Mounting a Boot Image - Storage Redirection Failed

[Jools86]

I am trying to Mount a boot ISO. I successfully uploaded the ISO to Intel EMA.

However when I try and mount the image to a machine, I get the following generic error message:

Logs show success (see below). At least I think it does, these are the only 2 messages I see pertaining to my attempt to connect to Mount the image. (Manageability Component Events).

Is there anywhere I can see what is going on?

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jools86,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

To further assist you can you please provide the following:

1. Is the image that you mount to EMA a small one or a big one? We recommend using small images because this will prevent timeouts during the endpoint reboot to the mounted image.
2. Was the image that you mount a UDF formatted image via USBR? The reason for this question is that there is a current known issue with Intel AMT while booting some UDF formatted images via USBR. Sometimes UDF formatted images may not boot or may not boot fully. We recommend using CDFS formatted images until this issue is resolved.
3. Is secure boot enabled in the endpoint’s BIOS? If it is, it is recommended that you use a signed image file, as Secure Boot in the BIOS will block the loading of unsigned images. If Secure Boot blocks the image load, the endpoint may boot to its internal drive.

Note: One recommended method for endpoint reboot to a mounted image is to use a two-part image. First, you will boot the endpoint to a small image that allows you to bring up the endpoint on your network. Then use that image to access more content from the endpoint.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician  

[Jools86]

Hi Victor,

The image was 610MB, which I would assume is Small-Medium size.

ISO file partitioned using FAT32. (Image is a bog-standard Microsoft MDT created ISO file).

SecureBoot is enabled. Will try and find out how I can sign an ISO file.

Julian

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jools86,

Thank you so much for your response.

To continue can you please provide the following:

1. How many endpoints does your deployment have?
2. In regard to the Secure Boot, can you disable it and try the image again? I believe it will be easier than trying to figure out how to sign the image.
3. Can you please provide more information about the image that you are trying to use, what does it have that makes it different than other Windows ISO images?
4. Please provide the following log:

• EMA logs from Server

[System drive]\Program File(x86)\Intel\Platform Manager\EmaLogs

Best regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Jools86]

Hi Victor,

1. 14 at present, we are going Production middle January.

2. I will try when next in office (Jan 3rd) - however Secureboot is necessary for Bitlocker to work properly, so this is needed.

3. The Image is a standard Windows PE image genereated by Microsoft MDT. Nothing different at all, it's very basic, just WINPE + Drivers:

Deploy a Windows 10 image using MDT (Windows 10) - Windows Deployment | Microsoft Learn

4. Attached the server log files...

I did notice this error on the Manageability Server:

"2022-12-22 08:30:15.0787|ERROR||1220|82|MoveNext - MeshManageabilityServer.CentralManageabilityServer+<<TimerFileUploadCleanupElapsed>b__136_0>d, EMAManageabilityServer, Version=1.9.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=57d11e903ea1ca2c - [0] - File(s) not present on the disk but present in the database:
File LiteTouchPEx64.iso which belongs to tenant with id 83720f6d-8081-43ab-82e6-ce25c6dca5af"

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jools86,

Were you able to test the endpoint by disabling secure boot?  If yes, please let me know how the test went.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Jools86]

Thanks for chasing Victor.

I am based in London (Strikes all this week), but should be able to test on Monday.

[Paul_R_Intel]

Hello Jools86,

I hope you are doing great, thank you for the update, we will be waiting for the outcome details.

Regards,

Paul R.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Jools86]

Hi Paul,

I managed to disable Secure Boot on a HP z2 Mini G9. Rebooted, and then tried to Mount an image again.

I get the following error below:

Here is what I see in the Platform Server / Manageability Server Events log. I see a message stating file not present on disk despite being in DB:

Proof Secure Boot disabled:

ISO file I am trying to use:

I would like to add that not supporting "Secure Boot" does not make sense, as for BitLocker to operate correctly, "Secure Boot" has to be enabled.

Regards,

Julian.

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jools86,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

Please let me review this information internally, and kindly wait for an update.

Once we have more information to share, we will post it on this thread.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[MichaelA_Intel]

Jools86,

Can you confirm if you've tried this step? Looking at the screen-shot, particularly the one that says the file cannot be found, but was found in the database, I'd like to see now that secure boot has been disabled, can you delete the .iso then re-upload it? Also ensure that it is in the USBR directory when you re-upload it? If you haven't done this, can you try and provide an update after?

[Jools86 · Accepted solution]

Thanks Michael.

In regards to the error below.

I found the issue. We have one Manageability Server (by design as you are not allowed more than one). However we are in a Load Balanced environment.

When uploading the ISO file to EMA, it was copying the ISO file to the drive of our UK EMA server (which doesnt have the manageabilty role).

This looks like a fault in the design of the API that does the UPLOAD ISO image. The call should upload directly to the drive (of wherever you specified the IP address of the manageability server, not the drive of the web server you are connected to when you perform the upload.

So in essence, when it does the mount it is looking at the Manageability server's drive.

When it does the upload via the web console, it uploads the ISO to whatever EMA server it is currently connected to, which causes the disconnect.

As soon as we uploaded via a US PC (i.e. a machine on the same GEO location as the manageability server, so Load Balancer forwarded request there), then the ISO file was written to the US EMA Server (which hosts the manageability server) and we could mount the image to a machine!

Next problem - Boot to image doesn't work! Will raise a separate ticket.

[MichaelA_Intel]

Hi Jools86,

That's great that you were able to figure it out. It supports what the log showed but you're right about things being a little clearer. I will discuss this with the developers to see if there is a way to make the uploading of the image clearer, even in a LB environment.

Regarding uploading of image, that's fine to open another ticket, probably better that way in a community so multiple issues don't run in a single thread. My assumption is you already have, but just in case you haven't, refer to section 6.4.9 and sub sections for requirements and "notes" for image recommendations and booting to an image in the admin and usage guide. The guide is included in the download under the documents folder, or you can quickly access it here:

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/software/manageability-products/intel-ema-admin-and-usage-guide.pdf

Regards,

Michael

[MichaelA_Intel]

Jools86,

I sent a direct email to you for some information. Can you please check and confirm that you received it?

Regards,

Michael

[Jools86]

Hi Michael, Thanks for reaching out. I have sent you an email reply