This document describes Ghost's -CLONE switch and the command-line parameters that are used as arguments for that switch.

Ghost uses the -CLONE switch to specify the cloning operation that you want Ghost to perform.

Note that many additional switches can also be used while cloning. For a description of other Ghost switches, see the Ghost Implementation Guide that accompanied your copy of Ghost, or read the document Switches: Alphabetical list of switches.


-CLONE

The full syntax for this switch is:

-clone, MODE={copy|load|dump|pcopy|pload|pdump},
 SRC={drive|file|drive:partition|@MCsessionname|@MTx},
 DST={drive|file|drive:partition|@MCsessionname|@MTx},
 SZE{F|L|n={nnnnM|nnP|F|V} }

Note: In Symantec Ghost 8.0 and higher the following changes were made: Restore = Load, Create = Dump, Prestore = Pload, and Pcreate = Pdump.

Each -CLONE command can be used for only one imaging process at a time. For instance, you can use a single -CLONE command to restore one partition from an image file that has five partitions, but you cannot use a single -CLONE command to restore two partitions from an image file that has five partitions. To perform multiple imaging operations, use successive -CLONE commands on the same command line with the -BATCH command, or create a batch file that has multiple Ghost.exe or Ghostpe.exe command lines. For an example of the -BATCH command, see Example 14 in this document.

Note: For information on the clone switches for Norton Ghost 2003, refer to page 166 of the Norton Ghost 2003 User's Guide located on the CD or on your hard drive. The Norton Ghost 2003 User's Guide is automatically installed on your hard drive during the installation. The default location and file name for the Norton Ghost 2003 User's Guide is \Program Files\Symantec\Norton Ghost 2003\Ghost_Guide.pdf. Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed to view the User's Guide. A copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader is included on the Norton Ghost 2003 CD or it can be downloaded from www.adobe.com.

MODE=COPY
Used to copy the contents of one hard drive to another.

MODE=LOAD or MODE=RESTORE
Used to copy the contents of an image file to a disk. This will copy all the partitions in the image file.

Note: The load switch is replaced by the restore switch in Symantec Ghost 8.x and higher. 

MODE=DUMP or MODE=CREATE
Used to create an image file of a disk. This copies all of the partitions to an image file.

Note: The dump switch is replaced by the create switch in Symantec Ghost 8.x and higher. 

MODE=PCOPY
Used to duplicate a partition to another partition.

MODE=PLOAD or MODE=PRESTORE
Used to copy a partition from an image file to a local drive.

Note: The pload switch is replaced by the prestore switch in Symantec Ghost 8.x and higher. The pload switch is still fully functional and is interchangeable with prestore.

MODE=PDUMP or MODE=PCREATE
Used to create an image file of a partition.

Note: The pdump switch is replaced by the pcreate switch in Symantec Ghost 8.x and higher. The pdump switch is still fully functional and is interchangeable with pcreate.

SZE switch
Used to set the size of the destination partitions for a disk load or disk copy operation. This switch is only effective with the LOAD and COPY modes. The SZE switch can be used more than once in the same command.

Examples of the CLONE switch

Example 1
Copy drive one to drive two on a computer without the final prompt:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=copy,src=1,dst=2 -sure

Example 2
Connect through NetBIOS to another computer that is running Ghost in slave mode, and dump a disk image of the second local drive to the remote file c:\drive2.gho:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=dump,src=2,dst=C:\drive2.gho -nbm

Note that Ghost at the slave computer can be started with ghost -nbs.

Example 3
Copy the second partition on drive one to the first partition on drive two on the same computer without the final prompt:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=pcopy,src=1:2,dst=2:1 -sure

Example 4
Load the disk image file savedsk.gho on the server drive mapped locally to drive E onto drive 1 of the local computer. Do not prompt if OK to proceed:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=load,src=E:\savedsk.gho,dst=1 -sure

This example is typical what would be in a batch file that automates workstation installations from a network server.

Example 5
Dump the second partition of drive one to an image file on the G: drive:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=pdump,src=1:2,dst=g:\part2.gho

Example 6
Load partition 2 from a two-partition image file on a mapped drive G: onto the second partition of the local disk:

ghost -clone,mode=pload,src=g:\part2.gho:2,dst=1:2

Example 7
Load drive 2 from an image file, and resize the destination partitions into a 60:40 allocation:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=load,src=g:\2prtdisk.gho,dst=2,sze1=60P,sze2=40P

Example 8
Clone a three partition disk and keep the first partition on the destination drive the same size as on the source disk, but divide up the remaining space between the other partitions leaving no unallocated space:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=copy,src=1,dst=2,sze1=F,sze2=V,sze3=V

Example 9
Load drive one from an image file and resize the first partition to 450 MB, the second to 1599 MB and the third to 2047 MB:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=load,src=g:\3prtdisk.gho,dst=1,sze1=450M,sze2=1599M,sze3=2047M

Example 10
Load a disk from an image file and resize the last partition to its capacity. The first partition utilizes the remaining space:

ghost.exe -clone,mode=load,src=g:\2prtdisk.gho,dst=1,szeL

Example 11
Load drive one from an image file being sent from the multicast server with the session name SESSIONNAME without final prompt:

ghost.exe -clone,src=@mcSESSIONNAME,dst=1 -sure

Example 12
Create an image file of drive one to an image file being created by the multicast server with the session name SESSIONNAME without final prompt:

ghost.exe -clone,src=1,dst=@mcSESSIONNAME -sure

Example 13
Create an image file of drive two's partitions to an image file being created by the multicast server with the session name SESSIONNAME:

ghost.exe -clone,src=2,dst=@mcSESSIONNAME

Example 14
Write an image that has three partitions to drive one. Use an image file that is sent by the Multicast Server or GhostCast Server using the session name SESSIONNAME. Also resize the first partition to 450 MB, the second partition to 1599 MB and the third partition to 2047 MB.

Because this task requires one imaging operation for each partition that you will resize, the task requires that you use a batch file. Using a batch file with error checking prevents the need for user intervention if a problem occurs.

In the following batch file, the first line executes the -CLONE command three times. The first instance uses the word -CLONE, and the other two instances (which are ,sze1=450M and ,sze3=2047M), use the comma to instruct Ghost to use default commands.

The following batch file is incomplete and is intended only as an example of typical commands that a batch file for Ghost might use.

ghost.exe -clone,src=@mcSESSIONNAME,dst=1,sze1=450M,sze2=1599M,sze3=2047M -batch
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO PROBLEM
ECHO Ghost exited with value of 0 which indicates success.
REM **Add any extra commands that are required here if Ghost succeeds**
GOTO FINISH

:PROBLEM
ECHO GHOST returned with an Error value of 1 or greater.
ECHO Ghosting was not completed successfully
REM **Add any extra commands that are required here if Ghost fails**

:FINISH
ECHO Batch File Finished.

Example 15
In this example, under Symantec Ghost 8.0, there is one hard drive with two partitions. One or both partitions could be an NTFS partition. The following command writes the image of the first partition to the second partition under the image.gho file name.

ghost.exe -clone,mode=pdump,src=1:1,dst=1:2\image.gho