# FOG Imaging Solution



## Boatvan (Jan 7, 2017)

I am new to the forum, but I wanted to share an open-source enterprise computer cloning solution that I use at work. 

If there are any IT professionals reading this, you know how much of a chore it is to build OS' from OEM or the ISO. I unfortunately had to do this at my last job. 

You probably already know about Microsoft's solution, Windows Deployment Services (WDS). We briefly tried this at my current job and found it to be complex and required a Windows Server 20XX installation. If you want to dig out a relic, there is also Norton Ghost, which I've used in the past, but the capabilities are limited. I've never actually used Clonezilla so I can't speak of its capabilities. 

My point is, there are a few proprietary and open source solutions, but the best I've used by far is FOG (Free Open-Source Ghost).

The server side application runs on quite a bit of flavors of Linux. I run it on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. The way it works is that you upload captured "images" or clones of one manually prepared system and it is then able to be deployed through either unicast or multicast throughout the LAN to other PC's via PXE booting. I won't get into configuration, but trust me, I came in with very little knowledge of Linux and was able to configure it with very little issue.

The main point I want to touch on is the support. I've never used an open source solution with this level of customer service. It mirrors proprietary support. There is a forum where anyone may post questions and within hours, a developer is answering it. I have become an active member on that forum. It is a very helpful tool. There is also a Wiki where many sets of instructions are. 

FOG also has computer management features. You have the option to include a small client service on the PC's you deploy the images to. This allows a multitude of features such as automatic Domain joining and computer naming, auto-logoff, energy management, Wake on LAN, etc. 

I don't know if this post will draw much interest, but I wanted to share. Again, FOG is completely open-source so it is free and frequently updated. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links to it, but if I am, I'll post them in a reply.

TL;DR: FOG is an open source cloning solution that I swear by.


----------



## blobster21 (Jan 7, 2017)

One question comes to mind : is sysprep involved during the master creation / deployment ? or are those master 1:1 images (created with dd or partimg) ?


----------



## Boatvan (Jan 7, 2017)

We use Sysprep with an unattend file. So basically, we capture an image and when it is deployed, it sets itself up post deployment. Once the sysprep is done, the client takes over and names+binds it to the domain. It is all managed through a web interface. I believe there are ways to do this without sysprep using post deployment scripts, but sysprep is what we swear by.


----------



## blobster21 (Jan 7, 2017)

Thanks for the additonnal informations. i asked this because this is most probably the way i'm going to work in the future too.

The place where i work only sweared by symantec ghost solution suite 2.5.1 for the last 5 years, and everything was great until windows 8 / 10 hit the shelves, and broke everything to pieces.

10 months ago our IT manager gave the go to further reinvest in the newest ghost solution suite 3.1 (based upon altiris deployment suite)

After 10 months, lot of technical supports calls and 5 maintenance packs, this software is simply not efficient, counter-intuitive, and still bug ridden.

At that point we heard about Nytrio (an open source deployment suite based upon Debian) which works in a similar way than FOG.

The guys are former software engineers from Mandrakesoft / Mandriva and already managed to contract big names such as the french national healthcare system, several hospitals,...

That's why when i heard about FOG, i couldn't help but draw a parrallel between the 2 softwares. My experience with sysprep is inexistant, mostly because we went a totally different route for years.

Our needs didn't change much in the last 10 years, i am (we are) still looking forward to creating hardware independant images, deploy them with/without PXE, let's them pick a predefined computer name and bind them to our domain.

I cross my fingers in this perspective


----------



## Boatvan (Jan 8, 2017)

I was given the green light by a Mod to post the links because it is open source. @blobster21 , if you need help implementing this solution, I can help with basic stuff, but the forums are what I rely on for support. 

Homepage: https://fogproject.org/
Forums: https://forums.fogproject.org/
Wiki: https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
User Guide: https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=FOGUserGuide


----------

