PXE Booting with ManageEngine OS Deployer
In the dynamic world of IT management, the importance of smooth and effective operating system deployments cannot be emphasized enough. Let’s delve into the realm of Manage Engine OS Deployer, a robust solution crafted to simplify the deployment journey through PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) booting.
Manage Engine OS Deployer empowers IT administrators with a comprehensive toolbox, making the deployment of operating systems across multiple machines a breeze. The integration of PXE booting takes this efficiency up a notch, enabling network-based OS installations without the hassle of physical media.
Key Highlights of PXE Booting with Manage Engine OS Deployer:
Network-Centric Deployments: PXE booting allows IT professionals to initiate OS deployments over the network, saving time and ensuring consistency across all machines.
Centralized Management: Manage Engine OS Deployer provides a centralized hub for overseeing and managing the PXE booting process. Administrators can effortlessly track deployment statuses, identify potential issues, and troubleshoot from a user-friendly interface.
Automation for Efficiency: PXE booting automates the deployment process, allowing IT teams to create standardized templates and reducing the chances of errors, ensuring a uniform configuration across diverse hardware.
Flexibility and Scalability: Whether you’re working on a small-scale network or a large enterprise environment, Manage Engine OS Deployer with PXE booting offers the flexibility and scalability required to meet unique organizational needs.
Creating a PXE Bootable Image:
In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating a bootable image for PXE booting using Manage Engine OS Deployer. This essential step ensures a seamless and efficient OS deployment experience across your network. Follow the guidelines outlined in the official Manage Engine PXE Booting Documentation to seamlessly integrate this powerful feature into your existing deployment workflows.
Step by step Guide:
Note: This guide is based on using a Windows Server 2022 where OS Deployer is installed. The OS Deployer server also functions as a domain controller. Additionally, a Windows 11 machine is used for creating the image, already joined to the domain
1: Assuming that ManageEngine OS Deployer is already installed, navigate to the local web page of OS Deployer. The URL will appear as localhost:8383, or you can enter the server name and domain followed by the port.
Once you are on the web page, proceed to log in. The default login credentials for OS Deployer are admin/admin.
2. Click on the “Admin” tab in the bar, and then navigate to the “Domain” section.
If you don’t have a domain, you can skip step 2, 3 and 4.
3. Now click on “Add Domain.”
4. In the “Add Domain” window, fill in the details of your Active Directory (AD) as demonstrated in the image below. After entering the information, click on “Add Domain” to complete the process.
Once all the information is entered correctly, the OS deployer will attempt to sync with the domain. You will receive a notification confirming the successful synchronization.
Creating a image
2. In the “Select Computer Detail” section, choose a remote office, and you can leave it on the default option, which is “Local Office.” Provide a suitable name for the image.
Next, under “Computer to Image,” search within the domain for the PC you want to clone. Add administrator credentials as needed.
If the PC you want to clone is not in the domain, you can download the Image Creator. Copy this file to the machine from which you want to create an image. Execute the file, and once the Image Creator is installed, it will open the “Create Image” screen. From there, you can further configure the image.
Once everything is set up, click on “Fetch Partition Details” to proceed.
NOTE:
If encountering a network error, attempt the following troubleshooting steps. Click on “Advanced Settings” and input the client’s IP address and FQDN/DNS name. If this does not resolve the issue, temporarily disable the firewall on the client and retry the operation.
3. In the “Select Partitions to Image” tab, click on “Add Image Repository.
The image repository is the location where the image is stored. The image should be saved on a network path. I will now guide you on how to create a network share.
4. Network share
Create a folder and access “Settings.” Move to the “Sharing” tab and select “Advanced sharing…”. Proceed to check “Share this folder.” Click on “Permissions” and provide the necessary user with full control. It’s important to mention that the folder’s location is not critical; in my scenario, it is on the C: drive.
If you now type \\servername\share into the File Explorer, you will navigate to the shared location. Copy this shared path.
Paste the copied path into the “Share Path” field in the “Add Image Repository” tab within the OS deployer. Ensure to input the necessary credentials and assign a suitable name before clicking on “Save.”
Verify that the settings meet your requirements, then proceed by clicking on “Continue.”
If you prefer not to shrink the partitions, you will arrive at the “Drivers Collection” tab. Here, we need to specify a location for the drivers. Create a network share for this purpose using the same procedure mentioned earlier.
The drivers placed in the designated folder will be automatically detected and included when you initiate the imaging process.
Once all settings are configured, click on “Start Imaging”.
It will proceed to create the image and will indicate completion when the process is finished.
The image has been successfully created.
Create a deployment template
We will now create a template to associate with the image. Creating a template allows us to configure the deployment settings.
Click on the “Customize” tab, then select “Create Deployment Template.”
Enter an appropriate name for the deployment template. Under “Select Image,” choose the image you have just created. Leave the remaining settings under “Image Detail” at their default values.
Choose “0” for “Specify Hard Disk Number to Deploy Image” since we have only one hard disk in our target computer.
Keep the “Post Deployment Action” and “Apply Settings to Computer Using” set to their default configurations.
We are not utilizing user profile backup.
Under “Computer Settings,” click on “Generate New SID.” Then, select the option to “Specify Computer Name During Deployment.”
In the “Computer Domain” section, choose an Organizational Unit (OU) where you want the images to be placed. I have created a specific OU in Active Directory named “OSDeployer” for this purpose.
Leave the “Local User Accounts” and “Domain User Accounts” settings as they are. These are not necessary since my image is already part of the domain. Additionally, I won’t be installing any applications as they are already included in the image.
Next, click on “Create Deployment Template.”
We have now successfully created a deployment template.
Creating Bootable Media Guide
Now, we will create bootable media for PXE. This allows us to deploy the image over the network.
Click on “Deploy” at the top, then on the left side, select “Create Bootable Media.”
Then, click on “Create Bootable Media” and choose the option “For PXE.
Give it a fitting name.
Select “Automatic installation with WinPE” as the configuration.
Choose the architecture; in my case, it is 64-bit.
For “Publish Bootable Media to,” I specified the local office in my case.
Choose the drivers you want to include for installation. In my case, I selected all available drivers listed under “Add Drivers from Repository.”
After configuring these settings, click on “Create Bootable Media.”
If the WinPE download fails, try using the option to download it manually, which is available in the OS Deployer interface.
We have successfully created a bootable media.
Creating a Deployment task
Before deploying an image, we need to create a deployment task. Here’s how we’ll do it.
Click on “Deploy” at the top tab, then on the left side, select “Deployment task,” and click on “Add Deployment Task.”
First, select the template we have created, and then click on “Next.”
Confirm the repository location and click on “Next.”
At the Deployment tab, click on “Next.” We won’t be adding a MAC address
Set the deployment method to unicast.
Change the time to 1 hour to ensure we have enough time to complete the image deployment.
Leave the “Schedule Deployment” unchanged.
Click on “Add Deployment Task.”
DHCP settings.
Now, we’re at the final step before deploying the image. For our Windows Server 2022, we need to configure certain settings in DHCP so that the machine where we’ll deploy the image can effectively recognize it.
If you’re not using DHCP via Windows Server, refer to this guide to explore other options that may be applicable to your setup.
Open DHCP on the Windows Server. Navigate to “Server Options” in the IPv4 tab. Right-click on “Server Options” and select “Configure Options.
In the options, check the box next to “066 Boot Server Host Name.”
Enter the IP address of the server in the String Value field.
Also, check the box next to “067 Bootfile Name.”
Since we are using UEFI BIOS and a 64-bit system, set the String Value to: EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi.
If you are using a legacy BIOS or a 32-bit system, refer to this guide for the correct String Value.
Make sure to save the configuration.
Deploying our image
Now that everything is set up, we can proceed to deploy the image. Ensure that the machine boots from the network via PXE. If there’s no operating system installed, it will likely attempt to boot from the network automatically. If not, access the machine’s boot menu and set the network boot priority to number 1.
Note that in the template, we specified that during the image deployment process, the hard disk will be formatted, and the images will be placed on it. Make sure to proceed with caution, as this action will overwrite any existing data on the hard disk.
Before we begin, let’s activate the deployment task. Go to the top bar, select “Deploy,” then choose “Deployment Task.” Click on “Show Code” and remember the code under “Tool Authentication Code.” Then, click on the deployment task name.
Once you’ve opened the task, click on “Deploy Now.” The timer will start counting down, and during this time, we can proceed to deploy the image.
Now, you can start up the machine from which you’re deploying the image. As mentioned earlier, boot it from the network using PXE.
When a successful connection has been established, you will see this screen.
Now, enter the 4-digit code in the Authentication Passcode.
Next, click on “Authenticate.”
After authentication, the machine will be deployed. During the deployment process, you can assign a name to the computer. Provide a name and click on “Assign.” Wait until the image is installed.
When the installation is complete, the machine will restart with the Windows image we have installed. If it attempts to boot again from the network, change the boot priorities to the hard disk.
Congratulations on the successful deployment of an image using ManageEngine OS Deployer!
Feel free to share your thoughts and comments under this blog post. Your insights are valuable, and we’re eager to hear from you.