[luau] Ghost for Linux and Pattition Image

[Eric Hattemer]

Yeah, we're similar at my workplace in a lot of ways.  We only have
about 6 windows, 6 macs, and 4 U10's.  But we get administrative rights
to the windows machines.  This is basically in case we need to install
something temporarily to help someone with it.  Since we all have keys
to the building, and we're all students, sometimes due to the
irresponsibility of some people, the machines end up with a bunch of
junk like kazaa on them.  But rather than taking away administrative
rights or anything like that, Andrew, who is in charge of the computers
keeps a clean ghost image, and just wipes the machines back to their
previous states pretty much every week.  Then he does have some script
where you need to enter in the computer name or something.  The
multicasting seems to help when he needs to download 3 or more of them
at a time, but I have no idea of how much effort it took for him to set
that up.  But yeah, since we're open for walk-ins from 9-5, but open for
calls until 7, 5-7 is usually game night, and 7:00 is time to download
the machine again.  Its a much cleaner solution than trying to uninstall
the program.  Our systems work great all the time.  (If they ever start
to act funny, we can always download them again, and they should be
fine).  Andrew often argues with the userlab staff because he really
likes his ghosts, and they really like their odd distributed .msi
system.  

-Eric Hattemer

On Tue, 2002-11-05 at 08:52, Jeff Zidek wrote:
> I don't dispute what you said about Norton Ghost except one thing.  The
> max of eight workstations.  I have used Ghost to multicast 64
> workstations at once over a weekend.  We started them on Friday and left
> and came back to 64 new workstaions on Monday.  This was on Windows 2000
> systems though.  To deal with the fact that it makes them (ununique
> systems) I run sysprep before I make the image shutdown without letting
> it reboot and reboot onto ghost multicast bootdisk. If anyone is
> interested I have a trick so that when the 2000 systems boot all you
> have to do is enter a new computer name click next then next again and
> your done.  To do this just use the XP setup manager to make your
> sysprep text file and run it under 2000 sysprep.  Seem it's just that
> the setup manager in 2000 doesn't have all the available features in the
> XP version.  Don't use the sysprep program from XP just the setup
> manager.  Works like a dream.  Won't even have to click that pesky EULA
> or enter a Product Activation Number.
>  
> Jeff Zidek