image deploy works to virtual machines but not on working on actual machines

[davidka]

Title says it all. I have set up the latest FOG server from GIT on a Debian virtual machine using VirtualBox, (the actual OS running the main system is CentOS7 if that matters) I have captured a syspreped image of windows 10 Pro 1903 with all windows updates applied.

I used this tutorial to get started https://www.ceos3c.com/sysadmin/create-generalized-windows-10-image-deploy-fog-server/

and that lead me to this tutorial: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-unattended-media-do-automated-installation-windows-10

I can boot and start the restore process from a networked computer, and it looks good, starts the restore process, goes through the motions, reboots, and then just keeps rebooting. I used a Linux mint USB stick to check the partitions and it shows the boot and windows partitions. Shouldn’t there be 4 partitions?

As a test I made a new VM and restored the same image to it and it worked 100% no issue.

Am i missing a step or something? We had been using clonezilla but it got to where it wont work very well on the newest windows 10 and hardware we are getting.

So I got tasked with trying to figure out FOG. (i’m doing this on an isolated network so no risk of hurting any of our live machines in student labs or offices. This is just an experimentation phase)

I’m going to a conference in oct that has a two hour training session on imaging with FOG and windows 10 so maybe that will help. I’d rather we just use SCCM but we are a smaller community college and its just not in the cards evidently…any ways Thanks for any info,insight, or ideas.

[Sebastian Roth]

@davidka said in image deploy works to virtual machines but not on working on actual machines:

I can boot and start the restore process from a networked computer, and it looks good, starts the restore process, goes through the motions, reboots, and then just keeps rebooting.

What exactly do you see on screen when it “just does the reboot”. Without detailed information we can’t really help.

I used a Linux mint USB stick to check the partitions and it shows the boot and windows partitions. Shouldn’t there be 4 partitions?

Have you checked the partitions on your master VM yet? Is this a legacy BIOS or UEFI install? You can’t deploy a legacy BIOS image to a UEFI machine or vice versa - well you can deploy it but it won’t boot properly.

[george1421]

So its not staring WinSetup/OOBE at all? Only loops at reboot?

So the image you captured was it from a bios based VM or a uefi based VM?
The target computer you are deploying to, is it bios (legacy) or uefi based?

You can only deploy bios captured images to a bios based computer and the same thing goes for uefi.

FWIW, I develop my reference images on a VM and deploy them to physical computers. Our current base image is based on 1903 and it works fine when captured from a VM and deployed to a physical computer.

[davidka]

@george1421 The machine i’m testing on has an intel DH67BL motherboard, I think it uses a BIOS with a compatiblity layer for EFI. We have a newer machine can test on also. The VM i made is just a standard virtualbox VM I didnt think to try the efi option (duh) but the reboot thing it just keeps rebooting the machine, never gets to windows at all. I’ll make a new image and be sure to check the efi option on VM.

[davidka]

@Sebastian-Roth I think you and George1421 gave me the idea to check. I didnt think to select the EFI option on Virtualbox when I made the VM. So I’m going to try that, and also try a newer tower. The one I’m using is an older intel DH67BL with a BIOS that has CSM for EFI compatibility.

[george1421]

@davidka well its important to know what you are deploying to. If you captured a bios (legacy) image, lets test to deploy to a know computer in bios mode. I don’t think you can create a uefi based VM in virtual box, FWIW. I know you can with vSphere and VMWorkstation (which I use).

Also to confirm you sysprep’d the image before capture, right?

[Sebastian Roth]

@george1421 said in image deploy works to virtual machines but not on working on actual machines:

I don’t think you can create a uefi based VM in virtual box,

I am not exactly sure about this but I think you can create UEFI based VM and install an OS from an ISO just fine. But the issue is that you cannot properly PXE boot that UEFI based VM to capture the image. Search our forums and the web to see if this is still the case even in the latest version of VirtualBox.

[george1421]

@Sebastian-Roth Ok well I stand corrected, I just looked at VB (v5.1.38) on my linux mint laptop and EFI mode is now there (who did that?)

Settings->System->Motherboard->Enable EFI

[Sebastian Roth]

@george1421 Yes, the setting is there but can you PXE boot (to ipxe.efi)??

[george1421]

@Sebastian-Roth Good question… I was able to enable network booting, and then from the F12 menu pick LAN. It appeared to want to pxe boot but my home FOG server is off line at the moment so I can tell for sure. BUT the pxe boot screen looks suspiciously like a bios pxe boot screen and not efi.

[astrugatch]

@Sebastian-Roth I make all my EFI images in virtual box. My workflow has me enable efi. Do the base install and when I go to pxe I switch off efi and do my capture. The os is still an efi os and won’t boot in vbox until you reenable efi. Has worked fine for me with images going back to windows 7 all the way up to our current testing of 1903

[Quazz]

@Sebastian-Roth I believe there is a configuration where you can (ICH9 chipset + virtio-net network adapter)