Ghost Solution Suite

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  • 1.  How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 07, 2007 04:19 PM
    I have a laptop image that I need to make and fit on one DVD. how do I setup ghost to create the smallest possible image?


  • 2.  RE: How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 07, 2007 04:52 PM
    Hi Rick,

    Have you tried using the compression switches?
    running ghost with -z9 switch will give you the smallest image size, but it will take longer to create and restore the image.

    From my experiences, I have found -z2 (high compression) to produce a small enough image while not being too slow.

    Cheers

    Chris


  • 3.  RE: How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 07, 2007 05:01 PM
    how would an example switch setup look like?


  • 4.  RE: How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 07, 2007 05:41 PM
    Hi Rick,

    There are a couple of ways that you can reduce your ghost image file size.

    The first is during the capture of the image where you can specify the level of compression Ghost will use while capturing the image.
    This can be done through the Ghost GUI by choosing either no, fast or high when prompted at the 'compress image' dialog.
    You can also use the compression command line switch -z where level is the compression level from 1-9.
    -z or -z1 : Low compression (fast transmission) equivalent to Fast in the GUI
    -z2 :High compression (medium transmission) equivalent to High in the GUI
    -z3 through -z9 : Higher compression (slower transmission) where -z9 is the highest compression level.
    Usage, at the command line type: ghost -z2
    The above command line would run ghost with the compression level preset to High for the capture.

    NOTE: After -z2 compression the image file will not reduce dramatically and it is often better to use -z2 or less in favor of faster transmission speeds. Read the implementation guide with regards to compression and performance.

    The second approach, if your image is still too large, is to edit the image with Ghost Explorer after you have created it and remove any unnecessary files.
    Be careful what you delete using Ghost Explorer though as anything deleted from the image is not recoverable, it would pay to have a backup of the original image.
    Remember to compile the image after you have edited it to reduce the data size.

    If your image is still too big for a single DVD then consider splitting the image onto two DVDs either at creation time or by compiling with Ghost Explorer and choosing the span image option and specify a split point/size.

    Hope this helps.
    Regards,
    Morgan


  • 5.  RE: How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 07, 2007 06:12 PM
    an example get-up might go something like:

    ghost.exe -clone,mode=create,src=1,dst=@cd1 -z9

    but probably the simplest thing to do is just run ghost with the -z9 switch and continue the rest of the steps interactively.

    Sometimes the image might be split into smaller sizes, especially when transmission isn't optimal. I'm not sure, but I think having multiple split files isn't optimal size-wise. If you find that to be the case, you could use -z9 again, but write to one image, and then copy the image to the cd with a 3rd party program. Ghost should still be able to read from that DVD later.


  • 6.  RE: How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 08, 2007 01:03 PM
    Couple of additional notes:

    In order to specify -z9 in the console as a task, the Image Compression option in the GUI interface has to be set at None first. If it is set to Fast or High it will ignore your -z option. Then hit the Advanced button and specify your -z9 option in the Additional options for Ghost command line field.

    I will have to concur however with the previous posts, you wont get much compression going much higher than -z2 (we actually use -z3). If you are trying to get every free space you can, I would not go much higher than -z5. The time it takes to capture and restore goes up exponentially above 5. And in my tests I only got an additional 200MB going past 5 to 9, but the time to restore went from 30min to 1hr 20 mins (your millage may vary)

    On another related issue (fitting on a single DVD), we split our images at 638MB, using the -split=638 option. This allows 3 benefits: 1) if I ever wanted to put them on CDs they would fit (not likely any more) 2) Seven of the images will fit nicely on a DVD with about 10MB - 30MB free 3) if we have to transfer via network, if one fails I have less to start over.

    So our additional options look like: -cns -split=638 -z3
    Our images uncompressed=30GB compressed=12GB


  • 7.  RE: How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 10:10 AM
    I keep getting an error saying "Unknown Z3"


  • 8.  RE: How to Make the Smallest Image Possible

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 11:09 PM
    Hi Rick,

    Could you please give me an example of how you are trying to apply the -z3 switch ie. through a Ghost Console task or by manually runing ghost/ghost32 on the client with the -z3 switch.

    What version of Ghost Solution Suite are you using?

    Regards,
    Morgan