45 replies to this topic

[twindude]

Joakim
when you say unverisal, do you mean this will also work in ESX 3.5 enviroment?

please advise

Yes restore should not be a problem to run directly from the livecd, as it only requires dotnet2.

BUT, to get the backup function running from the livecd, you will have to solve the already mentioned issues.

I posted a workaround procedure at 911cd for running the backup from within a livecd: http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=22409

This is how it looks like then:



Check out the new universal vmware plugin if you absolutely have to run either Ghost 14 or Backup Exec 8.5:

http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=6924


Joakim

[joakim]

Joakim
when you say unverisal, do you mean this will also work in ESX 3.5 enviroment?

please advise

This is a Load On Demand Ready - Package, which means it can be hotplugged to any windows-based livecd/preinstallation environment. That is you will not have to take account for this app at buildtime of iso. It utilizes the nice concept of having a good core system, not bloated and packed with tons of apps, that will let you boot faster.

By universal I mean;
Project independant. Doesn't matter if the iso was buildt with winbuilder, pebuilder or waik.
OS independant. Will run on xp, 2003, vista, 2008 and windows 7. (current version has not support for 2008/windows7, but new version is almost finished, and compatibility is added.)

This package is ONLY meant to be hotplugged to a running livecd, and NOT to a real system.

Joakim

[risolutore]

I remembered the 911 forum discussion.. I would like to have Ghost14 full working on VistaPE.
The Dotnet plugin script is done. I renember 3.0 .net script.. So maybe is possible to capture all changes with installRite :-) or with ThinStall. recently I had problem with thinstall since it doesn't show entry points...

[sanbarrow]

AFAIK Ghost14 does not need dotnet3 - dotnet2 should be enough.

and YES - dotnet3 can be added to a working dotnet2 by applying an installrite-kit.

[frodo]

Ghost 14 under PE of any sort isnt going to be easy. Blame Symantec, they changed the services and dependencies again>
Sometimes i like to think its also because of my Ghost v9 plugin I think they were a little bitter after i enabled the backup option on PE when their own rescue cd didnt do it

I still have a toy with getting it to work every now and then, but since quitting 911cd.net forums i really havent had the interest.

In other news, as far as .Net v2 goes, i ended up creating a wim file to load after booting that weighs in at a massive 47Mb...thats a joke, its tiny compared to .Net plugins, i used this in my attempts to get Ghost v14 going. The wim loading idea was inpired by Sanbarrow of MOA fame, though i did take it to a slightly manic level by trimming .Net v2 down to this size. It uses a wim capture of .Net v2 files, imagex to load and junctions to redirect the folders

If anyone wants a tutorial on how to do this let me know via email to stylemessiah@hotmail.com

[TheHive]

Nice to see youre still kicking.

[joakim]

I still have a toy with getting it to work every now and then,

Does that mean that ghost 14 works in backup mode?
If so, then how did you solve msdtc and comsysapp?
sp3 as source?

Joakim

[frodo]

Does that mean that ghost 14 works in backup mode?
If so, then how did you solve msdtc and comsysapp?
sp3 as source?

Joakim

No, what i meant by that comment was that every now and then i take another look at getting it to work....sadly no progress in ages.

[joakim]

I've stopped any further investigation of that issue myself. Got just too deeply buried in those services.

Maybe vista and later will ease this services-related issue in PE.

Joakim

[sanbarrow]

Service issues .... ?

Its some time ago ... last time I tried to install ghost 14 on top of MOA I could run backup-mode ... I just lost interest because Ghost14 only works with MOA if I change the "product-options from ServerNT to WinNT.
That is a dirty hack and had several drawbacks - so the price was to high to use it on a server-based PE - but with XP used as source it should work ....

[frodo]

Does that mean that ghost 14 works in backup mode?
If so, then how did you solve msdtc and comsysapp?
sp3 as source?

Joakim

No, what i meant by that comment was that every now and then i take another look at getting it to work....sadly no progress in ages.mate

Well yo must have done some more work after we both last looked at it I remember that couple of weeks it frustrated the hell out of us:!
Have you been holding out on me

[sanbarrow]

Wasn't that months ago ? - back in the days when 911cd net was fun

Frodo - no hidden secrets involved. All I ever managed was to use it when installed on the fly on a max-build of MOA.
Doing that took 10 or 15 minutes - so I lost interest as I was not able to reproduce those results with a regular build and a speed-install.

My current builds dont react well when reduce from ServerNT to WinNT so I completely stopped playing with ghost 14

Ulli

[joakim]

Just adding some things I just discovered regarding these backup solutions from Symantec.

@sanbarrow
The hacks you mentioned to get ghost 14 running in MOA is only required when setup with the installer. When setup manually with batches, it's fine and it runs (except some other minor errors).

Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery is very very similar and also runs fine. I have a couple of batches that does the manual install and it kind of works. The ghost batches are similar, but with modified paths. The trick is to have it completely manually installed and independant of the installer. Currently it fails at 5% in backup mode with no interaction from the installer, but it works 100% if the installer is allowed to repair the manual install (which is the missing link).





Joakim

[joakim]

Proof that Ghost 14 runs in backup mode in a Preinstallation Environment;




No interaction from the installer and no dirty system hacks. All set up manually, and definately not easy.

As the screenshot shows, ghost 14 also runs on server 2003, despite no apparent support and an installer that refuses to install on such a platform.

The reason is that the backup-engine/core product is essentially the same as Backup Exec System Recovery.


Joakim

[sanbarrow]

Cool - you managed to do a full manual install of ghost 14 ?

Then it can be lodr-packed ? Wow

that would make a nice addon to this project
http://sanbarrow.com...opic.php?t=1491

By the way - is there a special reason why you use moa.exe 2.4-011 ? - current version is 2.4.036

Ulli

[joakim]

By the way - is there a special reason why you use moa.exe 2.4-011 ? - current version is 2.4.036

That's the only embarrassing part of the image, I haven't updated my ramloading max-image for a while (due to some other issues..).

That being said, are the vss and swprv services now a part of the core system?

I still have my doubts whether it will make any sense to run vss in PE-mode. The only reason, the way I see it, is to get such vss-dependant backup solutions to run in PE. For the Symantec products part, the vss service is only required if you are to make a backup of any file currently in use, which means either x (if ramloading), b or r (if ramdisk in standard way or moa-way), or any other drive the application itself is running from. And why would anyone do that?

ShadowProtect still seems like a much more appealing solution, for several reasons.


Joakim

[joakim]

It is an app that can be speedloaded. The core loading currently contains 2 batches and a reg patch. One batch is for installing the services that requires drivers (done with symantec supplied tool, but can also be done with regsvr32), and the oother batch is for installing non-driver based services as well as registering dlls.

The loading process takes about 20 seconds and assumes dotnet2 is present. It is only tested on ramloading builds (ntfs formatted x).

One weird thing to note is that ghost 14 only has been run succesfully on 2k3. It does not even start on a ramloading xp build, even though this is the platform it supposedly was meant for. Vista and 2k8 has not been tested due to junction point issues (for adding dotnet2).

The guy at symantec that coded the trial protection on both these apps (and maybe others too), must have been drugged in some kind of way the day it coded it. It is the lamest timebomb I have ever seen, it is a completely braindead implementation. The initial key/timer is written by the installer only, and the app itself is not capable of rewriting it if not present...


Joakim

[sanbarrow]

That being said, are the vss and swprv services now a part of the core system?

In latest #-035 plugins I only copy the files required for VSS - no registry or services are added.
This is sufficient to speed-load VSS with a batch without needing to inject files - this way VSS is strictly optional and doesn't hurt when you do not need it

[joakim]

After some startup issues with a new vistape build, I finally got to test the symantec products in a different environment.

And it worked;

Ghost 14 in VistaPE;



Backup Exec System Recovery 8.5.3 in VistaPE;




Some more time and maybe a couple of lodr packages will be available...


Joakim

[joakim]

Further updates on Ghost 14 and BESR 8.5.3 from my side will come in this thread;

http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=7825

The reason is it will not come in a .script format and will not only be about Ghost 14.

Joakim

[risolutore]

After some startup issues with a new vistape build, I finally got to test the symantec products in a different environment. And it worked;
Ghost 14 in VistaPE;Backup Exec System Recovery 8.5.3 in VistaPE;
Joakim

VERY GOOD news, I hope a day to try the vistaPE with BESR 8.5x. It will be a loader pack? it will be a batch file to collect all files?? I will wait..