[quote=“TheKoR, post: 39052, member: 24285”]We use capone all day long, and we can image 20/30 computers at the same time with 10Go images, in 3 min !!!
(always sorry for bad sentences) ^^[/quote]
Can I ask about your setup? Are the images stored on the same location as your Fog Server? What switches are you using?
Thanks for the explanation, Tom. Makes much more sense now. So yes, implementing that functionality from Frisbee would be a complicated mod.
I will also talk to the Software guys about their server and how it actually performs that function that I explained (ie. starting from the current multicast stage, and then finishing up on the second loop). It’s a nice little feature to have.
Say you have 30 hosts to image, and initially 5 come on simultaneously.
Image multicast Loop #1: Image Host 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5
Half way through, hosts 6-14 join, and they only have 50% of the image (the second half).
Image multicast Loop #2: Image Host 6,14
Half way through this loop, the rest of the hosts join
Image multicast loop #3: Image the remaining hosts.
Now, this is assuming they all join simultaneously. Which might not happen. With the wait of 1 minute, you might get as many as you can at the same time.
The problem now is that if a host joined after the multicast session it will remain there idling indefinitely.
I think Capone and a decent Gigabit switch should be OK. I will limit my imaging to 8 hosts at a time. Thanks, Tom. I’ll make sure to get you a six pack of beer.
Tom,
Let me ask you something. A different group from the company is using another PXE server for their deployments, “Frisbee” I believe it is. In their server, when a host joins the image process after it has started, it will begin from the current stage, and then at the end it will fill out what was initially missed.
Does Fog have the same functionality?
Turns out it IS working, it’s just that if the other hosts join AFTER the multicast session has started, they won’t get imaged. I guess that’s the way a session works, by specifying how many hosts you will image with the same image. The third host waits indefinitely to get imaged but it never happens.
Unfortunately this will not work for me. I think Unicast or pre-registering hosts will be my only options.
Got 2643 running. I am able to join the session with unregistered hosts. Multicasting isn’t working though. I will try a different switch.
[quote=“Tom Elliott, post: 39021, member: 7271”]So you didn’t upgrade before when I asked you to?[/quote]
Tom,
I upgraded yesterday morning before I made all my posts. I’ve been on 2637 all this time.
By the way, I haven’t edit the files you mentioned. This simply happened by me selecting “All Hosts” for fot.multijoin.
[quote=“Tom Elliott, post: 38994, member: 7271”]as you know what image is what.
Try latest svn.
I’ve made functionality of multicast joining. Not with capone, as that’s to hard to guess.
What you do:
[From GUI]
Go to image management page.
Choose multicast image
Setup your needed parameters on the page presented.
Submit the form.
[From Client]
Boot unregistered system to boot menu.
Choose Join Multicast session option.
Type in your fog gui login and password.
Type in the name you set the session to in gui.
You should be good.[/quote]
Tom,
I tried to do this, but Join Multicast Session was not appearing on unregistered hosts. I went into fog.multijoin option in PXE Menu Configuration and selected “All Hosts”. This basically broke it, as I don’t see it on any host anymore. And fog.multijoin option from PXE Menu Configuration is gone now.
I’m on 2637, by the way.
Sorry, what I meant was install 0.32 from scratch on another VM and try it out.
I will first try your mod for removing the authentication for joining the multicast. I can do this in a copy of the VM, and simply use it during this period. After that I can go back to the more secure option.
Thanks, Tom. I really appreciate your help.
I saw that there is a way to bypass registration and deploy with multicast on 0.32, I will try and install that one.
I am also thinking of asking the PC manufacturer for a list of all the mac addresses for the 350 pieces that I bought, there might be a chance that they have a way to send them to me. I could preload them onto the DB.
Thanks, Tom. Is there a way to bypass the input of user/pass and session? I’m afraid you will say no.
[quote=“Junkhacker, post: 38995, member: 21583”]ok, that clears things up quite a bit
do you have speed issues when doing multiple unicast (non-multicast) jobs simultaneously? why is capone by itself not a good option?[/quote]
Yes, with 3 hosts it slowed down significantly. I need to test adding more hosts and see how it will perform, but 20 at a time will be far from optimal. I do know that multicast will never be as fast as single unicast, but should be better than multimple unicast, right?
Junkhacker,
The computers are used inside my product. The whole product will be assembled at a manufacturing house. The computers themselves come with blank hard drivers. I need to load the image I created that includes software tools for testing our hardware and other diagnostics tools. The server is mine, and I will setup the whole thing at the manufacturing house house.
This will be a single occurrence. I do not need to keep this computers as registered hosts, as there is almost 0% chance my server will see them again. And even if I do, of course I could go through the process of registering them, or even use Capone to deploy an image.
There are 300+ computers that need to be imaged as quickly as possible, with as little interaction from humans as possible. The process I had envisioned was simply to connect the final product to the switch, and have it imaged automatically as it is powered up, without having to navigate with a keyboard. Ideally I would have to image 20-30 hosts at a time, so Multicast would be a better option.
Capone and the SVN version have the correct setup I need, minus the multicast.
I hope this is a bit clearer.
Capone can help me deploy the image without registering the host, bit it doesn’t support Multicast.
I say that it is not an option only because it requires me to login and asign the image to each host. This is going to be done in a manufacturing floor and the less I ask the assembly house to so, the less it will cost me.
Any suggestions on how I can accomplish this?