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KACE Systems Deployment Appliance 9.0 Common Documents - Administrator Guide

About the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance Getting started Using the Dashboard Configuring the appliance Setting up user accounts and user authentication Configuring security settings Preparing for deployment Managing device inventory Using labels Creating a Windows or Linux Boot Environment Managing drivers Capturing images Capturing user states Creating scripted installations Creating a task sequence Automating deployments Performing manual deployments Managing custom deployments Managing offline deployments Imaging Mac devices About the Remote Site Appliance Importing and exporting appliance components Managing disk space Troubleshooting appliance issues Updating appliance software Glossary About us Legal notices

View and import Managed Installations

View and import Managed Installations

Use the Import Managed Installations page to review the applications that you want to import.

Ensure your KACE Systems Deployment Appliance is linked to the KACE Systems Management Appliance from which you want to import one or more Managed Installations. For more information, see Link appliances.
* 
NOTE: Each KACE Systems Management Appliance comes with a default organization (named Default). If your appliance is linked with the Default organization on a KACE Systems Management Appliance, and the organization name changes, you must provide the new organization name:
1.
On the left navigation pane, click Settings > Control Panel > Linked Appliances.
2.
On the Linked Appliances page that appears, click the name or IP address of the linked KACE Systems Management Appliance.
3.
On the Edit Linked Appliance Detail page that appears, in the Default ORG Name field, type the organization name, and click Save.
1.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Post-installation Tasks to display the Post-installation Tasks page.
2.
On the Post-Installation Tasks page, select Choose Action > Import a Managed Installation.
3.
On the Import Managed Installations page that appears, just above the list of Managed Installations, click KACE Systems Management Appliance, and ensure this field points to the correct KACE Systems Management Appliance.
* 
TIP: Your appliance may be linked to multiple KACE Systems Management Appliances.
4.
Click View By, and choose the managed organization and the type of Managed Installation: Software or Software Catalog.
Your selection depends on the type of application that you want to import. All applications installed on the devices managed by the KACE Systems Management Appliance are listed when you select Software. Some of those applications are also in the Software Catalog. The Software Catalog is a database that contains standardized information about more than 60,000 Windows and Mac applications and software suites. For more information about Software applications, and the Software Catalog, see the KACE Systems Management Appliance Administrator Guide.
5.
To look for a specific application, type the application name in the Search List field.
6.
Review the list of Managed Installations.
The following information is available for each Managed Installation:
◦
Name: The application name.
◦
Version: The application version.
◦
Publisher: The application publisher.
◦
Imported: An indicator of whether a Managed Installation is already imported to the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance.
7.
To import a Managed Installation to the appliance, select the row containing the Managed Installation entry, and select Choose Action > Import.
The Import Managed Installations page refreshes, and a message appears at the top of the page, indicating that the import is in progress. You can review the progress of the import operation on the Package Management Queue page. For more information about this page, see Importing and exporting appliance components. When the import finishes, the imported Managed Installation appears on the Post-Installation Tasks list.

Next, edit the post-installation task containing the imported Managed Installation. For more information, see Edit Managed Installation task.

Edit Managed Installation task

Edit Managed Installation task

When you add a Managed Installation from the linked KACE Systems Management Appliance to run as a mid-level task, you can edit it, as required.

Ensure the Managed Installation associated with the task you want to view or edit is imported into the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance. For more information, see View and import Managed Installations.
1.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Mid-level Tasks to display the Mid-level Tasks page.
2.
On the Mid-level Tasks page, click the name of the task containing a Managed Installation to display the Mid-level Task Detail page.
3.
Review and update the following fields, as applicable:

Option

Description

Created (read-only)

The date and time when the task was created.

Modified (read-only)

The date and time when the task was last modified.

Version (read-only)

The version number of the task object on the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance. Every time a task changes, this number increases. Use it as a reference, to verify if the task was changed after your last update.

* 
NOTE: For example, changing the command-line parameters associated with the application executable results in version change. If you want to overwrite your changes and re-import the original Managed Installation, under Managed Installation Import Details, click Import Again.

Name

The name of the task.

Application (read-only)

The name of the application associated with the task.

Runtime Environment

The OS on which the application can be installed. See About runtime environments.

* 
NOTE: A KACE Boot Environment (KBE) built with the 5.0 Media Manager or the KBE Manipulator functionality is required, in order to include PowerShell in the KBE, to enable a Windows KBE runtime environment PowerShell task to work as expected.

Full Command Line

The command line for the task, including any command-line parameters, as defined in the Managed Installation.

Expected Return Code

A code that the task should return, if applicable. In general, most tasks exit with a zero '0' code, indicating success, but you can set it to any positive value, as applicable. Some installers exit with a different code, even when the install is successful. For example, anti-virus installers are typically successfully installed but exit with a different return code because they require a device reboot.

Notes

Additional information about the task.

Managed Installation Import Details

Information about the Managed Installation on the KACE Systems Management Appliance (read-only):

•
KACE SMA Server: The name or IP address on which the server is running.
•
KACE SMA Organization: The name of the organization in which the Managed Installation is defined.
•
Imported version: The version number of the Managed Installation object on the KACE Systems Management Appliance. You can use this number to verify if the original object was changed, and to import the latest version.

If you made any changes to the task after importing the Managed Installation (such as modifying command-line parameters), and you want to revert to its original state, click Import Again.

Deployment Details

Information about the deployments referencing this task (read-only):

•
Scripted Installations: A list of any scripted installations referencing this task.
•
System Images: The system images containing this application.
4.
Click Save.
The task is now available to assign to scripted installations, sysprepped system images, and non-sysprepped system image deployments.

Add Naming Rule

Add Naming Rule

You can create a naming rule to obtain a computer name as a pre-installation task, or name a device during mid- or post-installation. To automatically assign device names, you can use a text file and attach it to the task, or use the appliance database. Additional options for specifying the computer name are available.

The appliance includes two scripts to obtain or assign computer names: getcomputername and setcomputername. Each script has a 32- and 64-bit version. For more information about these scripts, visit https://www.itninja.com/blog/view/get-set-computername.

By default, the /log switch is added to the script command line, allowing the appliance to create a log file each time the script runs. You can also use the /debug switch if you want to see messages from the script at runtime.

These tasks work with sysprepped images (where an unattend file is specified) and with scripted Windows installations.

1.
Complete one of the following steps:
a.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Pre-installation Tasks to display the Pre-installation Tasks page.
b.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Mid-level Tasks to display the Mid-Level Tasks page.
c.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Post-installation Tasks to display the Post-installation Tasks page.
2.
Select Choose Action > Add Naming Rule to display the task detail page.
3.
In Name, enter a logical name for the task, such as Assign name to workstation.
4.
Under Select Architecture, choose the architecture of the device OS to which the naming rule applies: x64 (64-bit) or x86 (32-bit).
5.
Obtaining computer name in pre-installation tasks only.
a.
Observe the contents of the Full Command Line.
The specified command collects the computer name from the device's Windows registry and stores it in a text file, next to the computer's MAC address. To prompt the user for a different name, use the /dialog switch.
6.
Assigning computer name in mid-level or post-installation tasks only. The options provided in each task type are identical with the exception of the \in_windows switch, that only appears in post-installation tasks.
a.
Click Select Method of Naming and choose one of the following options:
▪
Set computer name to the current computer name: Leaves the computer name unchanged.
▪
Prompt for the computer name: The /dialog switch is added to the contents of the Full Command Line, causing a dialog box to appear, prompting the user to specify the computer name.
▪
Rename using variable replacement: The /name switch is added to the contents of the Full Command Line. Replace <TEXT_AND_VARIABLES> as needed, using a combination of text and the following variables, as required:
▪
$Serial: The serial number of the client device.
▪
$Make: The manufacturer of the client device or motherboard.
▪
$Model: The model of the client device or motherboard.
▪
$Chassis: The chassis type of the client device.
▪
$FormFactor: The device type: D for Desktop, L for Laptop, VM for a VMware virtual machine.
▪
$Asset: The asset tag of the client device.
▪
$OS: The OS version of the client device (such as W7, WXP, W2K8, and so on).
▪
$Arch: The OS architecture of the client device.
▪
$Mac: The MAC address of the active NIC.
For example:
setcomputername_x64.exe /name:$OS$Arch-$Serial
▪
Rename using a data file: Uses a data file to rename devices.
1.
Create a text file and list the entries using the following syntax:
<mac_address|serial_number> = <device_name>
For example:
001122334455 = workstation55
001122334456 = workstation56
001122334457 = workstation57
2.
Attach the file to the task. Click Select file and specify the file, or drag and drop the file in the Drop file here area.
3.
Configure the contents of the Full Command Line field:
▪
/rdf: The name of the newly created file. This switch automatically displays the name of the attached file.
▪
/dfk: The type of device identifier used in the file: $Serial or $Mac.
For example:
setcomputername_x64.exe /log /rdf:my_file.txt /dfk:$Mac
▪
Rename using the SMA/K1 database: Uses the KACE Systems Management Appliance database to retrieve the contents of the host_name field for each device. This is indicated by the /k1mysql switch in the Full Command Line field. Additional identifiers are required.
1.
Verify that the access to the KACE Systems Management Appliance database is enabled. On the KACE Systems Management Appliance, go to Settings > Control Panel > Security Settings, and ensure Enable database access is selected. If the option is disabled and you enable it, you must reboot the KACE Systems Management Appliance before this change can take effect. For more information, see the KACE Systems Management Appliance Administrator Guide.
2.
In the Full Command Line field, supply information to the following switches:
▪
/k1ipaddress: The IP address of the machine on which the KACE Systems Management Appliance is running.
▪
/k1dbname: The name of the organization on the appliance. The default is ORG1.
▪
/k1dbuser: The name of the user account on the appliance. The default is R1.
▪
/k1dbpass: The user password. The default is box747.
For example:
setcomputername_x64.exe /log /k1mysql /k1ipaddress:192.0.2.0 /k1dbname:ORG1
/k1dbuser:R1 /k1dbpass:box747
▪
Rename using the SDA/K2 database: Uses the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance database to retrieve device names. This is indicated by the /k2mysql switch in the Full Command Line field.
▪
Verify that the access to the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance database is enabled. On the KACE Deployment Appliance, go to Settings > Security , and ensure Enable database access is selected.
7.
Post-installation tasks only. Select the Reboot Required check box to reboot the appliance and run the next task in the sequence.
8.
In Expected Return Code, enter a code that the task should return, if applicable. Otherwise, leave the default value of zero '0'.
In general, most tasks exit with a zero '0' code, indicating success, but you can set it to any positive value, as applicable. Some installers exit with a different code, even when the install is successful. For example, anti-virus installers are typically successfully installed but exit with a different return code because they require a device reboot.
9.
Click Save.
The task is now available to assign to scripted installations, sysprepped system images, and non-sysprepped system image deployments.
See Assign tasks to scripted installation deployment or Assign tasks to system deployment.

Add PowerShell Script

Add PowerShell Script

You can run PowerShell script as a pre-installation, mid-level, or post-installation task in the KACE Boot Environment (Windows) runtime environment or the Windows runtime environment.

1.
Complete one of the following steps:
a.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Pre-installation Tasks to display the Pre-installation Tasks page.
b.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Mid-level Tasks to display the Mid-Level Tasks page.
c.
On the left navigation pane, click Library to expand the section, then click Post-installation Tasks to display the Post-installation Tasks page.
2.
On the list page that appears, select Choose Action > Add Powershell Script.
3.
On the page that appears, in Name, enter a logical name for the task, such as My PowerShell script.
4.
Under Upload File, click Select File, and navigate to the PowerShell script.
5.
Select the Reboot Required check box to reboot the appliance and run the next task in the sequence.
6.
In Expected Return Code, enter a code that the task should return, if applicable. Otherwise, leave the default value of zero '0'.
In general, most tasks exit with a zero '0' code, indicating success, but you can set it to any positive value, as applicable. Some installers exit with a different code, even when the install is successful. For example, anti-virus installers are typically successfully installed but exit with a different return code because they require a device reboot.
7.
In Notes, add a note to identify the task.
8.
Click Save.
The task is now available to assign to scripted installations, sysprepped system images, and non-sysprepped system image deployments.
9.
On the list page, click the task name.
10.
On the task detail page that appears, review the contents of the Full Command Line field, and make any changes, as required.
11.
If you made any changes to the command line, click Save, or click Cancel to return to the list page.
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