Creating a ZENworks CD

1. Start with the ISO image from Novell

The ZENworks Boot CDs can be downloaded here. This ISO image contains modifications to suit the ITS environment and provides a good starting point if you wish to modify it further as described below.

Copy the BOOTCD.ISO image file to the PC on which you intend to burn the final CD. It would be best to create a special folder for each modified CD. You may want more than one because of hardware differences or Zen partition sizes.

2. Create you own SETTINGS.TXT file.

At the root of each CD there is a text file called SETTINGS.TXT that contains the specific parameters for the imaging environment. The generic configuration is located with the other imaging files. A copy of this must be placed on the root directory of the boot CD with parameters replaced by appropriate values for your faculty.

The values of most interest are PARTITIONSIZE, PROXYADDR and MANUALREBOOT.

PROXYADDR is different from ZENWSIMPORT, but they are usually DNS aliases of the same server. ZENWSIMPORT controls which server imports the workstation and each server will have just one container into which it can import workstations.

3. Add any drivers to DRIVERS folder tree structure.

The generic imaging disk does have the structures to allow the addition of hardware specific drivers for disks, disk controllers and network drivers. The current boot CD already contains drivers for most network interface cards. Place additional drivers in a folder structure on the system you use to burn CDs so the whole folder structure can be added to the disk image.

DRIVERS\NET for new NIC drivers (.o) files
DRIVERS\DISK for new disk drivers

There is also a folder for adding files to the BIN folder of the target Zen partition.

ADDFILES\BIN

Note: The compiled driver files must be compiled on a system with the same kernel version as present on the current ZENworks distribution. Drivers compiled against other varying kernel versions may not load or can produce unexpected results.

4. Secure Lilo boot keyboard intercept

The Lilo boot can be intercepted by holding down the either left or right shift key. Holding down the shift key might be ignored by the system if it's pushed during system POST. Hold down the shift key just before the boot operation. This will give access to the command prompt on the Zen partition. To secure this from unauthorised use, a password needs to be placed on that boot option.

The Lilo menu \etc\Lilo.conf is re-generated after each boot by code in the file \bin\util.s. Modifying the \etc\Lilo.conf will be overwritten. Edit the \bin\util.s to include the password. Look for the line;
echo label = prompt >> $destFile
and add a line after it like;
echo password=something >> $destFile
then save the file.

5. Modify the generic image to be your special disk

• Open the generic CD image with an image editing program. (WinISO)
• Replace the generic SETTINGS.TXT file at the root with your special from step 2.
• Add your NET folder from step 3 to the DRIVERS folder in the image.
• Add your UTIL.S from step 4 to the ADDFILES\BIN folder in the image.
• Make sure all file and folder names are in uppercase.
• Save the modified ISO image.

6. Burn the disk.

• Open the CD burning software you intend to use.
• Select the ISO image burning selection and load the modified ISO image.
• Burn the CD.

7. Test the disk.

Go to a sample workstation and boot with the new CD. This may require you to manually select the CD for booting or even change the boot sequence to make the CD option preceed all others. You may need the BIOS password. Remember to restore the boot sequece afterwards to meet security requirments.

If the Zen menu does not appear, there has been a problem with the basic image. If the Zen menu does appear, select the manual option and follow the boot process to see the bash "#" prompt. At this point, the network driver will have been used to obtain an address via DHCP. Also the Zenproxy will have been contacted (if defined).

At the bash prompt ("#") type the command img dmp to see the Zen view of the partition table. This will confirm that the disk drivers loaded are working.

This RAM version of imaging is independent of the Zen image, if any, already on the system. If you wish the workstation to forget its previous identity and delete the old Zen partition, use the img and zisedit -c commands.

8. Install the Zen Imaging system

With the disk fully tested, reboot the system and use the install command at the Lilo prompt to create/update the Zen Imaging partition on the system. The system is now ready to get instructions from its Zenproxy and execute imaging command scripts.

9. Test that the Lilo boot to command prompt is password protected

Boot from the hard disk with the new Zen partition while holding down the left-shift key. The Lilo menu should appear with the prompt selection marked with a "P". Selecting it should illicit a password prompt and access to the command prompt should be denied unless the password is entered.

References

• Novell Zenworks documentation