Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005. All rights reserved. Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners. Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT BY ACCEPTING, YOU (ORIGINAL PURCHASER) INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO ACCEPT THE PRODUCT UNDER THESE TERMS, YOU MAY CHOOSE NOT TO ACCEPT BY SELECTING "I decline..." AND NOT INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE. Acronis Snap Deploy (the software) is protected by copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2005. All rights are reserved. The original purchaser is granted a license to use the software only, subject to the following restrictions and limitations.
Table of Contents Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 1. 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. KEY FEATURES ....................................................................................................................................... 6 ACRONIS SNAP DEPLOY ARCHITECTURE.................................................................................................
Table of Contents 5.1.6 Network settings .............................................................................................................................. 41 5.1.7 DNS settings .................................................................................................................................... 42 5.1.8 Change security identifiers .............................................................................................................. 43 5.1.9 Transferring files ............
General information Chapter 1. General information Acronis Snap Deploy is a comprehensive solution designed for simultaneous remote deployment of a fully configured operating system with application software to target PCs over a network from a previously created image file. Acronis Snap Deploy also provides configuration management tools to configure system settings, manage files, and execute applications on systems throughout the network.
General information Master image creation Master images checking Logs viewing Remote PXE Server management File management on a remote PC Application execution on a remote PC Installing Acronis components to a remote computer (requires appropriate access rights) User-friendly Windows XP-like interface with full mouse support Comprehensive wizards simplify even the most complex operations Support a variety of IDE, SCSI, USB and PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) storage media
General information 1. Create a master PC configuration, including the operating system, applications and settings. 2. Create a master image and save it using Acronis Master Image Creator. 3. Create bootable media with Acronis Snap Deploy Agent or install and configure Acronis PXE Server. 4. Boot the target PCs with the bootable media or with PXE. 5.
Installation and operation Chapter 2. Installation and operation 2.1 System requirements For Acronis Snap Deploy components installation: Pentium processor or higher 128MB RAM keyboard mouse (recommended) PXE support Floppy disk drive, CD-R/RW drive or another drive (USB hard drive, Zip drive, Flash drive etc.
Installation and operation Reiser4 Linux SWAP XFS JFS Supported media Acronis Snap Deploy supports any local, network and removable media, including: 2.4 Local and networked hard drives IDE and SCSI RAID controllers of any level CD-R/RW drives DVD+R/RW, DVD-RW (DVD burning software required) USB and FireWire (IEEE-1394) storage devices Magneto-optical media, Iomega ZIP/Jaz, etc.
Installation and operation Snap Deploy Management Agent and Acronis License Server) on one PC or each component on a separate networked computer. Before installing other Acronis components, you need to install the Acronis License Server and import license serial numbers to it (see section 2.8 of this Guide). The installation procedure may differ from the one described below, depending on the component. To install an Acronis Snap Deploy component: 1. Run AcronisSnapDeploy.exe. 2.
Installation and operation 2.7 Acronis Snap Deploy components extraction Advanced users may save the files needed for the installation of Acronis Snap Deploy components on a local or network drive for the further manual installation of the program. To do this, the following steps are necessary: 1. Run AcronisSnapDeploy.exe file 2. In the Install Menu, click the right mouse button on the program and select the setup file you want to extract 3. In the context menu, select Extract item 4.
Installation and operation where: computername – name of the computer with Acronis License Server installed serial – license serial number For example: LicenseServerCmdLine --import MyServer NL6ER-HDVVY-2ZJ27RRMMH-AH7Q7 LicenseServerCmdLine.exe commands reference LicenseServerCmdLine.exe uses the following syntax: LicenseServerCmdLine [option] [parameter1] [parameter2]LicenseServerCmdLine.
Installation and operation You can run Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console by clicking Start → All programs → Acronis → Snap Deploy → Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console. 2.11 Components modification You can modify features of the installed components. To customize component features, 1. Run AcronisSnapDeploy.exe. 2. In the Install Menu, click on the component you are about to customize. 3. Click Modify in the Modify, Repair or Remove Installation window. Figure 2.
Installation and operation Figure 3. Custom setup 5. Click Next to apply changes. 2.12 Repairing components During maintenance periods, you may need to repair (or restore) Acronis Snap Deploy components. To repair a component: 1. Run AcronisSnapDeploy.exe. 2. In the Install Menu, click on the component you want to repair. 3. Click Repair in the Modify, Repair or Remove Installation window. 2.13 Removing components You can remove any Acronis Snap Deploy component separately.
Installation and operation 2.14 Technical support Users that have legally purchased and registered their copy of Acronis Snap Deploy will receive free e-mail technical support from Acronis. If you have problems installing or using the system that you cannot resolve with the help of this guide, please e-mail technical support. You will also need to provide the registration number of your Acronis Snap Deploy supplied with this package. Support URL: http://www.acronis.com/support/ E-mail: support@acronis.
Pre-deployment operations Chapter 3. Using Acronis Snap Management Console 3.1 Deploy Key features Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console is the primary administrative tool for Acronis OS Deploy Server, Acronis PXE Server and remote computers. It also allows you to create and check master images on remote PCs.
Using Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console 3.2 Connecting to a remote computer With Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console, you can establish connection with remote computers to perform management operations. To perform certain operation you should be connected to proper computer, for example: To manage deployment, you need to connect to a computer with Acronis OS Deploy Server installed. To manage Acronis OS Deploy Server, you must be a member of the Administrators or Power Users groups.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 5. Establishing connection with a remote PC You can disconnect from a remote PC after accomplishing all necessary operations. Click on Disconnect in the Remote Management sidebar. 3.3 Installing Acronis components on a remote PC Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console allows you to install Acronis components onto remote computers located in a corporate network.
Using Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console Figure 6. Remote installation of Acronis components You can remotely install Acronis components only onto machines working under Windows NT/2000/XP (including server versions). Windows 98/Me machines will require local installation of Acronis components. If the remote PC runs under Windows XP, make sure the option Use simple file sharing in the Control panel → Folder options → View is disabled before the remote installation starts.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 7. Log viewer The log window has two panels: log entries are listed on the left while selected log content is on the right. The left panel can contain up to 50 lines. If there are more, you can browse the list using the Prev message and Next message buttons. To delete an obsolete log entry, select it and click Delete selected log entry. If any operation stage finished with an error, this entry will be marked with a red circle with a white cross inside.
Pre-deployment operations Chapter 4. Pre-deployment operations Before deployment, you have to prepare the master PC and target computers. You will need to do the following: 1. Create image of master computer. Full information on master image creation can be found in section 4.1 of this Guide. 2. Prepare target computers for deployment – create bootable media or configure Acronis PXE server to boot up target computers. For more information on initial setup and bootup PCs see Section 4.5 of this Guide.
Pre-deployment operations 4.1.2. Running Acronis Master Image Creator Acronis Master Image Creator allows you to create master image both on local (with bootable version of the Acronis Master Image Creator) and remote computer (with Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent installed). Acronis Snap Deploy also works with images created in Acronis True Image.
Pre-deployment operations If you chose Create master image on a remote computer in the next window you should connect to master computer. Please, note that Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent must be installed on a remote computer to perform a master image creation. Further steps of master image creation on a remote PC are the same as for image creation on a local machine (see section 4.1.3 for details).
Pre-deployment operations Figure 10. Selecting disks Having selected disks, click Next. Note that this button is disabled if no disks are selected. 4.1.4. Selecting image location You can keep an image file on the remote computer, any other networked PC or on removable media. But we recommend you to keep master images on the computer with Acronis OS Deploy Server installed. It minimizes network traffic during deployment.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 11. Selecting Image location You can store several disks in a single file, but you can't append images to a file. 4.1.5. Selecting image file size With this step, you can specify if the program should create a single file or split it into equal smaller images. If you select Automatic, Acronis Master Image Creator will try to decide this for every particular case. If there's enough space on the selected disk, the program will create a single image file.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 12. Image file size selection If you work with removable media, the size of a file of an image is set automatically. FAT16 and FAT32 file systems have a limit for file sizes. The FAT16 limit is 2GB, while FAT32 is 4GB. Existing hard drives have capacities of 160GB and above! Therefore, an image file might easily exceed this limit. In this case, Acronis Master Image Creator will automatically split the image into several files.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 13. Image data compression level selection The optimal data compression level depends on disk file types and can only be understood empirically. Usually, it is recommended that you leave the switch in the Normal position. If you need to burn an image to removable media, you can select Maximum compression. 4.1.7.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 14. Image Archive Comments The more details that are provided, the less the risk you run of using the wrong image during deployment or making some other mistake. 4.1.8. Image creation script In the next window, you will see a disk(s) image creation script containing a list of briefly described operations to be performed. Figure 15. Image creation script All operations of a disk image creation in an archive file are delayed in Acronis Master Image Creator.
Pre-deployment operations After you click Proceed, Acronis Master Image Creator will start creating an image indicating the progress in the special window. You can stop this procedure by clicking Cancel. Figure 16. Image creation progress If you are to write an image to removable media, be sure to number the media. 4.2. Checking master images To be assured that your images are not damaged, you can check their integrity. To do this: 1. Select Check master image in the Management console main window. 2.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 17. Image Archive Selection 5. Click Proceed to continue. The checking progress will be indicated in the new window. You can cancel checking by clicking Cancel. After checking is complete, you will see the results window. 4.3. Creating bootable media with Acronis Snap Deploy Agent Using the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console, you can create bootable media with the Acronis Snap Deploy Agent and use it for target computers bootup.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 18. Media type 4.4. Bootable disks creation Using the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console, you can write Acronis products (Acronis Snap Deploy Agent and Acronis Master Image Creator) directly to removable media for remote computers bootup. Removable media with Acronis Snap Deploy Agent boots up target computers for deployment preparation.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 19. Bootable Media selection window 3. Bootable Media Builder Wizard welcome screen will appear. Click Next to continue. 4. Select a drive and then click Next. Figure 20. Drive selection 5. Press Proceed to create bootable media. 4.5. Initial setup and bootup The next deployment preparation step is initial setup and bootup of PCs. 1. Boot mode. A. If you are going to boot from bootable media, insert one in the appropriate drive. B.
Pre-deployment operations Load Acronis Snap Deploy Agent on the target PCs. Figure 21. Boot menu 4.6. Configuring Acronis PXE Server Acronis PXE Server allows you to boot computers with Acronis Snap Deploy Agent and Acronis Master Image Creator, so you do not have to create bootable media. Network computers must have PXE support to use Acronis PXE Server. Acronis Snap Deploy Agent boots up target PCs to establish connection with Acronis OS Deploy Server for the deployment process.
Pre-deployment operations Figure 22. Update PXE Server 6. In the next window you will see the server configuration script, containing a list of products that will be uploaded/removed. Click Proceed to update Acronis PXE Server. Copyright © Acronis, Inc.
Deployment Chapter 5. Deployment 5.1 Managing deployment With Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console, you can remotely manage simultaneous deployment of master image on target PCs. Some steps of the deployment procedure may differ from those described below, depending on the operating system. To prepare for deployment 1. Boot the target PCs from bootable media or PXE. 2. Click on Manage deployment item in the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console main window. 3.
Deployment Figure 24. Target computers selection window 5.1.2 Selecting template mode Template includes all deployment options (master image to create, user accounts, network settings etc.). Once you have created a deployment template, you can use it in the future and skip all the steps of the deployment procedure. You can create a new deployment template or use the existing one.
Deployment Figure 25. Template Selection If you already have templates and want to use one of them: 1. Choose Select the existing template and click Next. 2. Then select a template in the Choose Template window and click Next. Figure 26. Choose template window Also, you can modify all settings of the existing template by checking Modify existing template. 3. Acronis Snap Deploy will ask you to change computer name (and IP addresses if they were set manually) for target computers.
Deployment information on computer name and IP settings, see 5.1.5 and 5.1.6 of this guide. 5.1.3 Selecting a master image to deploy In the Image Selection window, select the master image you want to deploy, then click Next. Figure 27. Image selection 5.1.4 Adding user information You can manage user accounts on target computers (create user accounts on target computers and add them to one of the following groups: Administrators, Power Users and Users). To add user account: 1.
Deployment Figure 28. User information To delete selected account click on Remove user button. 5.1.5 Computer name In this step, you can specify name and membership of target computers. Windows uses that information to identify computers on the network. To generate unique names for target computers use wild card {start[,count]}, where start – first given numeral value and count (optional) - last numeral.
Deployment count1 (4)– increasing quantity of second figures (…5, …6, …7, …8)Then select the membership of target PCs: Domain -- select this option and type domain name, if target PCs are to join domain membership. You must have administrator rights to set the domain membership. Workgroup -- select this option and type the workgroup’s name if target PCs are to join a workgroup. Figure 29. Computer name Click Next to continue.
Deployment o Default Gateway -- IP address of the default gateway Do not change the network settings -- select this parameter if you are planning to use IP settings from a previously selected master image. If you have selected this parameter, skip section 5.1.7 and proceed to Section 5.1.8 of this guide. Figure 30. Network settings Click Next to continue. 5.1.
Deployment Figure 31. DNS settings 5.1.8 Change security identifiers You can change security identifiers on target computers. The security identifier (SID) is a data structure of variable length that identifies user, group and computer accounts. Every account on a network is issued a unique SID when the account is created. Internal processes in Windows refer to an account's SID rather than its user or group name. Check Change Security IDs to make SIDs on target computers unique. Figure 32.
Deployment 5.1.9 Transferring files You can select files, which will be transferred to all target computers after deployment (for example, installation files). To add files for transfer: 1. Click Add button. Settings window will appear. 2. In the Source field, click … to select file. 3. In the Destination field, click … to specify file location on remote computers. 4. Check Execute file if you want to execute transferred file after deployment. 5. Specify parameters of executing in the Parameters field. 6.
Deployment Figure 34. Executing applications To remove file from executing list, select it, then click on Remove button. 5.1.11 Providing comments On the wizard page Template Comments, you’ll be able to provide the template with a comment that can include any information on the deployment procedure. Figure 35. Deployment template comments The more details that you include, the lower the risk that you’ll use the wrong deployment template or make some other mistake. Copyright © Acronis, Inc.
Deployment 5.1.12 Deployment options You can choose the data transfer mode for the deployment. With the Multicast transfer mode, a server sends data to a group of recipients simultaneously. Using the Unicast transfer mode, the server sends a copy of the data to each recipient (so it can significantly reduce the deployment speed).
Deployment You can save the template you have just created by checking Save the template. Figure 37. Deployment script Click Proceed to start the deployment. Copyright © Acronis, Inc.
Remote management operations 5.2 Managing templates With Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console, you can manage deployment templates (create and save new templates, edit or delete existing ones) without launching the deployment process. All deployment templates you have saved are stored on the Acronis OS Deploy Server, so you have to establish connection with OS Deploy Server to manage them. All existing templates are listed in the Templates tab of the Management Console window. Figure 38.
Remote management operations Chapter 6. Remote management operations 6.1 File management on a remote PC Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console allows you to manage files and folders on a remote PC. You can create and edit text files (for example batch files or scripts), copy files/folders to the clipboard, paste them, or rename and delete files/folders. Acronis Snap Deploy Agent must be installed on a remote PC to perform file management operations.
Remote management operations 1. Select a directory where you want to create a folder and click on the Create new folder button. 2. Enter a file name in the New folder window and click OK. Copy file/folder to clipboard Select a file/folder you want to copy to the clipboard and click on the Copy button. Also, you can copy files/folders from the remote PC and paste them to your local machine and vice versa.
Remote management operations 6.2 Executing applications on a remote PC Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console allows you to execute service applications (for example, configuration files, scripts, etc.) on a remote PC by creating scheduled tasks. The scheduled task contains the application to execute and periodicity of the execution. Acronis Snap Deploy Agent must be installed on a remote PC to perform applications execution. 6.2.
Remote management operations Figure 41. Start parameters Do not start automatically -- a task will not be executed. You can select this variant to leave it disabled. Daily -- a task will be executed daily at the specified time (selected on the next step). Weekly -- a task will be executed weekly or in some weeks at the specified time and day (selected on the next step). Monthly -- a task will be executed monthly at the specified time and day (selected on the next step).
Remote management operations • Weekdays • Every x days -- once in several days (specify the interval) Figure 42. Daily parameters Even if the computer is turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, you can execute the task later. To do this, check the parameter If the computer was turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, the system will perform the task the next time it is restarted. In this case, the task will be executed at the nearest startup.
Remote management operations Figure 43. Weekly parameters Specify periodicity in the Every x weeks (each week, in a week, etc.) Check weekdays to execute the task on. Even if the computer is turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, you can execute the task later. To do this, check the parameter If the computer was turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, the system will perform the task the next time it is restarted.
Remote management operations Figure 44. Monthly parameters Even if the computer is turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, you can execute the task later. To do this, check the parameter If the computer was turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, the system will perform the task the next time it is restarted. Setting up one time execution If you select one-time execution, you will have to specify some additional parameters. First, the Start time (hours and minutes).
Remote management operations Figure 45. One time parameters Even if the computer is turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, you can execute the task later. To do this, check the parameter If the computer was turned off at the time when the task was scheduled to run, the system will perform the task the next time it is restarted. Entering user name You will have to specify the name of the user who owns the executed task, otherwise no scheduled execution would be available. Figure 46.
Remote management operations Task scheduled successfully You have finished scheduling a task. The wizard will again remind you of the details of the task provided. To close the wizard and return to the main window, click Finish. The task created will be named New task. You can rename it if you wish. 6.2.2 Managing scheduled tasks If you select a task in the Active Tasks window, the following buttons in the toolbar will be enabled: Execute now allows you to execute the selected task immediately.
