User Applet ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Best Practices ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Command Line Syntax .......................................................................................................................... 8
This paper provides instructions for using HP DHCP Settings Update Client.
Introduction
The HP DHCP Settings Update Client is a utility that allows an IT Administrator to apply settings to
an HP WES or XPe operating system. The settings are applied through an .INI file that uses a
subset of parameters from Microsoft's sysprep.inf as well as several WES/XPe/HP-specific keys.
XPePrep can run by specifying a local .INI file to be processed, or it can be used in conjunction with
DHCP and FTP servers to automatically apply settings across multiple clients on a network.
Server Requirements Linux Distributions
The following sections provide a list of requirements for the DHCP Server and the FTP Server.
DHCP Server Requirements
• Option 171 should contain a string value specifying an FTP server name. This can also be an IP
address, but must still be specified as a string (for example, 123.12.34.255).
• Option 172 should contain a String value specifying the path and filename for the input answer
file. This should be in the format of folder/filename.ini. If the file is located on the top directory,
then only the filename is required.
For example, if the answer file were stored in ftp://myserver/myfolder/xpeprep.ini, then DCHP option
171 should contain the string myserver and DHCP option 172 should contain the string
myfolder/xpeprep.ini.
If one of these values is changed on the DHCP server after clients have been updated, any clients
needing the new strings will either need to be rebooted or have the Microsoft DHCP Client Service
restarted. This is because DCHP options are cached locally on the client to increase performance.
However, this also prevents the client from seeing changes made on the server. Rebooting the
client will cause the cache to be refreshed to contain the new values. Restarting the DHCP service
will clear the cache so that requests will go to the server instead of the cache.
FTP Server Requirements
The FTP server must have a folder specified by DHCP option 172 that allows anonymous read
access or the server should have anonymous read access to the default folder (if no folder is
specified). Client input files should be placed in this folder.
2
Process Flow Diagram
The following diagram illustrates the process flow:
3
Understanding the Process Flow
The following steps explain the process shown in the above flowchart:
1. The system boots and launches the client from the Run key in the local machine registry or the
user launches the client from command line, or by running Update Now from the client’s Control
Panel applet.
2. The client checks if a file was specified in the command line (e.g., xpeprep\test.ini). If the file
is found, the client will check the SettingsVersion value and then process the file if needed. The
following steps are performed:
a. Delete the input file.
b. Process the CommitEWF option.
c. The client exits using the specified shutdown option.
3. The client looks for c:\xpeprep.ini. If the file is found, the client will check the
SettingsVersion value and then process the file if needed. The following steps are performed:
a. Delete c:\xpeprep.ini.
b. Process the CommitEWF option.
c. The client exits using the specified shutdown option.
4. If the file is not found, the client checks the DHCP settings. If DHCP is enabled and the DHCP
server can be reached, the client will loop. It will try to contact the DHCP server for the FTP server
and file path options based on the number of retries specified. Once the DHCP server has
responded with the server and path names, the user will get the file from the FTP server and store it
locally as c:\xpeprep.ini. The client will check the SettingsVersion value, and then process
the file, if needed. The following steps are performed:
a. Delete c:\xpeprep.ini.
b. Process the CommitEWF option.
c. The client exits using the specified shutdown option.
If all other steps have failed, the client exists.
4
Version Checking
The client must maintain user and system-level settings versions. This level of revision control is
necessary because all settings are applied to all users except for Internet proxy settings. If a version
of the settings has been applied to the system, each new user will also process the same file (if
DHCP-based) and apply the proxy settings (if any). If no user-level processing is required (in other
words, no [Internet] section), then EWF will not be committed and the shutdown option will not be
processed.
Version Checking Flowchart
Version checking can be illustrated by the following flowchart:
5
Control Panel Options
The HP DHCP Settings Update Client can also be configured and/or run from the Control Panel.
There are two modes of operation for this Control Panel applet:
• Administrative mode: Administrative mode can only be accessed from the Administrator account
and allows configuration.
• Manual updates: All other users can request a manual update (if available) using this applet.
To select the mode of operation, go to Control Panel and select Switch to Classic View or Other
Control Panel Options from the left pane. Select the icon labeled HP DHCP Settings Update
Client.
Administrative Applet
User Applet
6
Best Practices
HP recommends the following best practices when configuring the HP DHCP Settings Update
Client.
Best Practice Explanation
If you apply a computer name change,
the Shutdown option in XpePrep should
equal Shutdown or Reboot, and the
CommitEWF option should be set to
Yes.
If you select Yes for CommitEWF, the
Shutdown option should be set to Reboot
or Shutdown.
If you select No for CommitEWF, then
you should not set the Shutdown option
to Reboot or Shutdown. The
recommended setting is None.
If you do not specify a SettingsVersion,
or the SettingsVersion is set to 0, then
you should not set the Shutdown option
to Reboot or Shutdown. The
recommended setting is None.
Changing the computer name requires a reboot in
order to take effect. If you apply a computer name
change and do not commit the change to the EWF
protected volume, the name change will be lost
during the reboot.
Data in the EWF overlay is not committed to the
protected volume until the system shuts down. Any
changes made to the system after the HP DHCP
Settings Update Client runs (and commits the EWF
overlay) will be saved.
If the EWF Overlay is not committed to the protected
volume, then the client will not preserve the
SettingsVersion. This will cause the client to
process the settings and apply the Shutdown option
every time a user logs in. This would put the system
in an endless loop of booting, logging-in, and
rebooting.
Not specifying the SettingsVersion, or setting it
equal to 0 will cause the client to always apply the
settings and process the Shutdown option. This
would put the system in an endless loop of booting,
logging-in, and rebooting.
If you change the password on the
Administrator account, then the computer
name changes will only be applied when
users with administrative privileges logon
to the machine.
In order to process the CommitEWF or
Shutdown options, other settings must be
specified.
Changing the computer name requires
administrative access. The client depends on
impersonating the Administrator account in order to
apply computer name changes when running as a
“Guest” user. For security reasons, a method of
communicating a password change to the client has
not been established.
These options will not be processed unless other
settings have been specified. This is done to ensure
that there are no unnecessary reboots or writes to
the flash storage media.
7
Command Line Syntax
For local file-based processing, use the following command line syntax:
C:\Windows\XPePrep.exe <path to .ini file>
For example: C:\Windows\XPePrep.exe c:\xpeprep.ini.
You must specify the full path to the .INI file. This command line cannot be a relative path.
For DHCP FTP-based processing, use the following command line syntax:
C:\Windows\XPePrep.exe
Input File Parameters
The following tables list input file parameters for [Display], [GUIUnattended], [Userdata],
[Internet], and [XpePrep].
[Display]
Setting Description
BitsPerPel = INT
Vrefresh = INT
Xresolution = INT
Yresolution = INT
If the system has multiple monitors, the same settings will be applied to all monitors.
Specifying a setting that the monitor and/or graphics card does not support will prevent the device
from operating.
This setting specifies color depth in bits per pixel. Possible values could
be 4, 8, 16, 24, or 32 depending on video driver/monitor support.
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
This setting specifies refresh rate in Hertz of the display adapter.
Possible values could be 0, 65, 70, 72, etc. depending on the
monitor/video adapter.
This setting specifies horizontal resolution of the display.
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
This setting specifies vertical resolution of the display.
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
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[GUIUnattended]
Setting Description
TimeZone = INT
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
The following table lists the numeric values corresponding to the time zones.
Index Time Zone Display
000 Dateline Standard Time (GMT-12:00) International Date Line West
001 Samoa Standard Time (GMT-11:00) Midway Island, Samoa
002 Hawaiian Standard Time (GMT-10:00) Hawaii
003 Alaskan Standard Time (GMT-09:00) Alaska
004 Pacific Standard Time
010 Mountain Standard Time (GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US and Canada)
013 Mexico Standard Time 2 (GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlán
015 U.S. Mountain Standard Time (GMT-07:00) Arizona
020 Central Standard Time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US and Canada)
025 Canada Central Standard Time (GMT-06:00) Saskatchewan
030 Mexico Standard Time
(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US and Canada);
Tijuana
(GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City,
Monterrey
033 Central America Standard Time (GMT-06:00) Central America
035 Eastern Standard Time (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US and Canada)
040 U.S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT-05:00) Indiana (East)
045 S.A. Pacific Standard Time (GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito
050 Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)
055 S.A. Western Standard Time (GMT-04:00) Caracas, La Paz
056 Pacific S.A. Standard Time (GMT-04:00) Santiago
060 Newfoundland Standard Time (GMT-03:30) Newfoundland
065 E. South America Standard Time (GMT-03:00) Brasilia
070 S.A. Eastern Standard Time (GMT-03:00) Buenos Aires, Georgetown
073 Greenland Standard Time (GMT-03:00) Greenland
075 Mid-Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-02:00) Mid-Atlantic
080 Azores Standard Time (GMT-01:00) Azores
083 Cape Verde Standard Time (GMT-01:00) Cape Verde Islands
085 GMT Standard Time
090 Greenwich Standard Time (GMT) Casablanca, Monrovia
(GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin,
Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
095 Central Europe Standard Time
(GMT+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest,
Ljubljana, Prague
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Index Time Zone Display
100 Central European Standard Time
105 Romance Standard Time
110 W. Europe Standard Time
(GMT+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw,
Zagreb
(GMT+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid,
Paris
(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome,
Stockholm, Vienna
113 W. Central Africa Standard Time (GMT+01:00) West Central Africa
115 E. Europe Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Bucharest
120 Egypt Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Cairo
125 FLE Standard Time
(GMT+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn,
Vilnius
130 GTB Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Athens, Istanbul, Minsk
135 Israel Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Jerusalem
140 South Africa Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Harare, Pretoria
145 Russian Standard Time
(GMT+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg,
Volgograd
150 Arab Standard Time (GMT+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh
155 E. Africa Standard Time (GMT+03:00) Nairobi
158 Arabic Standard Time (GMT+03:00) Baghdad
160 Iran Standard Time (GMT+03:30) Tehran
165 Arabian Standard Time (GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat
170 Caucasus Standard Time (GMT+04:00) Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan
175 Afghanistan Standard Time (GMT+04:30) Kabul
180 Ekaterinburg Standard Time (GMT+05:00) Ekaterinburg
185 West Asia Standard Time (GMT+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent
190 India Standard Time
(GMT+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New
Delhi
193 Nepal Standard Time (GMT+05:45) Kathmandu
195 Central Asia Standard Time (GMT+06:00) Astana, Dhaka
200 Sri Lanka Standard Time (GMT+06:00) Sri Jayawardenepura
201 N. Central Asia Standard Time (GMT+06:00) Almaty, Novosibirsk
203 Myanmar Standard Time (GMT+06:30) Rangoon
205 S.E. Asia Standard Time (GMT+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta
207 North Asia Standard Time (GMT+07:00) Krasnoyarsk
210 China Standard Time
(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong
SAR, Urumqi
215 Singapore Standard Time (GMT+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore
220 Taipei Standard Time (GMT+08:00) Taipei
225 W. Australia Standard Time (GMT+08:00) Perth
227 North Asia East Standard Time (GMT+08:00) Irkutsk, Ulaan Bataar
10
Index Time Zone Display
230 Korea Standard Time (GMT+09:00) Seoul
235 Tokyo Standard Time (GMT+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo
240 Yakutsk Standard Time (GMT+09:00) Yakutsk
245 A.U.S. Central Standard Time (GMT+09:30) Darwin
250 Central Australia Standard Time (GMT+09:30) Adelaide
255 A.U.S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
260 E. Australia Standard Time (GMT+10:00) Brisbane
265 Tasmania Standard Time (GMT+10:00) Hobart
270 Vladivostok Standard Time (GMT+10:00) Vladivostok
275 West Pacific Standard Time (GMT+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby
280 Central Pacific Standard Time
285 Fiji Islands Standard Time
290 New Zealand Standard Time (GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington
300 Tonga Standard Time (GMT+13:00) Nuku'alofa
(GMT+11:00) Magadan, Solomon Islands, New
Caledonia
If “*” is specified, then a random name will be generated
using either the first four characters of the Registered
Owner's name, or the string specified in
ComputerNameSeed (see below) with a random
number added to the end.
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
This name will populate the Registered Owner's name that
is shown on the system properties dialog box.
Note that this is not the name of a user account.
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
OrgName = String
ComputerNameSeed =
String
This will populate the Registered Organization name that
is shown on the system properties dialog box.
Note that this is not the name of a domain or
user group.
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
If the ComputerName setting is “*”, this string can be
used as a base to a random computer name. For example,
if you specify "Widget" as the ComputerNameSeed,
then an example computer name would be "Widget18342"
This setting will be ignored if not specified.
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[Internet]
Setting Description
AutoConfigUrl = String
HttpProxy = String in the form
of server:port
FtpProxy = String in the form of
server:port
SecureProxy = String in the
form of server:port
GopherProxy = String in the
form of server:port
SocksProxy = String in the
form of server:port
AutoDetectSettings =
Yes/No
This setting specifies the URL of an IE configuration file.
Blank if not specified.
This setting specifies address and port of HTTP proxy
server. If you want to use the same settings for all
protocols, only specify this setting and do not include the
other proxy setting in this file (FtpProxy, SecureProxy, GopherProxy, SocksProxy).
This setting specifies address and port of FTP proxy server.
Only specify this value if you do not want to use the same
setting for all protocols.
This setting specifies address and port of secure (HTTPS)
proxy server. Only specify this value if you do not want to
use the same setting for all protocols.
This setting specifies address and port of Gopher proxy
server. Only specify this value if you do not want to use
the same setting for all protocols.
This setting specifies address and port of Socks proxy
server. Only specify this value if you do not want to use
the same setting for all protocols.
This setting specifies allows auto-configuration of proxy
settings.
UseScript = Yes/No
UseProxy = Yes/No
BypassList = String
Homepage = String
This setting configures Internet Explorer to use a script for
proxy autoconfiguration. If a script is specified in the
AutoConfigURL setting, this setting will default to Yes
and be ignored.
This setting enables/disables a proxy server. If a proxy
server is specified for any protocols, this setting will be
ignored and defaulted to Yes.
This setting provides a semicolon-separated list of
addresses to be ignored by the proxy server.
This setting assigns a URL to use as the default home page.
This setting will be applied to all users.
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[Altiris]
Setting Description
NotUseMCast = 0/1
TcpAddr = String in the
This setting allows you to turn off the Altiris agent
MultiCast setting. Only specify this setting if you want to
disable MultiCast. If not specified default is set to 0;
MultiCast enabled.
This setting specifies the IP address of the Altiris server.
form of an IPv4 address
TcpPort = String in the form of port
This setting specifies the IP port of the Altiris server.
[XpePrep]
Setting Description
Shutdown =
Shutdown/Reboot/ Prompt/None
SettingsVersion = INT
This setting specifies the shutdown action to take when
complete.
Default is Prompt.
Assign a positive integer that specifies the version number
of the settings that will be maintained and compared to
prevent overwriting changes. For example, if you apply
SettingsVersion equal to 2, the next time you apply
changes you will need to update the SettingsVersion
parameter to a value greater than 2. Specify 0 or leave
this key out to apply settings regardless of the previous
version. For information on using this setting, please see
the Best Practices section of this document.
CommitEWF = Yes/No
This setting conditionally commits the EWF Overlay to the
protected volume. This allows settings to be persistent
across reboots. For information on using this setting,
please see the Best Practices section of this document.