RDeploy hangs during image creation

[Sam Record]

Hi,

I am having trouble generating large images with RDP. The client consistently hangs when the cumulative image file size gets close to 4GB (this varies a little bit depending on the compression settings). I have tried tweaking the base image file size (I started with the default of 2GB and tried smaller sizes) with no change in behavior.

So far I have duplicated this on two different client machines connected to different switches (although both were on the same VLAN as the RDP server). The RDP server is also acting as the DHCP and PXE server.

Based on a post I saw elsewhere, I tried disabling TCP checksum offload on the RDP server's NIC, which also did not help.

I'm running Deployment Server 6.0 (build 86) hotfix B. This is an eval copy. All hardware is HP/Compaq (DL380 G2 and G3).

Any assistance would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Sam

[Ken Henault]

Have you apllied hot fix B?
What is in RD.LOG in the Deployment Server directory?
How much memory in the system you are imaging?

Ken

[Sam Record]

Thanks for the reply, Ken.

Both client and server have 1GB memory.

I have applied hotfix B.

There is no rd.log file anywhere on the system. Do I need to enable logging somewhere?

I did turn on logging in the Deployment Server\Temp\Msgs directory. The last entries are:

Sent Message - 16:30:46.30 - 04/14/2004
Request=WorkToDo
Schedule-ID=100000008
Task-Sequence-ID=1
Allow-Defer=1
Config=Restore
ID=5000001
Schedule-ID=100000008
Execute=rdeploy.exe -noprompt -mu -f.\images\rdpclnt.img -csize -split:1500
OS-Required=DOS
Task-Type=CreateImage
Login=Yes

Data - 16:30:53.30 - 04/14/2004
Closing Session Down.

[Sam Record]

Here's an update on this problem in case anyone is interested.

The 4GB cumulative image file size is not the problem - that turned out to be a red herring. Rather, the problem seems to be with imaging large files. Rdeploy seems to be able to handle files up to about 6GB in size. Anything larger than that causes Rdeploy to hang. I am still investigating and will post more information if/when possible.

[Jeff Mathews]

Hi Sam,

I have successfully created image files as large as 26 GB - all nicely split up into 2 GB files of course. Just thought this might help you with your direction of investigation. This was running the same version of Deployment Server, and on DL380 G2's and G3's as well. How much disk space is available in your image directory?

Jeff

[Sam Record]

Hi Jeff -

There's plenty of disk space available in the images directory. After re-reading my last post, I realize that the wording may not have been 100% clear. The problem is definitely not with the cumulative image file size. Rather, the problem seems to occur when there are individual large files (such as SQL database .mdf and .ldf files) on the client that is being imaged. I did some testing and was able to successfully image a client with a file as large as 6,000,000 KB (a little under 6 GB). However, the image process would hang when I increased the size of the file to 7,000,000 KB. So, the magic number seems to lie somewhere between those points.
The total amount of data present on the client did not seem to be a factor - that is, a client with 12GB of total data would image successfully as long as there were no files 7,000,000 KB or larger in size, while a system with 8GB total data and one 7,000,000 KB file would hang the imaging process.

Hope this clarifies the problem.

Sam

[Jeff Mathews]

Oh, I see. Let us know how you make out. I don't think I've ever imaged a system that had a large file like that on it.

Good luck.