Early emphasis on WolfPrep focused on the imaging and multicast areas, and getting a large number of similarly configured machines installed and running quickly.
Equally important is WolfPrep's ability to upgrade the core software components on a machine while preserving the data on it's hard drive. Usually, this is associated with workstations assigned to one or only a few people. Perhaps you need to upgrade a workstation that has research data, or you wish to preserve the operating system and specialized applications pre-installed by a vendor.
If you use the scripting components of WolfPrep on an existing Windows workstation, it will follow the settings you've established in your configuration template, and install core settings and services.
If you using just the scripting components, install times will be longer, because the core components will not already be installed by the image. Non-imaged workstations often require intervention during the setup process. And it is not possible to install a hidden backup partition unless you use a WolfPrep image.
Here are the steps to run the WolfPrep scripts on a workstation.
- Be sure the IP address is in a range controlled by a WolfPrep Template.
- If the workstation already has Client-32, Zenworks, and contextless login functioning, log in as "WolfPrep"
- If the workstation isn't already configured with Client-32, run WolfPrep.cmd from the Wolfprep server as an Administrator.
Be sure the IP address is in a range controlled by a WolfPrep Template.
If you don't have a template assigned to the workstation, that workstation gets “lost” and is placed in the “Lost and Found” NDS container. It gets a default, “Unknown” template, and the wrong (or no) admin password. The bitmaps for the Lost and Found container have rude bitmaps that indicate to end users that the machine is set up incorrectly.
You’ll need to perform special steps in order to
apply a different template.
This is detailed in Remedy
solution 3015.
If the workstation already has Client-32, Zenworks, and contextless login functioning, log in as "WolfPrep"
Skip ahead to the "no client-32" section.
If the workstation has already had a version of Client-32 and Zenworks for Desktops installed, then you can log into the Novell Network as the user "WolfPrep" at any time to get the latest versions and settings applied.
The password for WolfPrep can be found here.
If you don't have a functional contextless login, you can enter it manually as "Unknown.Computers.Users"
If the workstation isn't already configured with Client-32, log in to the "WolfPrep.unity.ad.ncsu.edu" server
Workstations can use the Microsoft client automatically installed on modern operating systems to access the "uni04nt" Windows server and bootstrap the WolfPrep process.
To use this option you must:
- You must have an administrator account with full access to the local system.
- You must have the Microsoft Networking client installed and operational (with the underlying requirements of a properly functioning network adapter and assigned IP address)
From the "Start" menu or the "Map Network Drive..." context menu, make a connection to \\wolfprep.unity.ad.ncsu.edu\Public\Client32
Don't forget to include the ".ad" bit in the hostname, it's very easy to read right past that. No login is required.
Run the WolfPrep.CMD script file
On the \\wolfprep.unity.ad.ncsu.edu\Public\Client32 share, you will find a batch file named WolfPrep.cmd (among many other files, which you can ignore).
Be certain that your account on the Workstation has Administrator priviledges, and double click on the WolfPrep.cmd icon to launch it.
You may get a security warning.
Click on the "Open" button to confirm that you wish to run this script. Doing so will install the Client-32 software, reboot, install the Zen for Desktops software, reboot, and then log into the Novell based WolfPrep scripting.
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