the ESX-tools project

Project description:

Optional addon to the MOA-LiveCD.
It is intended for ESX-admins and other VMware-support folks.

Discussion and help - Overview of the downloads

Some typical usage scenarios should explain why you may want one - some really hardcore examples may explain what you can achieve with some experience.

Read a short description of the building procedure or directly take a walk through the building procedure

To make the most out of it understand the basic

MOA architecture and the different

Operation modes before you try any

Customization.

The MOA-core-system supports all

VMware Workstation 5.5.8 up to 6.5.0 and
Converter Cold Clone mode. The optional

esx-tools.exe - addon enables .NET 2 Framework, ViClient and related apps including RemoteCLI.

Folks say MOA is hardcore-stuff.

Yes - thats right. As with all powerful tools you need to learn how to use them. Here is something like a

suggested learning path - as so often the first steps are the most important.

Suggested learning path

FORGET THIS : Forget everything you ever heard about remastering LiveCDs

DO THIS : Create a "moa24-bandit.iso" with the moa24-setup-tool.

BUY THIS : buy a 2.5 inch USB-disk - format it with NTFS and put the a file "moa-is-at-home.tag" on it

USE THIS : boot your "moa24-bandit.iso" and plug in the USB-disk you bought at boot

You will learn the next points easily

1. Install a Workstation and learn how to automate loading it

2. Lean how to use Converter

3. Install some apps of your choice - understand what works and what does not work

4. Customize your desktop and start-menu

5. Install some tricky apps of your choice - learn how to handle install-rite

6. Understand the caveats when using local VMs

Once you feel a little bit at home with this you should continue with this more advanced stuff

1. learn how to pack CD-only builds effectively

2. learn how to create VMs so that they can be used from CD / DVD

3. learn how to use local disks with VMs in a safe way

4. learn how to automate tasks - work with moa-to-c.exe

5. do what ever you want

Some real hardcore examples ...

You are sitting in front of a running Windows-box.
You want to schedule a reboot. After reboot you want to autostart some VMs you have on an USB-disk.
This VMs will then establish something like a emergency copy of your running domain including DC, DNS, webserver ...

You need quick read access to a host with some SCSI-disks with data in VMFS

Description of the building procedure:

The building process in itself is a nightmare ...
thats why I made up a wizard that walks you through a procedure that may take up to 2 hours.
It goes like this:

stage1 - runs on your host - like a setup with some questions
stage2 - runs in a VM - mostly automated - just a few questions
stage3 - runs on your host - no more interaction required

Output: a LiveCD that can run ViClient, Vitoolkit, RemoteCli and Converter

Before you waste any time - trying the build only makes sense if you match all of this conditions:

You MUST have XP or 2k3 installed - only 32 bit versions are supported.
The machine MUST have at least 1200 MB of RAM.
The machine MUST have VMware Workstation or VMplayer installed.

You MUST download a number of files from VMware.
You MUST have the correct version-numbers for this files.

In case you miss one or more of this launch-conditions - sorry - I can't help you now - maybe in a later version ...
For now go to a machine that matches the conditions. You need to go through this procedure only once.

Guide through the building procedure

A dry run will take you about 3 minutes
whereas for a serious run you need about one and a half hour of time and patience.
Yes - patience - its very boring.

start

Some typical usage scenarios ...

You are a ESX-consultant. You have to visit a customer - an all Linux-shop. They have only one Windows-machine with ViClient which was installed by an idiot.
Relax - boot your ESX-bandit and use the tools you are used to.

You are running VMserver in a small office. The Windows-host was infected by a Virus and crashed.
Anyway you need to start the VMs at once.
Relax - boot your ESX-bandit and start the VMS in Workstation.

You are a cop and are investigating a suspicious machine. You believe a saboteur has planted a bomb that will destroy all data on next boot. You don't have time for standard forensic analysis and need proove at once.
Relax - boot your MOA with forensic switch set and let the machine boot as a VM.
All changes will be discarded after you shutdown the VM so you can get proove without destrying evidence.

You are a consultant and need to P2V some machines. Cold Clone CD failed.
Relax - boot your ESX-bandit and fix issues - rerun Converter

MOA architecture

MOA usually boots a static core-system from a file named bandit.img into RAM.
This file can be on CD, USB or local disk.

Once the core-system is up the work of the static core is done and you will be prompted with
a cheatcode-prompt where you can then connect to a personal workspace which can be on:

CD
USB-stick or USB-disk
Truecrypt-container
Virtual disk
or local disk

Next you can load a VMware Workstation version of your choice.
After full boot you can activate the optional ESX-bandit-addon if you need to run apps like ViClient.

It is essential that you understand this modular architecture.

The MOA-setup-tool has two wizards:

MOA-setup does not help you with adding your apps and VMs.
You only get an environment that makes adding your apps and VMs very easy.

Operation modes:
MOA can operate in several modes.

The MOA-setup helps you with getting started in CD only mode.
Regard "CD only" mode as a worst case scenario - CD + USB-disk mode is Plan A , CD + USB-stick is Plan B

Customization ...
Short overview only ...

Downloads :

Basically you only need the high-lighted moa24-setup.exe to get started.
Everything else can be added later on ....

How to prepare VMs so that they can be used from CD / DVD

Before we go into the details we need to understand the problems.

1. on a CD or a DVD we have very limted over-all space.
2. files on CDs and DVDs are limited in size
3. running VMs need writeable vmx-files and vmdks
4. CDs and DVDs are read-only

Last aspect looks like a killer condition.
But there are work-arounds : a very simple one goes like this:

Copy the complete VM-directory from CD to the ramdrive and run it from there.
As simple as it is this approach is very limited.
It only works with very small VMs obviously.
I usually use this approach to run a m0n0wall VM on top of MOA.
This approach is recommended for VMs with a size of upto 10 - 20 MBs

For larger VMs we need a more sophisticated approach.
Consider a very useful example : a VM with ESXi.
A typical installation of ESXi reaches about 230 Mb - this is much to large to copy it to ramdrive and run it from there.
So we need to find a way so that we can use the vmdk of the VM in readonly mode and use it from CD.
We still copy the vmx-file of the VM to ramdrive and run it from there - we just leave the vmdk on CD.

To do this we need to prepare the VM in a special way.

Following procedure works like a charm - I have tested it with all kinds of VMs.
I highly recommend to follow the same naming conventions as I use - this will allow easy exchange of VMs and future automation.

The base install:

Create snapshot:

Prepare files for CD:

usage:

How to prepare a ESXi VM so that it can be used from CD

Base installation:
Download esxi_35u2.zip and extract it on a host with Workstation 6.5 - this can be MOA or legacy Windows.
Extract the archive - you will find a directory like this:

This is the vmx-file:

config.version = "8"
displayName = "esxi_35u2"
ethernet0.connectionType = "hostonly"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet1.present = "TRUE"
ethernet1.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"
extendedConfigFile = "esxi_35u2.vmxf"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
ft.secondary0.enabled = "TRUE"
guestOS = "other"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"
ide1:0.fileName = "Z:\VMware-VMvisor-InstallerCD-3.5.0_Update_2-103909.i386.iso"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
mem.hotadd = "TRUE"
memsize = "1024"
mks.enable3d = "false"
nvram = "esxi_35u2.nvram"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
roamingVM.exitBehavior = "go"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
tools.upgrade.policy = "useGlobal"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
virtualHW.version = "7"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
monitor_control.restrict_backdoor = "true"
monitor.virtual_exec = "hardware"

scsi0:0.fileName = "basedisk\esxi_35u2.vmdk"

Nothing special in the vmx only the last line !

scsi0:0.fileName = "basedisk\esxi_35u2.vmdk"

Using the vmdk in a subdirectory is essential for this procedure to work !

Now open this vmx in Workstation - adjust the path to your ESXi-setup-iso and install ESXi.
After successful installation reboot and configure basics like root-password. When done shutdown the VM.

Create snapshot:

Use Workstation MENU > VM > Snapshot > Take snapshot

You now should have a directory that looks like this:

Now that we created a snapshot we effectively splitted the VM into two parts.

The big part - the basedisk directory can be used readonly.
The small part - the files in the root of the VM-directory - must be used used with write-access.

Handling this small part which must be writeable is no longer a problem.
We just copy it to the ramdrive and run it from there.

Back to work:
create a zip-archive from the few files in the root - you should then have something like this

You now have the VM wrapped in a way so that is ready to be used from MOA-CD.

Grab the two files:

esxi_35u2_ready4moa.zip
esxi_35u2.vmdk

and copy them to the _sfx_ directory of your MOA-CD or DVD.

Usage:

after full boot of MOA
extract R:\_sfx_\esxi_35u2_ready4moa.zip to R:\machines\esxi_35u2
create a junction from R:\machines\esxi_35u2\basedisk to R:_sfx_
start the VM by doubleclicking R:\machines\esxi_35u2\esxi_35u2.vmx

Thats all.

CAVEAT: don't mess with the config.ini - in LiveCD usage it is essential NOT to create a named mem-file in ramdrive.

Please keep the conventions:

place VM in R:\machines
put vmdks into a subdir named basedisk

You may also want to know ...

How to automate launch

How to integrate into standard MOA-network

I use something like this ...






The management network for the ESXi is VMnet1 - this means that MOA can always access it - even when the local network doesn't work.
This also means that we can add the ESXi to the host-file and access it via name - it also simplifies any powershell scripts you may want to use.
Both nics of the ESXi are configured to work for the VMkernel - so we can either use a NFS-server or a iSCSI-server from MOA or from the local network.

Finally do not forget to enable SSH for the ESXi.

How to create several slightly differently configure linked clones of the one base installation:

super simple - just extract the zip with the files in the root a couple of times.
Create
R:\machines\esx35u2-1
R:\machines\esx35u2-2
R:\machines\esx35u2-3

configure and start each one once. Create 3 new zips.
You get 3 linked clones which will start out of 5 MBs !

How to use local disks with your portable VMs in a safe way

Your portable VMs that you may have on USB or CD/DVD can access local physical disks.

You have two ways of doing so:
use directly
use through a snapshot

Both ways have their pros and cons.
Before we go into the details - have a look at this video

The first steps are obvious - create a VM and add a physical disk using the Workstation GUI.
If you want the physical disk in write-able mode you can now start the VM.
If you want the physical disk in readonly mode you have to create a snapshot first.
The Workstation GUI does NOT allow this for good reasons. Only advanced users who understand the problems should use this mode !
As a workaround we can create a snapshot with vmrun.exe.
The syntax is easy: vmrun.exe snapshot <path to vmx> <snapshotname>
Assume you created a new VM named Pbox in R:\machines\pbox the command would look like this
vmrun snapshot R:\machines\pbox\pbox.vmx snap1
As vmrun.exe is in the path you can enter the command in this short form.

Before you then start the VM you should check if the snapshot really was created !
The directory R:\machines\pbox now should have a whole lot of vmdk-files in the size of 300kb.
The snapshot is splitted in max 2Gb slices - so you will get about 150 files for a 300Gb harddisk..

When you start the VM now the physical disk is used readonly - all changes go into the snapshot you just created.
Well - in case you created the snapshot in the ramdrive you of course have to live with one problem.
If you change the disk a lot or run the VM for a very long time your ramdrive will fill up sooner or later.

So in case you want to run a VM like that over a long period of time or plan to make a lot of changes to the disk - create the VM not in the ramdrive but on a USB-disk or a local-disk.

Automation of MOA-tasks

Have a look at the "create ESX-bandit-wizard" - it automates a boot and starts a complex action when boot is finished.
To do that the wizard creates a "moa24-max.iso" which has a file "lastbatch.cmd" in ...moahome\bin - which after boots becomes R:\bin.

This batch then has only one line:

if exist R:\_sfx_\esx-bandit.exe R:\_sfx_\esx-bandit.exe /setup

How to use Converter

MOA supports Converter right out of the box. This means you can have Converter just somewhere -
when you call the function "start converter" you simply give the path to your local installation - which can also be on CD of course.

Moa.exe versions before 2.4-017 had a bug and couldn't work with paths that had spaces in the name. This was fixed in 2.4-017

how to add Workstation to MOA 2.4

warning - Workstation 6.5 must be regarded as experimental
5.5.8 - 6.0.5 are ok
WS 6.5 needs moa24-017.exe

Basically it boils down to: install once - keep the files

Latest MOA-core supports all VMware Workstation 5.5.8 up to 6.5.0.
This means you do not have to rebuild or otherwise change your existing MOA.

MOA can handle several versions of Workstation in one build.
This is possible because MOA expects that you have all files that belong to a specific version in one directory.
At boot-time you give the path to this directory - MOA then checks if it knows the version - if yes it applies apropriate patches.

So all you have to do to add a specific Workstation version is to prepare this directory.


Can I use MOA - install Workstation on the fly and grab the files ? - yes - recommended
Can I create this directory from a local installation I already have ? - yes -thats Plan B

How to I reduce size of the directory ?

How do I wrap it into a wim-archive ?

How do I enable loading of Workstation ?

How do I automate load of a specific version ?

How do I add my license ?

Can I create this directory from a local installation I already have ?

Ok - lets assume you already have VMware Workstation 6.5.0 (or any other version) installed somewhere.
The standard installation path is C:\program files\vmware\vmware workstation.
Copy "C:\program files\vmware\vmware workstation" to C:\ws650

Copy all VMware-drivers from the system32\drivers directory to C:\ws650

copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\hcmon.sys "C:\ws650\hcmon.sys"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\VMkbd.sys "C:\ws650\VMkbd.sys"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnet.sys "C:\ws650\vmnet.sys"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnetadapter.sys "C:\ws650\vmnetadapter.sys"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnetbridge.sys "C:\ws650\vmnetbridge.sys"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnetuserif.sys "C:\ws650\vmnetuserif.sys"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmx86.sys "C:\ws650\vmx86.sys"

Next copy this files from the system32 directory to C:\ws650

copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\vmnat.exe "C:\ws650\vmnat.exe"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\vmnc.dll "C:\ws650\vmnc.dll"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\vmnetbridge.dll "C:\ws650\vmnetbridge.dll"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\vmnetdhcp.exe "C:\ws650\vmnetdhcp.exe"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\vnetinst.dll "C:\ws650\vnetinst.dll"
copy /Y %systemroot%\SYSTEM32\vnetlib.dll "C:\ws650\vnetlib.dll"

Finally go to the directory C:\ws650 and copy
vmusb.inf to oem5.inf
vmnetbridge.inf to oem6.inf
vmnetadapter.inf to oem7.inf

Thats it - keep the directory C:\ws650

Can I use MOA - install Workstation on the fly and grab the files ?

here is a video made for Workstation 6.0.4 for example

How do I add my license ?

Open regedit and browse to the highlighted key.
Right-click and select export.

Export as "vmware-license.reg" and copy the file to the system32-directory or to the moahome\bin directory.
This way it will be used for all versions you may have.

Export as "vmware-inc.reg" and copy the file to your C:\ws650 directory.
This way you can have different licenses for different versions.

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How to I reduce size of the directory ?

Latest Workstation setups used very large default-installations. You may want to reduce this ...

You sure do not need the big vmware-tools isofiles and you also do not need the pkg-directory.

After that - it is a matter of taste. I usually rip the installation even more - have a look at this batch for example:
it installs it - reduces size and creates wim-images

You will find batchs like this in R:\bin after boot into MOA

@echo off
set mytitle=ws605-wizard
title %MYTITLE%
COLOR f8
rem COLOR fc
rem MODE CON: COLS=80 LINES=50
setlocal
if not "%1"=="EnvSizeIncreased" %COMSPEC% /e:8192 /c %0 EnvSizeIncreased %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
if not "%1"=="EnvSizeIncreased" goto :end
if "%1"=="EnvSizeIncreased" shift
:start

echo.
echo XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
echo. XX
echo XX written by Ulli Hankeln
echo XX
echo XX Prepare Workstation 6.0.5
echo XX
echo XX First make sure e:\VMware-workstation-6.0.5-109488.exe exists
echo XX
echo XX do not allow reboot after installation
echo XX follow defaults
echo XX

pause
md r:\esx-bandit
echo %time% - install ws605
echo %time% - install ws605 >> R:\esx-bandit\ws605-wizard-log.txt

start /wait e:\VMware-workstation-6.0.5-109488.exe

echo %time% - rip ws605
echo %time% - rip ws605 >> R:\esx-bandit\ws605-wizard-log.txt

del /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\*.iso"
del /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\*.iso.sig"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\messages\ja"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\bin-debug"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\bin-stats"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\help\player_win"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\help\workstation_win"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\help\wwhelp"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\pkg"
copy /Y X:\i386\INF\oem0.inf "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\oem5.inf"
copy /Y X:\i386\INF\oem1.inf "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\oem6.inf"
copy /Y X:\i386\INF\oem2.inf "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\oem7.inf"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\hcmon.sys "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\hcmon.sys"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\VMkbd.sys "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\VMkbd.sys"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnet.sys "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnet.sys"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnetadapter.sys "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnetadapter.sys"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnetbridge.sys "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnetbridge.sys"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmnetuserif.sys "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnetuserif.sys"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\vmx86.sys "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmx86.sys"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\vmnat.exe "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnat.exe"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\vmnc.dll "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnc.dll"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\vmnetbridge.dll "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnetbridge.dll"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\vmnetdhcp.exe "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmnetdhcp.exe"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\vnetinst.dll "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vnetinst.dll"
copy /Y X:\i386\SYSTEM32\vnetlib.dll "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vnetlib.dll"
echo %time% - make wim ws605.wim
echo %time% - make wim ws605.wim >> R:\esx-bandit\ws605-wizard-log.txt
imagex /capture "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation" R:\esx-bandit\ws605.wim "1" /compress maximum

echo %time% - rip more ws605
echo %time% - rip more ws605 >> R:\esx-bandit\ws605-wizard-log.txt
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\p2v*.dll"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\data\*"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\ace_upgrade.exe"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmware-acetool.exe"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vss*.dll"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\farexec-service.exe"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\EULA.jp.rtf"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\V2iDiskLib.dll"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmware-ufad.exe"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\singleJobRunner.dll"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\deployPkg.dll"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\pkgGen.dll"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmware-fullscreen.exe"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\ufa*.*"
del /q /f "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\*.msi"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\Resources"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\tools-upgraders"
rmdir /s /q "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation\vmware-tools"

echo %time% - make wim ws605-ripped.wim
echo %time% - make wim ws605-ripped.wim >> R:\esx-bandit\ws605-wizard-log.txt
imagex /capture "R:\programs\vmware\vmware workstation" R:\esx-bandit\ws605-ripped.wim "1" /compress maximum
echo.
echo XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
echo XX all done

pause

exit

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How do I wrap it into a wim-archive ?



top

How do I enable loading of Workstation ?

edit moa.ini

start_vmware=yes

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How do I automate load of a specific version ?

Lets see some examples ...
First one autoloads Workstation 6.0.2 from a wim-archive you have in the _sfx_ directory of your MOA-CD.

[BOOT]
start_vmware=yes

[AUTOMOUNT]
wim1_mount=yes
wim1_path=r:\_sfx_\ws602ripped.wim

Next loads Workstation 6.0.5 from a wim-archive that you put inside the ramloading image - this improves performance and you can change CDS after boot. You need to re-run MENU > Postprocessing > create bandit-image

[BOOT]
start_vmware=yes

[AUTOMOUNT]
wim1_mount=yes
wim1_path=X:\i386\ws605ripped.wim

Next example loads Workstation 6.5.0 which you have in a directory on a USB-disk that you load with cheatcode "remount"
The path already is R:\vm\vmware

[BOOT]
start_vmware=yes


Finally a more advanced example - it assumes you have Workstation 6.5.0 in a directory on a local disk named C:\ws650

[BOOT]
start_vmware=yes
start_earlybatch=yes

you also need a batch named "earlybatch.cmd" in your R:\bin\ - directory that has this line

if not exist R:\vm\vmware junction R:\vm\vmware C:\ws650

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Learn how to pack CDs effectively

It is highly recommended to customize your MOA in CD + USB mode as this is the fastest and easiest way.
There are still cases when you want to be prepared to run your apps in a CD only environment.

There are two different ways of packing apps so that they can be used from CD.

The easiest is to wrap apps in a vmdk.
MOA per default looks for vmdks with your apps in the _sfx_ directory.
If you have for example a vmdk named tdrive.vmdk in that dir - this vmdk will be mounted during boot to the driveletter T: in writeable mode. More precise in undoable mode - the vmdk is mounted with vdk.exe - vdk.exe then creates a redo-log for tdrive.vmdk in the ramdrive.
This means you can treat apps wrapped in a vmdk as writeable.
After mounting the tdrive.vmdk moa.exe looks for a load.cmd in T: and will execute it. You can use this to add desktop-icons or startmenu-entries.

Another way to wrap apps are wim-archives. This is more effective but not so convenient.
The esx-bandit.exe uses this to handle dotnet.
You can automate handling of wim-archives at boot-time with custom commands in the various startup-batches.

Install some apps of your choice - understand what works and what does not work

You want to add an app of your choice ?
here is a small guide how to do this ...

1. just install it - if it complains about missing space in systemdrive try the same with "moa24-max.iso"
2. does it work ? - if yes reboot
3. call the app manually - does it work ?

4. install again - this time capture the installation with installrite - create a installkit after successful installation
5. reboot - after reboot call the installkit and then try to run the application manually

6. if it still doesn't work you need to dig deeper - review the installrite-capture - watch out for servcies and drivers

check back later

Customize your desktop and start-menu

When you use MOA in CD+USB mode this is very easy : just do it.

To create a desktop-icon to an application - use explorer browse to that app and right-drag it to the desktop.
Same applies to startmenu entries.

If you want this customized desktop and startmenu in CD-only mode simply copy the directory
R:\home to the directory ...moahome\home of your CD