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Preface
Thanksto HighburyCollege for providingequipment and resourcesthatallowed
for project completion.
Eastleigh College ITservices for taking the time to allow me to havea discussion
about deployment systems used and showing what these systems look like in
real working environments.
The Academy, Selsey for taking the time to allow me to havea discussion about
the use of their deployment system.
Many thanks for Patrick Swieskowski from Ninite Pro for the provision of a
suitable length trial to fully test this software option.
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Contents
Preface........................................................................................................................................................................................3
List of figures..............................................................................................................................................................................5
Nomenclature............................................................................................................................................................................6
Abstract......................................................................................................................................................................................7
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................................................8
A review of network system deployment ............................................................................................................................9
PXE technology.....................................................................................................................................................................9
Proprietary deployment solutions.................................................................................................................................10
Open-source deployment solutions ..............................................................................................................................10
Research Methodology.........................................................................................................................................................11
Operating System solution..............................................................................................................................................11
Software solution..............................................................................................................................................................11
Artefact Design.......................................................................................................................................................................12
Required hardware for implementation..................................................................................................................14
How it changed?...........................................................................................................................................................14
System implementation........................................................................................................................................................17
WDS.....................................................................................................................................................................................17
SCCM ...................................................................................................................................................................................17
Installation of SCCM.....................................................................................................................................................17
Configuration................................................................................................................................................................18
Deployment...................................................................................................................................................................19
FOG server..........................................................................................................................................................................21
Installation of FOG Server...........................................................................................................................................21
Configuration................................................................................................................................................................22
Deployment...................................................................................................................................................................22
Software Deployment: Ninite Pro..................................................................................................................................24
Volume licensing...............................................................................................................................................................26
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................................................29
Further research.....................................................................................................................................................................30
Self-evaluation........................................................................................................................................................................31
Works Cited.............................................................................................................................................................................32
Appendix..................................................................................................................................................................................35
Section 1: Extended AD log file......................................................................................................................................35
Section 2: Ninite Pro.........................................................................................................................................................38
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List of figures
Figure 1-1: Diagram showing the process of PXE booting ................................................................ 9
Figure 2-1:Logical network design of basic network design............................................................ 12
Figure 2-2:WDS network design................................................................................................... 13
Figure 2-3:FOG Server network design......................................................................................... 13
Figure 2-4: SCCM network design ................................................................................................ 15
Figure 2-5: Re-configured FOG Server details ............................................................................... 16
Figure3-1:DHCP optionsforSCCMDeployment..…………………………………………………………………………….20
Figure 3-2: Task Sequence after successful PXE boot..................................................................... 20
Figure 3-3:FOG Server Database installer web page...................................................................... 22
Figure 3-4:Mobile interface of FOG.............................................................................................. 22
Figure 3-5:Ninite Pro remote options window.............................................................................. 26
Figure 3-6:Volume activation key options..................................................................................... 29
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Abstract
The aimof this projectisto lookat a numberof differentdeploymentssystemsthatavailable onthe
marketand the advantagesof networkdeploymentservicesintermsof operatingsystems,software
and licensing.
The project will look into the deployment technology, the options are available on the market and
analysis a selection of both propriety and open-source solutions to assess to determine what
deployments options can do for different size businesses. The areas that will be investigated are
infrastructure required, installation of the product and deployment management.
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Introduction
Technologyisnowabiggerpartof everydaylife whetherthisbe inthe home orworkenvironment.In
the business,anetworkwillhave computersonitwhichare keytoproductivity. Withthisinmind,the
installationof operatingsystemsandsoftware whenadevice needsinstallationorisbeingupgraded
using conventional means such as disc can make the full process hard to manage. This has led many
companiestouse automatedpackagesfordeploymentof operatingsystemsandsoftware,aswell as
all of the updatesthattheyrequire.Manyoperatingsystems andsoftware packagesrequirelicensing
therefore; it is also important to automate the deployment of licensing services.
This report looks to highlight the key advantages of using automated deployment services over the
conventional installation methods and the benefits which they can bring to an organisation. Along
with this recommendation will be shown as to which system or systems are best for a range of
different organisations. The key aims of this report are:
Analyse differentdeploymentsystemsforoperatingsystemdeploymentandthefeatures that
they can offer
Different software deployment systems which can provide automated deployment of
software on bothexistingdomain andbarebones computersthathave justbeeninstalledand
added to a network
Look into the use of volume licencing services for automatically activing operating systems
and software packages to reduce the need of manual activation
Develop a working demonstration of implemented network deployment systems
Give recommendationsbased of eachproductanalysedasto its place on the marketand the
types of organisation who should consider it
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A review of network system deployment
PXE technology
PXE isa methodof bootinga computerusingonlythe networkcard.It is part of a specificationthatis
designedtoreduce the total cost of ownershipof computers. Itscreatedcame afterit was identified
in the late nineties that technology was becoming more important and was essential for businesses
to be able to succeed. The aim was to allow IT professionals to have a low ownership cost through
better management of the assets on a network through being able to install, reinstall and manage
remotely (Intel,1998).The networkbootingsidethatisbeingfocusedon allowsaPXE-compatibleNIC
card to pick up a deployment software when it is connected to the network and utilise the remote
installation option of operating systems that is provided (Oracle, 2015).
While it may have be licensed by Intel, it is actually an open-source standard. The technology is
designedtobe vendor-independentwhichmeansthatitworksonanycomputerassumingithasa NIC
that allowsPXEbooting. The majorityof networkcardsthatwere made inthe lastfive yearsnormally
have these compatibility built in if they are made by the major hardware makers.
The PXE process is relatively simple in what it uses in terms of the protocols and what it requiresto
work. It requires in its most basic format: DHCP, TFTP and a Boot Image File (NBP). DHCP is usedto
identifydevicesonthe networkincludingthe TFTPwhichgivesthe NBPtothe client.Figure 1-1shows
how the process works roughly.
As a result of this technology being aroundfor as long as it has and it being adopted by some of the
largercompanies,there isarange of deploymentsoftware comesthathasbeencreatedwithdifferent
featuresfora differentrange of businesssizes.There are some that are designedtodo one function
onlysuchasapplicationdeploymentorOSdeploymentwhileothersofferamanagementconsole that
has multiple functions built in. There is also a mixture of proprietary and open-source imaging
software whichallowsitnottobe justlarge organisationsbutawideraudiencewhowouldotherwise
be restricted to having to use conventional means.
PXE-enabled NIC senda a
DHCP Discover broadcast
message to pick up the
DHCP on the network
DHCP server sends back all
the usual IP information
and points the NIC to
where the TFTP server is
and the boot image is
The PXE-clientuses the
TFTP information to
contact itand ask for the
boot image (NBP)
TFTP server sends the client
that requested the boot
image and it is launched on
the client.
The clientcan now access
the deployment software
and actions can be taken
over the network e.g.
installion of an OS
Figure 1-1 (Intel, 1999)
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Proprietary deployment solutions
Proprietary software isownedbya specificcompanyor personwhich has restrictionsplacedonit in
terms of its usage, changes that can be made to the software and distribution. When it comes to
costing,itmay be a licensedproductthatispurchasedor may have an agreementthatallowsittobe
free. It can be both paid for and free deployment solutions.
Open-source deployment solutions
Open-source is used to describe deployment toolsthat have the ability to be altered not just by the
creators but also the general public.Itis not restrictedin whatprogram code can be changedto like
proprietarythathasasetcode thatcanbe altereduptoacertainpointthenitisnotallowed. Whereas
most commercial productsare closedsource,opensource products allow developersmore freedom
to customise functionality to their needs.
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Research Methodology
Operating System solution
For the OSdeployment,alarge range of softwarewaslookedatandwasonlydeemedviableif itmeet
a number of different constraints which are as follows:
The supported operating systems should includeWindows7 and 8
This was a necessary constraint due to the fact that 75% of the OS market uses these platforms and
legacy system such as Windows XP are quickly becoming replaced with these newer versions due to
Microsoftpullingofficialsupportandapplicationsnolongerbeingbuiltforthese oldersystems. While
other systems such as Linux and OSX holds a small market share, this will be looked at in a more
theoretical senseratherthanactuallyimplementingdue totheamountof Linuxdistributionsavailable
and the propriety server software that OSX needs to run all the relevant servicesfor deployment
(Statista, 2015)
There had to bePXE-capabilitieswhen itcameto deploymentoptions
Since the aim of the project was to look at network deployment using PXE technology, if it doesn’t
have this capability then it isn’t suitable for use in this project.
Centralmanagementavailable
Whetheritbe throughacommandpromptwindows,aconsole onthe systemitselforawebinterface,
this requirement allows monitoring to take place and testing to be completed to determine the
success of deployments.
Flexibility
An organisation may not have all the same requirements for every user. A system should be able to
deploy a mixture of different images and there needs to the capacity to expand the amount of
deployment.
There were anumberof differentprogramsthatwere eliminatedasthe above constraintscouldn’tbe
meet which included Acronis snap deploy and Clonezilla. Acronis snap deploywas unsuitable due to
the fact that the licensing method was very complex (Kb.acronis.com, 2015). With Clonezilla, it was
foundwhile itwassuitable tohave PXEserver butitseemstobe aimedatmore usersthatwantto do
imagingeveryonce inawhilewithone imageforall machines ratherthanonaregularbasis andthere
are some known issues such as MBR record corruption on windows systems when imaging.
As a resultof thisresearch,the chosenOSdeploymentsoftware isFOGserverandWDS serverasit is
representative of productsthat are scalable andlooksinto bothopensource and proprietysoftware
to get an overview of options.
Software solution
For the software deployment,itwaskeyto lookat what programswere mostcommonlyinstalledon
the majority of computers and determine from thisresearch; the programs that would be usedas a
result to test the distributionof applicationson a network. As a result, the installationwas going to
focus on the common applications divided into:
Runtime and background programs such as.net framework
Office suites such as Microsoft Office
Other document tools such as PDF readers
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As a result of this research, the chosen Software are Ninite Pro and Group policy. These represent a
subscription based service and a tool that can be used within a domain network at no cost to
demonstrate the implementation.
Artefact Design
Whenit came to howthe artefact wouldbe configuredtoprovide all the necessaryservicesrequired
for the utilisationof the PXE booting method to be able to achieve the aim of creating a working
deploymentservice,the basicsetup isshowninfigure2.2of the requirementsonthe clientandserver
side on a network.The clientside isdepictingthe computersthat will be deployedwhile the servers
depict the background infrastructure that is in place to enable the distribution. While it shows two
devices,itisn’tthe definitive amountthat may be found ina network dependingon the solution and
size of the company.
Figure 2-1
Whencreatingthe designsforthe OS deploymentsoftware thatwasbeingused,figure 2.1 was used
as a template to define the rough structure for the network infrastructure. Figure 2-2 shows the
configuration of the WDS server and figure 2-3 FOG server when it was applied and additional
information thatwasaddedto aidthe configurationof the servers.ThisincludedIPaddressingof the
network, what needed to be installed on what machine and computer name.
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While volume licensingispartof thisproject,thiscouldn’tbe implementedinthe testdeploymentas
an active licensingaccount isneededforreal wordtestingandtoverify validityof key butthiswasn’t
available.Alsothe domainwasn’tconnectedtothe internetdue toconflictingDHCPserversbeingan
issue when the college network was being used for internet access.
Required hardware for implementation
The minimumhardware requirementsforbe able tocomplete the aimof creatinga demonstration
model are showintable 2.1
Table 2.1
Resource Purpose What it needs?
Laptop Forremote managementof the
servers and accessing the
distribution software
NIC port
Remote desktop
services
3 clientmachines To be used as distribution
clients for the operating
systems and clients.
PXE-compatible NIC
Blank Hard drive for
the deployed OS and
applications
2 servers To be used as a base for
distribution software to be
installed on and for the
network infrastructure
NIC
Hard drive for OS
installation
Suitable amount of
RAM to support the
required applications
Switch To be used to connect all the
machines for creation of a
network
Atleast8portstoallow
the required 6 devices
to be able to connect
and access required
resources on the
network
WindowsServer Be used as a base for WDS
distribution system and
providing other network
services e.g. DHCP/DNS
Server 2012 R2 as this
supports newer OS’s
e.g. Windows 8.1
FOG serversoftware FOG serverdistribution
software
Version1.2.0
CentOS The operatingsystemonthe
FOG serversoftware will be
installedon.
Compatible version for
FOG software thatis
beingused
How it changed?
There were a number of changes to the actual configuration required to cope with modifications in
terms of the hardware available, software used and how it needed to be implemented.
Originally physical hosts were going to be used for the clientsbut there were no suitable computers
thatsuitedthispurpose.Togetaroundthisissue,adesktopcomputerwasusedinsteadtohostvirtual
machines running off a virtual machine platform that would be the clients. There was all the
capabilities that were needed such as PXE boot, hard drive space but it had the benefit that more
hosts could be created as the amount of deployments wasn’t restricted to the amount of physical
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machines. It did mean that any quantitative data that was obtained such as bandwidth being used
wouldn’t simulate real world scenarios as all the data was going through one NIC.
InitiallyFOGserverandWDSserverweregoingtobe usedastheOSdeploymenttoolsbutthischanged
after Eastleigh College due the introduction to a management system for network pcs calledSCCM.
Thisrequiredaredesignof the networkasthe machine thatcouldhavebeenusedasaSCCMmachine
was now had virtual machines on it and this new software needed a separate computer due to the
hardware requirements of the deploymentsoftware.Due tothe restrictionstohavingtouse apcthat
is running less than the requirement for SCCM, no numerical data will be recordedas it wouldn’t be
realistic data.
Since it utilises WDS deployment capabilities through its management console, there was no point
doingthissystemanymoresoitwasreplaced withSCCMOSdistribution.Suitablehardwarewasfound
forthissoftware. Figurex-xshowsthenetworkconfigurationplanthatwascreatedforuse tointegrate
into a network when it replaced WDS.
Figure 2--2
Fog server was going to be on its own separate network which didn’t have an ad connection which
meantthat AD integrationcouldn’tbe lookedat until the systemswere imaged. Thisisfollowingthe
discussion at Eastleigh College as to how it was configured here as figure 2-5 shows the IP settings
were changed to IP address: 192.168.1.95 and the subnet used being 192.168.1.0 subnet instead.
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Figure 2--3
When deciding on the areas to analyse, the chosen software was going to be looked at from the
following aspects:
Installation of the productandnetwork integration
Installation of the operating system that is used as a base OS of Linux or Microsoft
Network implementation which is the requirements to either integrate into the current
network infrastructure or creating the network setup if starting from the ground up
Product installation
The actual install of the product that will be used for the deployment through activating a
feature already built in or an external source.
Configuration thatneedstobe done tothe productandanychangesnecessarytothe existing
network post-installation
Testingoutthat the product isworkingas it shouldbe and resolvinganyissuesthatcome up
as a result including where support can be found.
Deploymentof the OS or software
The management method that is usedwith the software whether it be a console, web page
or other types of windows.
Methods that it uses for image deployment
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System implementation
WDS
In Microsoft Server 2000, it utilised the new PXE booting method to allow operating systems and
software to be packaged together and installed using a network. This feature was called Remote
Installation Service (RIS) which was built into the operating system itself and was simply installed
through the server configuration window. With the next version of the server software releasedin
2003, it came with RIS but when service pack 1 came out, it was replaced with an alternative called
WDS (Miller,2015).Asnewerversionshave beenreleased,ithasbeenaddingsupport forcurrentand
future systems which at the moment are Windows 7, 8 and 10. While legacy systems such as XP are
still supported, it is slowly being phased out.
For a WDS serverto be installedona network,the serverhas to be firstjoinedto the domain which
hasa fewaspectsalreadyinplace.These requirementsare anetworkinfrastructure thathasAD,DHCP
and DNS. Since the installation of active directory automatically promptsthe installation of the DNS
role so this would normally be installed together. The installation is done through the server
management window throughthe add rolesand features which the majority of users are familiar of
the server side software with due to the fact that the majority of other services such as DHCP are
installed through this method.
There are two differentfilesthatcan be deployedusing WDSwhichare WIM and VHD. A WIMis the
file that is used to install windows through a disc or other media. A VHD is a virtual disk image that
can be installedwiththe OSandall the requiredapplications.Whenthisformatisdeployed,itcopies
the image straightontothe computerbeingimaged.Ithas the benefitthatnoapplicationshasto be
installed if they are already available.
SCCM
SCCM is designed withthe main focus of being able to manage the deployments of OS systems and
applications all from one management console on a large network. While there is some support for
Linux operating systems, it is provides considerably more features for the Windows side. Like WDS
before it doesn’t really care what type of device it is as long as it is running Microsoft software. It
differsinone wayasitsupports mobile devices;theSurface Pro tabletrange canalsobe managedand
imaged using a special network adaptor.
Installation of SCCM
WindowsServeristhe platformthatisusedforthe SCCMinstallation. Thisprojectwillbe usingSCCM
2012 R2 due to the fact that the AD serverisServer2012 R2 and it supportsWindows8 withoutany
issues.
The installation of this deployment tool is not as simple as WDS where it is installing a role through
the server manager. With SCCM, there are a number of network steps and pre-requisites that are
requiredbefore installationof it. There shouldbe planningdone before itisimplemented due tothe
complexity of the installation. A domain admin account should be used for all of the installation to
allow the correct permissions.
The network stepsrequiredare connectingtothe servertothe domainandextendingthe ADschema.
When there is no connection to the domain and all the pre-requisites are installed, the permissions
are all configuredtoworkonthe local administratoraccountratherthanadomainadministrator.This
meansthat whenitis connectedtodomainand the SCCMsoftware is installedthatthere are a lot of
errors due to the wrong permissions. Extending the AD schema can be done before or after the
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software installationbutitis bestpractice to complete itpre-installation(Meyleret al., 2012). It is a
relativelysimpleprocessthatisdone on usingafilecalled“ExtADSCh.exe”thatislocatedonthe SCCM
install file. When this successfully run, a log is created as seen in appendix section 1.
The pre-requisites and their purpose can be seen in table 3-1.
Table 3-1
Pre-requisite Purpose
Windows Features:
Dot Net framework
WCF
Asp.net
Additional features needed for IIS to function properly
IIS Web server for application deployment
SQL Server Storing host data on a database
WDS Provides PXE for OS deployment (SCCMautomatically installs)
ADK Tool for customisable OS deployment
MDT Provides tool to create unattended install function
Withall the pre-requisites,the correctversionshave tobe usedforthe versionof SCCMthat isbeing
installed and whether it is a primary or secondary of site being installed. A primary site is a
requirement for any SCCM deployment as it is where all the installed secondary sites connect to. A
secondary site is an additional copy of the software that can be installed under the primary site to
provide load-balancing capabilities if dealing with lots of clients.
Once all the pre-requisites, the SCCMapplication can be installed. It is installedthrough file through
the “splash.hta”thatislocated inthe installfile inthemaindirectory.Itwasarelativitysimple process
split up to logical steps if you have all the required information written down such as the database
details.Allyoureallyneedtoenterinisafew detailssuchasa site code andname toidentifyitonthe
network, type of site, database details, whether https will be use and ticking a few boxes to install
features (distribution and management point).
Configuration
After the installation of SCCM, there are a number of actions that can be divided into additional
network alterations, testing functionality and setting up features.
The twonetworkchangesthatneedtobe made are configuringthe discoverysothatthe SCCMserver
isenabledtoscanthe AD andimportthe detailsdiscoveredintothe managementconsole.The SPN is
a command that maps a SQL server with an account and allows authentication for the database.
Testing functionality is done by looking at the monitoring tab of the SCCM window under the site
hierachysection. Thiscanbe usedto detectif there are anyconfigurationerrors.One sucherrorthat
was found using this process of testing was the “Awebsvc not responding” error which prompted to
restart the service but this only fixed it until a restart happened of the server. This error is a known
fault with either SCCM2012 R2 or Server 2012 R2.
The distributionpoint is the part of the software that deals with the distribution of both the OS and
software content. If the content isn’t sent to the distribution point then clients are unable to access
that content when connecting to the SCCMserver.
The processof configuringthe serverfordeploymentstartswiththe addingthe PXEfunctionwhich
islocatedon the distributionpointpropertieswindow.Once enablePXEsupportforclientsisticked,
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WDS will be installedautomaticallyandothersettings canbe definedsuchasallowingunknownPCs
to contact the PXE.
Like WDS, it usesa WinPE file whichis a cut downversionof windowsasthe bootimage that issent
to the clientfollowingarequestforit sentto the TFTP (Technet,2015).Thisisautomaticallyaddedin
when the PXE is installed on the distribution point.
Deployment
SCCMusestasksequencestocreate OSdeployments.A WIMfile isrequiredforthe selectedplatform
that is beingdistributed.Thishas to be extractedintoa folderthatis accessible onthe networkas it
has tobe importedinfromasharednetworklocation.The waytogetroundthe issue isjusttocreate
a share on a serverthat everyone hasrightsas there isno havingto setpermissionsespeciallyforit.
Once the file is imported, a copy is sent to the distribution point to make it accessible. Once this is
done, it can be used in building task sequences for deployment.
The PXE bootingisbasicallythe same whenitcomestoall systemssoitisjustmakingsure that F12 is
pressedfornetworkboot.Whenitwasfirstattempteditwasn’tpickingupthe SCCMboot,there was
no DHCP serversettingsthat toldthe clientswhere togo. This is prettyeasyto fix as it is justsetting
twodetailsinthe DHCPserverwindow. Anexampleof how thisisimplementedisshowninfigure x-4
Once those detailsare entered,the PXE shouldworkand clientsshouldbe able to contact the DHCP
server and be pointed towards the SCCMserver. If successful, this screen should appear:
Figure 3-2
Figure 3-1
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The system copes well will having more than one deployment happening simultaneously which is a
key as organisations don’t tend do one machine at time if over 1000 computers. It has a good
monitoring system that shows what is being deployed using the deployment tab on the monitoring
section. This shows what stage each machine is at and shows the error if the deployment fails. This
enables the issue to be rectified easily.
The system isn’t perfect when it comes to deployment as SCCM 2012 has an issue that means that
once one device usesthe unknowncomputerdevicesobjectandit fillsinsome of the detailssuchas
mac address whichmeansthatthe next unknownpctriestoconnectbutthePXEbootfails.The easiest
fix is to make a new unknown computer collection and change some settings as the default one
doesn’t let anything be changed.
SCCM softwareinstallation
BuiltintoSCCM, there isthe abilitytoaddsoftware installationintothe OSdeploymentbyaddingit
to the task sequence orthroughthe software centre.
OS installationtask sequence
Withinthe OSinstallationtasksequence,therecanbe additional applicationsinstalledsuchasOffice
suiteswhichare performedautomaticallywhenapc isdeployed.Thisisrelativelyeasyprocesswhen
all the applications once SCCMissetupcorrectly.
Software centre
There is a client that is available for devices on a SCCM network that allow central management
through the network. One of the features that its install is a software centre that allows a network
administratortoinstall software ontothe computerremotely. Itisavailable whenthe SCCMclientis
installed which can be installed with an OS deployment.
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FOG server
It was produced in 2007 when it was clear for the creators Chuck Syperski and Jian Zhang found a
suitable solutionwasn’tavailable onthe marketthat fittedtheirneeds (Munn,2015). Since itis built
to be based on the Linux operating systems, no cost is normally incurred with the OS licensing and
there isaflexibilityonwhatitcanbe installedon.Itcanbe runonuserfriendlyversionssuchasUbuntu
or enterprise level platforms such as Red Hat.
The hardware requirementsof the software isdesignedtobe able to run of machinesthathave 2GB
to 16GB RAM. It can be installedonanoldserverthat has beensittinginthe cornersformonths.It is
recommended that it has a minimum 40GB Hard drive space for the storage of the OS images.
Whenit comes to the necessaryinfrastructure required,aninternetconnectionisall thatis needed.
Itisflexibleinhowitcanbe setup.Initsmostbasicform, itcanbe pluggedintoaswitchandthe clients
to be imaged plugged in, this can be done as there is a built-in DHCP service that can be installed.
Installation of FOG Server
The install itselfisdone through aterminal usingafew commands. The filethatisrequiredforsetting
up can be downloaded through the FOG website or the “wget” package that allows files to be
downloaded from the web using just the path where it is located. The install package comes in a
“tar.gz” which is basically a linux zip file format. All that is required to install in the terminal is to
navigate to the bin folderwhenunzipped andrun the command“sudo ./installfog.sh”.Thislaunches
a script thathas veryeasyto followsteps.OnlydetailslikeIPaddressare neededtobe knownbefore
the install. Some steps are automatically setsuch as type of linux being used. Once the detailshave
beenset,all the pre-requisitesare downloadedandinstalledautomatically.Itisinstalledatthispoint
other than configuring the DHCP to allow it to tell the clients where to go.
There are things that can go wrong if the Linux platform usedis relativelynew. Thisis the case with
Ubuntu 14.04 when this software was first installed. In this version, it was found that the database
schemaupdate page keptcomingon everytime it wasturnedonas shownin figure 3-3.It was found
that it was caused by the fact that it was a relatively new versionand something had changed from
the previousversion (Troliver.com,2015).Accordingto the FOG website,thisversionhasaTFTPissue
andisn’tguaranteedtowork.Previousversionsof thissoftwareseemtoworksotheseshouldbe used
instead.
Figure 3-3
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Configuration
All the configuration after the initial install is done through a web page in the form of
http://IPaddressoffog/fog/management that can be logged into from any device on the network.
There is the ability to access the management through a mobile device which has limited abilities
includingbeingtodeployanimage toa hostwithouthavingtogo to the mainmanagementpage.An
example of this can be seen in figure 3-4.
Figure 3-4
In FOG management,imageshave tobe created inthe image managementsectiontoallow animage
to be uploaded or for it to be deployed. This is a simple process that is specifying the image name,
what OS system and the kind of partitions that is being used. Single or multiple partitions are the
options for Windows Os’s and Linux deployments need an Ext4 partition.
Deployment
FOG usesa capturedimagesratherthanWIMfilestodeploytocomputers.A capture image hastobe
createdfirstbut thiscan have all the software thatis requiredfora systeminstalledonit. A sysprep
should be run on the machine before it is captured so that when it joins the domain there isn’t an
issues with cloned SID’s. Only one device SID can be the same on a domain.
It is designedwhenitPXEbootsto not needany driversto be injectedasis the case sometimeswith
WDS. Thisisdue tothe factthat a lotof driversare builtintothe NBPthatissentfromthe TFTPserver
to the client.
The next step is registering a host which is done using either quick or full registration. Quick
registrationdoesn’taskwhatyouwant that hostto be calledor whatimage is goingto be usedlike it
is the case on the full version. While it may seem easier to register quickly, if multiple machines are
done at once it can complicatedandit is hard to determine whichdevice iswhich.Thisisn’tan issue
if onlyone image thatisbeingdeployedbutif twodifferentOS’sare beingdeployedthenitcanresult
in havingtofindwhat device hasa certainaddress.Once a hostis registered,animage isassignedto
it and it can either be uploaded or deployed to.
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There is Linux OS deployment support built in but from using FOG server, it is hard to get to point
where itcanbe deployedsuccessfully. Windowsdeploymentworkswellandonce thereisonecapture
image then that is all that is needed per OS.
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Software Deployment: Ninite Pro
Ninite Pro is the business version of the popular free tool that allows users to install multiple
applications at once. The pro version is a subscription based service that has premium features
provided for that cost.
When it comes to the subscription, it is a monthly contract or annual depending on the amount of
hostsusing the service.Thisis a benefittoorganisationsasit allowscompaniestoaccess the service
at the same cost regardless of how the budgeting works.
The benefit that it can offer is that it saves time when it comes to installing all the background
programs such as Dot Net Framework, Flash as the correct files are selected by the software when
these programs are selected. There is no need to go to individual sites to get all the download files
and install individually.
When it comes to the installation process, it runs off a file called “NinitePro.exe”. This is a file that
doesn’thave tobe installedonaspecificcomputerlike aserverbutshouldbe usedonapc that has a
domainadministratoraccount so that there are the accessrights that are requiredtobe installedon
the user’s machines. The tasks that can be performed are shown in table 3.2 and how each of these
processes work can be seen in appendix section 2.
Table 3.2
Task What it does
Install Installs the selected program/s
Update Updates the selected program/s
Audit Tells the user what devices the software is
installed on
Uninstall Uninstalls the program/s that are selected by
the user
The Pro versionnotonlyhasextrafunctionsoverthe free versionswhichonlyhasthe abilitytoinstall
or update pera single user. Whenthese tasksare performed overanetwork, remote options isused.
Thisprovidesthe programsto be managedto multiple devicessimultaneously throughautomatically
discoveringtheconnecteddevices ondomainandnon-domainnetworksandthe resultingscanonthe
demonstrationmodel canbe seen in figure 3-5 and the requiredactioncompleted forthe programs
selected.
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Figure 3-5
The deployment of a task mentionedintable 3-2 is all completed througha single intuitive interface
which has all tasks that can be completed available with a few simple clicks. Even the process of
selectingthe programsis easy to pick up as there are headingthat define whatitemsare below and
there is no list that has to be looked through to find what is required.
While itdoeshave alargeamountof applications,itonlyhas openofficeintermsof office applications.
Since the companies tend to use Microsoft Office suite then another software option is required to
deploy this to the network.
There was an issue internet access for the majority of the tasks to be completed. Since the college
setup didn’t have access to internet, a virtual environment was used to look into the features this
program offered. It was a simply process to adding a second interface to the virtual machine which
allowed internet access without affectingthe domain network. Another issue was that the software
trial license only lasts 7 days and this really isn’t long enough for the product to be fully reviewed.
There is the possibilitythatanextendedtrial canbe obtainedif an email wassentto the companyto
see aboutgettingalongertrial. Thisactionwastakentoensurepropertestinganda replywasreceived
back and a 60 day trial link was provided.
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Volume licensing
Volume licensingisfocusedatenterpriselevelapplications.The advantage of usingitisthatOS’s and
applicationsthatrequire alicensetobe able tofunctionproperlycanall be licensedusingthenetwork
anditiscentrallymanaged.Let’ssaythatacomputerwithastaticlicense isdecommissionedorneeds
to be reinstalled, the license hasto be obtainedoff the machine for it be usedagain if it isn’tlocked
to a particular device.
Centrally controlled licensing means that it isn’t assigned to a specific computer and there will be a
setamountof licensesthatare available foreachproductsomonitoringshouldbe usedtomake sure
that the amount of licenses is correct for the amount of devices using that product. If there isn’t
enough, it is like a DHCP pool which once it runs out of available IP addresses no more are issued.
There are a number of large organisations that have volume licensing available including Adobe and
Microsoft. Looking at Microsoft licensing as an example, it provides centralised activation for both
clientandserveroperatingsystemsontop of othersoftwarethatiscanbe usedforincludingitsrange
of office software. Since it has started providing cloud services, there are new tariffs that are aimed
to deal withthistype of product. Table 3.3showsthe Microsoftoptions available atthiscurrenttime.
Table 3-3 (Microsoft, 2015)
Amount of devicesor users Volume licensingoptions
Less than 5 Individual licensesshouldbe boughtforthisamountof usersor
devicesas5 licenses isthe minimumthatcanbe boughtto qualify
for volume licensing
5-249 OpenLicense
This is a fixed term contract that allow a company to start with a
minimumof 5 licensesandadditional licensescanbe bought when
required. It is the solution for a small business that needs licenses
butisn’tsure how manyare goingto be neededaswhentheygrow,
it can be increased.
OpenValue Subscription
Thisis similartoopenvalue contractbut has reduced monthlycost
as the licensesaren’townedbutaccessisallowedtothe products.
OpenValue isthe basicallyanagreementthat allowslicensestobe
obtained but instead having to pay one lump sum up front, it is
dividedintomonthlypaymentsthatcanbe factoredintoa business
expenses.
250 plus MicrosoftEnterprise Agreement(EA)
This is a subscription option is a flexible option that allows both
cloudservicestobepurchasedalongside otherlicensing.Thebenefit
of thisisthatthe costisreducedasacompanypaysforaccesstouse
productsinsteadof buyingthemoutright. Itis a fixedfee eachyear
that can be changed to fit the needs of the company.
MicrosoftProductsand ServicesAgreement(MPSA)
This is the replacement for the retiring licensing optionmentioned
below. It allows both online and offline products to be bought
togetherandconnectsthemalltogetherintoonemanagementpage
for easy management across many organisations.
MicrosoftSelectPlus
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This was a package that was for licensing in organisations that are
made up from a conglomerate of smaller companies but if it had
individual contracts wouldn’tbe able to utilise the lower costs that
volume licensingoffers.Asof July1st
2015, this isbeingretiredas a
licensing option.
MethodsofMicrosoftvolumeactivation
Priorto 2012 whenthe latestgenerationof the operatingsystemswasreleased,there were onlyone
methodthatwasavailabletoimplementthevolume licensinginanetwork.Thiswasthroughaservice
called KMS.
KMS is a volume licensingmethodthatcanbe usedfor eithersingle ormultiple productactivation.It
providesthe flexibilityofbeingabletosupplyakeythathasonlyOSlicensesoramixtureof OSlicenses
and Office products.Itsupportsarange of differentproductsthatare made byMicrosoftandthere is
a minimum platformthat is supported for both OS and Office licensing. It is aimed at networksthat
are runningMicrosoftVistaandOffice 2010at the minimum.Allthe productsaftertheseversionsare
supported.
The basic principle behindKMS is that it allows a host to be activated using the KMS activation key
and all the otherdevicesonthe networkare pointedinitsdirection usingaDNSrecord.Thishostcan
just be used for activation but it can also be a host that provides other shared services (Cambridge
University,2015).It meansthat on an enterprise network,eachmachine doesn’tneedtobe installed
with a license key whichthen is sent off to Microsoft to see of it is valid. This usesconsiderably less
bandwidth on the network and the IT services department doesn’t have to spend hours activating
productswhenitisinstalledonanewdevice oraddedtoanexistingdevice. Thereare twoconstraints
of the minimum amount of computers that need to be on a network to use this service which are 5
servers, 25 clients and 5 office applications.
With the introduction of Windows 8 and Server 2012, a new way of applying volume activation was
released called Active Directory-Based Activation (ADBA). It is designed to run entirely off an AD
without the need for any host to be activated for additional devices to be licensed.
It worksonthe premise thatonce the keyisinstalled,itwill sitonthe networkand whenanew device
is attachedto the domainitwill justactivate (Savill,2012). While itdoesseemlike a replacementfor
KMS,thisisn’tthe case asitonlysupportsthe operatingsystemsof Windows8,Server2012andOffice
version 2013. The only requirement for the OS or product being installed is that GVLK needs to be
installed initially but the enterprise versions of software are designed to look towards volume
activationmethodsasstandard.If there are oldersystemssuchas Windows7 on the networkmixed
withnewersystemssuchas Windowsserver2012, KMS activationisneededinconjunctionwiththis
method due to incompatibility with ADBA.
In the manage roles and features window on Windows Server 2012, there is a role called ‘Volume
ActivationServices’.While itisthe onlymethodthatis supportedforADBA,it also acceptsKMS keys
so it is a flexible tool that be used regardless of the volume licensing type and meets the changing
needs of a business. An example of what the volume activation toolslooks like and the key options
are seen in figure 3-6.
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Conclusion
This reporthad the purpose of lookingatwhat advantagesnetworkdeploymentservicescouldoffer
companiesandwhatthe available optionswere. A numberof different conclusionswere drawnfrom
the analysis of different solutions. There is no one solution that was discussed in this report that is
suited to all companies. The correct option shouldbe used based on the budget available, technical
knowledge and the amount of network devices.
Due to the fact that Microsoft have a majority market share in the operating system market, they
appearto have the edge withnetworkdeploymentservices.Overthe competingproductstheyoften
have multiple years more development which often makes them a more stable platform. Since they
are the creators of the software that is normally deployed whether it be operating system or
application,adeploymentsystemcanbe developed fromthe groundupthat theywill knowwillwork
with the platform they are releasing it on.
Microsoft also offer products which are more suited to different sizes of organisations. For smaller
companiesof one hundredpluspcsWDS will probablyofferamore viable systemthanthatof SCCM.
It is more suitedforsmallerorganisations asWDS provides a platformthat is more easilyconfigured
by network administrators who have less experience knowledge required compared to what is
requiredinlarge organisations. Also, WDShas a lotlessrequirementsforsystemresource compared
to SCCM.
SCCMis verymuch designedtobe an enterprise solutiondue tothe specificationof hardware thatis
requiredforfunctioninginanenterprise environment.Itcanbe integratedintothe currentWindows
environmentwithouthavingtochange toomuch. Althoughitmayneedlotsof infrastructure already
in place,thisisnormallystandardinan organisationthathas over a certainamount of users.It is not
onlyatool thatcanprovide deploymentservicesbutit canbe usedallthe additionalfeaturesincluding
the automationfeaturessuchasautomaticallydetectingthe ADsettingsandthe software deployment
capabilities can minimise the impact that installing, removing and update the software.
Whilstthere are a fewoptionsfor operatingsystemdeploymentonthe opensource marketsuch as
FOG server,there are veryfewstable applicationdeploymentsystems.Fromthe perspective of linux
platforms, there is a great deal of deviation in the available applications as well as the method of
installingapplications.Thisisalso true of opensource community’sdevelopingsuchsystemsforthe
Microsoft market. Ninite Pro seems to be good for when first installing a machine but it lacks the
abilityto install all the applicationsthatmay be requiredlike Office systems. Thisisprobablycaused
by the amount of time and monetary investment required to developthis style of product and that
manyof the applicationdevelopedforMicrosoftrequire certificationtorunonthe platform, Microsoft
have the monopolyoverthe developmentmarketas theycan buildinfunctionalityforsystems,and
this is not always possible for small start-up developments.
FOG server is a good product for something that is free. It isn’t a perfect when it comes some of its
function but open-source by its nature isn’t. An example of when FOG could be utilized is small
companiesthatwant to be able to upgrade withouthavingto pay for the costs of a WindowsServer
license and may have an old computer that can be used to host the system which would save even
more money.
One conclusionthatwasclearregardlessof the limitationsof the softwareused isthatalthoughthese
may take time to install andconfigure correctly,itcan onlybe beneficial inanycompanythat istruly
reliant on its technology to be able to function. It makes the task of deploying systems quick and
efficientdue tothe abilitytoautomate the processintoafew clicksforanumberof clientsallatonce.
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Further research
Network service deployment is an ever more important in manageability of network connected
devices. There are a number of areas that could be looked into including:
There is a rise in the amount of applications that are available through the internet. Some
products that are designed to be run from the cloud takes away the need to have software
deployed. One areawhere thisisthe case is office suite where there isnow the possibilityof
usingservicessuchasMicrosoftOffice365and Google Docswhichcan sometimesbe another
option that can be used to save having to deploy new versions of software.
Microsoft secure boot is a feature that was added to some pc’s that are running Windows 8
that is normally automatically turned on. It is designed to not allow any untrusted sources
frombeingable toboot the device (Webopedia.com,2015). Thisisan issue whenitcomesto
deploymentsometimessince itcanbe turnaquickinstallprocessintoadifficulttaskif dealing
with a large number of machines being imaged due to BIOS settings having to be changed
before it can be done.
The area of virtual desktops in on the rise in some organisations. These can be used instead
of the traditional PC that has to be imaged and all the software installed. It enables IT
administratorstospendlesstime deployingsoftware andoperatingsystemsastheyrunoff a
connectiontothe servertoobtainasystemimage ratherthanthe PCitself,itmakesthe need
for deployment software redundant.
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Self-evaluation
Looking back to when I started this project that I had no idea what some of the solutions discussed
had featuresthat are included.There isso much that couldhave beencoveredespeciallytodo with
the automation of OS installation but there just wasn’t enough time to do.
I foundsome of the topicsuchas howPXEactuallyworksfascinating.Iamextremelyproudof actually
gettinga SCCMsystemworkingwhichrequiredalotof researchand effortbutit was worthit. Thisis
because it is so complex to install.
I hadissueswithwritingthe concludingsectionasittookalotof tweakingtogetall the requiredpoint
in and link in scenarios. It took a while to get into the actually writing but I used the trick of writing
one section at a time so that I didn’t have to worry about going back to it again.
Time managementhasbeenprettybad in thisunit,some systemstookmore time to getfunctioning
that I would have liked which meant that I couldn’t complete some areas to the full practicallyand
hadtowrittenfrommyownknowledgeandexperiencesof usingthem. Thiswasn’thelpedwhenother
factors thatwere out of my control affected like the time that was available for the practical work.
If there wasthe possibilitytodothe projectagain,more researchwouldhave be done whenit came
to SCCM as time was wasted having to reinstall the system and the report would have beenstarted
earlier.
Usingthe knowledge thatIhave developed,ithasexpandedwhatIknow aboutdifferentdeployment
systemsandthere hasbeenanimprovementinmyproblemsolvingskillsasIhadtogetoverthe issues
faced in the project which is definitely an improvement prior to the start.
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