Using Deploy Anywhere Evaluation In Ghost 3.x
Article ID: 178852
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
Environment
GSS 3.x
Resolution
DeployAnywhere (DA) is a utility that comes with Ghost Solution Suite. DA is the utility that is run when you check the box "Use DeployAnywhere hardware independent imaging" in your Distribute Disk Image task in Ghost Solution Suite. The purpose of DA is to allow an image to be "hardware independent"; allowing a Windows image to be captured on one type of hardware and deployed to a different type of hardware. This document describes how you would use DeployAnywhere manually for troubleshooting or evaluation purposes. DeployAnywhere is not a substitute for sysprep, it works in conjunction with sysprep in a circumstance where sysprep alone could not function because the necessary drivers are not present in the targeted Windows driver database.
DA is typically run while still in Automation, after having deployed an image.
Functionally, DA scans the hardware bus and compares it to the Windows installation that you specify with the /target switch. If it finds that drivers are missing it will attempt to locate a matching driver in the Windows driver database, and in the Drivers database that is specified using the /ddb= switch. If a matching driver is found, DA will inject that driver into the unattend.xml on the targeted Windows installation, which will cause sysprep to add that driver into Windows the next time it starts.
To run DeployAnywhere evaluation in Ghost 3.x follow these steps:
1. Boot to a Ghost Solution Suite boot disk and open the command prompt window at the bottom of the screen, this window should show m:\ and be waiting for commands.
2. Run the DeployAnywhere command line with the /eval switch:
32-bit
.\Ghost\DeployAnywhere32.exe /target=c:\Windows /ddb=\DriversDB /eval
64-bit
.\Ghost\DeployAnywhere64.exe /target=c:\Windows /ddb=\DriversDB /eval
The "/eval" switch will cause it to only evaluate the hardware against the drivers database and write log files, but will not attempt to inject the drivers. Remove the /eval switch to cause DeployAnywhere to actually try to write the drivers from the Drivers DB to the Windows installation.
Logs:
A log file will be created in the location DeployAnywhere was run from, typically the express share on the Ghost Solution Suite server:
\Program Files (x86)\Altiris\eXpress\DeploymentServer\Ghost\da_logs.txt
or
M:\ghost\da_logs.txt
Standard Tools:
Standard Tools does not come with an existing drivers database. You can copy the DriversDB folder from a console installation of Ghost Standard Tools to your boot disk or create your own drivers DB.
How to use DeployAnywhere while using Ghost Standard tools
Use the /ddb= switch to point to the drivers database location that you have created, or you will need to manually add drivers using DriverManager.exe or DriverManager64.exe.
Standard Tools boot disks do not use M drive mapped to the server, they create "X" drive instaed. Because the X: drive that is used by a Ghost Standard Tools boot disk is a RAMdisk, if you run DeployAnywhere from X:\ghost\deployanywhere64.exe the logs will not be available after you reboot. Use the /logPath command and set the DeployAnywhere logs to a different location so they can be retrieved later. Use a mapped drive, or a USB media to capture your log files.
Commonly Used Switches:
/target= Drive letter of your windows installation, typically c:\ or d:\
/ddb= Optional. Location of drivers database on the boot disk, in Ghost Solution Suite 3.x the default location is \DriversDB
/eval= Runs an evaluation of the hardware on the client machine. It will then compare this data to the Drivers Database. If this switch is present no changes will be made, if this switch is not present DeployAnywhere will write changes to the target sysytem to inject a driver if required.
/logPath=Specifies the directory to output the log files.
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