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KACE Systems Deployment Appliance 9.0 Common Documents - Administrator Guide

Table of Contents

About the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance Getting started

Tasks for getting started using the appliance About the appliance components Log in to the Administrator Console Filter lists and search for information Access product documentation Configure the language settings Change a default theme for the appliance

Using the Dashboard

Customize the Dashboard

Configuring the appliance

Configure the initial network settings Modify the initial network settings Changing the default passwords

Use the Command Line Console to reset the Administrator's password Change the Samba share password Set the VNC® password Enable Boot Manager authentication

Add custom background image to iPXE console Configuring the appliance date and time settings

Configure the date and time

Manage files on the appliance Configure email notifications Configure User Interface notifications Enabling link aggregation

Create an aggregate link

Configuring the data sharing preferences

Share basic appliance data usage Share detailed usage data

Participate in KACE Beta program Linking Quest KACE appliances

Enable appliance linking Generate KACE Linking Hash Add Names and Keys to appliances Disable linked appliances

Migrating appliances

Migrate appliance data

Setting up user accounts and user authentication

Add or edit local administrator accounts Configure an LDAP server for user authentication Test the LDAP server Delete user accounts Reviewing user sessions

Install and configure the location database View a list of user sessions

Configuring security settings

Enable SNMP monitoring Enable SSL using an existing certificate Generate private key for new SSL certificate Disable SSL Enable database access Enable SSH Root Login (KACE Support) Prevent brute-force login attacks

Preparing for deployment

Set up the deployment environment Enable the on-board DHCP server Configure the offboard DHCP server Download and install the KACE Media Manager

About the Media Manager

Download and install Windows ADK Upload files using the KACE Media Manager Upload files from shared directory View source media details Fingerprint source media OS View or update source media metadata Choosing the type of deployment Supported images types

Managing device inventory

Configure and run a network scan Add network inventory to the appliance Scan active and non-active devices on the network Add devices manually Join devices to a domain Issue a Wake-on-LAN request Deploy to devices in the KACE Systems Management Appliance inventory View device details from a network scan Apply a KUID to the KACE Agent Delete devices from Device Inventory Delete devices from Network Inventory Unregister devices About the device action icons Run device actions Access remote devices using a VNC session

Create and apply labels Remove components from a label Delete a label from the appliance View the components assigned to a label

Creating a Windows or Linux Boot Environment

Create a Windows boot environment Create a Linux boot Environment Update Windows drivers Set new KBE as default for the appliance Hide boot environments from the PXE boot menu Best practices: Create a KACE Boot Environment (KBE) for Windows

Managing drivers

Add drivers to system images Adding drivers to scripted installation deployments

Enable Driver Feed to automate driver updates Install driver packages to the appliance Disable Driver Feed Create folders to add device-specific drivers Generate appliance package to import large driver files Import driver packages to the appliance Understanding KACE Boot Environment drivers Add network and storage drivers manually Re-cache the network and storage driver directory Add drivers as a post-installation task View list of missing drivers

Managing network drivers

Download network and storage drivers Import driver packages Display device compatibility View driver compatibility details Export drivers Re-cache drivers

Managing operating system drivers

Enable Driver Feed for scripted installations Enable Driver Feed for system images Disable Driver Feed Download operating system driver packages Add drivers to OS as a post-installation task

Capturing images

Preparing for capture Capture system images Create a single partition Format C drive as NTFS Create a UEFI partition Apply a UEFI partition Capture System-provided WIM images Edit a system image Import WIM images Managing answer files for Sysprepped images

Create answer files for Sysprepped images View and edit answer file configurations

Best practices for creating Windows system images

Capturing user states

Upload USMT software from the appliance Upload USMT software from Media Manager Create USMT Scan Template Scan user states Scan user states offline Deploy user states to target devices automatically Deploy user states to target devices manually

Creating scripted installations

Create a scripted installation Edit a scripted installation Create a configuration file Registration Data settings Administrator Account settings General settings Network settings Windows Components setting Modify a scripted installation to change the source media Specify deployment options Modify scripted installation setup configuration file Install Vista MBR Install XP 2003 MBR

Creating a task sequence

Add Application Add BAT Script Add Custom HAL Replacement Add DiskPart Script

Common DiskPart command-line options

Adding Managed Installation tasks

Link appliances View and import Managed Installations Edit Managed Installation task

Add Naming Rule Add PowerShell Script Add Provisioning Package Add Service Pack Add Shell Script Add KACE Agent Installer Add Windows Script

Working with task groups

About uploading files About runtime environments Set task error handling option Assign tasks to system deployment Assign tasks to scripted installation deployment Assign tasks to custom deployment Edit deployment tasks

Automating deployments

Create a boot action Run deployment on next network boot Modify a boot action Set default boot action Configure new WIM images to stream directly from or to the server Specify deployment options Schedule a deployment Delete a boot action Create a multicast WIM image deployment Edit the default multicast settings View automated deployments in progress View completed automated deployments Edit failed tasks View the automated deployment image details

Performing manual deployments

Download the boot environment as bootable ISO Network boot a target device Deploy the image manually View the manual deployments in progress View the completed manual deployments

Managing custom deployments

Create or modify a custom deployment

Managing offline deployments

Create an offline deployment

Imaging Mac devices

Download the Media Manager for Mac OS X Create a NetBoot environment image Enable the NetBoot server Customize the image before capture Capture a Mac OS X image Customize image before deployment Create a single HFS plus partition Apply the Mac OS X ByHost preferences Collect the Mac OS X computer name Apply the Mac OS X computer name Change the Mac OS X computer name Join device to an Active Directory Domain Perform a unicast Mac OS X image deployment Environment variables for any script Performing multicast Mac OS X image deployments Create a multicast DMG image deployment View the Mac OS X multicast deployment progress View the Mac OS X multicast deployment log files

About the Remote Site Appliance

Remote Site Appliance setup requirements Install the RSA on a host device Configure the RSA network settings Link the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance to an RSA Set default KBE for the RSA Review RSA settings Next steps

Importing and exporting appliance components

Schedule the export of components Use Off-Board Package Transfer Upload packages for import Import appliance components Package components to export Package file names

Managing disk space

Verify available disk space Delete images not associated with devices Delete images associated with devices Delete unassigned scripted installations Delete unassigned boot environments Delete source media Delete unassigned pre-installation tasks Delete unassigned post-installation tasks Enabling offboard storage Add a virtual disk for offboard storage Revert offboard data to onboard storage Configure an off-board storage device Best practices for using external storage

Troubleshooting appliance issues

Test device connections on the network Enable a tether to Quest KACE Technical Support Open a support ticket Troubleshooting the Boot Manager

Test whether a target device can network boot Set the Boot Manager timeout Select the local hard disk boot method

Recovering devices

Recover corrupted devices Downloading the appliance log files

Download all appliance log files View the appliance log files Appliance log types and descriptions

Shutting down and rebooting the appliance

Power off the appliance Reboot the appliance

Best practices for backing up appliance data

Updating appliance software

View the appliance version Check for and apply automatic updates Update the appliance manually

A B C D H I G K L M O P R S T U V W

Technical support resources

Fingerprint source media OS

Fingerprint source media OS

Fingerprinting an OS allows you to examine its operating system platform and category.

1.

On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Source Media to display the Source Media page.

2.

Select a source media whose OS you want to fingerprint.

3.

Select Source Media > Fingerprint.

An alert appears at the top of the page, indicating that the selected source media is about to be fingerprinted. After a few moments, the Operating System and Category columns of the selected source media are populated with the related information. If the source media is still not recognized, that is indicated in the Operating System column.

View or update source media metadata

View or update source media metadata

You can view the versions and architecture of the supported operating systems, and to update that metadata periodically, as needed.

1.

On the left navigation pane, click Settings > Control Panel to display the Control Panel, then click General Settings to display the General Settings page.

2.

To view the available versions and architecture for each supported OS, under Source Media Metadata, click View Metadata.

A dialog box appears, showing the list of the supported operating systems. To close it, click Close.

3.

To update the source media metadata with the latest information, click Update Metadata.

For more information about source media metadata, visit https://support.quest.com/kace-systems-deployment-appliance/kb/278470.

Choosing the type of deployment

Choosing the type of deployment

You can deploy the operating system to different devices models, and the appliance will pull the drivers from its resource library for scripted installation deployments. You can copy the state of a device, such as all of the drives, the OS and system settings, programs, and files to perform system image deployments.

Scripted installation deployments

Use a scripted installation when using an ISO for the OS and create an answer file for the deployment.

System image deployments

Capture an image from a device including all of the device drives, the OS, system settings, programs, and files.

Deployment methods

•

Automated Deployments: Uses boot actions to initiate scripted installation and system images deployments. Supports unicast and multicast deployments.

•

Manual Deployments: Use manual deployments when deploying directly from the source media, for USB image deployments when the target device is not connected to the network.

NOTE: Both deployment methods load the devices in to a KACE Boot Environment or a NetBoot environment to initiate the deployment. For Mac devices, see Imaging Mac devices.

Supported images types

Supported images types

You can capture WIM and K-Image from devices with Windows 7 and higher and UEFI image from devices with Window 8 higher. You can also capture DMG images from Mac OS X devices.

Image types

•

The WIM image file-based format stores information as files, rather than as sectors. You can add multiple files to a WIM image.

•

WIM images provide faster OS installations.

•

Multicast WIM image deployments enable you to broadcast one image to multiple devices at the same time to reduce network bandwidth if the routers on your network support multicast. The target devices must have the bandwidth for the image.

•

UEFI WIM image deployments larger than 4GB must be provisioned from a network resource, because images larger than 4GB cannot be deployed using a USB flash device.

•

WIM image deployments are hardware independent.

•

The K-Image file-based format stores files as sectors, enables easy editing, and uses de-duplication to eliminate the need to rebuild images.

•

K-Images enable you to edit a base image that changes often without having to re-send the entire image or having to recapture or deploy the image.

•

K-Image deployments are hardware independent.

•

You can capture WIM UEFI images and UEFI K-Images.

•

UEFI K-Images larger than 4GB must be provisioned from a network resource, because images larger than 4GB cannot be deployed using a USB flash device.

•

Target devices must be UEFI-compatible and require creating a UEFI partition using the Create UEFI Partitions pre-installation task.

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