Imaging Agent (ZISWIN.EXE)

The imaging agent is an extension to the Windows bootup procedure on a workstation. It runs before any network communications are established. It enables you to:

• Make an existing Windows workstation safe for reimaging

  When you install the imaging agent on an existing Windows workstation, it saves certain workstation-unique data (such as the IP address and Computer name) to an area on the hard disk that is safe from reimaging. After the workstation is reimaged and Windows reboots, the agent restores the data from the image-safe area so the workstation can communicate on the network using the same identity as before.

• Automatically assign a network identity to a brand new workstation

  A new workstation (with no Windows operating system) doesn't have a network identity established yet. You can define network identity information for such a workstation in an NDS^® policy and apply it when the workstation receives its first Windows image. In this scenario, the Windows image is laid down (including the imaging agent) on the workstation and the identity information from the NDS policy is written to the image-safe area on the hard disk. When the workstation reboots, the imaging agent reads the data from the image-safe area and applies it to the Windows installation, thus establishing the workstation's network identity automatically.

Before you install the imaging agent on a workstation, the files that comprise it are available in the ZENWORKS\IMAGING folder in your ZfD installation (on the imaging server). After you install the imaging agent on a workstation, it is located either in the Windows system folder or in NOVELL\ZENIS on the drive where Windows is installed.

Installing the Imaging Agent

To install the imaging agent so that it runs automatically each time Windows starts, follow the instructions in Setting Up Workstations for Imaging in Workstation Imaging in Deployment.

The data that the imaging agent saves to (or restores from) the image-safe area includes the following:

• Whether a static IP address or DHCP is used
• If a static IP address is used:
  • IP address
  • Subnet mask
  • Default gateway (router)

• Computer (NETBIOS) name
• Workgroup that the workstation belongs to, if any
• If the workstation has been registered in NDS:
  • Distinguished name of the Workstation object
  • Context of the Workstation object
  • NDS tree that the Workstation object belongs to

On a workstation that has just received a new Windows NT*/2000 base image, in addition to restoring the above data, the agent also locates and modifies all instances of the Security Identifier (SID). This ensures that the workstation has a SID that is unique from other workstations that might receive the same image.

IMPORTANT:  The imaging agent does not save or restore any Windows NT/2000 Domain information. If you change a workstation's domain and then restore an image, the workstation will receive whatever domain is embedded in the new image.