Diskless Setup (CCBoot Tutorial)

Please use Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition SP2 32 bit if you plan to use Windows Server 2003 as CCBoot server system platform.

Please use Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit if you plan to use Windows 7 as CCBoot server system platform.

Please use Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition 64 bit if you plan to use Windows 2008 as CCBoot server system platform.

1. All hard disks should be formatted as NTFS. When format drives, please set "Allocation unit size" as "Default" for server OS system drive, and set "Allocation unit size" as "32K" for other drives.

Note: Other CCboot Users prefer "64K", they said it's faster... you can also try if you want.

2. Allocate hard disks for image, game (raid 0) and write back (2-3 hard disks). If you have an SSD disk, please format it into only one partition for cache. How to allocation hard disks? Please refer to Server Hardware Requirements.

CCboot Server Setup:

Please download the latest version of CCBoot installation package from www.ccboot.com.

1) Launch ccbootsetup.exe on the server and keep pressing the next button to the end (Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1

2) In the pop up "CCBoot Options" dialog box, specify the "Write-back Path" and "Upload Image Path" as you wish, then keep other settings as default (Figure 1-2).

Figure 1-2

The "Write-back Path" is used to save the data written from clients. With this feature, every client can save private data separately. And these data are only available for client on which they are created.

The "Upload Image Path" is used to save images uploaded from clients. With such images, you can diskless boot clients over the network based on iSCSI.

3) Click "DHCP Settings" tab, and set the DHCP settings as below.

Demo Environment (Figure 1-3)

Server IP: 192.168.1.220

Gateway: 192.168.1.1

DNS Address: 192.168.1.1

IP Mask: 255.255.255.0

DHCP Range: 192.168.1.101-192.168.1.254

Figure 1-3

You need to select the correct local IP address as "DHCP Server IP". Press "Scan DHCP" to check if there are other DHCP services on the LAN. If yes, shut them down avoid the conflict between the CCBoot DHCP and other DHCP service. Especially, please disable the DHCP service in the router.

4) You will get the main interface as bellow (Figure 1-4).

Figure 1-4

CCBoot Server Ports

CCBoot uses the following ports - 67 (DHCP), 69 (TFTP), 3260 (iSCSI), 1000 (Image Upload), 8001 (Service Control). Please open these ports on the server firewall to make sure client PC can diskless boot successfully. For CCBoot v3.0, you also need to open port 66. V3.0 using port 66 as DHCP backup. And after v3.0 20130871, CCBoot use port 4011 instead of port 66 as DHCP backup.

Note: In order to make sure that client's PCs can diskless boot well, please shut down the other DHCP services on the LAN, especially the DHCP service in the router. You can be rest assured that after you disabled other DHCP services on the LAN, it will not affect other computers' connecting to the Internet, because CCBoot will provide DHCP service which could also be used by the computers which boot from HDD.

This Means you have to Disable DHCP on your Router...

Creating and Uploading Image:

1) Choose one client PC as master PC used for uploading boot image.

2) Attach a hard disk on the PC.

3) Delete all partitions firstly. Then allocate a small MBR partition about 40G size and leave the rest unallocated. Format the 40G partition with NTFS.

Note: If you want to use Windows 7 or Windows 8 as client OS, when installing OS, you need to connect the boot disk to the SATA0 interface of the mother board. If you are not sure which is the SATA0 interface, you can remove other hard disks on the client, just leave one HDD for installing OS. The reason is that, on Windows 7 and Windows 8, the boot data will always be written to the hard disk which is connected to the SATA0 interface. If the HDD on the SATA0 interface is not the boot disk, the client will be failed to boot from that image. Because CCBoot only uploads the boot disk data.

4) Install Windows XP or Windows 7 on this partition. Install only NIC driver, mainboard chips driver and other low level drivers on this master PC.

5) Install the latest patches of Windows even the service patches are installed. (DO NOT skip this step)

6) Open the local area connection network properties and configure as bellow (Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1

Click "Properties". Please uninstall "QoS Packet Scheduler" (Figure 1-2).

Figure 1-2

Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click "Properties" (Figure 1-3).

Figure 1-3

Select "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically", then click "OK" to save.

7) Download CCBoot client installation package from http://www.ccboot.com/download.htm. Launch ccbootsetupclient.exe and keep pressing the next button to the end. Then launch CCBoot client and you will see the main interface as bellow (Figure 1-4). (Note: If you have wireless card or multiple NICs, just leave the NIC used to boot from LAN, and disable the other NICs in Device Manager before installing CCBoot client, and then upload the image.)

Figure 1-4

8) Press the "Install CCBoot Client" button. After finished, it will require to reboot system. Reboot the client PC. Please use command "ipconfig /all" to get the client IP address.

9) Go to server. On the CCBoot server, you will find a client in the client list (Figure 1-5) that is added by CCBoot automatically when the client PC gets IP address from the CCBoot DHCP service. If there are multiple clients in the list, please identify the client by the IP address (Figure 1-5).

Figure 1-5

Double click the client to edit and check "Enable Upload Image", then press "save" (Figure 1-6).

Figure 1-6

10) Go to client, and launch CCBoot Client again, then click "NIC PnP" button. (this step is optional)

11) On the "CCBootPnP" dialog box, click "Install Known NIC" button, you will get a NIC driver list. Please check "Select All", click "OK" to install (Figure 1-7). (this step is optional)

Figure 1-7

12) Input the correct "Server IP address", and it should be the IP address of the CCBoot server, which has been located. Input the image file name as you wish in the "Image File Name". Press the "Upload Image" button to upload the image to the CCBoot server. Then CCBoot will create a boot image in the server "Image Save Path".

Note: CCBoot supports two types of image file format. It supports VMDK and VHD image file format. The image file format depends on the file extension you have set for the "Image File Name". For example, if you set "XP01.vmdk" as the "Image File Name" , it means you will use "VMDK" image file format, while if you set "XP01.vhd" , it means you will use "VHD" image file format. We recommend you using VHD format.

Diskless Boot Client

Go to BIOS Settings and Set your PC to Boot on LAN.

1) On CCBoot server, double click PC101 to open the dialog box of master PC's properties uncheck "Enable Upload Image" and click "Save".

2) Shutdown the master PC. Remove the HDD or disable HDD in BIOS (This step is necessary especially for Windows 7). Set it firstly and boot from LAN (or network, PXE rom, or some similar settings) in BIOS settings, so that it will start diskless boot.

3) Boot the master PC, you will see the following picture (Figure 1-1).

Figure 1-1

4) For the first time of diskless booting the master PC, you can modify its computer name and IP address as you wish. And then press Enter key. The client will be rebooted again (Figure 1-2).

Figure 1-2

5) Now it will be diskless boot successfully (Figure 1-3).

Figure 1-3

Note: For the first time you diskless boot Windows 7, you will get a startup list, normally just like not shuting down computer. That’s just because we uploaded the Windows 7 image during it’s running. Below is for how to prevent from this situation for future booting.

1) On CCBoot server, double click PC101 to open the master PC’s properties dialog box, check "Keep Write-back" and click "Save". Boot the client diskless.

2) Select "Start Windows 7 Normally" to boot.

3) When this client boot is OK, shut it down.

4) On the CCBoot server, double click PC101, press "Save to Image" in this client's properties and uncheck "Keep Write-back".

Now, clients can boot Windows 7 from this image normally.

Additional Instruction

If the image you have uploaded from the master PC can be used to diskless boot Windows XP/7 for all the other client PCs, please install other drivers (display, sound etc), Windows updates, and various application level of software’s image by updating image.

View the full Thread here: http://www.pinoyhideout.us/threads/diskless-setup-ccboot-tutorial.9495/