Remote OS Installation

Adding Screens and Working With OSC Variables

One way that you can customize Client Installation Wizard screens is by creating additional screens that prompt the user for custom information required to perform the installation. Any settings that you can specify in an answer file you can create prompts for and set with OSC variables in the Client Installation Wizard. Remote OS Installation replaces the variables in the answer file with the values entered in the Client Installation Wizard screens when it creates the temporary answer file for the client installation. In most cases, this allows you to have greater flexibility when automating a setup than having to create an answer file for each possible scenario.

OSC variables are status variables and variables collected through user input in Client Installation Wizard screens. You can add variables and have them used in other Client Installation Wizard screens, or have them inserted in the generated answer file that the client uses when installing the image. You can use up to 64 unique variables per client session; however, there are some variables that are reserved and are set or used internally by RIS.

OSC variables cannot be defined prior to the user logging on. The only exception to this rule is the %language% variable, which can only be set (not replaced in outgoing screens) prior to a successful logon process. This exception allows users to select the desired language to proceed in. For more information about supporting multilanguage users, see "Multilanguage RIS Servers" in this chapter. After the user successfully logs on, all communication from the client to the RIS server is encoded, making it safe to send passwords and other confidential information across the network. At this point, any OSC variable can be entered and replaced in outgoing screens.

The following sections describe how you can modify the default Client Installation Wizard screens to add an additional screen that prompts users to enter settings for their video display. To do this, you need to modify one existing screen, OSChoice.osc, and create one new screen, Display.osc. After creating and modifying these files you can then modify the answer files to work with the new OSC variables.

Warning

As soon as a modified or new OSC file is placed on the server, users can see it. Be sure to test your changes carefully on a nonproduction RIS server before making changes to RIS servers that are supporting users in the production environment. In addition, changes to OSC files must be performed on all wanted RIS servers individually. There are no capabilities provided to synchronize changes in OSC files across multiple RIS servers.

Modifying the OSChoice.osc File

To enable the display of the new screen, modify the OSChoice.osc screen to display the new display settings screen (Display.osc) when ENTER is pressed, instead of the default Warning.osc screen. No changes are required to the text or options displayed by OSChoice.osc, only the screen that is displayed next must be changed.

To modify the OSChoice.osc file

Open the OSChoice.osc file in Notepad.
Change the existing tag:

After this change is made, the Display.osc screen is displayed as the next screen. The following is the OSCML text for the modified OSChoice.osc file that you create in Notepad:

<OSCML>

<META KEY=F3 ACTION="REBOOT">

<META KEY=ESC HREF="CHOICE">

<META SERVER ACTION="ENUM IMAGES">

<TITLE>  Client Installation Wizard                                        OS Choices</TITLE>

<FOOTER>  [ENTER] continue            [ESC] go back             [F3] restart computer</FOOTER>

<BODY left=5 right=75>

<BR>

<BR>

Use the arrow keys to select one of the following operating systems:

<P left=8>

<FORM ACTION="DISPLAY">

<SELECT NAME="SIF" SIZE=12>

%OPTIONS%

</SELECT>

</FORM>

</P>

<BOLD>Description:</BOLD>&nbsp&nbsp

<TIPAREA>

</BODY>

</OSCML>

Creating a New Display.osc Screen

The Display.osc file allows the user to change the default video display settings to be used on the client. Each input control is preset with a default value, and example values are displayed on the screen. The result of each input is stored in an OSC variable. The following procedure shows a way that you can modify a Display.osc screen.

To create a new Display.osc screen

Use Notepad to create a new file named Display.osc.
Add the tags and display text as shown, and save the file:

<OSCML>

<TITLE> Client Installation Wizard Custom Setup</TITLE>

<FOOTER> [ENTER] continue [ESC] go back [F1] help [F3] restart computer</FOOTER>

<BR>

Please enter your desired Display settings or accept the defaults below.

<BR>

X resolution: <INPUT NAME="X-res" VALUE="640" SIZE=4 MAXLENGTH=4><BR>

Y resolution: <INPUT NAME="Y-res" VALUE="480" SIZE=4 MAXLENGTH=4><BR>

Refresh rate: <INPUT NAME="Refresh" VALUE="60" SIZE=3 MAXLENGTH=3><BR>

<BR>

</FORM>

<BR>

<BOLD>Examples:</BOLD><BR>

X resolution: 1024<BR>

Y resolution: 768<BR>

Refresh rate: 70<BR>

</BODY>

</OSCML>

Figure 24.6 shows how the display.osc screen appears in the Client Installation Wizard.

Enlarge figure

Figure 24.6 Client Installation Wizard Results for Display.osc

Modifying the Answer Files to Work with the New OSC Variables

When you modify screens and create new OSC variables, you also need to update the answer files to accept the new variables. Modify each answer file that can be selected by the user while using the custom screens. The following example creates variables for the X and Y resolution of the display ("X-Res" and "Y-Res") and the screen refresh rate ("Refresh").

OSC variables in the answer file are identified by % signs around the value. For example, Refresh is referenced as %Refresh% in the answer file. Use the following procedure to modify the related entries in the default RIS answer file to allow use of the values entered during the Client Installation Wizard instead of static values specified in the answer file.

To modify files to work with the new OSC variables

Use Notepad to open the default RIS answer file (located in the i386\Templates folder of each image on the RIS server).
Change the values as shown for the following entries:

[Display]

XResolution = %X-Res%

YResoultion = %Y-Res%

VRefresh = %Refresh%

With these modified files in place, the user is prompted to adjust the default video display settings. The user's input is incorporated into the answer file that is used during installation.

Note

When creating OSC variables, be sure that you do not use variable names reserved for use by RIS internally. For a list of those used internally by RIS, see the following section.