lunch, go on a run, or whatever -- this = process=20 can take a while. Hopefully it is all "hands off"
Once you can log into the system, the local administrator password = will be=20 blank.=20
It's a good idea to reboot once before proceding.=20
Log in as Administrator and let IE Explorer finish it's setup for = the=20 local Administrator account.=20
Set a local administrator password (CTRL-ALT-DEL and choose = password=20 option)=20
Norton Antivirus=20
- I am buying licenses now for Norton Antivirus 7.5 Corporate = Edition for=20 NCAR/ACD UCAR-owned PC's only. (please let me know as NAV CE is = installed)=20
- Norton Antivirus may already be installed by the automatic = process, but=20 if not...=20
- Install Norton Antivirus from the share = \\acdnt\Norton_Antivirus_75.=20
  1. Choose the client install=20
  2. For the setup type choose "managed", not unmanaged.=20
  3. For the managed server, choose "ACDNT32".
Install Eudora 5 if requested. You may need to fix access = permissions in=20 the Eudora folder in the Program Files folder for the end-user.=20
Install Iomega tools if Iomega zip or jaz drives are present=20
Install CD-RW recording software if a CD-R drive is present.=20
Install Quicktime=20
Install Xemacs if requested (from //acdnt/ftproot/win32)=20
If this is a dual-boot system with linux, set up the boot.ini file = to load=20 Linux, and acquire the bootsect.lnx file from the Linux side. = (explore2fs=20 should now be in the program files folder under the name Minimally, = you can=20 append the line "c:\bootsect.lnx=3D"Redhat Linux 7"" to the boot.ini = file once=20 you've acquired bootsect.lnx.=20
Install Internet Information Server if the user requests it (start = with=20 the Add/Remove Programs Control panel). Be sure to add the CODE RED = patches=20 from Microsoft.=20
Install any commercial programs that the user requests.=20
The install script will try to set up a default profile. But there = is=20 usually some work to be done yet. Here is generally what I do to = create a=20 default profile:=20
- Log in as a user. Configure the desktop and task bar just the = way we=20 want it. Provide taskbar startup icons for all of the installed=20 applications. Set the Z:\ drive as the the location for "My = documents" (as=20 mentioned below).=20
- Log out and log in as Administrator=20
- Unhide "C:/documents and settings/Default User"=20
- Rename "Default User" to "Default User.orig" in the Documents = and=20 Settings folder=20
- Rename your user profile to "Default User"=20
- Modify the access lists for Default User and add a group so that = the=20 Default User directory can be used by anyone=20
- Hide the Default User directory (under properties for just the = "Default=20 User" folder)=20
- New users should then be able to log in with the new Default = User=20 settings.
Run Office programs as the primary user -- there is some = installation that=20 completes with each package. It's also nice for that primary user to = set their=20 "My documents" folder to point to Z:\ instead. Do that by right = clicking on=20 "My Documents" and selecting Properties.=20
Create a Netscape profile for the primary user.=20
For the primary user, copy any files back that they need to have = on the=20 local disk, or inform them where their files went.

ASP Windows 2000 Installation procedure

The install procedure = for ASP=20 should be similar to the ACD procedure above. Just be sure, on the 2nd = reboot=20 from the CD-Rom disc to use the "d" option to select a domain, "ASP". = And then=20 continue with step 6 above.=20

Technologies and References

These notes describe some of what = went into=20 the bootable CD for automatically installing Windows 2000=20

Creating the CD-ROM

I use the program CDRWIN from http://www.goldenhawk.com/. It = turns out=20 you can download their CD-Recording software, and in the demo mode = create ISO=20 images with it. (I never use the software to actually record to CD-ROM). = How to=20 create a bootable Windows 2000 CD-ROM with Service Packs integrated into = the=20 image in use is documented at http://w= ww.xs4all.nl/~binkbv/Bink.nu/Bootcd/default.htm.=20

The image that I use includes a floppy disk image as the bootable = sector on=20 the CD. The link above describes a boot sector image called = d:\w2kboot.bin.=20 Instead I used an image I called "disk.bin". This is an image of an = entire=20 bootable Windows 98 floppy which I created. The bootable floppy has the = menu=20 structure and support programs to start up a RAM disk, eject the CD = after a=20 timeout, and install Windows 2000 from the CD. The image is created with = software called DISK2IMAGE.EX= E.=20 Another similar diskette imaging program is available from ftp://ftp.sunsite.org.uk/Mirrors/simtel.coast.net/coas= t/msdos/diskutil/img2_0e.zip.=20

The RAMdisk is created by DOS software called xmsdsk.exe. = It can be=20 downloaded from ft= p://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/ramdisk/fu_rd19i.zip.=20

The menu selection with a timeout after which the CD is ejected is=20 accomplished by choice.com = and the=20 following procedure to eject a CD and reboot.=20

copy eject.com=20 to the RAM disk and run it from there.=20
Enter this DEBUG command to reboot "echo g=3DFFFF:0000 | = r:\dos\debug.exe"=20

gsar.exe is a=20 utility to do a string replacement in a file. This is how we construct = an=20 unattended setup file for the winnt command using a NetBIOS name we = entered in=20 the menu (which set the NETBIOSNAME variable in DOS). The syntax of the = gsar=20 command is "gsar -i -f -sMYDOMAIN -r%DOMAINNAME% u.txt = %NETBIOSNAME%.txt". This=20 replaces the string "MYDOMAIN" in the file u.txt with the value of the=20 DOMAINNAME DOS variable, and then writes the output to a file given by=20 NETBIOSNAME which is another DOS variable. gsar is available from ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/micro/pc/simtelnet/msdos/txtutl/gsa= r110.zip.=20

I compressed all of the installers and preload them onto the C: = drive by=20 putting them in the Windows 2000 image on the CD (that is, into=20 \Win2k\i386\$OEM$\C\installers. They are compressed as CAB files by = software=20 called cabpck14.zip. You=20 can download from http://tin= pan.fortunecity.com/petebest/590/cabpck.exe.=20

Many of the installers are MSI files. To create an MSI file, I use = the=20 "winstall" program from the Windows 2000 server CD. Specifically I run=20 "discoz.exe" to create a reference image from a fairly generic Windows = 2000=20 install. I choose the enhanced registry scan and also run winstall from=20 somewhether other than the C: drive, and set it to just scan the C: = drive for=20 changes. Then I do the software install. Then I reboot. Then I run = "discoz.exe"=20 again to create the MSI file. Finally I take the directory with the = registry=20 fixes, the installed files, and the MSI file, and compress it as a CAB = which I=20 then preload onto the hard disk.=20

I also use software called "extrac32.exe"<= /A> to=20 make a self-extracting executable out of a CAB file. The DOS command to = do that=20 is "copy /b extrac32.exe+myfile.cab myfile.exe". This creates a = "myfile.exe"=20 that if you run, extracts the contents of the CAB file in-place.=20

For InstallShield products, the following commands create an = unattended=20 install capability:=20

Extract the installer directory=20
Go into the installer directory and enter "setup -r". This does = the setup=20 and creates a file "setup.iss" in the C:\WINNT directory.=20
Copy setup.iss to the installer directory=20
From that point on, "setup -s" will do a silent install using the=20 setup.iss.=20
Products that I used this technique for included Netscape<= /A>,=20 QVTnet, and Meeting Maker.

"The Future" (Improvements yet to be made :-) )=20

I'd like to finish up the default user profile so that we no = longer have=20 to manually create one.=20
I'd like to include Cygwin/Xfree86 in the install process. We need = a nice=20 X-Windows GUI for the user to work with -- the defaults are still a = little=20 clunky.=20
I'd like to be able to select from different install locations in = case=20 we're having problems with "acdnt".=20
Netscape 6.1=20
Maybe we could do automated installs of a few select commercial = software=20 by selecting them on the menu when booting from the CD-ROM disc.=20
Drivers for all of our known configurations. We really won't know = about=20 drivers until we run into driver problems. So let me (Tim) know if you = have to=20 install extra drivers to make a machine work. And we'll add those = drivers to=20 the automated install process.=20
A better development environment. Probably best to use VMware = virtual=20 machines to create the MSC files. Is VMWare still restricted to a 2GB=20 partition at this point?=20
Really pie in the sky (!) would be to include a Linux distribution = in the=20 automated process.=20
Using Group Policy objects to push software installs onto = machines.=20