Links

This page lists links, which are related to ANI in some way: links to similar projects, to software for the server, to Linux and the ANI-Bootdisk, to useful tools for Windows, to Windows configuration and to Windows software.

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A - Links to similar Projects

Unattended - A Windows deployment system: Very similar project. It recently also switched to a Linux-based boot-medium. Good mailinglist! See our FAQ for a comparison.
Real Men Don't Klick - The Project: An informative site where the ETH Zürich (Switzerland) presents their experience with automatic installation of Windows and applications for Windows.
MSFN's Unattended XP CD - The definitive HowTo Guide!: This site gives instructions how to create a CD-Rom, which installs with minimal user-interaction a Windows XP inclusively prepared applications.
FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) for Debian GNU/Linux - Unattended Setup for Debian Linux: Bulked software for automatic installations, in this case for Linux.

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B - Links to Software for the Server

Samba - opening Windows to a wider world (GPL): Samba enables a computer running Linux to share files and printers for computers running Windows. Since some time, Samba is also able to simulate a Windows domain. This ability allows to run all the required server software for ANI under Linux. Samba contains also tools to access shared files of Windows computers from Linux. That's why, a stript down version of Samba is also part of the ANI-Bootdisk.

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C - Links to Linux and the ANI-Bootdisk

Syslinux - The Easy-to-use Linux Bootloader (GPL)

Syslinux is a bootloader which starts Linux from a floppy-disk. A bootloader is the first programm being started during the boot procedure and triggers the real operating system. Syslinux is used as bootloader on the ANI-bootdisk.

The Linux Kernel Archives - (GPL)

This site offers all released versions of the source code of the linux kernel for download. A kernel is the heart of the operating system, gets loaded into memory during the boot procedure and starts the first process, which starts further processes. The Linux kernel is of cource also part of the ANI-bootdisk.

uClibc - (GPL)

uClibc is a C-library for Linux with roughly the same functionality as the GNU C Library (glibc) but it is much smaller. Because of its size, the library has been chosen for the ANI-bootdisk in order to still get everything on a single floppy-disk.

BusyBox - (GPL)

BusyBoy is a collection of important programs for the command line of linux with focus on small size. A lot of programs on the ANI-bootdisk have been taken from BusyBox in order to to still get everything on a single floppy-disk.

Ncurses Library - (GPL)

NCurses is a library to print out text on a fix position on the screen. The ANI-bootdisk uses the perl module Curses, to display the input screen at the beginning of the installation and which depends on NCurses.

DOSEmu - (GPL)

DOSEmu emulates under Linux a turned off PC on which a DOS can be started. Because the start of the Windows installation happens under DOS, DOSEmu can be used on the ANI-bootdisk to perform this part of the installation under FreeDOS. This reduces the number of reboots during the installation by one :-).

FreeDOS - (GPL ?)

An open-source clone of MS-DOS written from scratch. Together with DOSEmu on the ANI-bootdisk, it allows to pass the DOS-part of the installation under Linux.

CPAN - Comprehensive Perl Archive Network

Home of the script interpreter Perl and a huge number of extensions for Perl in the form of so called Perl modules. Most of these modules are published under the GPL or a similar licence. ANI uses Perl as scripting language and the following modules:

Win32::GUI, a Win32-platform native graphical user interface toolkit.
Win32::NetAdmin, manages network groups and users under Windows.
Win32::NetResource, manages network resources under Windows.
Config::IniFiles, reads .ini-style configuration files.
Net::DHCP::Session, object methods to simulate a DHCP pc, adapted for ANI.
Net::DHCP::Packet, object methods to create a DHCP packet, adapted for ANI.
Net::DHCP::Options, object methods to create and access DHCP options, adapted for ANI.

Cygwin - Information and Installation (GPL)

Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. Most of the command-line programs for Linux have been ported to Cygwin and can now also be used under Windows. Since some time, it is possible to run a grafical user interface under Windows with Cygwin like KDE. ANI uses the compression utilities tar, gzip and gunzip to compress and decompress Perl modules.

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D - Links to useful Tools for Windows

Sysinternals Freeware - Utilities for Windows NT and Windows 2000: A big collection of useful freeware-tools for Windows NT/2000/XP. Some important programs will be presented here as independent links. Some of the programs come with their source code to look at.
Regmon of Sysinternals (Freeware): Regmon allows to monitor and record every accessed key of the registry on the system.
Filemon of Sysinternals (Freeware): Filemon allows to monitor and record every file access on the system.
PsTools of Sysinternals (Freeware): PsTools is a collection of programs for the command line of Windows to monitor and start processes. The tool PsExec in this collection even allows to start programms on remote Windows computers, given enough rights.
Baseline Security Analyzer of Microsoft (Freeware): MBSA scans your own and other computers in the net for security holes (Win2K, WinXP). This includes checking the configuration of the system as well as looking for the latest patches. Moreover, problems in software like Internet Explorer and Office are searched. The newest checks are automatically downloaded from the internet. For each check, a description is available how to solve the detected problem.

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E - Links to Windows Configuration

Annoyances.org: A huge and searchable collection of receipies to get rid of annoyances under Windows and its well known programs. Has also a lot of tips for tuning Windows and where they can be changes. The site also has a list of usefull utilities for tweaking Windows.

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F - Links to Windows Software

ActivePerl of ActiveState (Freeware): Perl of ActiveState for Windows can be downloaded and used as freeware. The link to download is shaped as a red button and located in the upper left corner of the page, it can easily be overlooked. The next step of the registration can be skipped by just pressing the next button. ANI needs the MSI-package of Perl on the next page because during the installation perl scripts have to be executed also under Windows. Try to download the most recent version of Perl provided, even if an older package will still do well.
BgInfo of Sysinternals (Freeware): BgInfo displays on the desktop of a Windows computer usefull information like the name of the computer or its IP-address.