Windows Server OS upgrade may fail if Ghost Solution Suite is installed or not completely removed

Products

• Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

While attempting an OS upgrade on Windows Server OS without completely removing GSS eXpress share (program files (x86)\Altiris\express\deployment server), the Windows OS upgrade may error on Dell Storage Manager Drivers that are not compatible with the upgraded OS

Environment

Ghost Solution Suite 3.x

Cause

Ghost Solution Suite does not support an in-place Server OS upgrade. It is possible to completely uninstall GSS, perform the OS upgrade, then reinstall GSS to a backup of the DB and eXpress share.

In one observed attempt to upgrade Server 2012 R2 to Server 2022 after uninstalling Ghost Solution Suite but keeping a backup of the eXpress DB and all contents, Windows setup would not continue because it detected Dell Storage Manager Drivers that were incompatible with the upgraded OS. The error indicated the driver name was Afamgt.sys but the driver wasn't installed on the server.

Resolution

In at least one instance of this issue, Windows found an incompatible driver in the eXpress share that was backed up before the uninstall and removal of GSS. The driver wasn't manually added to GSS but came included as a default driver for WinPE or Deploy Anywhere.

To get past the Windows OS upgrade error, it is required to either rename or remove the offending driver .sys file.

Open the eXpress share backup and search for the name of the .sys file

Rename each instance of the file before attempting the OS upgrade. The offending driver is usually Afamgt.sys but other drivers may also be the culprit