Win2003 server RPL remote start service installation and implementation

Installation and realization of Win2003 server RPL remote boot services

Author: Anonymous editor: studa9ngns

Abstract: In Windows 2003 The principle and method of installing remote boot service on operating systems such as Server and Windows 2000 Server, using VC6.0 programming, successfully implemented the remote boot service program of Windows NT4.0 to be installed on Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2000 Server and other servers. . The written software is easy to use, stable and reliable. It provides a good foundation for installing diskless workstations and diskless terminals on new network operating systems.

Keywords: Remote Startup Service; RPL; Windows 2000 Server; Diskless Workstation
1 Introduction

In the client/server architecture, diskless workstations are inexpensive, Outstanding advantages such as maximum security and easiest maintainability management have been widely used [1, 2, 3, 4]. Diskless stations, as the name suggests, are computer workstations that do not use native disk drives. How does a diskless station work? A diskless station must be connected to the network and equipped with at least one network server. The support of the diskless station relies on the remote boot service on the network server. Remote Boot Service (Remoteboot) is a feature provided by Windows NT Server and Novell NetWare that supports booting MS-DOS and Windows workstations using software on the server hard drive instead of the workstation hard drive. An RPL (Remote Program Load Remote Initial Program Load) ROM chip must be installed on the workstation's network adapter card. The network interface card with RPL issues a broadcast of the boot record request, and the remote boot service server automatically establishes a connection to respond to it and loads the MS-DOS or Windows boot file into the workstation's memory.
Novell NetWare and Windows NT both provide the ability for diskless workstations to boot remotely using the Boot ROM. Windows NT 4.0 integrates the remote boot service program, which you can choose to install when you install the operating system. These operating systems can support diskless workstations using DOS, Win3.1, Win95, Win98 and other operating systems. Due to the ease of operation of the Windows NT operating system, the NetWare operating system has been gradually replaced, and users who have previously adopted the Novell NetWare diskless working mode have mostly adopted the Windows NT operating system.
With the improvement of computer software and hardware grades, and the implementation of technologies such as diskless Win98 technology, diskless Win2000, diskless WinXP and diskless terminals, the application of diskless networks is more and more extensive. The network operating system has also been upgraded from WinNT to the current Win2000 Server and Win2003 Server. Unfortunately, Microsoft no longer supports RPL remote booting in the new Win2000 Server and Win2003 Server. Because Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2000 Server server can provide more services, more stable system and higher security than NT server. Therefore, users want to upgrade the server of the diskless network to the new server operating system, so that software with remote boot service needs to be installed on the Windows 2003 Server and Windows 2000 Server.
The remote boot service software in Windows NT4.0 is integrated in the NT installation software. There is no separate Setup or Install program, and it cannot be installed directly in Win2003 Server or Win2000 Server. It is more difficult to design a remote boot service software from scratch. We have hundreds of software that provides related RPL services from NT4.0, and we can see the complexity of the system. Can I transfer the remote boot service in NT4.0 to Windows 2003 or Win2000 by other means? Based on this assumption, we conducted related research.

2 Design and Implementation of Remote Boot Service Installation Software

2.1 WinNT 4.0 Remote Start Service Program Working Principle

Procedure and Work of Installing Remote Boot Service by Windows NT 4.0 In the case, we learned that Windows NT 4.0 mainly copies the files in the Clients\ pl directory on the CD to the Winnt directory of the server without change. There are BBLOCK directory, BIN directory, FITS directory, RPLFILES directory and database file RPLSVC. MDB and so on.
Another use of Expand.exe to extract the I386 and remote boot service and management and the required dynamic link library files, etc. to the Winnt\\system32 directory, mainly extract the
NETAPI32.DL_ to NETAPI32.DLL;
NETUI1.DL_ is decompressed to NETUI1.DLL;
RPLCMD.EX_ is decompressed to RPLCMD.EXE;
RPLMGR.CN_ is decompressed to RPLMGR.CNT;
RPLMGR.EX_ is decompressed to RPLMGR.EXE;
RPLMGR. HL_ is decompressed into RPLMGR.HLP;
RPLSVC.EX_ is decompressed into RPLSVC.EXE;
where RPLSVC.EXE is the remote boot service program, RPLMGR.EXE is the remote boot manager, and RPLCMD.EXE is the NIC parameter configuration program. When these three files are executed, you need to call the dynamic link libraries NETAPI32.DLL and NETUI1.DLL.
After the file copy is installed, add the service registration information to the registry as:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet001\\Services\\RemoteBoot]
"Type"=dword:00000010
"Start"= Dword:00000002
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"ImagePath"="%SystemRoot%\\system32\ plsvc.exe"
"DisplayName"="Remote Startup Service"
"ObjectName"= "LocalSystem"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet001\\Services\\RemoteBoot\\Parameters]
"BackupInterval"=dword:00000018
"Directory"="C:\\WINNT\\RPL"
"Startup" =dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet001\\Services\\RemoteBoot\\Enum]
"0"="Root\\\\LEGACY_REMOTEBOOT\\\\0000"
"Count"=dword:00000001
" NextInstance"=dword:00000001
where: "ImagePath"="%SystemRoot%\\system32\ plsvc.exe" indicates the directory path where the remote boot service program RPLSVC.EXE is located; after the remote boot service is started, it is based on the registry. For this information, find the program RPLSVC.EXE and execute it. Another "Directory"="C:\\WINNT\\RPL" indicates the location of the disk where the RPL file directory is located. The remote boot service program is to obtain the data information of the diskless station configuration file in this directory, and provide the remote boot file for the diskless station. BR>2.2 Manually transplant the remote boot service program to the Win2003 server

According to the remote boot service program analyzed on the WinNET, we can copy these programs to the Win2003 server in the same way. And can run normally, provide remote boot service. If the manual configuration is successful, you can write an installer that is convenient for users to install the service. Below are the steps we have taken manually.
1, we use the resource manager to copy the RPL directory under Clients on the CD to the Winnt directory of the Win2003 server. Because the file on the CD is read-only, the copied file is also read-only, so you need to remove the read-only attribute of all files after copying.
2, in WinNT is to copy RPLSVC.EXE, RPLMGR.EXE, RPLCMD.EXE, NETAPI32.DLL and NETUI1.DLL files to the Winnt\\sytem32 directory, we are prepared to copy these files to In the Winnt\\system32 directory of the Win2003 server, you can copy and find NETAPI32.DLL and NETUI1.DLL under the directory. These two files are already in the Win2003 version and cannot be overwritten with these two files of NT4.0, otherwise it will affect the operation of the Win2003 server. The function of the RPL support is not provided in the dynamic link library file of the 2003 version. If the two files are not copied, the RPL service cannot be run.
How to solve this problem? Considering that the EXE file is executed, it first calls the dynamic link library DLL it needs in the current directory. If it can't find it, it will go to the system directory (Winnt\\system32) to find the call. Therefore, you can consider installing these files into other directories. As long as they are installed in the same directory, it does not affect programs such as RPLSVC.EXE that call RPL's dynamic link libraries NETAPI32.DLL and NETUI1.DLL. For good management, we tried to copy all of these files to the RPL directory.
3, can now import the registry project. Because the remote startup service and management program files are not installed in the system directory, you must modify the registry related items, because RPLSVC.EXE is installed in the RPL directory, so you need to put the registry key:
"ImagePath"= "%SystemRoot%\\system32\ plsvc.exe"
is changed to "ImagePath"="%SystemRoot%\ pl\ plsvc.exe"
If we are installing the Win2003 system directory to the D drive, it is to put RPL To copy the directory to the "D:\\WINNT" directory, you must also change
"Directory"="C:\\WINNT\\RPL"
to: "Directory"="D:\\WINNT\\RPL"< BR> After importing the registry file, after restarting the server, the remote boot service has been successfully run. In this way, the remote boot service was successfully ported from Windows NT 4.0 to the Win2003 server.

Reposted to 233 Network School Paper Center