Template Computer Names wildcards

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I have a few questions regarding using the "Computer Name" wildcards when creating templates.

I deployed an image yesterday with a template that would name the computer with the following wildcards:

PC{0,10}{0,10}{0,10}{1,9}

So basically, it would name the first computer "PC0001". But I only imaged this one computer during the deployment.

Today, I came in and started to do another manual deployment with this template, and I noticed going through the manual deployment wizard that the computer name wildcards still showed as:

PC{0,10}{0,10}{0,10}{1,9}

To me, this means that if I went through with TODAY's deployment on this other computer with the wildcards still in place, it would have also been named "PC0001" just like YESTERDAY's computer. Therefore, I just changed the computer name field in the manual deployment task to "PC0002" instead of using wildcards, as it didn't seem Snap Deploy remembered that it gave out the name "PC0001" yesterday with the wildcard PC{0,10}{0,10}{0,10}{1,9}. Otherwise, we would have had two PC's with the same name joined to the domain, and you know how much havok that causes.

So, my questions are: does Snap Deploy not keep track of historical data showing which PC names it has already handed out? Do the Computer Name wildcards only advance in number per deployment task (for instance, if I had to deploy 5 PC's with the same deployment task using the same template)? Is there not a way for Snap Deploy to check Active Directory to see what names have already been taken, as Windows Deployment Service does?

Thanks!

Fri, 02/18/2011 - 18:03
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Posts: 24
Comments: 3268

Hello Jeremy,

Thank you for finding time to open the thread regarding these questions, I will be glad to address them.

In order to avoid confusion, I will address each question separately: 

  1. Does Snap Deploy not keep track of historical data showing which PC names it has already handed out?
    No, Snap Deploy doesn't keep track of the historical data. It actually was designed for the cases when one needs to constantly deploy the same "clean" system onto the same machines, thus this functionality was denied. But I will forward your comment to the Development team.
    Probably they will reconsider adding it to the future versions
  2. Do the Computer Name wildcards only advance in number per deployment task (for instance, if I had to deploy 5 PC's with the same deployment task using the same template)?
    I believe I understiid your question, still I would like to avoid any possible misunderstanding. Could you please give me more details n this one? I'm sure we can help you with this question as well.
  3. Is there not a way for Snap Deploy to check Active Directory to see what names have already been taken, as Windows Deployment Service does?
    Acronis Snap Deploy actually doesn't communicate with the Active Directory, thus it doesn't check what names were taken. This is actually should also be changed, so I'll forward this comment to the Development team as well.

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!

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 20:31