How to Deploy and Use IGEL OS Dual Boot (IGEL Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery)

If Windows becomes unavailable, whether due to a security breach, malware infection, or a system failure, you can quickly boot into IGEL OS and use it as a replacement. This way, you can maintain business continuity.

Besides, IGEL OS Dual Boot also enables testing or evaluation of IGEL OS alongside Windows, without replacing the existing environment.

This article is based on IGEL OS Dual Boot 2.0.1.

How IGEL OS Dual Boot Works

IGEL provides a Windows installer that installs IGEL OS alongside Microsoft Windows. The installer reduces the size of the Windows system partition and creates a new partition for IGEL OS. Then it retrieves the initial IGEL OS image from the device’s storage, validates it, writes it to this partition, and installs an IGEL bootloader. Also, it installs these Windows services:

• Install service: Switches to Emergency Mode and back; communicates with the IGEL OS Dual Boot tray app

• RMAgent service: Communicates with the UMS

• RMAgent control service: Is responsible for the network connection, the rmagent status, and the connection to the UMS. If necessary, it tries to reestablish the connection to the UMS. Also, it makes sure that the device is registered with the UMS.

Requirements

• You have local administrator rights on the device

• Windows 11 with EFI Boot is running on the device

• Windows System Restore should be disabled during the installation. If it is enabled, the installer will prompt you to disable it. System Restore can be re-enabled after the installation is complete

• Minimum of 36 GB of free storage space in the Windows system partition (C:). This value is composed as follows:

  • 20 GB as reserve storage space for Windows

  • 16 GB for IGEL OS.

• You have acquired the following software:

  • IGEL OS Dual Boot 2.0.1 or higher from https://app.igel.com/software > IGEL OS Base System Image for Dual Boot. You can use the MSI or the EXE file, depending on your preference.

  • The Dual Boot variant of IGEL OS Base System 12.10.0 or higher from https://app.igel.com/software > IGEL OS 12 Base System Image for Dual Boot

• UMS 12.13.100 or higher

Licensing with the Universal Management Suite (UMS)

If you have not included the license files during installation, the licenses must be deployed via the UMS.

If Your IGEL OS Dual Boot Devices Are Connected to a Separate UMS, Designated for Business Recovery & Disaster Recovery

This is the recommended option. In this case, you can deploy the licenses you have received with your Business Continuity purchase to all devices of your UMS.

If Your IGEL OS Dual Boot Devices Are Connected to a Production UMS

In this case, you must define distribution conditions in your UMS to differentiate between the devices already registered in the UMS and those devices that are to receive the licenses from your Business Continuity purchase.

To define the appropriate distribution conditions:

1. Create a view that collects devices whose device name starts with “BC”. For details on creating a view, see https://kb.igel.com/en/universal-management-suite/current/how-to-create-a-new-view-in-the-igel-ums.

2. Define the distribution conditions for your BC&DR licenses based on the view you have created. For details on defining distribution conditions, see Distributing Licenses to Devices in a Specified View.

Deploying IGEL OS Dual Boot via GUI

This section describes the following procedures:

• Installation

• Update

• Downgrade

• Reinstall

• Uninstall

Installation

1. Save the installer and the IGEL OS package ZIP file on your Windows device.

2. Double-click the installer icon, confirm the User Account Control or the Windows Defender dialog, and accept the license agreement.

3. Confirm the User Account Control dialog.

4. Read the warning carefully, confirm that you understand the risks, and click Next.

5. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

6. Provide the following data (some of the data are optional as they can be provided by the UMS after device registration):

• • Base…: (Required) The ZIP file that contains the Dual Boot variant of IGEL OS, e.g., IGEL_OS_12.9.0+3_dualboot.zip

  • Certificates…: (Optional) One or more certificate files (multiple files can be selected in the file browser). Possible formats: *.crt, *.cer, *.pem

  • Licenses…: (Optional) The license file that contains the license for this device, as a plain file or in an archive. Possible formats: *.lic, *.lic.gz

  • Settings…: (Optional) The settings file for your device, as a plain file or in an archive. Possible formats: *.ini, *.ini.gz, *.ini.bz

  • Partition size: The size of the partition that will be created for IGEL OS. Minimum: 16 GB; maximum: 64 GB; default: 16 GB

  • Show IGEL Boot menu: If enabled, the IGEL Boot menu is shown at the next system start. (Default: enabled) During the early start phase, it is possible to use hotkeys to open the boot menu or boot directly into IGEL OS; see Using a Hotkey (with IGEL Boot Menu Disabled).

  • Enable boot-entry check at each startup: If enabled, the correct installation of the IGEL bootloader will be checked on each startup of MS Windows. If necessary, it will be repaired. (Default: enabled)

The IGEL OS Dual Boot installer verifies the system requirements. This might take a few minutes.

7. Once the system requirements have been verified successfully, click Install.

IGEL OS Dual Boot is installed on your device.

8. Click OK to complete the installation.

The device restarts and boots into IGEL OS.

8. Connect your device to your UMS to integrate it with your environment. Typically, this should be a designated Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery UMS, not the regular production UMS. For in-depth introductory information, see How to Start with IGEL.

When Microsoft Windows 11 is started for the first time after installing IGEL OS Dual Boot, a success message appears.

Update

1. Save the installer and the IGEL OS package ZIP file on your Windows device.

2. Double-click the installer icon, confirm the User Account Control or the Windows Defender dialog, and accept the license agreement.

3. Confirm the User Account Control dialog.

4. Confirm that you understand the risks, and click Next.

5. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

6. Select Upgrade and click Upgrade.

The IGEL OS Dual Boot installation is updated.

7. Click Finish.

Downgrade

To downgrade IGEL OS Dual Boot to a lower version:

1. Double-click the installer icon, confirm the User Account Control or the Windows Defender dialog, and accept the license agreement.

2. Confirm the User Account Control dialog.

3. Confirm that you understand the risks, and click Next.

4. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

5. Select Downgrade and click Downgrade.

The IGEL OS Dual Boot installation is downgraded.

6. Click Finish.

Reinstall

When you reinstall IGEL OS Dual Boot, it will be uninstalled and installed anew. The log files will be deleted.

To reinstall IGEL OS Dual Boot:

1. Double-click the installer icon, confirm the User Account Control or the Windows Defender dialog, and accept the license agreement.

2. Confirm the User Account Control dialog.

3. Confirm that you understand the risks, and click Next.

4. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

5. Select Reinstall and click Reinstall.

The existing IGEL OS Dual Boot installation is removed.

6. Click Next to start a fresh installation.

7. Continue as described in Installation, step 6.

Uninstall

When IGEL OS Dual Boot is uninstalled, the device reverts to booting into Windows only, as before. The IGEL OS partition will be deleted, and the freed storage space will be returned to the Windows partition. The log files will be deleted.

You can use the installer or the standard Windows tools, see Uninstall or remove apps and programs in Windows.

To uninstall IGEL OS Dual Boot using the installer:

1. Double-click the installer icon, confirm the User Account Control or the Windows Defender dialog, and accept the license agreement.

2. Confirm the User Account Control dialog.

3. Confirm that you understand the risks, and click Next.

4. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

5. Select Uninstall and click Uninstall.

IGEL OS Dual Boot installation is removed completely from the system.

6. Click Finish.

Deploying IGEL OS Dual Boot via Command-Line Interface (CLI)

You can install, update, and uninstall IGEL OS Dual Boot via CLI. This allows you to use Microsoft SCCM/Intune for mass deployment. The exact syntax depends on whether you are using the EXE file or the MSI installer; see the examples below.

Syntax

The basic commands for installing IGEL OS Dual Boot via CLI are:

• /i for installing or updating

• /x for uninstalling

Files to Be Integrated

The files to be installed are specified with the following parameters:

• /base (mandatory): Path to the ZIP file that contains the IGEL OS Base System. Prefills the corresponding field in the installer GUI

• /certs (optional): One or more certificate file paths (semicolon-separated). Populates the Certificates list in the GUI

• /licenses (optional): One or more license file paths (semicolon-separated). Populates the Licenses list in the GUI

• /settings (optional): One or more settings file paths (semicolon-separated). Populates the Settings list in the GUI

Partition Size

The partition size is specified with the following parameter:

• /partitionsize (optional): The size of the partition in GB that will be created for IGEL OS. Minimum: 16; maximum: 64; default: 16. Example: /partitionsize=64

Switching off the Boot Menu

To switch off the boot menu, use the following parameter:

• /nobootmenu (optional): Prevents the boot menu from being shown at system startup.

Disabling the Bootloader Check

• /nobootentrycheck (optional): Disables checking the correct installation of the IGEL bootloader on each startup of MS Windows; the check includes a repair if necessary.

Silent or Unattended Installation, Update or Uninstallation

To perform a silent installation, which is the preferred option for scripting, add /accepteula (mandatory) and /silent or /verysilent. For details, see the explanations below.

• /accepteula (mandatory): By adding this parameter, you confirm you accept the EULA.

• /silent (optional): A dialog is shown, but the installation is performed without user intervention

• /verysilent (optional): The installation is performed without user intervention; no dialog is shown

• /norestart (optional): No restart is performed after installation

Log File Path

• /log (optional): File path under which the IGEL Dual Boot installer will store its logfile. This logfile can be used for analyzing problems during installation. Examples:

  • /log=”setup.log”: The logfile setup.log is stored in the location of the installer file

  • /log="C:\ProgramData\IGEL\logs\setup.log": The logfile setup.log is stored in the same path as the other logfiles of IGEL Dual Boot

Examples for Microsoft Intune/SCCM

The syntax of the following examples can be used with Microsoft Intune/SCCM. Regarding the file paths, please note the following

• The installer file can be stored on a network drive; all other files must be stored locally on the device.

• The file paths in the examples below are for illustrative purposes only; any valid file path can be used. In the example, the local paths have C:\ as the drive, while the network drive has E:\.

Silent Install

$p = Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList '/i "E:\IGEL\setup-igel-dual-boot_2.0.1.msi" WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/norestart /base=C:\IGEL\IGEL_OS_12.9.0+3_dualboot.zip" /log "C:\igel.txt" REBOOT=ReallySuppress /qb' -Wait -PassThru
$p.ExitCode

Silent Install without any Dialog

$p = Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList '/i "E:\IGEL\setup-igel-dual-boot_2.0.1.msi" WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/norestart /base=C:\IGEL\IGEL_OS_12.9.0+3_dualboot.zip" /log "C:\igel.txt" REBOOT=ReallySuppress /qn' -Wait -PassThru
$p.ExitCode 

Silent Update

$p = Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList '/i "E:\IGEL\setup-igel-dual-boot_2.0.1.msi" WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/update" /log "C:\igel.txt" /qb' -Wait -PassThru
$p.ExitCode

Silent Update without any Dialog

$p = Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList '/i "E:\IGEL\setup-igel-dual-boot_2.0.1.msi" WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/update" /log "C:\igel.txt" /qn' -Wait -PassThru
$p.ExitCode

Silent Uninstall

$p = Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList '/x "E:\IGEL\setup-igel-dual-boot_2.0.0.msi" /log "C:\igel_u.txt" /qb' -Wait -PassThru;
$p.ExitCode

Silent Uninstall without any Dialog

$p = Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList '/x "E:\IGEL\setup-igel-dual-boot_2.0.1.msi" /log "C:\igel_u.txt" /qn' -Wait -PassThru
$p.ExitCode

Example Using the EXE File

The following example installs IGEL OS Dual Boot and includes

setup-igel-dual-boot_2.0.1.exe /base="C:\temp\base.zip" /certs="C:\certs\a.crt;C:\certs\b.crt" /licenses="C:\licenses\l1.lic;C:\licenses\l2.lic.gz" /settings="C:\config\s1.ini;C:\config\s2.ini.gz" /verysilent /accepteula

Logging

IGEL Dual Boot creates logs during its operation. The log files are stored in C:\ProgramData\IGEL\logs; please note that C:\ProgramData\is a hidden folder.

Switching IGEL OS at Boot Time

Using the IGEL Boot Menu

When IGEL OS Dual Boot is installed, you can start IGEL OS at boot time using the IGEL Boot Menu. It is available for a short time during device startup. This also applies in the case of an emergency, i.e., if the MS Windows installation has been compromised.

→ Choose the desired operating system from the menu:

• Windows (default): Please note that the system to be booted next can be defined by the tray app under MS Windows. Also note that the selection made here overrides the setting of the tray app.

• OS 12 IGEL OS Dual Boot: The IGEL OS system that has been installed with the Dual Boot facility is started

• IGEL OS USB Boot: If an IGEL OS USB Boot stick is inserted into the device, the system located on it is started

• Advanced Options:

  • OS 12 Verbose boot: See Verbose Boot

  • OS 12 VESA only boot: See VESA Only Boot

  • OS 12 Emergency boot (setup only): See Emergency Boot (Setup Only)

  • OS 12 Failsafe boot with CRC check: See Failsafe Boot with CRC Check

  • OS 12 Reset to factory defaults: See Reset to Factory Defaults

  • OS 12 Custom boot command: See Custom Boot Command

Using a Hotkey (with IGEL Boot Menu Disabled)

This option is mainly intended for testing before Disaster Recovery is deployed in a production environment. If the IGEL Boot Menu is disabled, you can use a hotkey to boot directly into IGEL OS or to open the IGEL Boot Menu.

→ To boot directly into IGEL OS, press one of the following hotkeys during bootup:

• [+] on the keypad

• [R]

• [F5]

→ To open the IGEL Boot Menu, press [F4] during bootup.

Toggling the IGEL Boot Menu via the System Tray App

1. Open the tray app menu and right-click the IGEL OS icon .

2. Enable or disable Show IGEL Boot Menu, according to your requirements.

Recovery Mode

When the device has received the command from the UMS to switch to Emergency Mode, the following message is shown on the device:

When the countdown has ended, the device boots into IGEL OS. If the device has been configured to show the boot menu, it will be displayed as follows:

When the device has booted to IGEL OS because the UMS has sent the command to change into recovery mode, the following message is shown on the device:

Troubleshooting

If Registering with the UMS Has Failed

If the device could not register with the UMS during installation, the following message is shown:

→ Open the IGEL OS Dual Boot tray app with a right-click and activate Enable Maintenance Mode.

The device will boot into IGEL OS and make 3 more attempts to register with the UMS.

Saving Protocols for Support Purposes

1. Open the IGEL OS Dual Boot tray app with a right-click and select Status Menu.

The status dialog opens.

2. Click Save Logs and save the log files to an appropriate location.