Problems with dhcp server
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Hi there,
Recently I was tasked at work to set-up a image server so we can install windows 10 at the same time and finally ditch the usb sticks for good.
I’ve set-up fog server on a ubuntu 16.04 machine with ssd. All is working well and I can image a pc. However, I came across multiple problems that hopefully have simple fixes.
All the guide say that I should disable dhcp on the fog server and reroute all pxe requests to the server. However, we only use consumer level stuff, like our zte router from our isp. We are a small(ish) refurbisher that started three years ago. We all have the rest working well, just this thing would be really useful. You lose usbs ect.
Currently we have some older non uefi systems and most of our systems are uefi. I was planning to make four images. Two legacy with windows 10 pro and with(out) office and the same for uefi systems. Currently I’m struggeling with these things:
- I’m assuming fog project supports uefi?
- If I make a image and upload it to the server, is that a universal image, or does it only work on that pc model? We need it to work on any pc.
- Is there any way to make the fog server handle all the dhcp for us, but not screw around with our regular internet? It’s causing any client to not see the router anymore and it will not connect to the internet anymore.
Here is our current setup isp -> [zte router] -> [wifi AP] - cat6 cables to tables from zte router -> [non managed switch x3] -> clients
I’ve also tried to use a standalone table with one switch to and just the server to install them there from the network. I have installed the fog server on 192.168.1.1 but I cannot get the admin console to load here.
If you have any advice / tips, that would be greatly appreciated. I’m not the most technical person when it comes to management, i’m more from the pc repair side
Thanks!
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Hi iekozz.
There is an article here: https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=ProxyDHCP_with_dnsmasq that describes how to use FOG if you cannot modify any settings on your internal systems.
It also includes information regarding UEFI which is supported by FOG.
Regarding the images: It is possible to make generic images for FOG. The simplest way is to make a windows image, then generalize it in audit mode. There is guides for this but in my experience its something you have to work through in order to get it to work the way you want it to. But there is quite a few good starting points, some of them on these forums as well.
If you copy all necessary drivers to the windows driver folder, the setup will extract only the necessary ones. This comes at the price of image size. There is also a way to store drivers on the fog server and extract the ones you need with a postinstall script. This is probably much better to do, but involves some extra work that I never came around to doing.
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Thanks for your reply. Can I also use these commands on ubuntu as well? Linux is pretty new to me, know next to nothing about it. Ubuntu is far simpler for me, less headics
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@iekozz The document says it works fine on Ubuntu, so I would think so.
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Does Ubuntu include yum?
I suppose you would have to use apt-get instead of yum, dont know enough about Linux myself though to say if the package names etc. would be the same for every distributions repositories …
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@Taspharel said in Problems with dhcp server:
Does Ubuntu include yum?
I suppose you would have to use apt-get instead of yum, dont know enough about Linux myself though to say if the package names etc. would be the same for every distributions repositories …
I tinkered for a day and it finally worked! Yay. I’ve captured my first universal windows 10 image. Have not tried installing it yet. Couple of questions left though:
1: Can I make a image in a vm and then capture it and would it work if installed on another system with a hard drive / ssd?
2: Is there a way to skip / disable the username / password screen before I image a pc? Would be great it could just do it by itself. This might be tricky since we use legacy and uefi at the same time.Thanks all.
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@iekozz said in Problems with dhcp server:
1: Can I make a image in a vm and then capture it and would it work if installed on another system with a hard drive / ssd?
This is actually the recommended way to go about it. Build your reference image on a VM, sysprep and deploy to hardware. You will just need to manage the drivers required for the physical hardware. Possible to do with FOG but does require some setup.
2: Is there a way to skip / disable the username / password screen before I image a pc? Would be great it could just do it by itself. This might be tricky since we use legacy and uefi at the same time.
Yes again this is standard with Windows, you need to use the unattend.xml file to predefine all of the settings you want in the target computer. In this case you will create an unattend.xml file and save it in the c:\windows\panther directory. Then call sysprep and reference the location of the unattend.xml file. This is standards windows build practice not specifically related to FOG, but imaging MS Windows in general.
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@george1421 said in Problems with dhcp server:
@iekozz said in Problems with dhcp server:
1: Can I make a image in a vm and then capture it and would it work if installed on another system with a hard drive / ssd?
This is actually the recommended way to go about it. Build your reference image on a VM, sysprep and deploy to hardware. You will just need to manage the drivers required for the physical hardware. Possible to do with FOG but does require some setup.
2: Is there a way to skip / disable the username / password screen before I image a pc? Would be great it could just do it by itself. This might be tricky since we use legacy and uefi at the same time.
Yes again this is standard with Windows, you need to use the unattend.xml file to predefine all of the settings you want in the target computer. In this case you will create an unattend.xml file and save it in the c:\windows\panther directory. Then call sysprep and reference the location of the unattend.xml file. This is standards windows build practice not specifically related to FOG, but imaging MS Windows in general.
Thanks alot for the answers. I will try to build some images to a vm.
2: I meant when I first boot into fog, and then deploy image, then it asks for a username and password, not in windows. I use the xml file and sysprep already, just not in that folder. I made a folder customize on C:/customize with the xml file in it. This folder is hidden from view.
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@iekozz said in Problems with dhcp server:
I meant when I first boot into fog, and then deploy image, then it asks for a username and password, not in windows.
Sorry I miss read your comment. Yes there is a way to do this. Here is a recent thread, with a link to another thread with an example. https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/12622/bypass-host-registration-and-password/4
The short answer is you just need to edit the fog ipxe menus for deploy image, if you are deploying directly from the iPXE menu. If you are deploying from the webgui there is no way to disable the password check since its intended to stop accidental image deployments.
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@iekozz said in Problems with dhcp server:
I made a folder customize on C:/customize with the xml file in it. This folder is hidden from view.
I would recommend that you only place the unattend.xml file under c:\windows\panther That is the first place oobe looks for it and I’ve had random strangeness when I placed the unattend file in other locations like the legacy sysprep folder. If it works for you in customize the continue to do that, but just be aware if you get unexpected results.
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Thanks again, will tinker some more to get that working, seems easy enough.
On the topic of the universal image; I used this guide to create my universal one: https://www.ceos3c.com/sysadmin/create-generalized-windows-10-image-deploy-fog-server/
The fog server captures it fine, but still need to test it. Need to be able to deploy this to as many systems as possible, be it a laptop or desktop and legacy or uefi. (Making different images for each). \
I currently have it boot to the screen where you choose your name and password ect. Can I also just boot to the desktop with a default username and password?
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@iekozz I’ve marked this topic as solved now. Please feel free to open new threads if you have further questions. Trying to not mix up too many topics in one so this will also be helpful for others if they have a similar issue and search the forums.
