HP t5630, T5630w, T5730w, gt7720, DHCP Settings Update Client Using Manual

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Using the HP DHCP Settings Update Client

HP thin clients running Microsoft® Windows Embedded Standard 2009 (WES) and

indows® XP Embedded (XPe)

Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2

Server Requirements Linux Distributions .................................................................................................. 2

DHCP Server Requirements................................................................................................................ 2

FTP Server Requirements ................................................................................................................... 2

Process Flow Diagram .......................................................................................................................... 3

Understanding the Process Flow ......................................................................................................... 4

Version Checking ................................................................................................................................ 5

Version Checking Flowchart .............................................................................................................. 5

Control Panel Options .......................................................................................................................... 6

Administrative Applet ....................................................................................................................... 6

User Applet ..................................................................................................................................... 6

Best Practices ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Command Line Syntax .......................................................................................................................... 8

Input File Parameters ............................................................................................................................ 8

[Display] ......................................................................................................................................... 8

[GUIUnattended] ............................................................................................................................. 9

[Userdata] ..................................................................................................................................... 11

[Internet] ....................................................................................................................................... 12

[Altiris] .......................................................................................................................................... 13

[XpePrep] ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Sample .INI File ................................................................................................................................. 14

Abstract

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.

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Process Flow Diagram

The following diagram illustrates the process flow:

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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.

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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:

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