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Syncing Options for Computer Lab Machines?
sirfunk asks: "I'm going to begin helping out maintaining the computer labs around my university campus. I was wondering what solutions the Slashdot community had hints and tips for maintaining computer lab networks. We need a solution where we can keep a remote image on a server, and the computers will update to that on bootup. We also need them to be able to update, even if Windows is severely messed up (so if Windows dies, just reboot it). I know there's commercial solutions like Deep Freeze, but I was hoping someone knew of a creative Open Source alternative. I'd love if we could run these as dumb terminals with *nix, however that won't be an option for the general public. One Idea I had was to make the machines boot into a Linux partition that would rsync a FAT filesystem (the update) and then reboot to that FAT filesystem. The whole thing about getting it to boot into Linux first and then Windows next might be tricky. I would love to hear everyone's ideas on this topic. If you have any ideas that would run cross-platform (Mac/Windows) that would be great, too."
When I worked in support (last gig was supporting internal classrooms) we used Altiris LabExpert. They've changed the name to Application Management, but this may be what you want. It's not open-source, but comparing this program's prices to the other similar ones on the market, we saved a TON of money (one vendor wanted nearly $150K for all the computers we were going to use this on. I think we spent $7K at each site for a total of $28K)
.EXEs, burn to CD and deliver that way.
It has a server and client modules. The clients sync with the server on reboot. If there are jobs in the queue, the server pushes the jobs, they're applied and rebooted.
To create jobs, you make a baseline of an OS, install the application, and then run the baseline app again. The application examines the entire disk as well as the registry and notes changes. You build a package containing just the changes.
You can even turn the packages into self-extracting
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
It seems like you are pro-open-source, but don't dismiss the commercial products completely. Novell's ZENworks for Desktops (ZfD) product is quite simply amazing! It also happens to do exactly what you're talking about.
Does it require Novell servers? No, it does not. You can read more from the ZENworks documentation at Novell's website. Read the ZENworks 4 docs. ZENworks 6 is a bundle of ZENworks 4 for Desktops and ZENworks for Servers and ZENworks for Handhelds.
I once read about a university (I think in the UK) that managed 30,000 Windows desktops with only six people! Also, the largest companies on the planet tend to favor ZENworks for Desktops over SMS for deploying patches.
My computer support group uses ZfD to manage about 1,500 computers whose configurations vary widely from P2-400's to P4-3.06 Ghz boxes running anything from Win98 to WinXP. About 400 machines are in labs, but the rest are faculty or staff desktops. ZfD is extremely flexible. ZfD has an imaging solution, but is not limited to that.
ZfD imaging boots up a Linux agent first, either from the hard disk or by booting it over the network from the ZfD server or from a bootable CD-ROM. This agent checks Novell eDirectory to see what it should do (store an image of this workstation on the server, install an image onto the workstation, or other tasks). Once the image has been transferred, the computer reboots into Windows. Each time the computer boots, ZfD will check to see if it should perform an imaging task; if not, then it just boots Windows. ZfD can also add software to the base image on-the-fly!
Alternately, you can automate an install of Windows (just the base OS, with patches). Then install the ZfD agent and let it install all the other software for you. This solution is the ultimate in flexiblity, but requires you to have a pretty intimate knowledge of how Windows and ZENworks function, like what registry entries are dangerous to deploy to other workstations.
A combination of imaging and software deployment is an excellent way to get a workstation installed quickly and have a large selection of software available. You can deploy a small image (Windows, ZfD agent) and allow the ZfD agent to install other software as needed by the users. For example, ZfD can put items on the Start menu and when the user clicks on that item for the first time, ZfD installs the software. Rarely does one need to reboot.
ZENworks is probably the best solution available for managing large numbers of Windows desktops. It is powerful and flexible. Like many powerful tools, it is also a double-edged sword. It can easily deploy a patch and fix thousands of workstations, but if you deploy the wrong registry entry, you can just as easily break thousands of workstations. This is why you have to know Windows inside and out.
Finally, Novell has really good discounts for education. If you don't already have it available to you, check into it.
Ouch! The truth hurts!
You could always have a partition saved on the a 2nd hidden partition and recover from there. That would make it a LOT faster than trying to go through the network. The LG Internet fridge recovers it's win98 partition and resets itself by doing this. (No I don't have one - they're $8000.)
I don't know what tools they use for this though, but dd should work. This is also how some companies use to have the recovery information for their desktops. If you used your rescue CD, it would revover from that hidden partition.
Anyway, just a though...
-P