beyontics document template 2017 · during a software update through booting a new vhd it might be...

RHIZOMER 2.0

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Rhizomer 2.0

Technical Specifications

Version 1.0

beyontics GmbH, 2017 of 9

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 3

2 The Rhizomer Principle ............................................................................... 3

3 Requirements ............................................................................................ 3

3.1 Required Components ........................................................................................... 3

3.2 Server Environment .............................................................................................. 4

3.3 Client ..................................................................................................................... 4

3.4 Virtual Hard Disk Image (VHD) .............................................................................. 4

4 Components .............................................................................................. 4

4.1 Web Server............................................................................................................ 4

4.1.1 Web Application ..........................................................................................4

4.2 Database Server ..................................................................................................... 5

4.2.1 Audit Trail .................................................................................................... 5

4.3 Rhizomer-PC .......................................................................................................... 5

4.3.1 PC Scripts ................................................................................................... 6

4.4 Installation Medium .............................................................................................. 6

4.4.1 Installation Script ....................................................................................... 6

4.5 WinPE .................................................................................................................... 7

4.6 File Server / Remote Drive ...................................................................................... 7

4.6.1 Data Backups .............................................................................................. 7

4.7 Image File (VHD) .................................................................................................... 7

5 Common Approaches ................................................................................. 7

5.1 Initial Installation .................................................................................................... 7

5.2 Client Remote Update ........................................................................................... 8

5.3 Client Restore After Update .................................................................................. 8

6 Contact ..................................................................................................... 9

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1 INTRODUCTION

Rhizomer 2.0 is a tool for fully automated installation and administration of custom configured setups

of operational systems, drivers and applications. It uses data images of virtual hard drives (VHDs) that

are distributed to the client computer through a network connection. The virtual nature of the data

images allows the unrestricted use of the whole hardware of the client.

The communication between the tool and the client is done through a Web-API interface, which is

invoked on the client side using PowerShell scripts. These scripts contain exclusively predefined scripts

and no custom code.

2 THE RHIZOMER PRINCIPLE

Rhizomer 2.0 takes control of the whole physical hard drive of the client computer and creates the

required folder structure. The image with which the client is set up is stored as a virtual hard drive on

the physical hard drive of the client in a folder created by the tool. The boot manager of the client is

then configured to automatically start this virtual hard disk.

After the initial installation through Rhizomer 2.0, the clients connect to the web application in a

custom interval. After establishing a connection, the configuration settings are updated and the tasks

that are to be executed are committed using predefined scripts that are also found on the physical drive

of the client.

If the web application has a new task assigned to the client, the order will not be directly sent to the

client, but only a so-called task code will be exchanged upon the next client side query. This

corresponds to a predefined script on the client that is executed by the web application. The

established connection takes place always at the client side.

After the initial installation, all functions are remotely executable and no user input is required. The

corresponding scripts can be stored either on the physical drive or on the virtual image. The clients are

unambiguously mapped according to their MAC-address and the host name can be automatically

generated or configured.

The clients can be allocated to individual logical groups in order to assign common file servers, time

zones and so on. The web application gives an overview of the complete inventory and the current

configuration of each client.

3 REQUIREMENTS

The following conditions must be fulfilled in order to make sure that Rhizomer 2.0 functions correctly in

your environment.

3.1 REQUIRED COMPONENTS

• Windows domain environment with Active Directory

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• a generic user account with access to the file server and at least on organization unit (OU) in

the active directory (in order to add the client computer to the domain)

3.2 SERVER ENVIRONMENT

• 1x IIS Webserver 7.5 (or higher) with Windows Server 2008 R2 (or higher)

• 1x MS SQL database 2012 (or higher) with Windows Server 2008 R2 (or higher)

• File server as storage location for VHD's, scripts, tools, drivers and backups

Note: The web server/database and the file server must not necessarily be installed on different

servers.

3.3 CLIENT

• Ability to boot from USB/DVD

• The drivers for the network adapter of the client must be stored in the WinPE.

3.4 VIRTUAL HARD DISK IMAGE (VHD)

• Windows 7 SP1 (or higher)

• Microsoft.NET 4.5 (or higher)

• PowerShell 4.0 (or higher)

• The Task Scheduler must be configured for the Rhizomer 2.0 specific tasks

• A registry entry with the image version

4 COMPONENTS

Rhizomer 2.0 consists of different components that are operating together.

4.1 WEB SERVER

The web server hosts the web application.

4.1.1 Web Application

The web application provides the interface for the end user, as well as the interface (Web-API) for the

interaction with the scripts. The web application allows the complete administration of the clients.

The interface consists of the following sections:

• Clients

This section gives an overview of all computers managed by Rhizomer 2.0. You can view the

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details for a particular computer, edit an already registered computer or register a new

computer.

• Departments

The Departments section is used for the management of all logical groups (departments).

These define for example the file share locations, the time zones and the standard image

version for the corresponding clients.

• Action

In the Action section you can assign tasks to one or more computers. These are for example

“Install a new image”, “Restore the old image”, as well as “Update the scripts”.

• Dashboard

The Dashboard section illustrates in the form of a world map an overview of all departments. It

shows the number of computers in the particular department, as well as a Top 10 chart of the

longest running computers.

• Reporting

The Reporting section can generate an Excel sheet across multiple departments. It contains

specific information for all computers in the selected departments.

• Settings

This section contains several settings, like for example settings for the supported interface

cards and computer models, available remote drives, different image versions, as well as driver

packages and users.

4.2 DATABASE SERVER

The database server is responsible for hosting the database and keeping an audit trail on the database

side. This offers the benefit of keeping track of manual changes to the database.

4.2.1 Audit Trail

The audit trail is kept on the database side using shadow tables and functions by SQL triggers that copy

the corresponding row for each command (Insert, Update, Delete) in a shadow table. The table is

created before the start of the web interfaces, which allows to store the initial data as well.

Furthermore, an additional row with detailed information for each action (User, Time, Change, etc.) is

written in the shadow table. For reducing the data volume, it is recommended to individually ignore

some of the attributes.

4.3 RHIZOMER-PC

The Rhizomer principle is based on the premise, that the required software is not directly installed on

any computer managed by Rhizomer 2.0. It merely defines a data image that contains complete

software, together with the operation system and is copied on the physical drive of the client. The

corresponding folder structure on the client looks for example like this:

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+---Drivers | | DPInst.exe | | dpinst.xml | | | \---8200 folder with drivers for the particular PC +---Scripts | ApiHelper.ps1 | AtStartup.cmd | AtWinPeStartup.cmd | BackupEmpowerSettings.ps1 | CheckDomainJoin.ps1 | [...] | UpdateLocalScripts.ps1 | UpdateSystemInformation.ps1 | +---Tools +---Win-VHD | Win_CURRENT.vhd data image (bootable) | \---WinPE-VHD WinPE_CURRENT.vhd

4.3.1 PC Scripts

The PC scripts perform all actions on the client. They report for example the newest configuration to

the web application, check if there is a scheduled task or perform backups. There are both standardized

and individually customized scripts that execute specific tasks. For example, a script can make sure that

all transfers to the central file share are done on a particular client or that, if the need arises, a particular

transfer can be repeated. There is no limitation on the number of tasks defined using the scripts.

4.4 INSTALLATION MEDIUM

The installation medium for Rhizomer 2.0 can be a USB-stick or a DVD/CD and is required only for the

initial installation. After the installation, all required applications or actions can be executed remotely.

On the installation medium, there is a copy of Windows PE, based on Windows 8.1 that is booted in

order to start the installation script.

4.4.1 Installation Script

The installation script fetches relevant configuration information about the specific client via API from

the web server and executes the installation stepwise as following:

• Formatting the physical drive of the client

• Copying the boot manager on the physical drive

• Creating the required folder structure

• Copying the data image from the remote drive to the client

• Writing the configuration information to the unattend.xml file

• Copying the drivers and scripts from the remote drive

• Restarting the client

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The boot manager starts automatically the data image and with it the installation is complete.

4.5 WINPE

The WinPE on the installation medium allows the complete formatting of the physical drive.

The WinPE is used as a VHD in order to be able to rename the data image during a remote initial install.

This is not possible during use (after the booting process).

4.6 FILE SERVER / REMOTE DRIVE

The VHDs, scripts, tools, drivers and data backups are stored on the remote drive. Additionally, new

VHDs can be downloaded from the remote drive to the particular client in the background without any

user interaction (silent mode).

4.6.1 Data Backups

During a software update through booting a new VHD it might be required to transfer configuration

files and settings. For this purpose, you can create data backups in advance. A separate folder

corresponding to each client is created on the remote drive. Before the update via a VHD you need to

define which configuration or contents from the client are to be transferred in the corresponding

backup folder on the remote drive. Additionally, services that are to be stopped will be identified, so

that the update can be run via the new VHD image. The data backup can be set in such a way that it

happens automatically before an update. Analogically, you can choose to run automatically the restore

of the saved contents and configuration after the update.

4.7 IMAGE FILE (VHD)

The data image that needs to be distributed is contained in a preconfigured image file. The complete

package of Windows operation system, together with the applications and the driver configuration will

be distributed to the client and started automatically. This gives the benefit that no further user input is

required on the client computer.

5 COMMON APPROACHES

The following section offers an overview of the most important points of Rhizomer 2.0 with respect to

the installation and the updating.

5.1 INITIAL INSTALLATION

First the Rhizomer Boot Agent is copied from the USB or DVD/CD to the client computer in order to

start the booting process. All steps will the follow automatically. A copy of Windows PE (based on

Windows 8.1) will be automatically started. It will send a query to the Web-API, asking for the

configuration information for this particular client based on the MAC-address. In order to do this, the

drivers for the network adapter of the client must be present in the WinPE. If no network connection

can be established, this query will be repeated in a loop until a network connection can be found. If

more network adapters are present, the active connection must be chosen beforehand. Therefore, an

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already connected client must be switched off. If a network connection is found, the network adapter

will be renamed in order to assign unambiguously the network connections.

After this, the complete physical drive of the client computer is formatted and the folder structure

required by Rhizomer 2.0 is created. The old and the current VHDs will be copied in the corresponding

folders. The boot manager is configured and the Win_CURRENT.vhd is set as the default boot drive.

The host name and the time zone of the particular client are written in the unattend.xml file. The

drivers for the particular model are copied in the folder Drivers and the scripts for the remote drive are

copied in the folder Scripts.

The initial download of the VHD can be take place from the remote drive or from the hard drive. The

restart of the client takes place automatically via the virtual drive. With this the initial installation is

completed and the client is ready for use after a few minutes. From now on, all further configuration

changes and updates can be done remotely through Rhizomer 2.0.

5.2 CLIENT REMOTE UPDATE

To perform an update on a client or a group of clients, you can create the required task in the web

interface. Upon its execution, the download of the VHD on the client computer starts in the

background. At the same time, the defined folders and configuration files from the client are stored in a

specific backup folder on the file server. The user is then notified about an expected short downtime

due to maintenance. The script reboots the client and executes a one-time boot in WinPE. Once WinPE

is running, the name of the old VHD is changed from Win_CURRENT.vhd to Win_ROLLBACK.vhd. For

security reasons, the old VHD is kept on the client computer in order to allow a later restore. The

downloaded Win_NEW.vhd is renamed to Win_CURRENT.vhd. In the end, WinPE is shut down, the

new VHD is started and the saved data from the backup folder are restored. The update is finished and

the client can be used again.

5.3 CLIENT RESTORE AFTER UPDATE

In case a restore of the previous configuration is needed, it can be executed from the web interface.

Analogically to the update, the procedure starts with a one-time boot in WinPE, the renaming of the

old VHD and a restart in the end. In this way, if the need arises the configuration of the client computer

can be restored to the previous state in several minutes.

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6 CONTACT

BEYONTICS HEADQUARTERS

beyontics GmbH

Altonaer Straße 79-81

D- 13581 Berlin

Phone: +49 30 36432319

Fax: +49 30 36431977

E-Mail: [email protected]

BEYONTICS REGIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND AGENCIES

Germany and EU North and South America Asia-Pacific

beyontics Europe GmbH

Phone: +49 30 36432319


beyontics America Inc.

Phone: +1 857 2142098


beyontics Asia-Pacific

Phone: +63 939 8986264


Switzerland and other regions

beyontics Schweiz GmbH

Phone: +41 61 2254355


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