DS7.1 All of my Windows preboot drivers are gone

[Migration User]

Help! I followed the instructions located here https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/fyi-we-can-use-mac-only-predefined-computers so that I could import predefined computers using only a MAC Address. After replacing PECTagent.exe and rebuilding my PXE boot environments, all of my previously working clients suddenly ceased to boot into PXE. They fail at the "Restarting DHCP client service..." screen.

Well, looking at the Preboot Drivers Database, all I see now are Linux drivers. Not a single Windows driver is listed. How do I get these back?

[Migration User]

Well, after browsing to "C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\Agents\Deployment\Task Handler\bootwiz\Platforms\Winpe2\x86\Drivers" on my Altiris server and observer that the folder was empty, I decided to restore the Drivers folder from backup. I did the same for the x64 folder, which was also empty. I then recreated all of my preboot environments. No change. At this point, I feel PXE is completely hosed.

I've tried creating new preboot environments, but nothing seems to be happening. I can see that Bootwiz.exe is running in Task Manager, but I don't see any changes happening at C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\Agents\Deployment\Task Handler\SBS\Images. I've hit Update on my SMA, it's been at least two hours. Nothing's working here. :-(

I've called support. Hopefully they aren't going to dismiss me outright for running an "unsupported" procedure. I'm about at my wit's end with this product. Getting very close to abandoning it for DS6.9.

[Migration User]

i know in 6.x you could uninstall and reinstall the preboot OS from an exe (and i had to do it once in 6.9 sp2 when i broke something on the test server).  Is that even an option in 7.1?  

But we already made the decision to forgo ds 7.1 and go with ds 6.9sp5.  I'm not saying 6.9 is not without its own problems, but at least they're KNOWN problems, with known workarounds.  

[Migration User]

Yeah, PXE is hosed. I see that there is a logfile called bootwiz.log at C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\Agents\Deployment\Task Handler\bootwiz. The file is 7MB in size since March, and 2MB of the file was written today, so it's clear that Bootwiz.exe has just been hammering the server with errors. I've attached the truncated file to this post.

So... this is my only PXE server. What's my most painless way of restoring PXE to a fresh state without losing everything? Rebuilding preboot environments is no big deal, but I'm not sure what all else I'm going to lose here. What if I demote the server as a Deployment Site Server and then re-promote it?

I just put in a call to Symantec Tech Support about five different issues, including this one. Hopefully they'll be able to steer me right here. And, hopefully I won't be flagged as a problem user. :)

Attachment(s)

BootWiz.txt   2.20 MB 1 version

[Migration User]

i wouldn't worry about being flagged a problem user.  each case i have with altiris/symantec has its own tab in my OneNote... and i have a lot of tabs from the years i've been using altiris.  sometimes good things come of it.  maybe not immediately or in a very obvious way, but it can be good.  especially if your trouble tickets are real issues and not user error.  ;)

removing the deployment server role from the site server might actually be a good way to reinstall pxe/sbs, and since that role is separate from package and task, it shouldn't be TOO painful to do that.  especially if your pxe server is not also the NS/SMP machine.

Also, since Thomas is the one who wrote up that proceedure you followed, you'll get taken care of.  Thomas is a nice guy.  But do make sure symantec support is aware of this thread and the other thread on connect, actually IN your trouble case.  ie: email the links to these threads by responding to the support email you got with the case number.  but you probably already knew that.

[Migration User]

Tech support was able to walk me through the issue. It turns out that after restoring the drivers, PXE still wasn't working because all of my preboot environments were trying to reach the Altiris server through http://altirisserver:443 and not over port 80. So we had to go through and change the PECTAgent.ini files for both x86/x64 WinPE environments plus the equivalent in the Linux preboot environment. Then, we created one more PXE boot configuration, forced an update on the SMA, and an hour later that boot config worked. My old ones were still trashed, but I was able to delete them, and recreate new ones all right.

Still not sure how a.) My preboot drivers all got deleted, and b.) The PECAgent.ini files got switched to port 443 when they were working a day earlier. But, it's working now and I'm thankful!