Documentation or Support for Fog Service MST

[need2]

Hello

I have tried hacking my way through creating an MST for the Fog Service MSI, but completely broke the install in the process. I would greatly appreciate either documentation on which areas of the MSI are safely modified, or have support added for creating an MST to accompany the MSI. This would allow for installation through an Active Directory or any other managed software solution that uses MSTs.

[Wolfbane8653]

What exactly are you trying to do with the MSI? Create an answer file for it so it runs silently?
I just went through this with Adobe flash. Works like a charm. Listed below is how I [B]would[/B] deploy Fog if needed.
try this:

1.) Install fog service on a pc of your choice and configure
2.) Copy this file to a public Read ONLY location. C:\Program Files (x86)\FOG\etc\config.ini
3.) Copy Fog Service Installer.msi to the same public Read ONLY location

Create GPO:
Computer Configuration --> Policies --> Software Settings --> Software Installation -->
–New Package --> Point to Public location Fog Service Installer.msi (UNC path) --> Assigned

Computer Configuration --> Administrative Templates --> Windows Components --> Windows installer --> Alway install with elevated privileges --> Enabled

Need both if you have 32bit and 64bit machines
Computer Configuration --> Preferences --> Windows Settings --> Files
–New File --> Update --> Source: <Publice location> Destination: C:\Program Files\FOG\etc\config.in
Computer Configuration --> Preferences --> Windows Settings --> Files
–New File --> Update --> Source: <Publice location> Destination: C:\Program Files (x86)\FOG\etc\config.ini

You just need to disable the config part of the installer but it may not even show using this method. Try it let me know.

[need2]

I’ll give that a shot. This may not be completely ideal but it should work. The main thing I am wanting to do is to assign the server name/ip so the fog service actually knows where to point.

I hope to have experiment results today.

[need2]

That’s a nope. Nope nope nope. The install failed to process properly on the workstation and I had to clean up after the failed install. The .ini file copy worked fine, but running the MSI via GPO did not go well. Turns out it wasn’t my MST that fried the previous install.

[need2]

Alright, I think I’ve made headway on this. I have the service installing and the .ini file being replaced as needed. The service doesn’t appear to be registering unknown hosts though. As soon as I see things work I’ll document my process.

[Wolfbane8653]

Fog Service does not register unknown hosts you must do this through network boot. This has occurred since v0.30. I was hoping for this to get worked on but oh well.

[need2]

What? I could have sworn a host that I manually installed the service on registered its self. I mean, its a Windows 8.1 machine with SecureBoot UEFI, so idk how else it would have registered…

[Tom Elliott]

Wolf is correct in the register service does not register unknown post it just simply registers unknown Mac addresses to the relevant post

[need2]

…oh. Well then. I guess I’ll have to manually register each host unless that feature can be put back in. Oh well, this will still be useful for machines that will be using their own OS install until we finalize our Unified System Image.

[Tom Elliott]

I’ve never been aware of the register actually registering unknown post automatically part of the reason being is compatibility with fog you could register the host but it may not actually be imageable

[Lee Rowlett]

This was a feature in 0.30/0.31 and below if memory serves me well… the FOG Client used to check if host exists in fog (registered) if not then it would add the host, using minimum need info - mac & hostname nothing else was populated.

meaning you could roll out the fog client across your network and all your hosts would get registered with fog. Chuck/Blackout removed it going forward but can’t remember the reason behind it now but there was one (memory is awful!) i think it was because of compatibility as you said.

[Lee Rowlett]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][COLOR=#000000]below is how i used to deal with the fog client rollout - there used to be a thread on the old forum explaining how to edit msi (freely) and get it rolled out and someone else has also posted the instructions externally:[/COLOR][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f] [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][COLOR=#000000]thanks paul![/COLOR][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][COLOR=#000000][/COLOR][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][SIZE=14px][url]http://www.bauer-power.net/2011/09/how-to-deploy-fog-service-client-from.html#.U4IkdvldW-4[/url][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f] [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f]In order to do this correctly, you will need to re-package the MSI file for the Fog Client Service[COLOR=#1b8ede]installation[/COLOR]. You can do that with a free tool called [URL=‘http://download.cnet.com/WinINSTALL-LE/3000-2094_4-10973399.html’][COLOR=#102741]Winstall LE[/COLOR][/URL].[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[LIST]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Open Winstall LE, right click on [B]Windows [COLOR=#1b8ede]Installer[/COLOR] Packages[/B] and select[B] Import Package[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Browse to the Fog Client MSI, and give it a description of [B]Fog Silent[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Right click [B]Fog Slient[/B] and Select [B]Decompress…[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]At the [B]Expand[/B] dialog, click [B]Expand[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[/LIST]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][I][COLOR=#0000ff][IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iBRdFMi9jc/TmEaiP_XtXI/AAAAAAAAC1o/FIDvVb5Vhc8/%25255BUNSET%25255D.png[/IMG][/COLOR][/I][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[LIST]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Expand the [B]Fog Silent[/B] tree, and delete the following components because you don’t need them:[/COLOR][/I]
[/LIST]
[INDENT=2][SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][B][COLOR=#333399][I]{7A0D8B0C-D68A-E7BE-76B6-8D70577B4F38}[/I][/COLOR][/B][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/INDENT]
[INDENT=2][SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][B][COLOR=#333399][I]{A4389213-D1C5-59F6-260E-D84F4D4BE41A}[/I][/COLOR][/B][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/INDENT]
[LIST]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Now browse to [B]\localhost\WinINSTALL\Packages\fog silent\etc[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Edit the [B]config.ini[/B] file so it has the [COLOR=#1b8ede]IP address[/COLOR] or FQDN of your fog server under[B]ipaddress=[/B] then save it[/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Go back to Winstall LE, right click on [B]Fog Silent[/B] and select [B]Compress[/B], then press the[B]Compress[/B] button[/COLOR][/I]
[/LIST]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][I][COLOR=#0000ff][IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XuAT9zcr8ek/TmEb7iXBD_I/AAAAAAAAC1s/OmKaJ6MkZaE/%25255BUNSET%25255D.png[/IMG][/COLOR][/I][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[LIST]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Now browse to [B]\localhost\WinINSTALL\Packages\fog silent\ [/B]and your [B]FOG ServiceInstaller.msi[/B] file is ready to deploy![/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Place the new [B]FOG Service Installer.msi[/B] and the original [B]setup.exe[/B] in a fileshare that is accessible by everyone. I created a [B]deploy [/B][URL='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba(software)'][COLOR=#102741]Samba[/COLOR][/URL] share on my Fog server.[/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Now open [B]Group Policy Management[/B] on your domain controller and create a new Group Policy Object called something clever like [B]Fog Deploy[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Right click on [B]Fog Deploy[/B] and select [B]Edit[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Navigate to [B]Computer Configuration > Policies > Software Settings > SoftwareInstallation[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Right click on [B]Software Installation[/B] and select [B]New > Package[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Browse to your file share, and select your custom [B]Fog Service Installer.msi[/B] file and select[B]Open[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Leave the [B]Assigned[/B] radio button checked and click [B]OK[/B][/COLOR][/I]
[/LIST]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#615f5f][I][COLOR=#0000ff][IMG]http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3Glte9p_ln4/TmEmK0J3CLI/AAAAAAAAC1w/qd6f1T6NTa8/%25255BUNSET%25255D.png[/IMG][/COLOR][/I][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[LIST]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Now link your new GPO to the OU where you keep the workstations you want to manage with Fog, and you’re good to go![/COLOR][/I]
[][I][COLOR=#0000ff]Users will get [COLOR=#1b8ede]the install[/COLOR] the next time they reboot, and even better it will be automatically configured![/COLOR][/I]
[/LIST]
[FONT=Arial][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=14px][I]Hope this helps…[/I][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT]

[need2]

That’s cleaner than what I had done, so I will take a gander at that later this week. Thanks for the info.