HOW TO: Create custom XPM bootguard images for PGP Encryption Desktop Drive Encryption
search cancel

HOW TO: Create custom XPM bootguard images for PGP Encryption Desktop Drive Encryption

book

Article ID: 180185

calendar_today

Updated On:

Products

Drive Encryption Encryption Management Server

Issue/Introduction

 This article describes how to create custom XPM (X PixMap) format images for the PGP Encryption Desktop Drive Encryption bootguard (preboot) login screen.

Resolution

The PGP Encryption Server administrators can add XPM format images to the Consumer Policy that applies to the PGP Encryption Desktop clients.

Custom background images must meet the following requirements:

  • XPM files only.
  • Image size of 640 x 480.
  • Palette of 15 colors only, including black (one color is reserved for fonts). You do not have to use all 15 colors in the image.
  • 8-bit RGB only (cannot be 16-bit RGB). You can verify you are using 8 bit by looking at the XPM header using a text editor: 8-bit values appear as #285A83 (one hex triplet), 16-bit values appear as #28285A5A8383 (two hex triplets).
  • The client machines are using legacy BIOS and not UEFI BIOS.

XPM file sizes can be ten times larger than an equivalent file in popular formats such as PNG, JPG or GIF. However, Encryption Management Server compresses the XPM file when you upload it.

This article provides some general guidelines on how to how to use the ImageMagick convert utility to convert an existing image to XPM format and how to use the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) to create an XPM image.

Converting an image with ImageMagick convert

ImageMagick is a free and open source application that can be downloaded here. In a Linux environment, ImageMagick can be installed using the Linux distribution's package manager.

If you have an existing image in a popular format such as PNG, JPEG or GIF you can convert it using the ImageMagick convert utility. For example, if your source file is image.png and you wish to create image.xpm run this command:

convert -depth 8 -colors 16 -resize 640x480 image.png image.xpm

If you wish to create a new image file you can do so using any image editing application. For example, Microsoft Paint. To change the image size in Paint, do the following:

  1. Click on File / Properties.
  2. Enter a width of 640 and a height of 480 pixels and click OK.

Creating an image with GIMP

GIMP is a free and open source application that can be downloaded here. In a Linux environment, GIMP can be installed using the Linux distribution's package manager.

  1. Open GIMP.
  2. Click File/New.
  3. Select 640x480 from the Template dropdown and click OK.
  4. Click File/Open As Layers, browse to your image file and click Open.
  5. Click OK on the Render Scalable Vector Graphics page.
  6. Click Image/Mode/Indexed.
  7. Change the Maximum number of colors: from 255 to 15 and click the Convert button.
  8. Click on Image/Mode/RGB.
  9. Click on Image/Merge Visible Layers and click the Merge button.
  10. Optionally, click File/Save to save the image in XCF format.
  11. Click File/Export As and save the file as an X PixMap image (*.xpm).

Additional Information

178638 - HOW TO: Create Custom XPM Preboot Background Images with GIMP for Symantec Endpoint Encryption 11

180185 - HOW TO: Create custom XPM bootguard images for PGP Encryption Desktop Drive Encryption