Getting your initial student workstation image

ITS have developed workstation partition images of both Windows and Linux operating systems. These images range in size from 900k to 1.5Gb and thereby exceed the capacity of standard CDs. They can be written to bootable DVD or multiple CDs and can be loaded if the workstation hardware allows it. The network option is preferred as it allows a default image to be delivered with very little effort.

The images are held in ZENworks imaging form on the ZENworks servers on the STUDENT-AU Novell tree. The upload procedure is internal to ITS.

Imaging Servers:

The following four ITS Novell servers provide ZENworks imaging services:

• its-tzen-a01.its.monash.edu.au
• its-tzen-a02.its.monash.edu.au
• its-tzen-b01.its.monash.edu.au
• its-tzen-b02.its.monash.edu.au

These servers are also known by secondary DNS names or aliases so that the service provided is independent of the current host providing that service.

Imaging Service Names:

• zenproxy.infotech.monash.edu.au (its-tzen-a01)
• zenproxy.its.monash.edu.au (its-tzen-b02)

The workstations have to be prepared for delivery of the images by ZENworks. This is achieved by installing a ZENworks imaging partition and configuration files on the workstation. ITS has prepared boot/install floppy disks and bootable CDs with the appropriate configuration files. (See Creating the Zenworks CD)

The ZENworks Imaging partition is the first partition and ITS recommends the following two sizes for faculty use:

Large workstation disks (greater than 10Gb)

This size of disk has sufficient capacity to hold a copy of the both the workstation Windows partition image file and the partition with the Windows operating system itself, the ZENworks partition is set to a size of 4Gb. The remainder of the disk can hold both the Linux and Windows OS partitions.

Small workstation disks (6Gb to 10Gb)

This size of disk is not large enough to hold a copy of the windows partition image, so the ZENworks partition in this case is only 50Mb. The remainder of the disk can barely hold both the Linux and Windows OS partitions.

Once the ZENworks Imaging partition is installed, the workstation will query the configured imaging proxy on every reboot until a bootable OS partion is installed and the workstation registers in the Novell eDirectory. Once registered in the eDirectory, the workstation will check the workstation object in the student eDirectory for any applicable imaging policies and instructions.

The image proxy server is given rules by ITS to select an image for workstations without registration. Factors such as IP address and disk size will quickly identify the characteristics of the workstations concerned.

When the server rule for image delivery are set up, the next boot of the workstation will ellicit the delivery of the selected image script. For details of scripting, see the link on Sample Imaging Scripts.

Summary

1. Make sure workstations are allocated DNS names and IP addresses using Addhost and the agreed workstation naming convention.
2. Select ZENworks partition size; if the disk is larger than 10Gb use 4Gb ZENworks partiton otherwise 50Mb.
3. Install ZENworks imaging on the workstation using 3 x Floppy or 1 CD installation set from ITS.
4. Relay the desired image requirements to ITS via a call to the ITS Service Desk:
   • Dual boot Linux/Windows XP
   • Single boot Linux
   • Single boot Windows XP
5. Include the workstation parameters that will identify the correct image to be delivered. (eg IP address and disk size)

References:

• Novell Zenworks documentation