Preparing to clone or image computers in FamilySearch centers

Article Id: 6383
October 17, 2024
Share

Prepare to image or clone a center computer

Remove some unique identifiers before you capture the image. Remove the items before you shut down the system for the last time. Removing the unique identifiers assumes that the agents are installed onto the template system before capturing the image. Each section provides instructions.

LANDesk Management Suite

We no longer use LANDesk. Please uninstall before you create a master image.

Microsoft Intune

  1. Stop these Windows services:
    1.  BES Client
    2.  BESClientHelper (if it exists)c. BESClientPCS (if it exists)
  2. Remove the registry values "RegCount," "ReportSequenceNumber," and "ComputerID" (if they exist):
    1.  On 32-bit operating systems: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BigFix\EnterpriseClient\GlobalOptions"
    2.  On 64-bit operating systems:"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BigFix\EnterpriseClient\GlobalOptions"
  3. In the BES Client installation folder, delete the __BESData folder.
    1.  On 32-bit operating systems:C:\Program Files\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client
    2.  On 64-bit operating systems:C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES ClientThe Microsoft Intune client is now ready to image.

If you restart the computer or if the BES Client starts for any reason (BES Client reregisters), take the steps again.

Sophos Security Suite

On the template computer, stop these services (if they are present):

  • Sophos Message Router
  • Sophos Agent
  • Sophos AutoUpdate Service

On the template computer, open each of the registry keys:
On 32-bit operating systems:

  • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Sophos\Messaging System\Router\Private]
  • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Sophos\Remote Management System\ManagementAgent\Private

In each key, delete these 2 entries:

  • pkc
  • pkp

On 64-bit operating systems:

  • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Sophos\Messaging System\Router\Private
  • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Sophos\Remote Management System\ManagementAgent\Private]

In each key, delete these 2 entries:

  • pkc
  • pkp

Delete the file machine_ID.txt, if it exists. The file could be present in 1 of the following folders:
Versions of Windows before Windows Vista:

  • C:\Program Files\Sophos\AutoUpdate\
  • C:\Program Files\Sophos\AutoUpdate\data\

Windows Vista and later:

  • C:\ProgramData\Sophos\AutoUpdate\
  • C:\ProgramData\Sophos\AutoUpdate\data\

If the Sophos Patch Agent is installed, take the following steps:

  1. Stop the Sophos Patch Agent service.
  2. In the folder C:\Program Files\Sophos\Sophos Patch Agent\ remove ps*.dat
  3. In the registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\[Wow6432Node]\Sophos\Sophos Patch Agent" remove these values: PatchAgentId, PolicyRevId, and RuntimeCacheThe Sophos client is now ready to image.

If you restart the computer or any of the Sophos services start for any reason, the Sophos client reregisters, and you must perform the previous steps again.

General Notes

  • You do not have to run Sysprep on systems in a nondomain environment.
  • Is the Church being charged for a new windows install each time a machine is activated after installing the new cloned image?
    • Short Answer: No.
    • Long Answer: Windows 7 Enterprise Activation: The KMS server tracks the concurrent number of computers activated over a 30-day period. If a client system does not check back in after those 30 days, then the KMS host server decrements the total active count by 1. From the client side, activation lasts 180 days, and the client must renew activation by connecting to the KMS host server at least once every 180 days. By default, KMS client computers attempt to renew their activation every 7 days. [See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff793434.aspx for additional details.]

"Activation is the process of establishing an association between a valid product key and a computer. Information such as the software version, language, the product key, the Internet Protocol (IP) address, and information about the hardware of the device are used to recognize the computer when activating."
 
From http://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/ghost-vs-windows-activation-why-it-activating-windows-after-cloning-operation: If you deploy a nonsystem prepped image created on a different machine, then Windows 7 detects that it is running on different hardware and must reactivate Windows. A different BIOS serial number is sufficient to indicate different hardware.
 
So, the answer is no, cloning systems and having them reactivate multiple times is not a problem.

Was this helpful?