4 Posts
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3762
Wyse Automated Deployment
Hello guys, I'm kind of a noob so I figured this would be the community to ask for help!
I have a couple hundred devices I need to give fresh wyse images to, and was wondering if there were any easier ways.
The end goal is to plug in power, ethernet, turn it on, select the OS from the grub menu, and let it go.
I can't use the WMMS as I don't have a windows server, nor do I want these devices to get any sort of database/domain configuration/networking so they can freshly configure them on other networks and WMMS configurations. It may be that WMMS doesn't do any of that config and would be the smartest way to go about it, but as I don't have windows server I haven't been able to test anything. If that's my best bet let me know and I can probably spin up a windows server.
I tried to use PXE to boot to a bootable version of the USB imaging tool, but was unable to get it to look for the image files over the network. It seems to just look for USBs. Interestingly enough, you can network boot to the initial imaging screen, and have only the RSP and image files on a USB, and it'll detect and install the os.
I also tried to combine the partial .img files into one bootable iso, and use memdisk - no luck - but I think that just loads and runs the os on the ram anyways?
I'm looking into setting up an HTTP boot, but that would require me to update every device to a new bios version and I think that just leads to more things to automate
Again, any advice would be appreciated
Thanks
nkaminsk
4 Posts
0
October 7th, 2021 07:00
So I think I figured it out, but I'm still in the process of optimizing speeds and workflow and writing scripts to automate it
1) Set up PXE for a small live version of linux
2) Set up FTP/SSH/whatever transfers fastest
3) Image 1 device with Dell USB Imaging Tool, and do not turn it on
4) Boot into a live version of clonezilla and pull the drive into a .img and store it on the server you're using to distribute things
5) PXE boot into that live mini linux on the device you want to image
6) Simply copy/paste the .img onto the blank drive with something like dd over netcat - I may post an update as to which is fastest but for now i'm using dd - and it does work with multiple devices pulling from it at once
7) Enjoy a simple workaround to push any img, to any device, over your network, from any file sharing server
I would attempt to use WMS but it doesn't seem to work without connecting to the internet, or the manual installation of hella updates and security certs
I'm a lazy intern, what can I say?
EDIT: Turns out you can use clonezilla for all of this with very little configuration
DELL-Scott H
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
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745 Posts
1
October 7th, 2021 04:00
You dont mention what operating system or hardware you are trying to do this with.
More than likely the answer will be use WMS. It is the only supported method and the easiest to achieve what you are looking for.
hardy2506
4 Posts
0
February 2nd, 2022 09:00
Hi !
You might want to have a look at the "Wyse Management Suite": https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000126147/how-to-install-wyse-management-suite-private-cloud
While I don't have any experiemce with this tool, it seems to be exactly what you are looking for.
But it might be pretty complex and possibly not for free...
Hope this helps...
nkaminsk
4 Posts
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March 10th, 2022 12:00
New better process
Clonezilla did the job but was SUPER clunky and old
Macrium Reflect is a beautiful software solution for bare-metal cloning
Take your merlin image
Image your device (DO NOT POWER ON)
USB boot into macrium and pull the image
Netboot to macrium and image enmass over network
jujo_am
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
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13 Posts
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March 2nd, 2023 06:00
I may be a bit confused about your approach. So what exactly is your plan to run security updates on these, or maybe you plan to retire from project before exploits are made public for the installed operating system? Or maybe disable all USB- and other ports?
In all cases, have you researched the onsite WMS already? It almost looks like you are trying to create alternative solution / process. Many might be interested to take part on your Github repo of this.