Migrating PXE files from one GSS to another
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Migrating PXE files from one GSS to another

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Article ID: 179554

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Updated On:

Products

Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

How do I migrate all of the PXE configurations and boot menu options from one Ghost Solution Suite Server to another?

Environment

GSS 3.x

Resolution

This can only be done from one Ghost Solution Suite 3.x server to another Ghost Solution Suite server 3.x  (i.e. Same version). These can go between servers that are on different hotfixes, but they must both be 3.3.x.

  1. Copy over the following directory from your source PXE server to the target destination
    C:\Program Files\Altiris\eXpress\Deployment Server\PXE\Master Images
    This directory contains all of the boot disk creator configurations as well as the actual compiled boot images.
  2. Before your PXE Configuration Utility will recognize these new configurations, you will need to make a few modifications to the PXEManager.ini file that is located in the PXE folder C:\Program Files\Altiris\eXpress\Deployment Server\PXE\. Open this file with a text editor (such as Notepad* or Wordpad*) and search for the following two lines (these are located about 44 lines down in the file):

    Menu= .... (this contains numbers seperated by commas)
    MenuOrder= ... (the numbers here will vary based on environment)

    You will need to copy over the two lines from the source PXEManager.ini to the destination PXEManager.ini

    You also need to search for the following section at the end of the PXEManager.ini:

    [DefaultPxeMgrIniEND]
    ;END of DEFAULT PXEMANAGER.INI FILE
    ;All entries below are created by PXEConfig.exe

    Everything below this tag in the file needs to be copied over from the source to the destination as well.

  3. The final change that needs to be made is to the database of the destination Ghost Soluton Suite Server. The boot_options table from the source Deployment Server needs to be copied over and needs to replace that same table on the destination server. This can be done through a variety of means. The following set of steps goes over one method that can work:
    1. Open up Enterprise Manager on the source database server. Drilldown and select the eXpress database in that program. When that database is selected from the toolbar select Tools > Data Transformation Services > Export Data. 
    2. In the wizard that opens up click Next > Next, and then on step 3 on Choose a destination change the output to one of the Microsoft Excel formats; then browse and choose a destination file name. When a file name and path is given click Next > Next, and then it will show Select Source Tables and Views. Scroll down the list until you find the table [express].[dbo].[boot_options]. Put a check mark next to this table and then client on Next > Next > Finish. When it has completed it should show you that it was successful, so then click on OK > Done.
    3. You should now have a file with the exported boot_options table. Copy this file over to the destination Deployment Server's SQL server.
    4. Clear out the existing data in the boot_options table from the destination server by running the following SQL query in Query Analyzer
               use express
               truncate table boot_options
    5.  
    6. Open Enterprise Manager on the destination SQL server, drill down to the eXpress database on that server, and then select from the toolbar Tools > Data Transformation Services > Import Data. 
    7. In this wizard click Next; then when it asks for Choose a Data Source, select from the drop-down list the same Microsoft Excel format that you used in step b. Then browse out to the file that was copied over in step c. Click on Next > Next > Next, and then click Select All, and then Next > Next > Finish. When it shows success, click on OK > Done.

  4. The final step that needs to be done is the affected services on the destination Deployment Server need to be restarted. Restart the following services:
    • Altiris eXpress Server
    • Altiris PXE Manager
    • Altiris PXE Config Helper

Once these steps have been followed, open up the PXE Configuration Utility and make sure that the boot menu options have been migrated over successfully. You should be able to create jobs that use the new menu options, and your clients should also be able to PXE boot into those PXE menu options to run those jobs.

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