A couple of questions

[noelmm]

Hi everyone,

not sure if this is the right place to post this or not.

I’ve never used FOG before but like the look of it. I currently work in school and we use an SCCM deployment method that is controlled by our service provider, they create all of the images, software install packages (although I’ve started doing this) and these packages are then pushed out via AD memberships.

Currently when we PXE a machine assuming it has never been built on our network before we choose the build we wish to apply and then it asks for a computer name and from there will apply the base image followed by an software defined by the computers memberships. Once the build is complete we are then left with a machine that has joined our domain with it’s own unique computer name.

My 1st question is that if we were to build a FOG server and create multiple images depending on the build we wish to apply how is the computer name applied to the computer, can this be done similar to the SCCM deployment method where you apply the name before the build begins or is it a case of waiting for the build to complete and then logging in to the machine and changing the name from there?

Secondly, similar to the 1st question is the computer joined to the domain during the build process as part of a coputer account validation process or is this just done through the image and when you first login to the machine the first connection to the domain is created?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[george1421]

As for question #1 you have a few options. FOG does have a built in auto naming where you define a prefix and then fog will append a unique number sequence for every deployment. Most companies need a bit more complex naming convention.

I can speak of (my company) internal process, for new out of box computers we will pxe boot the computer into the fog menu and then go through the registration and inventory process on that first boot. We will pick full registration and then enter the target computers name, assign an associated location, and image name. At the end of the process the full registration process it asks if I want to image the machine, selecting yes will start the imaging process once the registration process is complete. We use Dell computers and our naming convention is a combination of the destination AD OU name and the asset tag. During initial registration we will key in the OU name and then use a bar code scanners and scan the Dell barcode on the chassis to enter the asset tag.

As for #2 if you install the fog client you can have fog rename the computer (as you defined in #1) as well as connect the computer to the domain. In my case I use FOG to rename the computer and then let the unattend.xml file connect the computer to the domain. Either way works. In my case for connecting to AD, we have a somewhat complex AD structure so the I had to write a FOG post install script to calculate the correct target OU based on the location where the image was being deployed, parent OU, and the image name being installed on the target computer.

The point of the explanation is that if you put a little effort into it, you CAN do it with FOG.

[noelmm]

Hi george1421,

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like FOG is capable of doing what I need if I am able to figure it out, as I’ve no time frame for getting this done I might have a play with it and test some configurations out.

Thanks

Noel