[fog] hostname changer issues

[stevehp]

Got a little issue with the FOG service. I'm imaging a CAD Lab(AutoCAD, ProE, etc..) and after imaging I have sysprep run and do it's thing. After sysprep has run I have the host auto login into the local administrator account twice. One for the name change and the other for the domain join.

 

The issue is that the hostname changer service wants to change the computer name before the desktop loads. So I get five or six error dialogs stating "this application has failed to initialize because Windows is shutting down." So those apps don't run at all which is fine, but what isn't fine is that the system then sits at the desktop and doesn't restart automatically I have to manually do it.

 

Can I introduce a delay into the hostname changer service? Or perhaps can I just leave out the auto logins in the sysprep.inf of my future images? If I leave them out and let the host sit at the login dialog will it join the domain? I know for certain it will change the name, but I'm unsure if it will join the domain.

Edited July 9, 2010 by stevehp

[morganw]

In my testing you don't have to be on the desktop for the hostname change or the domain join, being at the login screen is fine. If you do want to have a login for RunOnce events and other such things then you could add the installation of the fog service as the final event and then script a reboot. The latest version of the fog service will do an unattended install and set the server name to 'fogserver' (so make a DNS record to forward appropriately).