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Deploying Operating Systems by Using System Center Configuration Manager

Operating system deployment provides the System Center Configuration Manager administrator the tools needed for creating images that may be deployed to computers managed by System Center Configuration Manager and to unmanaged computers using bootable media such as CD set or DVD. The image, in a Windows Imaging Format (WIM) file, contains the desired version of a Microsoft Windows operating system and can include any applications that need to be installed on the computer.

One of the largest focus areas for System Center Configuration Manager is its operating system deployment functionality. System Center Configuration Manager has been designed to be the primary means to deploy operating systems for both server and client platforms. It builds upon the best features from the SMS 2003 OSD Feature Pack to enhance the way operating system deployments are managed.

Another important deployment feature in System Center Configuration Manager is the integrated Task Sequencer. While many similarities exist between BDD 2007 and System Center Configuration Manager, one major difference exists: Administrators no longer need to write scripts for deploying or capturing operating system images. Additionally, by taking advantage of the Task Sequencer, the operating system deployment process becomes completely hands-off. For further operating system deployment and Task Sequencer guidance, see Overview of Operating System Deployment at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb694101.aspx.

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Deploy Operating System Images to a Computer Deploy Operating System Images to a Computer
Deploy an Operating System Image to a New Computer Using Boot Media Deploy an Operating System Image to a New Computer Using Boot Media
Deploy an Operating System Image to an Offline Computer Deploy an Operating System Image to an Offline Computer
Create Stand-Alone Media Create Stand-Alone Media
Create a Computer Association for a Side-by-Side Migration Create a Computer Association for a Side-by-Side Migration
Initiate Operating System Image Deployments Using PXE Initiate Operating System Image Deployments Using PXE

Deploy Operating System Images to a Computer

Use this procedure to deploy an operating system image to a target computer. When the team deploys an operating system, the target computer should have the same architecture as the boot image that is contained in the operating system image. To complete the operating system deployment successfully, team members must also create a System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) directory on the reference computer hard disk. For specific guidance, see How to Deploy Operating System Images to a Computer at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632559.aspx.

Deploy an Operating System Image to a New Computer Using Boot Media

Use System Center Configuration Manager to deploy an operating system image to a new computer or a computer that is new to the System Center Configuration Manager site. For specific guidance, see How to Deploy an Operating System Image to a New Computer Using Boot Media at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb694215.aspx.

Deploy an Operating System Image to an Offline Computer

Team members may need to deploy an operating system to a computer that is not connected to the network or to a computer that is connected by a low-bandwidth connection. Use System Center Configuration Manager to create offline installation media that perform the installation. For specific guidance, see How to Deploy an Operating System Image to an Offline Computer at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb681017.aspx.

Create Stand-Alone Media

Create stand-alone media from which to run an operating system image deployment. The stand-alone media will contain all necessary data to run the specified operating system deployment task sequences without requiring a connection to a System Center Configuration Manager site. Stand-alone media will operate regardless of whether a System Center Configuration Manager client is installed on the target computer, and they will operate without communicating with a System Center Configuration Manager server infrastructure, such as a management point or distribution point. For specific guidance, see How to Create Stand-alone Media at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632784.aspx.

Create a Computer Association for a Side-by-Side Migration

A computer association creates a relationship between a source and destination computer for the side-by-side migration of user state data. The source computer is an existing computer that is managed by System Center Configuration Manager and that contains the user state data and settings to be migrated to a specified destination computer. Team members can also create a computer association when importing new computers into the System Center Configuration Manager database by using the Import Computer Information Wizard. For specific guidance, see How to Create a Computer Association for a Side-by-Side Migration at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680730.aspx.

Initiate Operating System Image Deployments Using PXE

Use the Pre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) protocol to initiate operating system deployments to System Center Configuration Manager computers and servers. Use the following tasks to perform PXE-initiated operating system deployments:

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