Set up a build lab with the following six machine configurations:
Windows XP, Service Pack 3, x86 architecture
Windows XP, Service Pack 3, x64 architecture
Windows Vista, Service Pack 2, x86 architecture
Windows Vista, Service Pack 2, x64 architecture
Windows 7, Service Pack 1, x86 architecture
Windows 7, Service Pack 1, x64 architecture
Regularly re-image each machine to an initial configuration, or clean state. Clean machines are required to complete build and testing processes. Save an image of the initial configuration on a local partition, then use third-party software to create an external drive to boot the machine from that image.
Complete the following steps to setup the initial configuration for each machine:
Set up two partitions; one for the operating system and the other for the clean image.
Install the operating system.
Install all current patches for the OS, except for Microsoft Internet Explorer upgrades.
Create accounts for an administrator and a standard user.
Disable automatic updates.
The following steps are optional, but recommended:
Run Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 once, to prevent repeating the first-run wizard each time you re-image the machine to a clean state.
Enable remote desktop protocol access.
Configure the power options so the machine never enters the sleep state.
Disable the Microsoft Windows Firewall.
After the operating system is set up, create a system image (using software such as ZENworks Configuration Management) on a USB drive. Use this image to restore the machine to a clean state.
NOTE:It is not necessary to set up a build lab using physical machines. A build lab can be set up by using a collection of virtual machine images. For this approach, Novell recommends creating virtual machine images for each of the six machine configurations. The virtual machines should be configured by following the steps in this section, excluding the creation of a new partition. It is not necessary to create a partition to save the clean image because you can save the current state of a virtual machine.