Creating a CID Server

by Robert L. Angell and Mark Owens

'''This article explains how to set up a configuration, installation, and distribution (CID) server using OS/2 Warp Server. A CID server lets you quickly, easily, and simultaneously install software on hundreds of client machines across a network. The article gives the step-by-step process for building a CID server using OS/2 Warp Server 4.0 and OS/2 Warp client installation diskettes.'''

For most businesses, the expense of upgrading software and operating systems is much more than just the purchase price of the software. The time it takes for technical support personnel to install and configure new software or upgrades at each workstation at a site is more costly than the software itself. This expense is compounded when the workstations are located at different sites.

Although many products attempt to ease upgrading and maintaining your installed software, most of them fall short. A CID Server, on the other hand, fully integrates software installation and upgrades in a consistent fashion. The CID process is so flexible that it can be used to install nearly any software.

In this article, we discuss a procedure to remotely install OS/2 Warp from a server onto client workstations. This procedure stops short of complete automation, but it builds the base server upon which complete automation is provided using CID response files. The process for creating CID response files is well documented.

Configuration, Installation, and Distribution
Configuration, installation, and distribution is a powerful tool built into the OS/2 Warp Server family of products; it has also been available in previous products.

CID allows you to transfer all OS/2 Warp operating system code and many other software products from the OS/2 Warp product CD-ROM or diskettes onto a server, which then installs them on all clients via the network. You can automate a CID installation so that you do not have to physically monitor the installation and respond to the installation questions. And it is quick--installing OS/2 Warp on a 1,000-workstation network can take just a few hours. The CID process also lets you install a machine with multiple partitions, format the disk partitions, and install multiple operating systems and applications.

OS/2 Warp Server has some great CID tools in its SystemView component, but these tools require that you already have an operating system (DOS, Windows, or OS/2) installed on the client.

You can find many books written about CID that concentrate on all the functionality provided by a CID installation but don't provide a step-by-step example for building and installing a CID server and OS/2 client redirection diskettes. This article bridges that gap by presenting a simple redirected installation process that can be the basis for a complete CID strategy.

Response Files
The difference between a redirected install and a complete CID install is that the full CID installation includes response files. A response file contains the answers to all of the questions that the installation process asks, enabling you to perform unattended installations. Imagine having your new workstations boot themselves, locate a CID server, install their own operating system and application software from that CID server, and configure their network connectivity--all without you! You can actually make all this happen in a complete CID installation.

This article does not discuss how to create response files and what they should contain. It concentrates on creating a CID server and then performing a redirected installation from that server. All required program code will be on the CID server and will install across your network. However, you will have to respond to the questions asked during the installation of OS/2 Warp on your client workstations.

For more information about response files and CID servers, read IBM's Redbook OS/2 Installation Techniques: The CID Guide (IBM document number GG24-4295, orderable by calling 800-879-2755). Two additional references for creating a CID server are online books that come with OS/2 Warp Server:


 * LAN CID Utility Guide, file name A3S12M02.INF
 * MPTS Configuration Guide, file name A2V10M02.INF

If you did not include these files in your OS/2 Warp Server installation, you can view them on OS/2 Warp Server CD number 1.

Now let's look at a quick way to install the OS/2 Warp operating system across your network onto many client machines.

What We Want to Accomplish
This article assumes that you have already installed OS/2 Warp Server on your network's server machine. This machine will become the CID redirected server system, the machine from which you will install OS/2 Warp via your network onto your client workstations. The redirected OS/2 Warp installation process is described ahead in detail.

After you complete the CID process, you can use the TME 10 NetFinity Server software to add other software products. Formerly known as SystemView and included with OS/2 Warp Server, TME 10 NetFinity Server has examples for install-ing many IBM products after DOS/ Windows or OS/2 is already installed. (As mentioned above, you can also read the CID manuals and references to build your own complete CID installation.)

When you complete the process given here, we recommend that you test it first using one server and one client to ensure that you have correctly set up your CID server. Keep in mind that:


 * Your CID files can be placed anywhere on the OS/2 Warp Server machine, as long as there is room. Here, all code is stored on drive C:.


 * You can do everything--including FDISK, creating multiple partitions, installing multiple operating systems, formatting a diskette, and completely automating an unattended installation using response files.

Overview of the Process
The process for setting up a redirected OS/2 Warp installation is summarized below. The steps for setting up the server include:
 * 1) Creating a standard directory structure.
 * 2) Unzipping the installation files and configuring the CID server for remote installation (SRVIFS).
 * 3) Unzipping the code that creates bootable OS/2 Warp remote installation diskettes for clients (SEMAINT).

The steps for setting up the client include:
 * 1) Creating two bootable OS/2 Warp remote installation diskettes (SEDISK).
 * 2) Adding LAN adapter support on the installation diskette (THINLAPS).
 * 3) Adding remote file system support to the installation diskette (THINIFS).
 * 4) Installing unattended installation support (CASINSTL). (This step is not illustrated but is the next step in an unattended installation.)
 * 5) Modifying the PATH statements in the CONFIG.SYS file on the OS/2 Warp Redirected Installation Disk 1.
 * 6) Modifying the STARTUP.CMD file on the OS/2 Warp Redirected Installation Disk 1. (This step is necessary because we are not doing step 7, CASINSTL.)

Server Setup
Following are detailed steps for setting up the redirected CID server.

Step 1: Create the directory structure to hold CID program code and the redirected installation files. You do not need all of these directories, but we recommend that you create them so you can add the response files for unattended client installations, as well as have places to store the software to be installed on the clients.

At a command prompt, use the MD command to create the directories shown in Figure 1.

c:\cid	Base directory c:\cid\server	CID server code c:\cid\log 	Log of what happens during CID installation c:\cid\client	Client response files for unattended CID installations c:\cid\img	Code images c:\cid\img\lcu	Code for unattended CID installations (CASSETUP) c:\cid\img\dll	DLLs that might be needed '''Figure 1. Directory Structure.'''

Step 2: Install the CID server from the SRVIFS code. CID supports almost any protocol and CID server. We think the easiest server to build and set up is SRVIFS, a NetBIOS-based server. Other options are LAN Server-NetBIOS, LAN Server-TCPBEUI, TCP/IP, NetWare-IPX, and APPC. The CID server can reside on any machine, from a PC to an RS/6000 or mainframe.

The procedure is:


 * Unzip and move the SRVIFS code from the OS/2 Warp CD to your c:\cid\server directory. The pkunzip statement is shown in Figure 2.

pkunzip d:\cid\server\ibmls\ibm500n5\srvifs\srvifs.zip c:\cid\server '''Figure 2. PKUNZIP the SRVIFS Server'''


 * Configure your CID server by creating the c:\cid\server\service.ini file, as shown in Figure 3.

Name = WARPCID ; ; The name WARPCID must match the ; name in the client THINIFS file ; GroupName = no Adapter = 0 MaxClients = 25 MaxFiles = 400 ClientWorkers = 12 Path = D:\OS2IMAGE PermitWrite = yes PerClient = no ; ; Logs are per client, so all the logs for ; a workstation can be viewed at once. ; ALIAS=READWRITE,perclient,LOG,C:\CID\Log ALIAS=READONLY,single,CID,C:\CID ALIAS=READWRITE,single,driveC,C:\ ALIAS=READWRITE,single,driveD,D:\ Note: Path designates the location of your OS/2 Warp installation code. '''Figure 3. SRVIFS Server Configuration File, SERVICE.INI'''

Step 3: Unzip the CID program code that will create the bootable OS/2 Warp remote installation diskettes for clients. The CID code is on the OS/2 Warp Server CD in d:\os2image\disk_7, and the unpack program is in your \os2 directory and should be in your path statement.

The unpack d:\os2image\disk_7 c: statement places the following files on your hard disk:


 * c:\os2\install\semaint.exe--Installs a minimal bootable OS/2 system. It is small and loads only a command-line interface.
 * c:\os2\install\seinst.exe--An OS/2 installation program that is intended to be run with SEMAINT or SEDISK and expects to call a response file.
 * c:\os2\install\sedisk.exe--Creates a pair of remote installation diskettes called OS/2 Warp Installation Disk 0 and OS/2 Warp Installation Disk 1.
 * c:\os2\install\seimage.exe--Creates a directory structure on the CID server in which to hold the code to be copied onto the client workstations. It then puts that client code into the server directories.

Please note that we do not use all of these in our example.

Client Setup
Step 4: Create a set of bootable OS/2 Warp remote installation diskettes. These diskettes will boot OS/2 Warp on the client workstations, locate the CID server, and begin the redirected installation.

The SEDISK program, on the server in c:\os2\install, creates these bootable installation diskettes. This directory should already be in your server's PATH statement, so you should be able to execute SEDISK from any drive or directory.

Run SEDISK as follows:

sedisk /s:d:\os2image /t:a:

where /s is the source and /t is the target.

SEDISK prompts you to insert two blank diskettes. After SEDISK ends, label the two diskettes "OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 0" and "OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 1."

For more about SEDISK, see the online book LAN CID Reference.

Step 5: To add LAN adapter support to OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 1, install THINLAPS as shown in Figure 4. THINLAPS is the program that copies the files to your remote installation boot diskettes and also creates the appropriate configuration files for NetBIOS. It creates the PROTOCOL.INI and CONFIG.SYS files and copies them onto the client workstation during the installation.

d:\cid\server\mpts\thinlaps d:\cid\server\mpts a:\ ibmtokcs.nif '''Figure 4. Adding LAN Adapter Support'''

In Figure 4, d:\cid\server\mpts tells THINLAPS where to look for the files; a:\ tells it where to create the files, and ibmtokcs.nif tells THINLAPS which LAN adapter card is installed in the client workstation (in this case, an IBM PCMCIA 16/4 Token-Ring Adapter).

If your adapter is Token-Ring, add the ringspeed=16 parameter (but use a 4 if your Token-Ring speed is 4 Mbps) to your PROTOCOL.INI file on OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 1.

You will need to create a set of OS/2 Warp remote installation disks for each type of LAN adapter on your client workstations.

For more about THINLAPS, see the online book MPTS Configuration Guide.

Step 6: To add remote file system support to OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 1, install THINIFS as shown in Figure 5. This command is important because it provides the necessary "bare bones" LAN connectivity and creates and copies important files to the client workstation. It can be thought of as a bridge between the client workstation and the CID server.

c:\cid\server\thinifs /s:c:\cid\server /tu:a: /t:a: /d:x: /srv:warpcid /req:* where: /s = source /tu = client CONFIG.SYS /t = boot disk /d = redirected drive letter /srv = server name (must match the parameter set in SERVICE.INI) /req = requester name (can be used for security during installation) '''Figure 5. Adding Remote File System Support'''

Step 7: If this were an unattended CID installation driven by a response file, CASINSTL would be your next step. The CASINSTL utility modifies the CONFIG.SYS and STARTUP.CMD files on OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 1 so that the proper response file can be located to run the installation.

If you want to create a fully automated unattended system, we recommend that you also skip this step until you know that your SRVIFS server works and you can do a redirected installation. After that, use the online documentation to help with creating the response file and with using the CASINSTL utility.

A sample CASINSTL command is shown in Figure 6. For more examples and syntax, refer to the LAN CID Utility Guide.

c:\cid\img\lcu\casinstl /cmd:x:\client /tu:a: /pa:x:\img\lcu /pl:x:\img\dll\v30 /req:* /d '''Figure 6. Adding Unattended Installation Support'''

Another option is to use NetView Distri-bution Manager, which will help to further automate this process.

Step 8: Edit the CONFIG.SYS file on your OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 1 as follows:

Add the following line to your LIBPATH, PATH, and DPATH statements:

\;x:\disk_1;

where x: is the CID server's redirected drive letter.

After the DPATH statement, add:

set sourcepath=x:\

At the end of the CONFIG.SYS file, add:

call=a:\srvattch.exe y:\\markcid\cid

where y: is the CID server's second redirected drive letter.

Step 9: Edit the STARTUP.CMD file on OS/2 Warp Remote Installation Disk 1 by adding rem at the beginning of the following statement:

y:\img\lcu\casagent.exe / cmd:y:\client /req:* /d

You can use this statement later when you automate the CID process to make it run unattended.

Installing OS/2 Warp on Clients
Do the following steps to install the OS/2 Warp operating system on each client workstation in your network:

Step 1: Start the CID server program. On the server, change to the c:\cid\server directory, and run the service program:

service /ini=service.ini

This statement starts the CID server using the parameters found in the SERVICE.INI file in the same directory. When the process completes, stop the server:

service /q

Step 2: Boot the client workstation using the two OS/2 Warp remote installation diskettes created earlier. Start with Disk 0; when prompted, change to Disk 1. When the boot process ends, a command prompt appears. From here, you can install anything, because the client is connected to the CID server.

Step 3: Install OS/2 Warp from the CID server to the client. To do this, at the OS/2 command prompt, type:

sysinst2

You could have automated this command by replacing the set shell command in the CONFIG.SYS file or by including the command in the STARTUP.CMD file.

Before you run sysinst2, you have several options. For example, to establish partitions, choose OS/2 Warp's Advanced Installation option, and specify that you do not want to install OS/2 Warp on drive C:. This lets you run FDISK, where you can change the partitions.

After you enter sysinst2, answer the questions asked during the OS/2 Warp installation process. Keep in mind that this step can be automated with response files, a process that is explained thoroughly in CID books and documentation.

[[Category:]]