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These instructions should work regardless of the provisioning engine being used .    If you are using these instructions to create an xCAT bare metal image, ignore the sections with titles beginning with VMware Only:.

This document assumes familiarity with xCAT and VMware.

Terminology

• Management node: Linux server with the following components installed:
  • VCL management node components
  • xCAT (only if bare metal provisioning will be utilized)
• Compute node: Refers to the target blade or virtual machine on which Windows is installed.
• Provisioning engine: Software which is able to interact with the compute node making it possible to install an OS on it
  • VCL can utilize several different provisioning engines including xCAT, VMware Server, VMware ESX, and VMware ESXi.  xCAT is a cluster management tool used to install images on bare metal blades.\
  • The provisioning engine may be a hypervisor if the compute nodes are virtual machines (VMware)
  • The provisioning engine may interact with the BladeCenter's management module if the compute nodes are IBM blades (xCAT)
  • The provisioning engine may utilize IMPI if the compute nodes support it (xCAT)

Requirements

You will need the following:

(KVM, VMware, etc.).

Requirements

You will need the following:

• Windows installation ISO file
• Windows product key or KMS server address

 The following must be done before an image can be captured:

• The web, database, and management node has been installed and the management node is checking into the database.
• A computer for the machine being captured Compute node has already been added to the VCL database
• Windows installation ISO file
  Note: these instructions assume the Windows ISO file is loacated at the following location on the management node:
  /install/WinXP+SP3.iso
• Windows product key owned by your organization
• A VM host computer on which the guest is running as been added to the VCL database
• The guest VM has been assigned to the VM host via the Virtual Hosts link on the VCL website

These instructions assume you have root access and are using a bash shell:

Add a New Image to the VCL Database

Add the image to the VCL database. A row needs to be added to the following tables:

• image
• imagerevision
• resource

These rows need to be added to the database manually either by using SQL commands or phpMyAdmin.  The following SQL statements assume the following properties of the image:

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INSERT INTO `vcl`.`image` (
`id` ,
`name` ,
`prettyname` ,
`ownerid` ,
`platformid` ,
`OSid` ,
`imagemetaid` ,
`minram` ,
`minprocnumber` ,
`minprocspeed` ,
`minnetwork` ,
`maxconcurrent` ,
`reloadtime` ,
`deleted` ,
`test` ,
`lastupdate` ,
`forcheckout` ,
`maxinitialtime` ,
`project` ,
`size` ,
`architecture` ,
`description` ,
`usage` ,
`basedoffrevisionid`
)
VALUES (
'7' , 'vmwarewinxp-base7-v1', 'No Apps (WinXP vmware)', '1', '1', '16', NULL , '512', '1', '1024', '100', NULL , '5', '0', '0', NOW(), '1', '0', 'vcl', '1500', 'x86', NULL , NULL , '0'
);

 INSERT INTO `vcl`.`imagerevision` (
`id` ,
`imageid` ,
`revision` ,
`userid` ,
`datecreated` ,
`deleted` ,
`datedeleted` ,
`production` ,
`comments` ,
`imagename`
)
VALUES (
NULL , '7', '0', '1', NOW(), '0', NULL , '1', NULL , 'vmwarewinxp-base7-v1'
)

 INSERT INTO `vcl`.`resource` (
`id` ,
`resourcetypeid` ,
`subid`
)
VALUES (
NULL , '13', '7'
)

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Create a Virtual Machine

KVM, VMware ESXi, vCenter

The instructions assume that VMware the VM host has been configured with the following bridged networks:

• VMnet0Private: bridged to private interface: eth0
• VMnet2Public: bridged to public interface: eth1

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vmware &

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Use an interactive client for your hypervisor to create a VM with

• 2 NICs (use MAC addresses from a VM you've already assigned to the VM host under Virtual Hosts in the VCL web interface)
  • use e1000 as the adapter type
• disk image large enough for the OS install, updates, and any desired software (typically 50-100 GB)
• 1 to 2 cores (typically)
• 4 to 8 GB RAM (typically)
• ensure all devices are configured to be attached at power on

Example instructions specifically for VMware vSphere:

• Click File > New > Virtual Machine
• Configuration: Custom
• Name: win10
• Datastore: datastore
• Virtual Machine Version: 7

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• Guest Operating System:

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•  Windows
  • Version:

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1. Allocate all disk space now: no
2. Split disk into 2GB files: yes

• •  Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)
• Number of virutal sockets: 2
  
• Number of cores per virtual socket: 1
• Memory Size: 4 GB
• How many Nics: 2
  • NIC 1: Private, Adapter: E1000, Connect at Power On: Yes
  • NIC 2: Public, Adapter: E1000, Connect at Power On: Yes

• SCSI controller: LSI Logic SAS
• Disk: Create a new virtual disk
  • Capacity: 50 GB
  • Disk Provisioning: Thin Provision
  • Location: Specify a datastore or datastore cluster
    • Click Browse
    • Select the local datastore
    • Click OK
• Virtual Device Node: SCSI (0:0)
  • Mode: Not Independent (unchecked)
• Edit the virtual machine settings before completion: Yes
• In the Hardware pane, select Add...
  • Device Type: CD/DVD Drive
  • Select CD/DVD Media: Use ISO image
  • Select ISO Image:
    • Click Browse
    • Select the location datastore (were the ISO is located) 
    • Click Open
    • Select Windows10.iso
    • Click Open
  • Connect at power on: Yes (checked)

Select the New NIC (adding) entry with Private listed next to it** Under MAC Address, select Manual

• • Enter the private MAC address you retrieved earlier
  • Click Finish
• Click Finish

Start the VM and Install Windows

• Start the VM
• Follow the installation process for Windows
• When asked for an initial user
  • use root as the username
    • ensure root is an admin user
  • use a password you will remember (VCL will change it later to what is configured in /etc/vcl/vcld.conf on the management node
• Complete the installation process
• Log in as the root user

Enable RDP

• Right click on the Windows start icon
• Open Control Panel > System and Security > System
• Click Remote settings
• Select Allow remote connections to this computer
• Click OK

Connect via RDP

• Find the IP address assigned to your VM on the Public port:
  • Start->Search
  • Enter cmd
  • Run cmd
  • type ipconfig and look your public IPv4 address x.x.x.x address
• Connect to the computer using Remote Desktop
• Login to the RDP session as root

Disable User Account Control

User Account Control (UAC) is the mechanism that causes may of the pop-up windows to appear when you attempt to run programs on Windows. VCL will disable it when the image is captured but you can disable it while configuring the base image to make things a little easier.

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click System and Security > Change User Account Control settings (Under Security and Maintenance)
3. Move the slider to the bottom: Never notify
4. Click OK
5. Reboot the computer

Addition Windows install notes (mostly outdated):

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1. Configure the VM CD-ROM drive to use the Windows XP ISO image
   1. Connection: Use ISO image: browse to path of Windows XP ISO image
      /install/WinXP+SP3.iso
2. Add: Ethernet Adapter
   1. Network Connection: Custom
      /dev/vmnet2

Install Windows

Follow the steps: Install Windows for a Base Image

VMware Only: Install VMware Tools

1. Power on the VM if it is not already powered on
2. Install VMWare Tools  (Note: you must have a CD-ROM drive configured for the VM in order to install VMware Tools)
   1. Click on the VM menu and select "Install VMWare Tools"
   2. Select Typical and proceed through the setup pages accepting the defaults
   3. Reboot the VM when installation is complete

Install Cygwin SSHD

Follow the steps: Install & Install and Configure Cygwin SSHD

Configure the Windows Default Profile (optional)

Follow the steps on Configure the Default Profile for Windows Images if you want to customize the default profile which will be used when users login to the image.

Insert an Imaging Reservation into the VCL Database

An imaging request needs to be manually inserted into the VCL database to begin the automated imaging process.  The imaging process performs several steps to prepare the VCL image to be captured and then initiates the capture.

You will need to know the management node ID and computer ID of the VM guest you are using.  The following SQL statements assume the following: 

• Computer ID: 2 
• Management node ID: 1 

 INSERT INTO `vcl`.`request` (
`id` ,
`stateid` ,
`userid` ,
`laststateid` ,
`logid` ,
`forimaging` ,
`test` ,
`preload` ,
`start` ,
`end` ,
`daterequested` ,
`datemodified`
)
VALUES (
'1' , '16', '1', '16', '', '1', '0', '0', NOW( ) , TIMESTAMPADD(MINUTE, 120, NOW()), NOW( ) , NULL
);

 INSERT INTO `vcl`.`reservation` (
`id` ,
`requestid` ,
`computerid` ,
`imageid` ,
`imagerevisionid` ,
`managementnodeid` ,
`remoteIP` ,
`lastcheck` ,
`pw`
)
VALUES (
NULL , '1', '2', '7', '7', '1', NULL , NULL , NULL
);

 Start vcld:

Monitor the vcld.log file:

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Capture the Base Image