KACE Systems Deployment Appliance 9.1 Common Documents

View the appliance version

You can view the version of your appliance from any page, and you can check for and apply appliance software updates from the Appliance Maintenance page.

Choose one of the following methods to view the appliance version:

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View the appliance version from any page.

Click the About Appliance link in the lower-right corner of the Need Help panel to view version and copyright information.

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View the current software version, and check for and apply appliance software updates.

On the left navigation pane, click Settings to expand the section, then click Appliance Maintenance to display the Appliance Maintenance page.

NOTE: When your license expires, a message appears at the top of the page, instructing you to update your license. The License Maintenance Status field on this page indicates the state of your license. To update your license, obtain a new key from your KACE sales representative, and update it on the Registration and Licensing page. If one or more Remote Site Appliances are associated with this appliance, the new license key is automatically updated on those RSAs after a synchronization.

Verify the current software version number under SDA Appliance Updates > Current Version .

Check for and apply automatic updates

You can check whether a newer version of the appliance software is available.

NOTE: Always back up appliance components before installing updates or upgrading the appliance software. For instructions, see Use Off-Board Package Transfer.

Reboot the appliance before upgrading. If your appliance is on an earlier version, upgrade to the minimum version and enable SSH before proceeding with the installation. If using an RSA, upgrade the RSA OVF image to the current version. The appliance requires internet access to apply software updates.

Some updates take a few hours to apply and might require the appliance to reboot.

On the left navigation pane, click Settings to expand the section, then click Appliance Maintenance to display the Appliance Maintenance page.

NOTE: You can only update the appliance if your license is up to date. When your license expires, a message appears at the top of the page, instructing you to update your license. The License Maintenance Status field on this page indicates the state of your license. To update your license, obtain a new key from your KACE sales representative, and update it on the Registration and Licensing page. If one or more Remote Site Appliances (RSAs) are associated with this appliance, the new license key is automatically updated on those RSAs after a synchronization.

The KACE SDA Updates section displays the status of the appliance software. If the software is not up-to-date, under Automatic Updates, click Check for Server Updates.

If your appliance license has expired, this is indicated in the Update Status field, instructing you to obtain and register a new license. To do that, request a new key from your KACE sales representative, and enter it on the Registration and Licensing page.

When an update is available, back up your appliance components to a different location before applying the update. See Use Off-Board Package Transfer.

Each time you update the appliance software, update the RSA OVF image.

Update the appliance manually

You can apply patches and updates to the appliance software and database manually when an appliance does not have internet access.

Download the latest kbin file to a device that you can access from the appliance. Reboot the appliance before upgrading. If your appliance is on an earlier version, upgrade to the minimum version and enable SSH before proceeding with the installation. Each time you update the appliance software, update the RSA (Remote Site Appliance) OVF image.

Some updates take a few hours to complete and might require the appliance to reboot.

On the left navigation pane, click Settings to expand the section, then click Appliance Maintenance to display the Appliance Maintenance page.

In the Appliance Updates section, under Manual Updates, select the update file.

If your appliance license has expired:

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You can still apply security patches and hotfixes, as applicable.

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To renew your license, request a new key from your KACE sales representative, and enter it on the Registration and Licensing page.

Click Update Server.

If your appliance license has expired, and you attempt to update the server, the Maintenance Has Expired message box appears, as described in the above step. Otherwise, the KACE Appliance Upgrade Console page appears, displaying the upgrade log.

Observe the contents of the log as the appliance is being upgraded.

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The upgrade can take some time, depending on the number of system images on the appliance.

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During the upgrade, the database is backed up. If there is not enough space on disk to back up the database, the upgrade will stop.

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The appliance reboots several times during the upgrade process. This is indicated in the message at the top of the page, followed by a page refresh.

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The upgrade process removes PXE Linux causing the K2000.0 and kbox2000.0 files to be removed. After the upgrade, you must update your DHCP configuration to use the new files, undionly.kpxe and ipxe.efi.

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If any issues are encountered during the upgrade, they are indicated in an error message, instructing you to contact Quest Support.

After the upgrade is complete, you are automatically redirected to the Software Transaction Agreement (STA) page, also known as EULA (End User License Agreement).

Accept the EULA, then log in using the your admin ID and password.

The update is applied.

Glossary

action icons

Remote connection programs built in to the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (appliance).

Administrator Console

The web-based interface to control the appliance.

answer file

A file that defines the settings to install the operating system. The answer file is used for unattended scripted installations.

Boot Manager

The boot menu that displays on target devices immediately after a target device boots in to the appliance and enables the selection of the KACE Boot Environment (KBE).

Boot Manager timeout period

The length of time that the Boot Manager remains active on a target device.

BSCP

Mac computer's built-in BSCP (Base Station Control Protocol) and bootstrap file that displays the option to boot from the local hard drive or from the server.

BSDP (Boot Server Discovery Protocol)

A standards-conforming extension of DHCP developed by Apple that allows Mac computers to boot from bootable images on a network instead of a local storage media.

clean installation

An installation of an operating system on a hard drive that has been erased.

DHCP scope

The range of possible IP addresses that the DHCP server can lease to devices on the same subnet as the appliance.

disk imaging

Provides an exact sector-by-sector or file-by-file copy of all the contents of a device's hard disk to an image file.

DISKPART

A Windows utility built into the appliance that uses scripts to manage objects such as disks or partitions.

Driver Feed

A built-in tool that adds the latest drivers to the drivers_postinstall share directory that you can download and install to the appliance.

driver re-cache

Updates drivers manually added to the drivers share directory for boot environments and scripted installations.

driver share directory

A local appliance directory that manages the network and mass storage drivers required to build the KACE Boot Environment from the drivers share folder and the drivers that the operating system requires from the drivers_postinstall folder.

driver slipstreaming

Automates OS installations with the correct drivers. It also integrates patches or service packs in to the installation, and enables direct software updates.

Hardware Abstraction Layer

Enables customizing the target device's HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) after a K-Image deployment.

Hardware-independent deployment

Enables using a single scripted installation to provision multiple hardware configurations. The appliance automatically adds the appropriate drivers with the scripted installation.

ImageX

Provides the ability to capture, modify, and apply file based disk images for rapid deployment of Windows image (.wim) files for copying to a network. ImageX also works with other technologies that use .wim images, such as Windows Setup, Windows Deployment Services (Windows DS), and the System Management Server (SMS) Operating System Feature Deployment Pack.

initial configuration console

The command-line interface that displays after connecting a monitor to the appliance to configure the network settings.

ITNinja

Sponsored by Quest KACE, ITNinja.com (formerly AppDeploy.com) is a product agnostic IT-focused community website where IT professionals share information and ask questions about system-deployment related topics.

Gold Master

A reference machine used as the basis for image capture. The appliance automates the Gold Master creation process through scripted installations.

KACE Boot Environment (KBE)

A boot environment that is a scaled-down version of an operating system for performing various Windows-based tasks on target devices. KBE allows for disk imaging, scripted installations, recovery, file browsing, and inventory collection.

KBE Main Menu

The user interface for the KACE Boot Environment that enables image captures, scripted installation and system image deployments, and device recovery.

K-Image

A file-based format that enables easy editing of computer and server images, eliminating the need to rebuild images.

Knowledge Base

Quest KACE Knowledge Base articles with updated solutions to real-world KACE Systems Deployment Appliance problems that administrators encounter. Visit https://support.quest.com/resources/kb.

linking

The process of connecting multiple K-Series appliances and having the ability to access linked appliances from one Administrator Console if the administrator user account for each appliance has the same password.