Snap Deploy 3 - deploying over local interface?

Hello Nils Rune Hjelle!

Thank you for opening the thread regarding this issue! I will be glad to help you with it!

Looks like you haven't specified the exact ip-address of the OS Deploy Server when booted from the bootable CD. You can do it by choosing "configure network" option on the first five seconds on booting. After you get into the network configuration option, please choose

Deployment -> Server

and enter the address of the OS Deploy Server (see screenshot attached).

Should the issue persist, we will need to take a closer look at the problem, so could you please kindly do the following? 

1. Download the free Wireshark and install it
2. Run the installed program
3. Click Capture -> Interfaces...
4. Boot teh target machine from the CD
5. Configure the network with specifying the ip address of the Os Deploy Server
6. Get back to the Wireshark Utility
7. Click the Start button corresponding to the network adapter you are using for your internet connection
8. Reproduce the issue without closing the utility
9. Click Capture -> Stop after the issue is reproduced
10. Save the captured data by clicking File -> Save as

Please contact us with the log saved, we will check what could have caused the problem and find a suitable solution for you.

Let us know whether something is confusing or you need any additional assistance - we will be glad to help!

Thank you.

Hello. Sorry for the slow responce.

I've now separately captured both the internett interface and the local interface of the deployment when the PC is trying to connect to the deployment server. I stopped capturing when the PC rebooted itself because it couldn't find the deployment server.

Is there any way I can give you these files in private, as I do not want to reveal more information to the "public" about our network than I have to.

Kind regards,
Nils Rune Hjelle

Dear Nils Rune Hjelle!

Thank you for your reply! I will be glad to receive the files personally - just contact me via PM and attach the files created!

I would also appreciate if you could kindly provide me with the screenshot (photo) of the settings on the Bootable Media where you specify the ip-address of the OS Deploy Server, if possible of course.

Thank you in advance, I will wait for your message!

I don't know how I could take a screenshot of that.

However, I can assure you that the IP-adress og the OS Deploy Server is configured correctly in the "boot up". There is no DNS server and Gateway configured for the local network though, but that shouldn't be neccesary either from my point of view. Right?

Dear Nils,

I meant if you could kindly take a shot on the digital camera or mobile phone, etc.

Anyway you are correct, DNS is not a requirement unlike DCHP serverAcronis PXE Server requires a DHCP server in the network to locate machines to boot. Without DHCP server in the network, Acronis PXE Server cannot locate machines to boot. For the description of PXE client interaction with PXE boot server and DHCP server see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 244036.

Unfortunately in order to have a clear picture of the issue we need to know the output of the target machine as well, so I would appreciate if you could kindly tell what exactly it shows when fails to boot in addition to the Wireshark logs you have kindly specified.

Thank you in advance for cooperation!

There is no DHCP server in the local network, so if that's required then we know what the problem is.

The Deployment Server is a Windows 7 64bit box, so I have no idea how to install a DHCP server on that.

Nils,

Thank you for keeping us updated!

Yes, this should be the issue - PXE will not work in the static ip environment. So here we have 2 workarounds: 

• use Standalone Bootable Media CD
• install DHCP onto Windows 7

I can help you with the second option, but since your machine hosting OS Deploy Server belongs to 2 subnets, installation of DHCP may cause issues with the configuration of the main network. Thus I would advise you to try Standalone Bootable Media - it was designed for cases when machine is not connected to the web/has connectivity issues, I have already forwarded it to you via PM.

If you would prefer to install DHCP onto Windows 7, I would advise you to use this tool - my friends tested it at home without any issues, so it should work fine. Please be careful configuring it.

I would appreciate if you could kindly keep us posted regarding this question.

Thank you!

Booting using the CD and deploying using a USB disk is something that I've done uptill now, and I've found it to be a bit tiering. However, this seems to be the best option since I don't want to install any DHCP server on a computer.

One thing about deploying the image from a USB disk is that more often than not I get a message saying that the image is corrupted, or that I should "insert the last file of the archive". Mind you that I allways validate the images when I create them.

I haven't had that problem when deploying over a network connection.

Dear Nils,

Thank you for your reply!

Actually there is no need in moving the image to the USB drive since you have an ability to browse the image with the help of the Standalone bootable media: though it is designed for scenarios when you do not have a network it still has functionality allowing you to connect to it. So should you have an image in some network shared folder - feel free to browse it.

Thank you for specifying the issue faced. Unfortunately due to the lack of the details I can guess only, but I assume that previously you had the image stored in some other location (probably a network shared folder) and than copied the image to the USB drive. So here can be several reasons: 

• a glitch during copying the image to the USB drive
• a glitch in recognition of the image
• a glitch of recognition the USB drive

In order to localize the issue I would suggest you to

1. try browsing and deploying the image stored in its original location
2. replug the USB drive to another port
3. copy the image to another location and validate it before deploying

These steps should either help us to resolve the issue or at least localize it. I would also appreciate if you could kindly specify us the following information in case the issue persists: 

1. What was the original location of the image
2. Does validation give you any error
3. Acronis Report from the machine with the USB disk plugged in

I'm really sorry for the inconvenience met, but still I will be more than glad to guide the case till its complete resolution. Let me know in case you have any additional questions or concerns!

Thank you for your cooperation and patience, I really appreciate it!

The images tend to be copied alot back and forth to the USB disk, so that would probably be the reason. I'll keep that in mind from now on.

I'll look into deploying from a shared folder as you suggested.

Thank you, Nils!

Please keep us updated regarding the issue so that we could provide you with further assistance if required!

In order to not share the folder with everyone I want to set some access rights to it. When booting from the disk, is there a specific acronis user?

My fear is that when I share the folder on the deployment server, it will be shared with all users on both networks, while I only want to share it with the ones on the local network.

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us, Nils!

There is actually no specific Acronis User accessing the share, and though we usually advise to set permissions for everyone, you can definitely enter the shared folder with the credentials of the user with full control (domain administrator, for instance).

Regarding the question of the shared folder accessible for both networks - you are correct, should you share files on the machine with 2 NICs, connected to 2 networks, it will be accessible for both. As a workaround you can set permissions only to Administrators account..

Feel free to test it and contact us in case of any questions - we will be glad to help!

Couldn't get it to work with the shared folder on the local network. But when I plugged in the cable of the other network, then it was ok (but then I might just as well use the deployment concole).

Frankly, we are having alot of problems regarding the deployment of images when not using the deployment concole. Having the images on a large USB disk and deploying them from there is a 50/50 chance of working. Sometimes I get told the images are corrupted, other times the same image works.

What we do when we create the images is:
- Deploy from the bootable media.
- Connect the USB disk
- Point the new image to the USB disk
- Create the image
- Copy the image to a backup disk

Should be the correct way to approach it, no?

Dear Nils,

thank you for getting back to us with the latest news.

You are correct, that is the exact way to approach it, and you shouldn't face any issues with it.

I'll be honest: I've searched our resource and didn't find anything related to such issue. I assume the image is reported to be corrupted due to some connectivity issues between the media and the backup location.

I've contacted our Experts team - they think that the issue is in USB ports of particular machines since the image is fine. Anyway we need to localise the problem, so could you please kindly specify:

1. Do you receive the "corrupted" error on some particular machines or the image may first refuse to work and next time get successfully deployed on every?
2. What USB ports do you use?
3. If the image fails to deploy on some particular computers, could you please kindly specify the models of motherboard?

This information will help us to localise the issue and find a solution.

I would appreciate if you could kindly specify us these information so that we could continue working on resolving the problem.

Thank you in advance for cooperation!

I'll supply you with that information when I'm back from my vacation, in a couple of weeks time.

Thank you for your efforts so far.

Hello Nils,

We will wait for the results from you.

Have a nice vacation!

Hello again.

Sorry for the delay, but I've had to prioritise other tasks for a while now.

I've solved the problem with a workaround, because as you said a DHCP server is needed in the network for the deployment to be possible. I've made a new deployment server (win xp) which is also hosting a DHCP server. This is connected to a switch where the other computers also are connected. In other words I have made a new local network, no internet no nothing, just for deploying.

I'd like to thank you in your efforts of helping me. Thumbs up for quick and helpful serivce

I'd like help on properly configuring the Alax.Info DHCP Server for the Acronis Snap Deploy 3 please. All of the Acronis components (OS Deploy, PXE server etc) are installed on the same machine as the dhcp server. I keep getting the following error:

PXE-E53: No boot filename received
PXE-M0F: Exiting Broadcom PXE ROM.

I see no option of disabling option 60. How can I do this?

Hello Tim!

Thank you for finding time to leave a comment, and share your concerns with us, I really appreciate it. I understand your concern, and will gladly address it.

Option 60 tells the client to make a boot information negotiation layer (BINL) request to the same server to retrieve boot information.

Add to the DHCP server option 60: "Client Identifier" with string value "PXE Client". This can be done as follows:

Hit Start -> Run and type netsh

netsh>dhcp

netsh>dhcp>server \\server_machine_name or IP_address

netsh dhcp>add optiondef 60 PXE Client STRING 0 comment="Option added for PXE support"

netsh dhcp>set optionvalue 60 STRING PXE Client

You can find more detailes in this KB article. Please follow the instructions mentioned and let us know the results.

Should you need anything else or have any further questions - feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience, we will be happy to help you!

Thank you!