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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

Managing drivers

Add drivers to system images
Adding drivers to scripted installation deployments
Managing network drivers
Managing operating system drivers

You can manage the network and mass storage drivers required to build the KACE Boot Environment from the drivers share directory. You can manage the drivers that the operating system requires by enabling the Driver Feed, which downloads and installs drivers to the driver_postinstall directory.

The appliance's driver library is a network share that stores the drivers that the appliance and Remote Site Appliance deployments use. The appliance automatically installs the drivers as part of the deployment, and enables uploading drivers for peripherals and hardware that are not included in the Source Media or the KACE Boot Environment (KBE). The appliance hosts Samba shares, and provides three directories to help you manage drivers.

Downloaded drivers are stored in the drivers_postinstall share directory using the following folder structure:

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Virtual devices: <OS_name>/<OS_version>/<OS_platform>/any/vmware|hyperv/. For example: /windows/7/x64/any/vmware/.
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Physical devices: <OS_name>/<OS_version>/<OS_platform>/<build_version>|any/<manufacturer>/<system_ID>/. For example: /windows/7/x64/any/dell/049a/.

Ensure that you set the appliance Samba Share Password on the General Settings page.

About adding drivers to the drivers_postinstall directory

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You can add device drivers that do not get updated from the Driver Feed to the drivers_postinstall directory.
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You can organize the drivers under the drivers_postinstall directory using the above folder structure.

About adding drivers to the drivers directory

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You can add any driver type to the drivers directory. Quest recommends only adding the network and storage drivers required to build the KACE Boot Environment (KBE).
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The drivers directory is organized into subdirectories: two boot environments and a directory for each of the supported operating systems. Each KBE and operating system type requires its own driver versions. You can create folders under the drivers share directory to organize the drivers.
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The added drivers must match the version of the WinPE that you are using.
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Drivers that are included in a single .exe or .msi file require extracting the files before adding the drivers to the folder.

About adding drivers to the restore directory

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You can add driver packages that are larger than 1.5 GB to the restore directory.
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NOTE: The Package Management Export feature creates packages for larger driver files that you can import from the restore directory to the appropriate drivers share directory to make the drivers available to the appliance.

Add drivers to system images

Add drivers to system images

Enabling the Driver Feed for sysprepped system images captured from the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance and the Remote Site Appliance (RSA) adds the drivers automatically when you deploy the image. You can also install missing drivers on the device where you captured the image, re-capture the image, then upload the image to the appliance.

Use the Microsoft Sysprep tool to generalize the image to resolve duplicate device names and duplicate security identifiers (SIDs). For more information on the best practices for capturing images, go to https://support.quest.com/kb/121734.

For sysprepped system images captured from an RSA, the corresponding drivers should be available on the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance and synchronized from the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance to the RSA.

For Windows K-Images and WIM images, the Sysprepped field on the System Image Detail page indicates if an image is sysprepped.

1.
On the left navigation bar, click Deployments, then click System Images to display the Systems Images page.
2.
Select the image to display the System Image Detail page.
3.
Under Deploy options, ensure the Use driver feed (only with Sysprepped images) check box is selected.
Optional. You can enable this option by default on the General Settings page:
a.
Open the Administrator Console in a new browser instance or tab.
b.
On the left navigation pane, click Settings > Control Panel to display the Control Panel, then click General Settings to display the General Settings page.
c.
Under Imaging Options, select the Enable driverfeed for newly captured sysprepped images check box. Selecting this option automatically adds drivers to the target system deployed with newly captured sysprepped system images.
d.
Click Save, and return to the Deploy Options on the System Image Detail page.
4.
Optional: Click Duplicate to copy the image and edit it, as needed.
5.
Click Save.

Adding drivers to scripted installation deployments

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

You can enable the Driver Feed to update the appliance with the latest device-specific driver packages automatically. When this feature is enabled, any older driver versions that are detected are deleted from the appliance, and replaced with their latest versions. You can also get the drivers from a manufacturer's website or from a different resource, and add the drivers manually to a scripted installation deployment.

During a scripted installation deployment, the appliance automatically pulls all of the drivers from the drivers directory in to the scripted installation. When device drivers or other drivers are in the drivers directory, the scripted installation might fail.

Enable Driver Feed to automate driver updates

Enable Driver Feed to automate driver updates

When you enable the Driver Feed, the appliance performs nightly checks for the latest device-specific drivers. If there is a newer version, the feed updates the database and displays the available drivers on the Driver Feed page.

You can enable the Driver Feed for images captured from the appliance and images captured from a Remote Site Appliance (RSA).

1.
On the left navigation bar, click Library to expand the section, then click Driver Feed.
2.
Select Choose Action > Manage Driver Feed Settings to display the Driver Feed Settings page.
3.
Select the Enable Driver Feed check box and click Save.
4.
Optional. If you want to download updated drivers as they become available, select Automatically Download Updated Drivers. To disable this option, clear the check box.
5.
Click Check for Updates.
6.
Click Save.

The Driver Feed Status displays Checking for Updates. You can view the list of available driver packages on the Driver Feed page, and download and install packages to the appliance. You can also subscribe to an email notification for driver feed activity. For more information, see Configure email notifications.

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NOTE: The Dashboard enables you to install the Driver Feed widgets that show which drivers are new, updated drivers, and drivers that have been updated based on what is installed.
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