Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Update 1 USER GUIDE
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Table of contents 1 Introducing Acronis Snap Deploy 5 ...................................................................................7 1.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................7 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.2 What's new in Update 1 ............................................................................................................7 1.3 What's new in Acronis Snap Deploy 5 .......................
2.5.1 2.5.2 2.5.3 2.6 What is Acronis Universal Deploy ............................................................................................26 2.6.1 2.6.2 2.6.3 2.6.4 Acronis Universal Deploy purpose ............................................................................................................... 26 Acronis Universal Deploy in Windows ......................................................................................................... 27 Acronis Universal Deploy in Linux .......
7.3 Configuring Acronis PXE Server ...............................................................................................71 8 Creating a master image ................................................................................................ 73 8.1 Preparation of the master operating system ..........................................................................73 8.2 Online vs. offline imaging ...........................................................................................
13 Managing deployment tasks (the Deployment tasks view) ...................................... 133 13.1 List of deployment tasks ........................................................................................................133 13.2 Actions on deployment tasks.................................................................................................133 13.3 States and results for deployment tasks ...............................................................................
1 Introducing Acronis Snap Deploy 5 1.1 1.1.1 Overview What is Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Acronis Snap Deploy 5 is a flexible, efficient software solution for deployment of a fully configured operating system (with or without application software and any other data) to multiple machines. Because the product uses disk imaging technology, it is ideal for rapid bare-metal installations and flexible centralized provisioning. 1.1.
Support for WinPE 5.0. Automatic switch to unicast if multicast fails during deployment is disabled. 1.3 What's new in Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Updated multicast protocol that enables up to 5 times faster deployment (compared to Acronis Snap Deploy 4) to multiple machines across a network. Support for Windows 8.1 including Update 1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. Compatibility with backups created by Acronis Backup 11.5.
These ways of deployment are also known as manual deployment and scheduled deployment. When the deployment is about to start, the software will turn on the target machines with predefined MAC addresses by using the BIOS Wake-on-LAN (WOL) functionality. Machines in another subnet can be woken up through a component called Wake-on-LAN Proxy, which is delivered with Acronis Snap Deploy 5. The machines typically boot into the PXE server that is installed in the same subnet.
The master image for deployment can be located in a network folder or on a removable drive (such as a DVD) on the machine you are performing deployment to. The image cannot be located on the local hard disk of the machine, because deployment usually involves overwriting the contents of the disk. 1.4.5 Deployment with individual deployment settings You can set up individual deployment settings (p. 131) for a machine.
messes up the machine (for example, deletes a file or changes configuration), the student can choose a self-restore option from the boot menu. 1.4.7 Deployment of a disk volume and MBR You do not necessarily have to deploy the entire disk. Provided that the master and the target disks have a similar partitioning scheme, you can image and deploy only the system volume or only the data, depending on your needs.
1.5 Features of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 1.5.1 List of machines Acronis Snap Deploy 5 provides the Machines view (p. 128). This view contains a list of all machines that you added for deployment or that have ever been deployed. In this view, you can: View and edit the list of machines. Check which machines are ready for deployment. Examine the current state of the deployment operation, and the result of the last deployment.
1.5.4 Support for the VHD format In addition to using its own format for an image, Acronis Snap Deploy 5 can perform deployment from a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file. Such file stores contents of one or more disks. It can be created in Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7. Scenario You saved the disks of one of your machines to a VHD file by using the Windows Backup program. Now you want to deploy that machine to other machines.
1.5.8 Support for multiple network adapters A machine license is bound to the machine’s network adapter (also known as network interface card, NIC). If the machine has more than one network adapter, Acronis Snap Deploy 5 ensures that only one license is assigned to the machine. No extra license will be consumed if you add or remove a network adapter. To make sure that only one license is assigned to the machine, do not remove all network adapters at once.
1.6 Supported operating systems for imaging and deployment Acronis Snap Deploy 5 provides full-featured imaging and deployment of the operating systems listed in the table that follows. For most operating systems, you can change settings such as the network name that the machines will have after the deployment. Deploying an operating system requires a license. Depending on the type of an operating system, you need a server license or a workstation license.
Operating system Imaging and deployment Changing settings License type Windows 8.
1.7 Licensing policy Acronis Snap Deploy 5 licensing is based on the number of machines (servers or workstations) that you deploy. For example, to deploy a system on 100 machines, you need 100 licenses. 1.7.1 Machine licenses and deployment licenses In terms of the number of allowed deployments, a license can be one of two types: A machine license enables an unlimited number of deployments to a particular machine.
1.8 Upgrading to Acronis Snap Deploy 5 To upgrade from Acronis Snap Deploy 4 to Acronis Snap Deploy 5, upgrade both the licenses and the software components. 1.8.1 Upgrading licenses To upgrade the licenses of Acronis Snap Deploy 4, obtain the necessary number of upgrade licenses and import them to the license server. You should obtain one upgrade license for Acronis Snap Deploy 5 (ASD5) per each license for Acronis Snap Deploy 4 (ASD4) that you have.
1.9 Technical Support Maintenance and Support Program If you need assistance with your Acronis product, please go to http://www.acronis.com/support/ Product Updates You can download the latest updates for all your registered Acronis software products from our website at any time after logging into your Account (http://www.acronis.com/my) and registering the product. See Registering Acronis Products at the Website (http://kb.acronis.com/content/4834) and Acronis Website User Guide (http://kb.acronis.
2 Understanding Acronis Snap Deploy 5 This section describes the components of the Acronis Snap Deploy 5 infrastructure and their interaction. 2.1 Terminology The following table lists the common terms and descriptions used in this document. Master system The system to be deployed. Master image (Image) A file that contains the master system in a packaged form. The file has the .tib extension.
Administrator The person who has rights to manage the Acronis Snap Deploy 5 infrastructure. User-initiated deployment mode The mode when deployment can be initiated on the side of the target machine. User The person on the side of the target machine who starts the user-initiated deployment. This term relates to the user-initiated deployment mode only. 2.
Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Standalone Utility is a bootable component that enables fully-functional deployment with a GUI on a stand-alone machine (a machine isolated from the network or included in a network without Acronis Snap Deploy 5 infrastructure). The only way to load Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Standalone Utility is from an Acronis bootable media. Acronis System Report is a bootable component that collects information about the machine and saves this information to a locally-attached USB drive.
On USB and FireWire (IEEE-1394) storage devices (hard drives, flash drives) attached to the deployment server. On DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, or recordable Blu-ray Discs (BD-R, BD-RE) loaded in the media drive of the deployment server. The best practice is keeping images on the deployment server’s hard disk. This minimizes network traffic during deployment. The image created on removable media has to fit into one media disk.
Create a bootable media (either an Acronis media or a WinPE-based media) with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. OR Install Acronis PXE Server, connect the console to the PXE server and upload Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. 4. Depending on your choice in the previous step, boot the machine into Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator from the bootable media or from the PXE server. 5.
4. Connect the console to the master system, click Create image -> Next -> A master image. Follow the instructions of the Master Image Creator wizard to configure and launch the imaging operation. The image can be saved in a network folder, on detachable media (such as an USB drive) or on removable media (such as a DVD). Online imaging 2.5.3 Deployment This section illustrates the Acronis components functionality by the example of deployment that you start manually.
6. Select the machines, click Deploy image on the toolbar, and then follow the Create Deployment Task Wizard instructions to configure and launch the deployment operation. When prompted about when you want to run the deployment, select Now. Deployment that starts manually 2.6 What is Acronis Universal Deploy Acronis Universal Deploy is the Acronis proprietary technology that helps deploy and boot up a Windows or a Linux operating system on dissimilar hardware.
2.6.2 Acronis Universal Deploy in Windows Automatic HAL and mass-storage drivers selection Acronis Universal Deploy searches the Windows default driver storage folders (in the master image being deployed) for HAL and mass-storage device drivers and installs drivers that better fit the target hardware. You can specify a custom driver repository (a network folder or a CD) which will also be used for driver searches.
To revert to the original initial RAM disk, do any of the following: Rename the copy accordingly. For example, run a command similar to the following: mv initrd-2.6.16.60-0.21-default_acronis_backup.img initrd-2.6.16.60-0.21-default Specify the copy in the initrd line of the GRUB boot loader configuration. 2.6.4 Acronis Universal Deploy and Microsoft Sysprep Acronis Universal Deploy is not a system preparation tool.
3 Getting started with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 This section describes how to install Acronis Snap Deploy 5 and perform a simple deployment. By following the procedures in this section, you will: a) Install and start Acronis Snap Deploy 5. b) Create a master image of a machine. c) Deploy the master image to the same or a different machine. Step 1. Installing Acronis Snap Deploy 5 In this step, you will install Acronis Snap Deploy 5 in a typical configuration.
4. Click Typical.
5. Click Add license, and then specify the license keys. You can type the license keys manually or import them from a text file. 6. Specify whether the machine will participate in the Customer Experience Program (CEP). 7. Click Install. Step 2. Starting Acronis Snap Deploy 5 On the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5: 31 On the desktop, click Acronis Snap Deploy 5.
When Acronis Snap Deploy 5 starts, the welcome screen appears. Step 3. Creating a bootable media In this step, you will create a bootable media that enables creating master images and performing deployment. On the machine where you installed and started Acronis Snap Deploy 5, do the following: 1. On the Tools menu, click Create bootable media.
2. In the list of components, select Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent and Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. 3. In Network settings, in Server name/IP, specify the name of the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5. 4. Choose to create the media on a CD or DVD. Insert a blank CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW. Tip. If no CD-RW, DVD-RW, or a similar optical disc drive is present on the machine, you can choose to create an ISO file that you can later burn to an optical disc on another machine.
1. Make sure that the CD or DVD drive has a higher boot priority than the hard disk drive. You may need to open the BIOS setup utility of the machine and adjust the boot priority setting, similarly to what is shown in the following picture. 2. Attach the USB hard disk drive to the machine. Tip. Alternatively, you will be able to save the image to a network folder, as described later in this procedure. 3. Boot the machine from the bootable media you created. 4.
5. In the pop-up window, click Cancel or wait until that window closes. 6. Select the volumes that you want to include in the master image. You can leave the default selection, which normally includes the volumes that contain the operating system. 7. Specify a folder on the USB hard disk where you want to save the image. Alternatively, specify a network folder, and the user name and password to access that folder. 8. Keep clicking Next until the summary screen appears. Click Create in that screen.
Acronis Snap Deploy 5 starts creating the image. After the image is created, the machine will restart. Step 5. Performing deployment In this step, you will deploy the created master image to a single machine (the target machine). Tip: For getting started, we recommend performing deployment to the same machine from which you created the image, or to a machine with identical hardware. This way, no extra steps, such as using the Universal Deploy option, are required.
3. On the boot menu, click Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent. 4. In the pop-up window, click Cancel or wait until that window closes. 5. Make sure that the machine is ready for deployment. The window should look similar to the following picture. Details. The target machine becomes ready for deployment when it connects to Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server. This server is part of Acronis Snap Deploy 5.
connect to the server, you may need to adjust network settings, as described in “Booting the target machines” (p. 112). After the target machine is ready, you can deploy the master image to it. Deploying the master image On the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5, do the following: 1. Attach the USB hard disk drive with the master image to the machine. Optionally, copy the image to the local hard disk of the machine. 2. Click the Machines view.
Note. If you imaged a machine running a workstation operating system (such as Windows 7) but you only have server licenses (such as Acronis Snap Deploy 5 for Server – Trial License), you may want to allow the software to use this type of license to deploy the machine. To do so, click Licensing in the deployment settings window, and then click Use a server license automatically.
9. Select the deployment template you created, and then click Next. 10. When asked about when to run the deployment, select Now and type the user name and password that you use to log on to Windows. 11. Keep clicking Next until the summary window appears. Click Create in that window.
You can view the progress of the deployment both on the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5 and on the target machine. Viewing the deployment progress on the machine with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Viewing the deployment progress on the target machine What you can do next In the navigation pane, you can open the corresponding views to navigate across the software.
To run the deployment again, open the Deployment tasks view, select the task you created, and then click Run on the toolbar. For details about the Deployment tasks view, see “Managing deployment tasks” (p. 133). To add more machines, open the Machines view and then click Add machines. You can add machines by their physical addresses, known as MAC addresses.
4 Installation of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 4.1 Supported operating systems This section lists the operating systems where components of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 can be installed. It does not matter which Service Pack (if any) is installed in the operating system.
4.
UDP port: 67, 68, 69 Broadcast address: 255.255.255.255 For a remote installation (p. 52), the TCP port 25001 is used. If you are using a firewall, you may need to set the appropriate access options. 4.4 Typical installation With typical installation, all components of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 that are needed for deployment and offline imaging will be installed on the same machine.
You may want to use custom installation in the following cases: Installing Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent to take a master image of a machine without restarting it (p. 24) or to enable online deployment on the machine (p. 115). Installing Acronis Wake-on-LAN Proxy to wake up machines that are located in another subnet. Installing different components on different machines, such as installing Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server on one machine and Acronis PXE Server on another.
4.5.2 Common installation configurations Acronis Snap Deploy 5 components can be installed in various configurations, to distribute various components and features among the machines on the network. a) The minimal configuration that enables only offline imaging (p. 23) and stand-alone deployment (p.
We recommend that you create a master image by using the bootable component called Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. Nevertheless, having at least one management agent on the network (not necessarily on the master machine) makes sense. You will be able to validate (check) the integrity of your images (p. 83) by using the management agent.
Wake-on-LAN Proxy The list of components 4.5.3.1 Installation of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console is an administrative tool for local and remote access to Acronis servers and Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent. Install Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console on any machine from which you prefer to operate.
Note: If you have already installed a license server that came with another Acronis product, you will still need to install Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server. You can install both license servers on the same machine. The machine will then act as a common license server for all Acronis products. After installation, Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server launches automatically as a Windows service. When installing Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server, you can add the license keys to it.
Acronis PXE Server starts running as a service immediately after installation. It will automatically launch at each system restart. You can stop and start this service in the same way as other services. 4.5.3.5 Installation of Acronis Wake-on-LAN Proxy Acronis Wake-on-LAN Proxy enables Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server to wake up the target machines located in another subnet.
4.6 Other ways of installation 4.6.1 Installing components remotely By using Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console, you can install the following components of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 remotely: Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent Acronis Wake-on-LAN Proxy Acronis PXE Server Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server 4.6.1.1 Preparation Before proceeding with remote installation, prepare the remote machines as follows: Simple file sharing.
4.6.1.2 Installation procedure To install a component of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 remotely 1. Start Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console. 2. On the Tools menu, click Install components remotely. 3. Select the location from which the installation packages of the components will be taken. The selection The registered components corresponds to the default folder: %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Acronis\SnapDeploy\RemoteInstall 4. Select the component that you want to install. 5.
An upgrade license key enables you to continue using a license key for the previous version (“old” license key). The old license key cannot be reassigned to a different machine. You need at least one license key for Acronis Snap Deploy 5 (no matter which type) to be able to upgrade Acronis OS Deploy Server. This license key will remain available. To upgrade from Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Perform the following steps on each machine where any component of Acronis Snap Deploy 4 is installed.
2. Click Install Acronis Snap Deploy 5. 3. Do one of the following: To uninstall all components, click Remove. To uninstall individual components, click Modify, and then clear the check boxes for the components that you want to uninstall. 4. Proceed with the uninstallation. Data remaining after uninstallation Uninstalling Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server does not delete license keys. If you later reinstall the license server, all license keys automatically appear on the new license server.
5 Using Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console 5.1 Connecting to a machine 5.1.1 Connect to a local machine When started, Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console connects to the local machine if there is a manageable component of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 (such as Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server) on this machine. You can manage any Acronis server or Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent installed on the same machine without any additional actions. The welcome screen of the management console 5.
To connect to a component 1. On the Connect menu, click Connect. 2. In Machine, specify the name or IP address of the machine where the component is installed. To open the list of machines on your network, click Browse. 3. In User name and Password, specify the user name and password of an administrator on that machine. 4. To save the password for the user name, select the Save password check box.
5.2 Browsing logs Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server and Acronis PXE Server store the log of the operations they have performed. The view the log of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server 1. Connect the management console to the machine with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server. 2. Do either of the following: In the left pane, click Deployment tasks, and then click Log on the toolbar. On the Help menu, click View log. 3. In the left pane, select a log.
6 Using Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server This section contains general information necessary for understanding Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server and covers operations with licenses. 6.1 Understanding Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server is a mechanism that tracks licenses of Acronis products. Acronis Snap Deploy 5 licensing is based on the number of machines (servers or workstations) that you deploy.
4. In the Add Licenses window, type the license key or the path to a .txt or .eml file containing the license keys; or, you can browse to the file. 5. Click Add. Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server performs the operation and reports the number of newly-added licenses. The license server has 10 license keys of various types. The license corresponding to the highlighted license key has already been used for deployment. 6.3 Viewing information about licenses To view information about licenses 1.
This will display all license keys available on Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server. One license key can correspond to multiple licenses. The license server contains 10 server licenses and five workstation licenses 3. Right-click the column headings bar to choose the details to display: license key, import date, expiration date (for trial licenses), the total number of licenses assigned to each license key, how many of them are available (that is, free), and how many are used.
LicenseServerCmdLine --import-file In this command: is the name of the machine where Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server is installed. is the name of the .txt or .eml file with the license keys. For the complete syntax of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server Management Tool, see “Using Acronis Snap Deploy 5 License Server Management Tool” (p. 62). Example The following command adds the license keys from the file C:\Licenses.
Shows usage information.
7 Deployment tools Before deployment, each target machine must boot into a dedicated bootable component of Acronis Snap Deploy 5. An example of such component is Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent. The machine can boot into the component in either of these ways: From a physical media (such as a DVD or a USB drive) that contains the component. Such media is called a bootable media. Over the network, by using Acronis PXE Server with the component uploaded to it.
7.2.1 Acronis bootable media Acronis bootable media is a physical media (CD, DVD, USB flash drive, or other media supported by the machine’s BIOS as a boot device) that contains bootable components of Acronis Snap Deploy 5. Acronis Snap Deploy 5 bootable media supports both BIOS and UEFI architecture. You can create an Acronis bootable media containing one or more of the following bootable components (p.
No autostart: The Acronis loader will display the boot menu and wait for someone to select whether to boot the operating system or one of the Acronis components. Start operating system: The operating system, if present on the booting machine’s hard disk, will start after the time-out. This option is designed to make the target machine boot into the deployed operating system after deployment. The main usage scenario is as follows.
If not configured in either way, the deployment server will be found automatically. The agent will start the search after the number of seconds you specify in Timeout (sec). Settings for Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent The option to save the agent’s log to the deployment server is designed primarily for troubleshooting. The log will be available on the deployment server in the following folder: %AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\Acronis\DeployServer\AgentsLogs 7. Select the type of bootable media to create.
selecting a bootable component. No password is required to start the operating system on the machine. Protecting the bootable components with a password 9. Click Create. After you create the disc, mark it and keep it in a safe place. Note: Components on an Acronis bootable media are based on a Linux kernel and are equipped with the Linux system and device drivers. Acronis regularly supplements the driver set with drivers for new devices.
7.2.2.1 Components included in the bootable media Each WinPE-based bootable media contains the following bootable components (p. 64): Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Command-Line Utility 7.2.2.2 Acronis Snap Deploy 5 PE Builder Acronis Snap Deploy 5 PE Builder is a dedicated tool for creating a WinPE-based bootable media. The tool is installed with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=94bb6e34-d890-4932-81a5-5b50c 657de08&DisplayLang=en Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 (PE 3.0): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=696DD665-9F76-4177-A811-39C26 D3B3B34&displaylang=en Automated Installation Kit (AIK) Supplement for Windows 7 SP1 (PE 3.1): http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5188 You can find system requirements for installation by following the above links.
6. Select how you want to create the bootable media. If you want to create a physical media, select ISO image. The software will create an ISO file that you can later burn to a DVD or write to a USB drive. If you want to upload the bootable components to Acronis PXE server, select Acronis PXE Server. If you want to create a PE image (a WIM file) to later upload it to the PXE server (p. 71), select WIM image.
When creating an Acronis bootable media (p. 65) or a WinPE-based bootable media (p. 68). When creating a bootable media for user-initiated deployment (p. 120). Alternatively, you can use direct server configuration, as follows. To perform a direct configuration of the PXE server 1. Start Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console. 2. In the navigation pane, click PXE server. 3.
8 Creating a master image To be able to deploy a system, you need to create the desired system configuration and then to save an image of the system’s hard disk or volume to a network folder, detachable media (such as a USB drive) or removable media (such as a DVD). This section describes how to create a master image by using Acronis Snap Deploy 5.
By using a bootable media (either Acronis media or WinPE-based media) with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator, or by using the command-line utility in a WinPE-based bootable media. This type of imaging is called offline imaging. This section describes imaging with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent and Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. For information about imaging in the command-line mode, see “Command-line mode and scripting under WinPE” (p. 135). 8.
The boot menu appears on the master machine. The boot menu on the master machine 5. In the boot menu, click Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. 6. The master image creator establishes a network connection to be able to save the image in a network folder. A dialog box appears asking whether you want to configure the network connection that will be used by the image creator. By default, Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator uses DHCP auto configuration.
The manual configuration is needed if automatic configuration is not possible (no DHCP server on the network) or does not succeed. To configure the network connections manually, click OK in the prompt window. Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator configuration: network settings Set the preferable values and click OK. 7. When Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator starts, it displays the Master Image Creator welcome window. 8.
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 place the loader on a hidden volume called System Reserved. If your operating system and its loader reside on different volumes, always include both volumes in the image. A volume with the loader is usually marked as the active volume and is shown with the Act. flag in the list. The volumes must also be deployed together; otherwise, there is a high risk that the operating system will not start.
Select the image location in the device tree. In File name, type the file name of the image. To generate a file name that is unique in the selected location, click Generate a name for the file. Note: Acronis bootable media uses NetBIOS networking protocol to resolve Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server in a network. NetBIOS protocol uses ANSI characters for host names. So, machines that have non-English characters in their names cannot be accessed from Acronis bootable media.
A higher compression level may lead to a smaller size of the image, but creating the image will take longer. The default Normal level is recommended in most cases. Selecting the data compression level Process priority This option is available only for online imaging (p. 73). The preset is: Low Defines the priority of the imaging process.
The priority of any process running in the operating system determines the amount of CPU usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the image creation priority will free more resources for other programs. Increasing the image creation priority could speed up the imaging by taking resources from the other running processes. The effect will depend on the total CPU usage and other factors.
Alternatively, you can click Always, into the files of fixed size and type the desired file size or select it from the list. The image will then be split into multiple files of the specified size. This comes in handy when creating an image that you plan to burn to multiple discs later on. You can enter the file size in bytes (B), kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), or terabytes (TB).
After you click Next, the summary of the imaging procedure appears. Check the settings and then click Proceed. The imaging operation starts and its progress is displayed.
9 Validating a master image You can ensure that the master image is not damaged by validating it. To validate a master image 1. Start Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console. 2. Connect the management console to a machine where Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent is installed. 3. On the Action menu, click Validate image. 4. Select the master image that you want to validate. 5. Click Validate in the summary window. The validation operation starts.
10 Deploying a master image This section describes how to deploy a master image to one or more machines. Caution: Deployment to a machine involves deleting some or all data that is currently stored on that machine. Make sure that you are performing deployment to the correct machines and to the correct disks on those machines. 10.
10.3 Deployment templates A deployment template is a set of configuration parameters of the deployment operation. These parameters include: A path to the master image. The operation mode (multicast or unicast, how to handle the target disk free space, and so on). Settings to be applied to the deployed systems (for example, machine names and user accounts). Operations to be performed on the deployed systems (transfer files, run applications, shut down, restart).
On DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, or recordable Blu-ray Discs (BD-R, BD-RE) loaded in the media drive of the deployment server. The best practice is keeping images on the deployment server’s hard disk. This minimizes network traffic during deployment. The image created on removable media has to fit into one media disk. To deploy an image spread over several CDs, DVDs or other media, copy all parts of the image to the same folder on the deployment server or to a network folder.
10.3.1.2 Disk and volume selection If the image contains more than one disk, specify the disk that you want to deploy, and then click Next. You can select only one disk.
If the disk you selected contains more than one volume, specify the volumes that you want to deploy. You can select one or more volumes. Selecting disk volumes to deploy The further steps will depend on how many volumes you select. If you deploy only one volume, it is assumed that the target disk has volumes, so you can select the target volume, to deploy over it. Other volumes will remain untouched in this case.
settings is supported (p. 15). You always can specify general settings such as the disk to perform the deployment to. These settings can be overridden by individual settings (p. 131) for a machine. Online deployment This setting determines how to deploy the master image to the target machines that have the Online (p. 130) state in the Machines view. Reboot into Specify into what bootable media the target machines will reboot to connect to the deployment server and become ready for deployment.
If selected and Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent is not installed in the system that the master image contains, the management agent will be installed on a target machine after the master image is deployed to it. Having the management agent installed on a machine enables the online deployment on this machine. Target disk layout This setting determines the target disk for deployment, and what space on the target disk will be available for deploying the master image.
Replace volume: Only the volume with the selected number will be deleted. If the target disk contains only one volume, the entire disk space (including the currently unallocated space) will be available for the volume you are deploying. Otherwise, only the space that was occupied by the selected volume will be available for the volume you are deploying; currently unallocated space will remain unallocated. Note: The active volume of the target disk will remain active.
Example 2. You are deploying a single 100-GB volume. In Target disk layout, you selected to replace the second (250-GB) volume on the target disk. In this case, the size of the deployed volume will be 250 GB. The first volume on the target disk will remain intact. Example 3. You are deploying two 50-GB volumes. Because you are deploying more than one volume, all volumes on the target disk will be deleted; see “Target disk layout” (p. 90). Each of the deployed volumes will be 150 GB in size. Example 4.
The preset is: The same name and membership as those of the machine in the master image By default, all deployed machines will have the same name as the machine in the master image. Alternatively, you can specify a name pattern for the machines. Specify whether the machine will be a member of a workgroup or an Active Directory domain. If you have selected the domain membership, specify the user name and password of a domain administrator.
For example, the pattern {1,5} generates the names 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Similarly, the pattern {8,5} generates the names 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Make sure that the value of count is big enough. If the number of target machines exceeds count, deployment to the remaining machines will fail. You can use two or more of these wildcards. See examples later in this section. In the wildcards, the value of start must be 0 or greater. The value of count must be 1 or greater.
Each machine will be assigned an IP address from the range. Make sure that the range is big enough. If there are more target machines than IP addresses in the range, deployment to the remaining machines will fail. TCP/IP properties If you have not selected to preserve the network settings of the master system settings, you can specify the DNS server. You can specify the IP address of the DNS server, such as 192.168.0.
Security identifiers This setting determines whether Acronis Snap Deploy 5 will generate unique security identifiers (SIDs) for the target machines. The preset is: Generate a unique SID for each target machine Generating unique SIDs should normally be enabled. We recommend not to change the SID only if you are deploying the image to the same machine from which the image was created. You can keep the SID unchanged if there is no machine with the same SID in the same workgroup or domain.
Each file must be located in a network folder. When adding the file, specify the credentials to the network folder. The destination of each file must be on one of the volumes you are deploying. To run the file after it is transferred, select the Run the file on target machines check box. The file will run when Windows first starts on the target machine.
Multicast configuration has a parameter that specifies the time to live (TTL) for multicast packets. Use this parameter to limit multicast packets distribution via gateways. The default value is 15. In practice, this enables the packets to pass up to 15 hops which may be treated as an unlimited distance. The minimal value 1 will limit the packets circulation to one subnet. By setting the permitted bandwidth, you can limit the network usage during deployment. The default value is 1 gigabit (Gbit) per second.
Stop deployment otherwise Specifying licensing settings Based on your selection, the software will use a deployment license (which enables a single successful deployment) or a machine license (which enables an unlimited number of deployments to a machine). Based on the operating system you are deploying, a workstation license or a server license will be used.
c) Deployment server license d) Machine server license If you change the second setting from Use a machine license automatically to Stop deployment, the software will use only deployment licenses. The software will use the following priority: a) Deployment workstation license b) Deployment server license 10.3.1.4 Using Acronis Universal Deploy Specify whether you want to use Acronis Universal Deploy during deployment. To configure this setting: 1. Select whether to use Acronis Universal Deploy.
The software will find the most suitable drivers of all available drivers and install them into the deployed system. However, the driver defined by the user will have the priority. It will be installed, with appropriate warnings, even if the software finds a better driver. In Linux, Acronis Universal Deploy will find the necessary modules in the /lib/modules directory. The steps below will be skipped. 2. [Optional] Specify the driver repository.
10.3.1.5 Summary window Check your settings in the summary window, and then click Save. The summary window 10.3.2 Configuring default deployment settings In the Default Deployment Settings window, you can specify the values that will be used by default when you create a deployment template (p. 85). To view or change the default deployment settings 1. Start Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console. 2. On the Tools menu, click Configure default settings.
The preset is: Extend or reduce the volumes being deployed, according to the available space on the target disk Machine name and membership (p. 92) The preset is: The same as of the master system TCP/IP properties (p. 94) The preset is: The network settings of the master system User accounts (p. 95) The preset is: Create no additional user accounts Security identifiers (p. 96) The preset is: Generate a unique security identifier (SID) for each target machine Action after deployment (p.
In addition, you can run any deployment task manually from the Deployment tasks view (p. 133). A deployment task runs according to a deployment template (p. 85). When creating the task, you can create a deployment template or specify an existing one. 10.4.
MAC addresses for bare metal are usually supplied by the hardware manufacturer. You can get the MAC address of any PC-compatible hardware by entering the network configuration menu of any Acronis bootable component, such as Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. An administrator can execute a script that collects the MAC addresses of all machines on the network and saves the MAC addresses to a text file.
Upload a Preinstallation Environment (PE) image to the PXE server by clicking Upload PE image to PXE. For information about creating a PE image (a WIM file), see “Adding Acronis Snap Deploy 5 components to WinPE” (p. 70). When uploading the agent or the PE image: Set Start operating system as the default boot menu option. Set up a reasonable time-out so that the operating system can start automatically. You can leave the default setting for the time-out.
10.4.2.2 Creating the deployment task When the deployment is about to start, Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server wakes up the turned-off target machines in the list you specify. The machines turn on, boot into Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent from the PXE server, and connect to the deployment server. Online machines (p. 115) automatically reboot into Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent and connect to the deployment server.
(p. 70). This is because choosing a default boot menu option is not available in this case. You need to create a PE image first (using the WIM image setting), and then upload the PE image to the PXE server (p. 71). 7. If the machines are located in a different subnet than the deployment server (p. 109), specify the Wake-on-LAN proxy installed in that subnet, as follows: a. Expand Show Wake-on-LAN Proxy settings, and then click Specify. b.
Stop without performing deployment to any machine. The task will start at its next scheduled time and will again begin waiting for the readiness of all machines. Start condition for deployment 12. Review the task summary, and then click Create to create and save the task. The task appears in the Deployment tasks view. When the task is started, the connected machines’ IP addresses and the task progress are displayed in that view.
Install the PXE server in Subnet 1. Enable this PXE server to also work in Subnet 2 by configuring the network switch to relay the PXE traffic. The PXE server’s IP addresses are configured on a per-interface basis using IP helper functionality in the same way as DHCP server addresses. For more information, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/257579. This way, machines from both subnets can boot to this PXE server. Deployment in another subnet by using Acronis Wake-on-LAN Proxy.
3. In the welcome screen, click Deploy image. If prompted, specify the machine where Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy server is installed. 4. In Deploy to, select Any machines ready for deployment. 5. Select the condition that triggers the deployment: 6. 7. 8. 9. Specify the number of machines that you need to deploy; for example, 70 machines. Choose whether you want the deployment to start anyway after a time-out.
As soon as the triggering condition arises, the available machines become engaged in the deployment, and their state changes to Running. 10.4.4 Booting the target machines You need to manually boot the target machines into Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent in the following cases: To perform deployment to any ready machines (p. 110) To perform deployment to the specific machines (p.
4. [Optional.] Choose whether you want to configure the agent. The agent configuration includes the network settings and the address of Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server. A dialog box comes up suggesting that you configure the agent. To load the agent with the default configuration (recommended in most cases), click Cancel or wait until the dialog box disappears after the time-out. To configure the agent before loading (recommended if your network does not have a DHCP server), click OK.
Note: Acronis bootable media uses NetBIOS networking protocol to resolve Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server in a network. NetBIOS protocol uses ANSI characters for host names. So, machines that have non-English characters in their names cannot be accessed from Acronis bootable media. If the name of the Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server machine contains non-English characters, use the machine's IP-address to specify it in the network.
Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Agent: ready for deployment 10.4.5 Configuring online deployment Online deployment is possible only to a specified list of machines (p. 104) that run Windows and are turned on before a deployment task starts. To configure online deployment 1. Install Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Agent (p. 51) on the target machines. The machines will appear in the Machines view and will have the Online state. 2. Configure the Online deployment (p.
10.4.7 Deployment behind an NAT device Successful deployment is not guaranteed if Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server and the target machines are separated by a Network Address Translation (NAT) device. A typical router usually acts as an NAT device. All machines behind an NAT device normally form a separate subnet and appear to the deployment server as having the same IP address.
Note: Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Standalone Utility can be placed on a physical media only. This component is not designed to boot from a PXE server or from a WinPE-based bootable media. 3. 4. 5. 6. The Acronis stand-alone components to be placed on the bootable media Configure the master system. Boot the master system into Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Master Image Creator. Create an image of the master system and save it to a network folder, detachable media, or removable media.
10.6 User-initiated deployment (custom deployment) Acronis Snap Deploy 5 can be configured in such a way that users will be able to deploy and re-deploy their machines with one click on the boot menu. User-initiated deployment is also called custom deployment. 10.6.1 Understanding user-initiated deployment An administrator creates a set of deployment templates (p. 85) that meet the organization’s needs and assigns to each template a name that can be easily understood by a user.
In software testing labs, the choices can be various operating systems, various editions of the same operating system, or the same operating system with various settings or applications. In a university or school lab, the choices can be various exercises that students have to explore, or the initial system image for the purpose of self-restore. The custom boot menu. A user can start deployment with any of the two templates or boot into Windows.
If you need to perform both user-initiated deployment and deployment through a deployment task, you can use the PXE server for the former and bootable media for the latter. Alternatively, you can use another Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server to perform deployment through deployment tasks, while one Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server is in the user-initiated deployment mode.
3. Create the deployment templates (p. 85) according to your organization’s needs. Assign to each template a name that can be easily understood by the users. Select one or more templates to be added to the boot menu. Adding templates to the boot menu 4. Select how to display the boot menu. For example, you can choose to start a particular deployment template automatically after a time-out. 5.
6. Review the operation summary and then click Switch on to proceed. The software creates the media with the custom boot menu. Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server switches to the user-initiated deployment mode. Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server in the user-initiated deployment mode In the Machines view, the administrator can see the status of the user-initiated deployment for each machine.
The user who requested deployment sees the following screen while the deployment is in progress. User-initiated deployment in progress: view on the target machine’s side 10.6.4 Changing parameters of the user-initiated deployment mode To change the templates or the boot menu password used in the user-initiated deployment mode, you need to reconfigure the user-initiated deployment mode. 1.
10.7 Deploying BIOS-based systems to UEFI-based and vice versa Acronis Snap Deploy 5 supports transferring 64-bit Windows operating systems between BIOS-based hardware and hardware that supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). How it works Depending on whether the machine uses BIOS or UEFI firmware for booting, the disk with the system volume must have a specific partition style. The partition style is master boot record (MBR) for BIOS, and GUID partition table (GPT) for UEFI.
All other operating systems are non-convertible. Source and target disk partition style: MBR or GPT. System and boot volumes of BIOS platforms use MBR disks. System and boot volumes of UEFI platforms use GPT disks.
Original system Target hardware BIOS BIOS UEFI UEFI Disk: MBR Disk: GPT Disk: MBR Disk: GPT mode in BIOS. UEFI OS: nonconvertible Solution Deploy the operating system to a GPT disk or to an uninitialized disk. 2. Perform the deployment under the bootable media. or After deployment, turn on the UEFI mode in BIOS. 10.7.2 Deploying disks Let's assume you have created a master image of a whole disk (with all its volumes) and want to deploy this disk to a different target platform.
Original system Target hardware BIOS BIOS UEFI The target disk will be initialized as the source one (MBR). OS: nonconvertible The target machine must support BIOS. Additional steps 1. Turn off the UEFI mode in BIOS. 2. Boot from a bootable media, and perform the deployment. UEFI The target disk will be initialized as MBR. OS: convertible The OS will be automatically converted to support BIOS booting. If you want to deploy the source disk “as is”: 1. Turn on the UEFI mode in BIOS. 2.
11 Managing the list of machines (the Machines view) The Machines view shows a list of machines for which you can set up deployment by using Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server. A machine is determined by the MAC address of its network adapter. A MAC address is a set of six hexadecimal numbers, such as: 01-35-79-BD-F1-23. The list of machines includes: The machines that you added to the list. For example, you can add machines by using a file with MAC addresses.
Tip: Make sure that you specify the MAC address correctly. Any set of six hexadecimal numbers is recognized as a valid MAC address of a machine, even if a network adapter with that address does not actually exist. 11.2 Groups of machines Using groups helps you to organize the list of machines. For example, you can create a separate group for each department in your organization. You can then perform deployment to some or all machines of a department by selecting them in the corresponding group.
Set label: Sets the label that is shown in the Machine column. For example, you can use the network name of the machine as the label. If no label is provided, the Machine column shows the MAC address of the machine. 11.4 States and results for machines The State column shows the current state related to deployment. The state can be one of the following: Not ready: The machine is not connected to the deployment server; for example, the machine is turned off. For deployment to specific machines (p.
12 Individual deployment settings By using individual settings for a machine, you can override one or more deployment settings (p. 88) of a deployment template. Example. You created a deployment template to perform deployment to 100 machines. For one of those machines, however, you need to perform deployment to a different hard disk than the one prescribed by the template. You override the Target disk layout (p. 90) setting for that machine. By default, all templates recognize individual settings.
132 User accounts (p. 95) Security identifiers (p. 96) Action after deployment (p. 96) Online deployment (p. 89) Licensing (p. 98) By selecting the Use machine license check box, you force using a machine license for the machine, even if the template prescribes using deployment licenses. If no machine license is available, the software will act according to the setting in the template: it will either stop deployment to the machine, or use a deployment license.
13 Managing deployment tasks (the Deployment tasks view) The Deployment tasks view contains the list of deployment tasks (p. 103) that you previously created on Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server. To open the Deployment tasks view 1. Start Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console. 2. Click Deployment tasks. If prompted, specify the name or IP address of the machine with Acronis Snap Deploy 5 OS Deploy Server, and the user name and password of an administrator on that machine. 13.
Run: Starts the selected task. The task will wait for machines to become ready and then will perform deployment to them. Stop: Stops the selected task. The machines whose deployment finished by the time you stop the task remain deployed (the last result (p. 130) for such machines is Succeeded). Edit: Edits the task in the Create Deployment Task Wizard. Delete: Deletes the task from the deployment server. View log: Shows the log entries related to the selected task. 13.
14 Command-line mode and scripting under WinPE Having booted a machine in Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE), the administrator can perform imaging or deployment in the command-line mode or execute scripts. Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Command-Line Utility is included in a WinPE-based bootable media that you can create by using Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console (p. 68). The section “Sample scenarios” (p. 143) provides examples of using the command-line utility. Limitation.
deploy Deploys disks and volumes, including the master boot record (MBR), from an image /filename: /password: /net_user: /net_password: /oss_numbers /reboot /harddisk: /partition:- /target_harddisk: /target_partition:- /start: /shutdown /fat16_32 /log: /size: /log_net_user: /type: /log_net_password:
14.1.2 Common parameters (parameters common for most commands) Parameter Description Image location Access to images /filename: Specifies the full path to the image, including Any the file name /password: Specifies the password for the image (if required) Any /net_user: Specifies a user name for accessing the network drive Network drive /net_password: Specifies a password for accessing the network drive Network drive Sets the image type to incremental.
General options /oss_numbers If this parameter is specified, the numbers of Any the volumes in the /partition parameter are adjusted for the MBR partition table. This means that primary volumes have numbers 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4 (a disk cannot have more than four primary volumes); logical volume numbers start with 1-5. If this parameter is not specified, consecutive volume numbering must be used.
/partition:- Specifies the volumes to include into the image file. Volume numbers are specified as -, for example: /partition:1-1,1-2,3-1 See also the /oss_numbers parameter. To view the list of available volumes, use the /list command. /raw Use this parameter to create an image of a volume with an unrecognized or unsupported file system, or of a disk that contains such volume.
/restore_bootable: deploying a volume (when deploying a disk, MBR is always deployed): auto: Deploy the MBR only when deploying an active volume that contains an operating system. Use this setting to ensure that the operating system can boot. on: Deploy the MBR when deploying any active volume, no matter whether the volume contains an operating system or not. off: Do not deploy the MBR.
/patching_sid Generates a unique security identifier (SID) for the target machine. Without this parameter, the target machine will have the same SID as the master machine. /ud_path: /ud_username: /ud_password: Specifies using Acronis Universal Deploy, the path to the drivers storage (in a network folder), and the user name and password to access the folder.
/filename: Displays the image content. When listing image content, volume numbers may not coincide with those in the list of disks and volumes if the image does not contain all the volumes. For example, if the image contains only volumes 2-3 and 2-5, they will be listed as 2-1 and 2-2. If the deploy /partition command cannot find a volume in the image by its physical number, use the list command to obtain the volume number in the image.
14.1.4 Usage examples Example 1. The following command creates an image arc.tib of hard disk 1, and places the image to the network folder \\server1\folder. The operation log file log1.log is saved in another network folder: \\server2\dir\. Credentials for both network folders are provided: asdcmd /create /harddisk:1 /filename:\\server1\folder\arc.tib /net_user:user1 /net_password:pw1 /log:\\server2\dir\log1.log /log_net_user:user2 /log_net_password:pw2 Example 2.
Sample script setlocal SET IMG_PATH=\\image_server\images SET TMP_DRV_LETTER=h: net use %TMP_DRV_LETTER% %IMG_PATH% echo off for /f "tokens=1-13 delims= " %%a in ('ipconfig /all') do ( IF %%a EQU Physical ( for /f "tokens=1-3 delims= " %%a in ('echo %%l') do ( IF EXIST %TMP_DRV_LETTER%\%%a.tib ( echo DEPLOYMENT IMAGE file: %%a.tib asdcmd.exe /deploy /filename:%TMP_DRV_LETTER%\%%a.tib /harddisk:1 /target_partition:c goto end ) ELSE ( echo THE IMAGE FILE %IMG_PATH%\%%a.
Sample script setlocal SET IMG_PATH=\\image_server\images SET TMP_DRV_LETTER=h: net use %TMP_DRV_LETTER% %IMG_PATH% echo off for /f "tokens=1-13 delims= " %%a in ('ipconfig /all') do ( IF %%a EQU Physical ( for /f "tokens=1-3 delims= " %%a in ('echo %%l') do ( echo IMAGE FILE: %%a.tib asdcmd.exe /create /filename:%TMP_DRV_LETTER%\%%a.
15 Collecting system information The Acronis System Report tool collects information about a machine and saves this information to a file. You may want to provide this file when contacting Acronis technical support. The tool is available: On a machine where Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Management Console is installed. The tool collects information about that machine. Under an Acronis bootable media.
