Client Automation Conflict between the OS image and the boot image

Products

• CA Client Automation - IT Client Manager
• CA Client Automation

Issue/Introduction

When Selecting the boot Image or activating an OS Installation job I receive the error:

Conflict between the OS image and the boot image: The images don't have a common installation method defined in the image flags. Before you can set up an OS installation of the specified OS image, you have to assign an appropriate boot image. [OSG000510]

Environment

Client Automation - All Supported versions.

Cause

In OSIM we provide the ability to deploy a wide variety of Operating Systems images including:

• 32 and 64 bit media based Windows systems.
• 32 and 64 bit linux (various flavours)
• 32 and 64 bit ImageX Images.

Due to this we need to support a range of boot images to allow all of these OS's to be deployed eg:

• 32 and 64 bit WinPE2
• 32 and 64 bit WinPE3
• 32 and 64 bit WinPE4
• linux PE

Different OS Images support different download methods

• share
• tftp
• nfs

Each type of boot image and each download method has an associated image flag documented here.

Each OS Image has an associated set of image flags to denote the boot images compatible with that OS Image.

If you are deploying a Windows media based OS Image the relationship is easy to understand

• 32 bit OS = 32 bit Boot image

• 64 bit OS =  64 bit boot image

Similarly if you are deploying a Linux OS it is easy as all Linux OS's use

• LinuxPE

If you are working with ImageX then things get a little more complicated

Historically we only had one set of ImageX templates and they all only worked with 32 bit boot images. This was because imageX.exe does not care if the imaged OS is 32 bit or 64 bit. We used the 32 bit imagex.exe to unpack all of these and thus needed the 32 bit WinPE environment (Boot Image)

however times move on and some hardware cannot work with 32 bit boot images at all and this became even more important with UEFI support.

So now we have 2 sets of templates for ImageX

some are 32bit and some are 64 bit

you can tell based on the name of the template. 

• If the template name does not mention x64 at all it is 32bit
• If the template name has x64  after the - e.g. IMAGEX-w2008x64 then it is 32 bit
• If the template name has X64 before the - e.g. IMAGEX64-WIN7 then it is 64 bit
• If the template name has X64 and no - e.g. GETIMAGEX64 then it is 64 bit

Once you have created the OSIMage you can also see this in the Local OS Images view

Here you can see the template name and the Image Flags for each OS image

• If the Image flag is Pe2* then it is 32 bit
• If the Image flag is Pe64* then it is 64 bit

This will help you ensure you have the correct combination of OS and Boot Images

When it comes time to deploy the OS Image you also need to be sure that you have selected the correct boot image name in the parameters

Each OSImage will have a default value for the BootSpecial parameter. If however you used a different naming convention for your boot images or you wish to use WinPE 4 with windows 7 for example then you will need to either change the default value or edit the parameter prior to activating the image.

When you edit this value you will be presented with a list of the available boot images and you can select the correct one If you try to select an incompatible boot image you will receive the above error

Resolution

Select the correct Boot Image for your OS Installation.