Deployment Solution

We are currently trying to get NS 7.1 Deployment to take over imaging from our current DS 6.9 environment. We have gone through and set up our Site Servers with the Deployment Site Server Plugin and made sure they have all checked in and received the update along with running the Sample DS jobs from another post to make all the SBS services start up automatically with the correct dependency checks.

We have created a Preboot Environment and made sure the Site Server for our test has received the \\SITESERVER\Deployment\Task Handler\SBS\Images\PEx86Install folder/files. We have manually pressed F8 and booted into the WinPE environment as a test, however, we cannot seem to get things figured out on how to create a test job/task that will force a machine that is already known to the NS into WinPE (pic1).

Coming from DS 6.9 we're used to suppling the Machine Name and MAC Address to DS and assigning the WinPE image job that will push a client into imaging. In our test the computer name/mac address/etc are already in NS (pic2) but it doesn't seem to work. Even though the machine is known to the NS do we still have to explicitly put it into the Predefined Computers section of Deployment And Migration as if it was a new machine to NS?

Pic1

Pic2

When you assign a Reboot To task to a known system, an SBS file is created on the site server to tell the server that system x is booting to automation.  That updates the PXE server service to know what to do with your client system.

You can verify that this file gets created by looking at the SBS Store folder within a minute or less after assigning the job.

The catch?  Well, be sure you're booting to the right PXE server.  If you have a Site Server, then you have at least 2 task servers: your Site Server and the NS.  The SBS file is sent to the Task Server to which your client is used to checking into, not to both!  If you don't see the SBS file on one of the servers, check the other.

If what I've just said confuses you, you might like a quick review of the DS 7.1 Architecture and Dataflow document posted both in Connect and in the KB.  It talks about these files.  You can find them in the \\server\deployment\task handlers\SBS\SBSStore folders.  IF they're in the SBS folder, then the services aren't working.  Anyway...

If the SBS file is getting to the wrong "PXE" server, then we'll need to modify the query that tells us which PXE server to send the file to using TECH133468 found here:

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH133468

For small-midsized organizations and single NS's under say 15K nodes, I'd recommend the full envirnoment script.

Anyway, see if the above info helps at all.  GL!

I will verify the file paths on monday once I'm back to work. During our testing I did verify that during the PXE boot the server shown was the correct Site Server (or at least the one we expected it to get) but it wanted to continue to boot up to the OS. So on Monday I will try to verify that the site server we are expecting is showing the file for the machine.