@Tom-Elliott Ah, yes for ntfs. So, perhaps the block driver.

@Tom-Elliott
I didn’t run the full deploy (probably not needed at this point), but the “Formatting initialized partition” step during deploy takes 3:34, which is on par with 4.4.1. So, the new build doesn’t appear to solve this issue.

Wonder if something changed in the device block size or cache? Or maybe it does full zero out of the partition now, when it used to do a quick format?

@Tom-Elliott Got them. Give me a few minutes to fight another fire, then I’ll test and report.

@Tom-Elliott NP, just let me know.

@Tom-Elliott Thanks Tom. I’ll look through the repo after I get a VM up to compile on. If you get 4.4.2 built and available, I’ll test it first, as there will be really no point in testing the other builds if it is fixed now…

@Sebastian-Roth I’m pretty short on time right now (I’m sure everyone here can say the same thing), but compiling and testing kernels shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll try to make time this weekend, but it may have to wait untill next weekend. I’ll post here if/when I make any progress.

My FOG server is slow storage backed, so I’ll need to build a new VM to make kernel compiling tolerable. My plan would be to script building the incremented versions between 4.3.2 and 4.4.0, to narrow it down. Once we have that, we can bisect between them to find what changed.

@Tom-Elliott Are the .config’s available for download for the 4.3.2 and 4.4.0 builds that you released? Do you build with the defaults, or do you tweak the .config for FOG?

@sudburr Ouch, 45-60 minutes is way more painful. Looks like the FTP issue is now resolved. How does the performance compare with 4.1.4, 4.3.2, and 4.4.1 ?

@Sebastian-Roth I tested the different kernels by downloading them to separate files using the web interface. The only difference between the last two setups I compared is the kernel parameter in the host setting using the web interface. I only see this issue on my VM’s, my physical units behave normally with either kernel.

I did some additional tests this morning and here’s what I found.

Both 4.4.0 and 4.4.1 take around 3.5 minutes to complete “Formatting initialized partition” during deploy, while 4.3.0, 4.3.2, and 4.3.0CDCETHER take less than 1 second.

The VM I’ve been using has a VHDX file that lives on an SSD, and is the only thing on it. I tested using on VHDX that is on a spinning disk (desktop drive 5600 rpm) amd 4.3.0 still takes <1 sec to complete, but 4.4.1 can complete the step in about 15.5 seconds.

Something has changed in the kernel build in regards to a VM running on Hyper-V with SSD backed storage.

Here are the metrics comparing 6307 using kernel 4.3.0 and 4.4.1. Looking at the numbers, it’s safe to say that 6307/4.3.0 is faster than 5315/4.3.0 and far faster than 6307/4.4.1 when using a VM client on Hyper-V.

Let me know if there are any more measurements required. I’ll keep the VMs around for a day or two.

6307-4.3.0-Capture
#0:00
#0:18

• Resizing filesysten…Done
  #0:18
  #0:19
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #14:19
  #14:20
• Resizing ntfs volune (/dev/sda1)…Done
  #14:20
  #14:25

6307-4.4.1-Capture
#0:00
#0:17

• Resizing filesysten…Done
  #4:53
  #4:54
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #22:42
  #22:43
• Resizing ntfs volune (/dev/sda1)…Done
  #25:49
  #25:53

6307-4.3.0-Deploy
#0:00
#0:20

• Formatting initialized partition…Done
  #0:20
  #0:24
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #4:11
  #4:11
• Resizing ntfs volume (/dev/sda1)…Done
  #4:12
  #4:14

6307-4.4.1-Deploy
#0:00
#0:20

• Formatting initialized partition…Done
  #3:53
  #3:57
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #5:42
  #5:42
• Resizing ntfs volume (/dev/sda1)…Done
  #8:49
  #8:52

@Sebastian-Roth said:

Do you mean 6303 with kernel 4.3.0 is as fast as 5315?? Can you please verify if you see such drastic differences (where exactly? still resize ntfs…?) just by using older/newer kernel!

Actually it may be faster. I ran a deploy test using the same VM’s with 6307 using kernel 4.3.0, and it completed in 4:18. To be accurate, I would need to repeat all of the tests to compare 5315/4.3.0 and 6307/4.3.0 under the same server load. But it’s probably safe to say it’s as fast using the older kernel.

Thanks. I had not seen that post. I was able to get into debug mode using the “Capture-Debug” task. This bug report can be removed or marked as a duplicate if it already exits.

New tests indicate the slowdown exists in kernel 4.4.0 (x86_64) and 4.4.1 (x86_64), but 4.3.0 (x86_64) appears to be fine.

Creating a Debug task causes this error in the client.

I should also note that 5315 == kernel 4.3.0 and 6303 == kernel 4.4.1, as that’s probably relevant. I have tested tried an older kernel on 6303, but can if needed.

Sorry, long post as I have a limit on how often I can post

5315-Capture
#0:00

• Verifying network interface configuration…Done

• Checking Operating System…Windows 10

• Checking CPU Cores…1

• Send method…NFS

• Checking In…Done

• Mounting File System…Done

• Preparing to send image file to server…Done

• Checking Mounted File System…Done

• Using Image: delme

• Preparing backup location…Done

• Looking for Hard Disks…Done

• Re-reading Partition Tables…Done

• Using Hard Disk: /dev/sda

• Clearing part (/dev/sdal)…Done

• Mounting partition (/dev/sdal)…Done

• Removing page file…Done

• Removing hibernate file…No hibernate found

• Clearing ntfs flag…Done

• Saving original partition table…Done

• Saving Partition Tables (MBR)…Done

• Possible resize partition size: 11263111 k

• Running resize test /dev/sdal…Done

• Resize test was successful

• Resizing filesystem…Done

• Clearing ntfs flag…Done

• Resizing partition dev/sda1…Done

• Checking Hard Disks…Done

• Clearing ntfs flag…Done

• Now FOG will attempt to upload the image using Partclone.

• Processing Partition: /dev/sdal (1)

• Using partclone.ntfs
  #0:23
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #18:00

• Image uploaded

• Restoring MBR…Done

• Resizing ntfs volume (/dev/sdal)…Done

• Clearing ntfs flag…Done

• Stopping FOG Status Reporter…Done
  #18:03

6303-Capture
#0:00

• Verifying network interface configuration…Done
• Checking Operating System…Windows 10
• Checking CPU Cores…1
• Send method…NFS
• Attempting to check in…Done
• Mounting File System…Done
• Checking Mounted File System…Done
• Checking img variable is set…Done
• Preparing to send image file to server
• Preparing backup location…Done
• Setting permission on /images/00155d016673…Done
• Removing any pre-existing files…Done
• Using Image: delme
• Looking for Hard Disk…Done
• Reading Partition Tables…Done
• Using Hard Disk: /dev/sda
• Now FOG will attempt to upload the image using Partclone
• Checking for fixed partitions…Done
• Getting Windows/Linux Partition Count…Done
• NTFS Partition count of: 1
• EXTFS Partition count of: 0
• Setting up any additional fixed parts
• Saving original partition table…Done
• Saving original disk/parts UUIDs…Done
• Shrinking Partitions on disk
• Clearing part (/dev/sda1)…Done
• Mounting partition (/dev/sdal)…Done
• Removing page file…Done
• Possible resize partition size: 11263111 k
• Running resize test /dev/sdal…Done
• Resize test was successful
  #0:18
• Resizing filesysten…Done
  #4:53
• Resizing partition /dev/sdal…Done
• Clearing ntfs flag…Done
• Saving shrunken partition table
• Saving Partition Tables (MBR)…Done
  #4:53
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #22:44
• Image Uploaded
• Restoring Original Partition Layout…Done
  #22:44
• Resizing ntfs volune (/dev/sda1)…Done
  #25:49
• Clearing ntfs flag…Done
• Stopping FOG Status Reporter…Done
• Task Complete
• Updating Database…Done
• Rebooting system as task is conplete
  reboot: Restarting system
  #25:52

5315-Deploy
#0:00

• Verifying network interface configuration…Done

• Checking Operating System…Windows 10

• Checking CPU Cores…1

• Send method…NFS

• Attempting to send inventory…Done

• Checking In…Done

• Mounting File System…Done

• Checking Mounted File System…Done

• Starting Image Push

• Using Image: delme

• Looking for Hard Disks…Done

• Checking write caching status on HDD…Enabled

• Erasing current MBR/GPT Tables…Done

• Restoring Partition Tables (MBR)…Done

• Extended partitions…Done

• Expanding partition table to fill disk…Done

• Processing Partition: /dev/sdal (1)
  #0:28
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #6:00

• Clearing ntfs flag…Done

• Stopping FOG Status Reporter…Done

• Resizing ntfs uolume (/dev/sda1)…Done

• Clearing ntfs flag…Done

• Backing up and replacing BCD…Done

• Changing hostname…Done

• Updating Computer Database Status

• Database Updated!

• Task is completed, computer will now restart.

reboot: Restarting system
#6:03

6303-Deploy
#0:00

• Verifying network interface configuration…Done
• Checking Operating System…Windows 10
• Checking CPU Cores…1
• Send method…NFS
• Attempting to check in…Done
• Mounting File System…Done
• Checking Mounted File System…Done
• Checking img variable is set…Done
• Attenpting to send inventory…Done
• Using Image: delme
• Looking for Hard Disk…Done
• Using Disk: /dev/sda
• Write caching not supported
• Preparing Partition layout
• Wiping /dev/sda partition information
• Erasing current MBBA3PT Tables…Done
• Creating disk with new label…Done
• Initializing /dev/sda with NTFS partition…Done
  #0:20
• Formatting initialized partition…Done
  #3:53
• Erasing current MBR/GPT Tables…Done
• Restoring Partition Tables (MBR)…Done
• Inserting Extended partitions…Done
• Attempting to expand/fill partitions…Done
  #3:57
  <<PARTCLONE>>
  #5:53
• Clearing ntfs flag…Done
  #5:53
• Resizing ntfs volume (/dev/sda1)…Done
  #8:51
• Clearing ntfs flag…Done
• Resetting UUIDs for /dev/sda
• Resettings swap systems
• Stopping FOG Status Reporter…Done
• Mounting directory…Done
• Changing hostname…Done
• Task Complete
• Updating Database…Done
• Rebooting system as task is complete
  reboot: Restarting system
  #8:54

I ran some tests that will hopefully prove useful.

Both the client and server are VM’s on the same server. I used a single checkpoint on the client to run all of the tests. The server was tested from a checkpoint running 5315 and then upgraded to 6303 with a new checkpoint created, so that I can easily do additional tests if needed. The upgraded VM gives similar results as a new install on a VM that I originally observed the slow behavior. So, there should be no appreciable differences between the test scenarios, except for the updated FOG version.

Deployment went from 6:03 to 8:54, with the most time increase seen during “Formatting initialized partition” before Partclone and “Resizing ntfs volume” after.

Capture went from 18:03 to 25:52, with the most time increase seen during “Resizing filesysten” before Partclone and “Resizing ntfs volume” after.

I will include additional data and times in separate posts for each test for closer inspection.

Please let me know if you have any ideas, or anything else you would like to see tested.

Thanks!

I don’t think anything was changed between versions, but I will verify. I will perform a detailed analysis and report my findings.

Anecdotally, it appears that both image captures and image deploys take longer in 6299 than my previous 5315 installation. I am using Windows 10 clients under Hyper-V.

Is this expected/explainable behavior?

If not, I can bring up both installations and provide some metrics between the two versions. I haven’t measured the overall capture/deploy times, but it definatelly takes longer for the partclone step to begin.

Thanks.

Looks good now. Thanks for the speedy fix.

Leaving the password blank for any user when selecting Quick Image from the client allows access to the images. I did not notice this behavior in my previous version. 5315. Is there a new setting that I overlooked after updating?