EBAN Quick Start

Contents

1.0 Product Overview

1.1 Welcome

Thank you for choosing Enterprise Boot And Nuke (“EBAN”), the most powerful, flexible, and open data destruction solution for IT professionals.

EBAN is software that overwrites hard disk storage media to prevent the recovery of data. During the wipe process, EBAN also performs basic hardware diagnostics and provides hardware manifest reporting for inventory systems.

1.2 Getting Help

Sending email to support@techwayservices.com is the fastest way to get assistance from an EBAN technician or developer.

1.3 Definitions

EBAN Client
The software that does disk wiping.
Target Computer
The computer that runs the EBAN Client software and gets wiped.
EBAN Server
The software that launches the EBAN Client and keeps the database of results.
Host Computer
The computer that runs the EBAN Server software.
Wipe Segment
The ports on an ethernet switch that share broadcast traffic with the EBAN Server.

2.0 System Requirements

2.1 Hardware Requirements

AMD64 and EMT64 computers, in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes, are compatible.

2.2 Software Requirements

Using the “Run As” utility or doing other kinds of privilege escalation is inadequate for EBAN installation. You must be a member of the local Administrators group or a member of the Domain Admins group to install the software.

3.0 Software Installation

3.1 VMware Player Installation

The EBAN Server runs in a VMware Player window.

  1. Log On to the Host Computer as a local Administrator.
  2. Disable any anti-virus or firewall software that prevent changes to the network configuration. (This must be done to assure proper operation of the EBAN Server in the VMware Player.)
  3. If the Host Computer is a domain member, then disable all group policy objects that prevent changes to the network configuration.
  4. Double-click the VMware Player Installer previously downloaded from the Techway Services download site.
  5. Wait for the VMware Player Installer to load.
  6. Click the Next button.
  7. Click the Next button.
  8. Click the Next button.
  9. Click the Install button.
  10. Wait for the VMware Player to install.
  11. Click the Finish button.
  12. Read the VMware EULA, click the "Yes" option, and click the OK button.
  13. The VMware Player is now installed.

3.2 EBAN Server Installation

  1. Log On to the Host Computer as a local Administrator.
  2. Disable any anti-virus or firewall software that prevent changes to the network configuration.
  3. Disable all group policy objects, if you are in a domain, that prevent changes to the network configuration.
  4. Double-click the EBAN Server Installer previously downloaded from the Techway Services site.
  5. Click the Install button.
  6. The EBAN Server is now installed.

4.0 Starting EBAN

4.1 Starting the EBAN Server

Starting the EBAN Server on the Host Computer does not wipe the Host Computer. The Host Computer is never wiped.

  1. Disconnect the Host Computer from your LAN. (Really do this, so that you don't surprise yourself or your IT department.)
  2. Reconnect the Host Computer to an unmanaged standalone ethernet switch or ethernet hub. (For testing and trials, we prefer that you use a simple network topology. We can do network integration later.) Use of managed switches such as Cisco are not supported.
  3. Log On to the Host Computer as a local Administrator.
  4. You should get this warning from Microsoft Windows if the Network Connection is configured to Obtain An IP Address Automatically. You may ignore this warning until the EBAN Server starts.
  5. Check your cables and switch if you get this error from Microsoft Windows. Reseat, switch ports, or replace cables until this error is removed.
  6. Click Start -> Programs -> EBAN -> EBAN Server or use one of the shortcuts setup during installation.
  7. Wait for the VMware Player to open and the EBAN Server to start. A message at the bottom of the VMware Player window will display Powering on... followed by Starting Appliance Services while the EBAN Server is loading.
  8. The EBAN Server is loaded and running when the message Ready. You can press Open Browser button to start using this appliance. is displayed.
  9. Set the VM Player Preferences so the EBAN Server will close when you Exit the VM Player. Click on the VMware Player drop down to display the menu shown below and select Preferences.
  10. The Preference settings should be set to match those shown below. Click OK to save the Preference settings. Leave the EBAN Server running.

4.2 Starting the EBAN Client - Wiping the Target Computer

Starting the EBAN Client on a Target Computer is destructive.

The EBAN Server must be running and on the same ethernet broadcast segment for the EBAN Client to load and run properly.

  1. Power-on the Target Computer and wait for the POST screen. In this example, the hint at the bottom says press "ESC for boot menu", so we push the ESC button now. Each computer will have a different POST screen.
  2. Choose the "Network boot" item from the Boot Menu. This screen may look different on your computer. "PXE" is the same thing as "Network boot".
  3. Wait for the Target Computer to get a network configuration from the EBAN Server.
  4. Wait for the EBAN Client to load from the EBAN Server. (This is called the "splash screen".)
  5. Wait for the EBAN Client to start. (This is called the the "black screen".)
  6. Wait more for the EBAN Client to complete device registration. (This is called the "blue screen".)
  7. The target computer is now being wiped. The displayed information includes the Wipe Method, Verification setting, Wipe Processing statistics, and Target Disk data.
  8. Once the target computer completes the wipe process, a screen indicating PASS or FAIL will display. The results are then reported back to the EBAN Server and a Computer ID number is assigned.
  9. Once a Computer ID number has been assigned and displayed, you may power-off the Target Computer.

5.0 EBAN Server Console

5.1 Reading Reports

  1. Click Open Browser at the bottom of the VMware Player - Server screen. The Server Console will open in a separate web browser window.
  2. In the web browser, click Reporting -> Browse -> Wipe Results.
  3. The Target Computer that you wiped in Section 4.2 should appear in this list. Refer to the EBAN User - Technical Guide attached to the Download Instructions email for a full listing and details of the EBAN Reporting capabilities.

5.2 Resetting Client Options

  1. In the web browser, click Client Options.
  2. Refer to the EBAN User - Technical Guide attached to the Download Instructions email for a full listing of the Client Option settings. Note: these options are only valid for Target Computers that use PXE Boot to load the EBAN Client for data wiping.

6.0 Notes for Advanced Users

6.1 Running the EBAN Server on Linux

The VMware Player is available for all current Linux distributions, so you can run the EBAN Server on your Linux computer. Visit the EBAN download site to obtain the VMware Player package for your Linux platform.

The EBAN Server distribution package is currently a RAR SFX file, which can be unpacked on a Linux computer with `unrar`, or the GNOME file roller, or the KDE kio-rar module.

6.2 EBAN Server Installation Path

The default document path for VMware Player is "%HOMEPATH%\My Documents\My Virtual Machines", but we install the EBAN Server to "%SystemDrive%\Virtual Machines" instead, which is the default for VMware Server. We do this because the EBAN Server is large enough to break roaming profiles, and because most of our customers eventually upgrade to the VMware Server product to get better networking capabilities.

6.3 EBAN Server Backups

Any backup solution that uses the NTFS Shadow Volume Service, like the NTBACKUP.EXE program that is bundled with Microsoft Windows, can be used to make backups of the EBAN Server. The same thing on a unix system is called a "snapshot".

Any backup solution that skews the set of VMDK files in the EBAN Server folder will make a bad backup. If you must use this kind of backup solution, then you must stop the EBAN Server before running the backup to ensure a good backup. Contact support@techwayservices.com if you are unsure of how your backup solution is implemented.

EBAN does not have a product activation mechanism, so you can just restore (or move) the EBAN Server folder and continue using the software.

6.4 Privacy Disclosure

The VMware Player program will try to contact the Internet to notify you of VMware Player updates. This check can be disabled by running the VMware Player and clicking VMware Player -> Preferences... -> Web Update.

The VMware Player and the EBAN Server can both run normally without Internet access, so you can run EBAN in an "air gap" environment. EBAN does not have a product activation mechanism.

The EBAN log file, which is also called the "LSHW ticket", contains uniquely identifying information about the hardware and software of Target Computers that were wiped by the EBAN Client.