CMD or Batch snapins are not working! I have no more idea.

A Former User

Hello everybody.

I need to download data from a server to a client (win7 image) and open a specific file. The data is a virtual machine, which is stored on a server. The server is already permanantly mounted on the client. (windowsshare)
I just do not get ahead and I’m almost to despair. I have FOG Client running on client maschine.

I have tried it with batch and cmd files, but I can not deploy them as a Snapin.

I have no more ideas what else I could try.

These are the things that I’ve tried.

Batch / cmd File uploaded to FOG and sent as singel Snapin to client. Without other options. Only the file.
Batch / Cmd File uploaded to FOG with “snapin run with: C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe” and sent as singel Snapin to client.
I converted the .cmd file into an .exe file. This does not work as well.

I have made Snap-Ins (.exe) with InstallRite and all of them are working great.
The snapins are for example, VLC Player, WinSCP and Notepad ++.

The funny thing is that I see in the FOG log that the snapin was loaded onto the machine. It has even been installed. But nothing happened.

What else can I try? Do you have an idee?

many thanks!

Wayne Workman

Take a look at this for examples:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/6414/snapin-questions

All snapins must run silently. Try your commands manually at one of the computer’s command prompts. Is it absolutely silent?

If you let me know the UNC path to these files, I can give you commands to copy them. That part is easy.

A Former User

Thank you very much!

the batch file is not running silent. I see cmd in the foreground when I start it. But if I convert it as exe, I always choose the option Silent Mode.

My batch file contains the following commands:

BATCHFILE:

@echo off
xcopy /E Z:\VM_Classroom\* C:\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM\*


IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO failed
echo VM successfully copied.

goto startvm



:failed
  echo Error.

goto end


pause

:startvm


cd "C:\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM"

for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir /b/s') do if /i "%%~xa"==".vmx" start %%a


  timeout /t 15



taskkill /F /IM vmware.exe


:end

and the UNC path is : \172.16.224.177\Public\VM_Classroom\

Thank you

Wayne Workman

@Reto
Get rid of the map drives and just do:

xcopy "\\172.16.224.177\Public\VM_Classroom\*.*" "%SystemDrive%\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM_Classroom" /y /d /e /c /i /f /h /k /v /s

Thiago

I always run my .bat files with fog and all works.
I’ve installed mathematica, matlab, ampl, quartus, salt agent and other config things.
Try /C argument for cmd.exe

Snapin Run With C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
Snapin Run With Argument /C

Joe Schmitt

@Reto bewarned: mounting network drives via a SYSTEM executed batch script is next to impossible. The solution @Wayne-Workman provided should work perfectly fine as long as the file share allows anonymous reading.

A Former User

@Wayne-Workman

I have tried it with your proposal. When I run the batch file locally it works. The data will be copied and the vm starts. But if I copy the file on to Fog as a snapin, it doesnt work. I tried it, as @Thiago has said with:

Snapin Run With C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
Snapin Run With Argument /C

… but does also not work for me…

When I take a look at the Fog log, I see this:

14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Snapin Found:
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient ID: 76
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient RunWith: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient RunWithArgs: /C
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Name: W520_VM
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Created: 2016-01-14 08:59:50
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Args:
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Reboot: No
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Starting FOG Snapin Download
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Download complete.
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Starting FOG Snapin Installation.
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient FOG Snapin Installtion complete.
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Installation returned with code: 1
14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Attempting to connect to fog server…

But nothing happend. I also tried it without the “run with argument”.
No success.

I must mention that the Z: drive must be mounted every time. We have the Public folder there and to this we must be able to access. In the folder are only normal documents and the VM files.

I have also tried this: I have disconnected the drive and deployed the .bat file as a snapin. Also no success.

what am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

Tom Elliott

@Reto first thing I noticed wrong with the script, what mounts the z: drive. The script only references the z drive but made no attempt to mount it unless I missed that elsewhere. That being said, as @jbob has said, the system account cannot map drives. For this reason you MUST use the unc path. Essentially, if you replace the Z:\ calls in your script and replace them with what you need to use to make the connection in the first place you aren’t doing anything differently from how it is setup. If the intent is to make the z:\ available to users after the snapin is completed, then you should be using GPO and not a snapin.

Tom Elliott

@Reto said:

Thank you very much!

the batch file is not running silent. I see cmd in the foreground when I start it. But if I convert it as exe, I always choose the option Silent Mode.

My batch file contains the following commands:

BATCHFILE:
@echo off
xcopy /E Z:\VM_Classroom\* C:\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM\*


IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO failed
echo VM successfully copied.

goto startvm



:failed
  echo Error.

goto end


pause

:startvm


cd "C:\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM"

for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir /b/s') do if /i "%%~xa"==".vmx" start %%a


  timeout /t 15



taskkill /F /IM vmware.exe


:end
and the UNC path is : \172.16.224.177\Public\VM_Classroom\

Thank you
The other part I notice is that you don’t have the script creating the VM_classroom folder on the Windows system, does this folder exist before the script is run once?

Tom Elliott

@Wayne-Workman said:

@Reto
Get rid of the map drives and just do:

xcopy "\\172.16.224.177\Public\VM_Classroom\*.*" "%SystemDrive%\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM_Classroom" /y /d /e /c /i /f /h /k /v /s

To step further into this as a question, if this is needed on all systems why not just include it as a part of the image itself?

Thiago

Try runas.exe /savecred /user:your-admin-user in your cmd file or in fog snapin config (eg. runas calling cmd)
*not tested.

A Former User

@Tom-Elliott

yes, the VM_classroom Folder does already exist. So I don’t have to make the folder with the script.

A Former User

@Tom-Elliott
We make different learning course and not everyone needs a VM. For this reason, we want the batch script as snapin. Thats the easiest way for us I think.

A Former User

@Tom-Elliott

I have another script in the startup folder, which mounts the Z: drive after a (re-)boot.

jbsclm

There are a couple of thing to understand about mapped drives and processes running as the system account.

A mapped drive only exists in the process which maps it, so mapping it a startup script will not make it available to later processes. You need to always refer to the share by its UNC path.
You will need to ensure that the share you are trying to access has read and execute permission set for “domain computers” , the client system account belongs to this group.

Wayne Workman

@Reto said:

14.01.2016 10:01 FOG::SnapinClient Installation returned with code: 1

1 means it error’d out.

You need output recording to figure out what’s wrong…

@echo off
xcopy "\\172.16.224.177\Public\VM_Classroom\*.*" "%SystemDrive%\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM_Classroom" /y /d /e /c /i /f /h /k /v /s >> %temp%\vm_copy_output.log
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO failed
echo VM successfully copied. >> %temp%\vm_copy_output.log
goto startvm
:failed
  echo Error. >> %temp%\vm_copy_output.log
goto end
pause
:startvm
cd "C:\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM" >> %temp%\vm_copy_output.log
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir /b/s') do if /i "%%~xa"==".vmx" start %%a
  timeout /t 15 >> %temp%\vm_copy_output.log
taskkill /F /IM vmware.exe >> %temp%\vm_copy_output.log
:end

jbsclm

@Wayne-Workman another thing to be aware of is that when you run as the system account, you won’t get the full environment that a normal process would get. It would be better to state a local path in full, rather than rely on environment variables, particularly in the case of %temp%

Wayne Workman

@jbsclm Noted.

@reto set the output path to whatever you need. I changed it to C:\vm_copy_output.log Here at work, I have my output redirected to hidden read/write network shares, and I name the files with the %computername% variable usually.

@echo off
xcopy "\\172.16.224.177\Public\VM_Classroom\*.*" "%SystemDrive%\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM_Classroom" /y /d /e /c /i /f /h /k /v /s >> c:\vm_copy_output.log
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO failed
echo VM successfully copied. >> c:\vm_copy_output.log
goto startvm
:failed
  echo Error. >> c:\vm_copy_output.log
goto end
pause
:startvm
cd "C:\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM" >> c:\vm_copy_output.log
for /f "delims=" %%a in ('dir /b/s') do if /i "%%~xa"==".vmx" start %%a
  timeout /t 15 >> c:\vm_copy_output.log
taskkill /F /IM vmware.exe >> c:\vm_copy_output.log
:end

A Former User

@Wayne-Workman Thank you a lot!

I can deploy your batch file successfully. And the log file is also created under Drive
I used “ \ windows \ system32 \ cmd.exe” and argument “C /”.

All files from the public share are now on my desktop in the folder VM_Classroom.

But unfortunately the VM does not start. It only copies the files.

These are the last few lines of the log file:

\172.16.224.177\Public\VM_Classroom\10500_VM1_BIv4_BigData\caches\GuestAppsCache\launchMenu\version -> C:\Users\TEC\Desktop\VM\10500_VM1_BIv4_BigData\caches\GuestAppsCache\launchMenu\version
173 File(s) copied
VM successfully copied.

Waiting for 15 seconds, press a key to continue …14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
SUCCESS: The process “vmware.exe” with PID 4960 has been terminated.

It looks like the script skips the step where it should go to the VM.

hmmm do you see maybe an other mistake?

Wayne Workman

@Reto I’m not sure about that… That’s all specific to your site and I have zero experience doing what you’re doing specifically.

Best I can tell you is to use the output redirection to your advantage, and test your commands manually. Surely it can be done - but past this I can’t really help.

CMD or Batch snapins are not working! I have no more idea.

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