Operating System Deployment in Configuration Manager

 

Updated: May 14, 2015

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1

Operating system deployment provides Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager administrative users with a tool for creating operating system images that they can deploy to computers that are managed by Configuration Manager and to unmanaged computers by using bootable media such as a CD set, DVD, or USB flash drives. The operating system image, in a Windows Imaging Format (WIM) format file, contains the required version of a Windows operating system and any line-of-business applications that have to be installed on the computer.

Operating system deployment provides the following functionality:

  • You can capture an image of the operating system that you want to deploy.

  • You can capture and restore user state by using the User State Migration Tool (USMT).

  • You can deploy the operating system image to a collection of computers.

  • You can create task sequences that perform multiple actions on a computer at the command-line level that do not require user intervention.