Maintaining a Stable Windows Environment

Mark Padgett

&

Bret Madsen

Purdue’s Lab Background

• 85 lab sites, 200 technology in the classroom (tic) sites, and 25 other sites

• 1850 lab machines, 200 tic machines, and 50 other machines

• 18,000 logins per day

• 2 full time staff, 6 students, and other staff

Products in Use

• Symantec Ghost – for imaging

• Pyzzo PCR-dist (DOA) – for software management

• Faronics Deep Freeze – for environment stability

• KeyServer – for software licensing

• Logon/Logoff/Startup/Shutdown Scripts – for reporting of machine stats

Products in Use

• LifeCycle– New Machine is setup (ghosted with unicast from

disk)– Scripts run PCR-dist to bring in applications– Scripts enable Deep Freeze– Scripts run nightly to “Thaw” the computers and run

PCR-dist– PCR-dist brings in updates to the computers– Scripts run to “Freeze” the computers– Mass OS level updates are performed to the

computers with Ghost Console

Ghost

• Why we use it– To reduce the manual effort of imaging machines

• How we use it– 1. Mass Imaging: Using the ghost client we can push

fully-loaded software images to classrooms at a time– 2. Individual fixes:

• Floppy Network Boot Disk• Scripted actions based on user typed computer name• Base image that runs PCR-dist at the end to bring in

applications.

PCR-dist

• Why we use it– To update software consistently on all of the

computers– To gain the ability of file-by-file replacement and

registry control• How we use it

– A copy of the “base” computer image is made on the server (files and registry entries)

– Each application software is setup as a separate PCR-dist application

– Custom scripts merge the .dst (configuration file) with the settings files stored in a database then run the result.

PCR-dist

Deep Freeze

• How we use it– To quickly restore to the machine to the state

it was before the user logged in.

• Why we use it– PCR-dist takes to long between users (>5

min.)– PCR-dist could not remove all changes users

made the machine.

KeyServer

• Why we use it– To allow metering of a limited number of

licenses across our labs.

• How we use it– We install all of our software in all of our

machines– We then limit the concurrent use of the

software with Keyserver.– Ex. Acrobat Pro has 80 licenses that can run

at one time.

KeyServer

• # of Applications Served– 345

• # of Client Machines– 2508 (includes Macs and PCs)

• # of Application Requests per Month– 1,680,000 (appr. 56,000 per day)

• Size of Log File per month– 1.5 GB

KeyServer

Scripts

• Why we use them– To track machine availability and usage– To perform machine updates

• How we use them– We call the batch sequences from the

Windows Startup, Shutdown, Logon and Logoff scripts

Scripts – Machine Use

• Startup– Notifies that the system is available

• Logon– Notifies that the system is in use and tracks by whom

• Logoff– Notifies that the user has logged off the system

• Shutdown– Notifies that the system is rebooting (possibly

updating)

Scripts – Machine Updating

• During the maintenance window (usually 2-6am when the labs are closed):– The Deep Freeze “Thaw” command is run at a

random time within the window– If the machine reboots “Thawed”, the PCR-

dist command is run updating the system– At the end of the PCR-dist session the Deep

Freeze “Freeze” command is run

Questions

Links

• Ghost: http://www.symantec.com

• PCR-dist: none

• Deep Freeze: http://www.faronics.com

• KeyServer: http://www.sassafras.com

Presenters’ Bio

• Mark Padgett– System Administrator for Teaching and Learning Technology

campus computer labs (appr. 2200 Windows PCs) at Purdue.– Associates degree in electronics for Vincennes University.– Started out repairing computer hardware. Changed to system

Administrator about 10 years ago.

• Bret Madsen– System Administrator for Teaching and Learning Technology

campus computer labs (appr. 2200 Windows PCs) at Purdue.– Master’s degree in Information Technology Management from

Purdue University and Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from South Dakota State University.

– Originally from South Dakota and worked as a Computer Support Specialist for SDSU and Sioux Valley Hospital.