Computer name being overwritten by image rather than fog database
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Hey all,
Bit of a weird one, we actually use fog to manage a fleet of devices that are constantly being turned around and re-imaged as we’re an events company so devices never remain on fog for a long period of time to set up services etc.
The problem I’m having is I have an image of 4 partitions (including system reserved) that images fine and works however as part of a procedure we have in place, ( I have built a custom recovery partition into the HDD on the image so on-site, someone can recover the device back to our “base image”) I have made a different partition (E) the active partition rather than the C drive. This is leading to all the computers coming out post fog image with the same computer name rather than the one registered against the mac address on the fog database which is causing network collisions and all sorts of people moaning about it.
Is the answer set up active directory or is there something someone can think of to aid this problem. I know fog has the hostname changer which I presume was working fine when the C drive was primary as each mahcine would image and come out unique.
Fog 3091
Ubuntu desktop 12.04
Imaging various dell laptops and desktops all running windows 7
HDD content: system reserved, C drive (windows os), D (computer back up image), E (recovery partition, essentially a copy of a windows 7 disc containing the “system image recovery” algorithm under the repair this computer section")Thanks in advance.
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I thought SVN versions of fog were renaming windows image machines as the last step of the image deployment before they even reboot unless something about your partition scheme is freaking that step out. When a image completes do you see any error messages when it attempts to rename the machine.
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hostname changing before first boot is likely broken for SVN builds, actually. however, if the fog service is installed, they should change the name on first boot
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Do I need to install the service on the hosts or just activate it on the server. Do the laptops need to be still connected to fog on first boot for this to happen?
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the service is typically installed before you create the image, so all hosts will have it installed. on first boot, the service will attempt to check in with the fog server over http to check if the computer has the correct name on every boot.
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This is my problem, once the device has restarted post imaging, it usually gets unplugged and sent out to site so doesn’t see the fog server until it next gets imaged.
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Hostname changer is quick it only needs to be up for a few mins before it renames itself and restarts itself again.
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i’m tracking down why the early hostname change isn’t working and trying to create a fix. you’ll need to update your server to get it when it’s finished.
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Ok, thank you a million. I have just run another test, manually changed the computer name to 12345 and post imaging it has become the same as the master image computer name.
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[quote=“Junkhacker, post: 44558, member: 21583”]i’m tracking down why the early hostname change isn’t working and trying to create a fix. you’ll need to update your server to get it when it’s finished.[/quote]
From what it sounds like (to me, anyways) is that the hostname changer (immediately after imaging completes) is looking to change the name on the C:\ partition, where Windows core files are normally located.
Chris Shanks said he changed the location to E:.
I think FOG is just trying in the wrong place…
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Sort of, the core windows registry files where the computer name is stored are still saved on the C drive however I have made a different partition the “active” partition to allow the advanced repair options available when F8 is pressed during boot.
However the pc still boots from the C drive and I would like the computer name on the same drive to match the ID on fog rather than the master image.
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If the image is sysprepped, this may explain the hostname not reflecting directly after imaging completes. It’s taking the information of the unattend file (if used) or generating a random one, or awaiting entry of one as the system loads up the first time.
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I don’t use sysprep or any other file/system. Up to this point fog has just worked ( as it’s so well built
) and the computer name has been changed to reflect the host name from the server. -
i am currently testing what i suspect to not be working
