Image baby image!: making pc cloning more efficient

Abstract

The task of imaging lab computers can be a complicated and manual process. University of Calgary Information Technologies Lab Services (IT Lab Services) has endeavored to streamline this process by developing an in-house system. This system addresses the issues of collecting inventory information, loading an image on to a PC, and configuring the PC after imaging. A custom version of the Windows Preinstallation Environment by Bart Lagerweij (BartPE) is used to bootstrap the system. BartPE can be loaded from a CD or DVD on older systems and from select USB keys on newer generations. Within the bootstrap, custom scripts are executed to record inventory information, network speed, as well as starting the Ghost process. Upon image deployment completion, the automated configuration process begins at the first reboot. A custom script which we term Declone names the PC from our inventory information and joins the domain. Other scripts configure the task scheduler and other post-imaging tasks. The post-imaging process is mostly standalone, only requiring network access to join the domain. It has also been modified for the use of pGina by XPA Systems, our LDAP based authentication system. Another set of scripts are executed to verify proper naming of the newly imaged PC. The naming component is extremely important as many services depend on having the correct computer name. This in-house imaging system has greatly improved the efficiency of our imaging process and has stood the test of time. We currently use it with Windows 2000 and XP Professional.