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Remote management operations

 

Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2007 

61

Chapter 7.

 

Remote management operations 

7.1

 

File management on a remote PC 

The 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. 

 

The Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent must be installed on a remote PC 

to perform file management operations. 

Connect to the remote PC whose files and folders you want to manage. Select 
Manage files from the list of operations. 
In the File browse window, you will see the current partition layout. You can 
manage files/directories with toolbar buttons, or by selecting the appropriate 
operation in the context menu by right-clicking on the item. 

 

Figure 50. File management 

Create new text file 

1.

 

Select the directory where you want to  create the file and click on the 
Create new text document button in the toolbar. 

2.

 

Enter a file name in the New File window and click OK

Edit file 

1.

 

Select a file you want to edit and click on the Edit button in the 
toolbar. 

2.

 

The file will be opened with the associated editor. If the file type is not 
associated with any editor, it will be opened with Windows Notepad. 

Create folder 

 

Summary of Contents for SNAP DEPLOY 2.0 -

Page 1: ...User s Guide Acronis Snap Deploy 2 0 ...

Page 2: ...d without the explicit permission of the copyright holder Distribution of this work or derivative work in any standard paper book form for commercial purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED AS IS AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY FITNESS FOR A ...

Page 3: ...censed by Acronis Making alterations to or copies of any kind of the software except as specifically permitted above Attempting to un assemble de compile or reverse engineer the software in any way Granting sublicenses leases or other rights to the software to others Making copies or verbal or media translations of the user s guide Making telecommunication data transmission of the software Acronis...

Page 4: ...NAGEMENT CONSOLE 17 3 1 KEY FEATURES 17 3 2 CONNECTING TO A REMOTE COMPUTER 18 3 3 INSTALLING ACRONIS COMPONENTS ON A REMOTE PC 19 3 4 BROWSING LOGS 20 CHAPTER 4 USING ACRONIS LICENSE SERVER 22 4 1 OVERVIEW 22 4 2 INSTALLATION AND RUNNING 22 4 2 1 Supported operating systems 22 4 2 2 Typical Custom and Complete Acronis License Server installation 22 4 3 ADDING LICENSES TO ACRONIS LICENSE SERVER 23...

Page 5: ...IVERSAL DEPLOY 53 6 13 1 Purpose of Acronis Universal Deploy 53 6 13 2 Acronis Universal Deploy general principles 54 6 13 3 Deploying a system on a virtual machine 54 6 13 4 How to get Acronis Universal Deploy 54 6 13 5 Using Acronis Universal Deploy 55 6 14 DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS 56 6 14 1 Action after deployment 56 6 14 2 Disk utilization 57 6 14 3 Network utilization 57 6 15 PROVIDING COMMENTS 58 ...

Page 6: ...lenges when it comes to configuring and deploying new PCs in a distributed enterprise environment IT staffs are constantly looking for new solutions that can quickly and efficiently deploy new systems that comply with established corporate policies They also want the systems to be managed from a central location Having a deployment solution in place that enables businesses to create and deploy mul...

Page 7: ...g Support a variety of IDE SCSI USB and PC Card formerly PCMCIA storage media Support for all hard disks regardless of capacity Support for backup images created with Acronis True Image User friendly Windows XP like interface with full mouse support Comprehensive wizards simplify even the most complex operations 1 2 New in Acronis Snap Deploy 2 0 Acronis Universal Deploy option Automatic selection...

Page 8: ...ing master images managing files and executing applications Acronis Master Image Creator a bootable component that allows local imaging of the master system without installing the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent on the master computer There are three ways to load Acronis Master Image Creator on a master computer directly from bootable media remotely using Microsoft RIS or remotely using Acron...

Page 9: ...n 6 1 Booting up the target PCs 11 Connect the console to the computer where Acronis OS Deploy Server is installed and select Manage Deployment in the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console main window Start the Deploy Image Wizard see 6 2 Starting the Deploy Image Wizard Specify the details of the deployment task and target PC settings TCP IP settings domain workgroup settings etc in the wizard w...

Page 10: ...r Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions Windows 2000 Server 2000 Advanced Server 2003 Server Windows Vista all Editions Windows 2000 XP Professional Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions Windows 2000 Server 2000 Advanced Server 2003 Server Windows Vista all Editions except for installation of Acron...

Page 11: ...E and SCSI RAID controllers of any level CD R RW DVD R RW DVD R RW DVD burning software required USB and FireWire IEEE 1394 storage devices Magneto optical media Iomega ZIP Jaz etc When creating a master image on removable media make sure that the image will fit into one disk The current version of Acronis Snap Deploy does not support images spread on several CDs DVDs etc 2 4 Used Ports and IP add...

Page 12: ...the deployed computers or re deploy any of them If you want to manage a computer that was not previously deployed with Acronis Snap Deploy you will need a new license to install the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent to that computer Acronis Universal Deploy is an option to Acronis Snap Deploy and has its own serial number and license agreement 2 6 Acronis Snap Deploy components installation You...

Page 13: ...ose setup type Typical installs most common program features recommended for most users Custom allows users to choose program features to install and select a location for setup recommended for advanced users Complete all program features will be installed requires the most disk space 6 If Custom Setup is chosen select one of the following for each component feature Will be installed on a local ha...

Page 14: ...stall Acronis Universal Deploy remotely extract the setup file msi to a network share see below and install Acronis Universal Deploy in the same way as other Acronis Snap Deploy components see 3 3 Installing Acronis components on a remote PC After installation Acronis Universal Deploy automatically plugs in Acronis OS Deploy Server 2 7 Acronis Snap Deploy components extraction During Acronis Snap ...

Page 15: ... To obtain a serial number for the trial version register on Acronis web site 2 9 Running Acronis Snap Deploy After installation Acronis OS Deploy Server and Acronis PXE Server launch automatically as Windows services You can run Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console by clicking Start All programs Acronis Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console 2 10 Component...

Page 16: ...omponent 4 Follow the instructions on the screen You can also remove Acronis Snap Deploy components in the Install Menu To remove a component from the Install Menu 1 Run AcronisSnapDeploy exe 2 In the Install Menu click on the component that is about to be removed 3 Click Remove in the Modify Repair or Remove Installation window 2 13 Technical support Users of legally purchased copies of Acronis S...

Page 17: ...sole enables you to perform the following Deploy master images to target PCs simultaneously including o Creating user accounts o Managing TCP IP settings o Managing network identification of target PCs computer name domain or workgroup membership o Transferring files to all target computers after deployment o Executing applications on all target computers after deployment Manage Acronis Snap Deplo...

Page 18: ...rators or Power Users groups To configure PXE Server connect to a computer with Acronis PXE Server installed To configure Acronis PXE Server you must be a member of the Administrators or Network Configuration Operators groups To create master images manage files and execute applications connect to a remote computer with Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent installed Use View Computers to access th...

Page 19: ... corporate network For example Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent installed on a remote computer allows you to access to it from the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console for master image creation managing files and executing applications To install any Acronis component on a remote machine you will need administrator rights on the target system To install Acronis components 1 Select Install Ac...

Page 20: ...e the option Use simple file sharing in the Control panel Folder options View is disabled before the remote installation starts If the remote PC runs under Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed make sure that the option File and Printer Sharing in the Control panel Windows Firewall Exceptions is enabled before the remote installation starts 3 4 Browsing logs Using Acronis Snap Deploy Management...

Page 21: ...ght window features the list of steps contained in the selected log The three buttons to the right control message filters the white X in the red circle filters error messages the exclamation sign in a yellow triangle filters warnings and the i in the blue circle filters information messages To select columns step parameters to display right click the headers line or left click the Choose Details ...

Page 22: ...s is usually hardwired to the NIC some operating systems offer a way to change it It is important to note that attempting to change the MAC address on a system may impede the Acronis License Server operation and prevent you from other deployments to the same computer or from managing that computer from the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console Acronis Snap Deploy licenses cannot be reused 4 2 Ins...

Page 23: ...period of time Acronis recommends that you save serial numbers in a text file since the Acronis License Server can import multiple serial numbers from a txt file saving you from time consuming procedure of typing in each serial number You may create one file with all serial numbers for all Acronis products or separate files for each product or purchase These serial numbers can then be imported to ...

Page 24: ...ronis Snap Deploy Management Console main window There are two modes of viewing data The default mode lists all licenses available on the current Acronis License Server Right click on the column headings bar to choose details to display Product Name Serial Number Import Date Expiration Date and Total number of licenses assigned to each serial number as well as how many of them are Available and Us...

Page 25: ... Management Tool The Acronis License Server includes a special command line utility LicenseServerCmdLine exe that allows you to manage license information During the Acronis License Server installation LicenseServerCmdLine exe file will be placed in the installation folder e g C Program Files Acronis LicenseServer LicenseServerCmdLine exe uses the following syntax LicenseServerCmdLine command opti...

Page 26: ... following command LicenseServerCmdLine import file computername filename where computername name of the computer with Acronis License Server installed filename name of the saved file txt or eml with serial numbers Example LicenseServerCmdLine import file MyServer serials txt 3 If you want to import serial numbers manually type the following command LicenseServerCmdLine import computername serial1...

Page 27: ... ISO image of bootable media on a hard disk 3 a RIS package containing the same programs For uploading Acronis Master Image Creator or Acronis Snap Deploy Agent on Acronis PXE Server see 5 5 Configuring Acronis PXE Server To create bootable media a bootable disk ISO image or RIS package 1 Click Create Bootable Media on the toolbar or the sidebar select the respective task in the center of the cons...

Page 28: ...o choose to create a bootable disk ISO image or save bootable data to a RIS server If you create an ISO disk image you will be able to burn it onto any kind of DVD recordable media using DVD recording software Creating a bootable DVD directly from Bootable Media Builder is not possible When using 3 5 diskettes you will be able to write only one component at a time for example Acronis Snap Deploy A...

Page 29: ...y However if you plan to deploy a system on hardware differing from that of a master computer and have not purchased and installed the Acronis Universal Deploy option to Acronis Snap Deploy you will have to prepare the master operating system with the Microsoft Sysprep tool The following table covers cases when you have or do not have to use either of these tools because of hardware difference bet...

Page 30: ...l target computers after deployment you can use remote master image creation However normally you do not want excess software in a master image We strongly recommend that you use a bootable version of Acronis Master Image Creator to create a master image on a local machine instead of master image creation on a remote computer Acronis Snap Deploy supports images created by Acronis True Image 5 3 2 ...

Page 31: ... Creator If you want to create a master image on a network share enter the Acronis Master Image Creator configuration menu by clicking Yes in a prompt window that comes up at boot time Then enter the master computer s IP address and other settings necessary for connection Figure 14 Acronis Master Image Creator configuration network settings If Acronis Master Image Creator was configured to start a...

Page 32: ...o create master image of a remote computer install Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent on the master computer see 3 3 Installing Acronis components on a remote PC and connect the console to that computer 1 Select Create master image in the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console main window 2 Click Next in the Master image creation wizard welcome window 3 Choose image creation mode Create master i...

Page 33: ...th Acronis Master Image Creator go to step 5 3 2 Running Acronis Master Image Creator on a local computer Otherwise create bootable media and do the same For more information about creating bootable media see 5 1 Creating bootable media 5 3 4 Selecting disks In the Imaged Disks Selection window you will see the hard disk layout of the master PC You can select only the entire disk disks not individ...

Page 34: ...ard disk drive Network drive Removable storage devices CD R RW DVD R RW DVD R RW Iomega Zip Iomega Jazz MO Flash card etc To create a master image on DVD you must have third party DVD burning software installed When creating a master image on removable media make sure that the image will fit onto one disk The current version of Acronis Snap Deploy does not support images spanning multiple CDs DVDs...

Page 35: ...ile 5 3 6 Setting options Set the options for creating master image 1 Compression level The default setting is Normal Select the data compression level for the image to be created If you select None the data will be copied without any compression which can significantly increase the image file size However if you select Maximum compression the image will take longer to create ...

Page 36: ...default setting is Low The priority of any process running in a system determines the amount of CPU usage and system resources allocated to that process Decreasing the image creation priority will free more resources for other CPU tasks Increasing of image creation priority could speed up the imaging due to taking resources from the other running processes The effect will depend on total CPU usage...

Page 37: ...exceed the 4 GB limit if you are going to image the entire disk If you do not have enough space to store the image on your hard disk the program will warn you and wait for your decision as to how you plan to fix the problem You can try to free some additional space and continue or click Back and select another disk When creating an image on a diskette CD R RW DVD R RW or DVD R RW Acronis Master Im...

Page 38: ...the image upon its creation completion box 5 3 7 Providing comments On the wizard page Image Archive Comments you ll be able to provide an archive file with comments that might include information on the master computer and its user the hard disk partition data image creation time and any peculiarities and conditions Figure 21 Image Archive Comments The more details that are provided the less is t...

Page 39: ...cial window You can stop the procedure by clicking Cancel Figure 23 Image creation progress 5 4 Checking master image To be assured that your images are not damaged you can check their integrity To do so 1 Connect to a remote computer where Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent is installed or boot the computer where the image is stored from Acronis Master Image Creator bootable CD ...

Page 40: ...l After the check is complete you will see the results window 5 5 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 With Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console you can configure Acronis PXE Server ...

Page 41: ...parameter indicates the time interval between the remote computer boot and the selected program s automatic start For example if you check the box for Acronis Snap Deploy Agent the agent will launch in 10 or whatever you select seconds after the target PC boots This eliminates the need for a click on the boot menu and enables fully remote imaging or deployment If you do not check the Start automat...

Page 42: ...boot menu Acronis Snap Deploy Agent can be configured to start automatically after several seconds to provide fully unattended deployment You can configure it when creating bootable media using a RIS package or uploading the agent to a PXE server 3 A dialog box comes up suggesting that you configure Acronis Snap Deploy Agent Figure 27 Acronis Snap Deploy Agent configure prompt If there is no DHCP ...

Page 43: ...loyment server if you do not specify that information the server will be found automatically If there are several deployment servers on the network you must specify the deployment server that is connected to the console or that you are going to connect Figure 29 Acronis Snap Deploy Agent configuration selecting deployment server If Acronis Snap Deploy Agent was configured to start automatically af...

Page 44: ...oy Agent ready for deployment The progress bar is suspended because the computer is waiting for deployment 6 2 Starting the Deploy Image Wizard 1 Connect to the computer with Acronis OS Deploy Server installed 2 Click on Manage deployment icon in the Acronis Snap Deploy Management Console main window The Management Console window will appear like the graphic below Figure 31 Deployment tab ...

Page 45: ... Figure 32 Target computers selection window 6 4 Selecting template mode Template includes all deployment options master image to deploy 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 You can manage templates create and sav...

Page 46: ...ting template and click Next 2 Then select a template in the Choose Template window and click Next Figure 34 Choose template window 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 For additional ...

Page 47: ...lection 6 6 Adding user information You can 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 Press on Add button 2 Type a user name 3 Select the group that the user will be a member of 4 Type a password then confirm it and press OK If you have selected the Users group at the first Windows logon the user ...

Page 48: ...nt Following examples describe the wild card using start use the current wild card for simple ascending enumeration of target PCs from start number to the last PC N Computer 0 target computers will have following names Computer0 Computer1 Computer2 ComputerN start count use the current wild card if you want to enumerate group of target computers in ascending order from start number to the specifie...

Page 49: ...e to join a workgroup Figure 37 Computer name Click Next to continue If you have selected the domain membership later you will be asked for the domain administrator s name and password 6 8 Network settings You can get Internet Protocol IP settings assigned automatically to target computers if your network supports this capability and you have a DHCP server connected Otherwise you will need to set ...

Page 50: ...on 6 9 and proceed to section 6 10 of this guide Figure 38 Network settings Click Next to continue 6 9 DNS settings DNS server properties can be obtained automatically or specified manually Obtain DNS server address automatically the address for the DNS server will be automatically obtained from the network Use following DNS server address specifies that the address for the DNS server used by targ...

Page 51: ...dentifier 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 40 Change security identifiers ...

Page 52: ...ant to execute transferred file after deployment 5 Specify execution parameters in the Parameters field 6 Click OK to add file to transfer list Figure 41 Transferring files To remove a file from the transfer list select the file and click Remove 6 12 Executing applications You can specify service applications from selected master image for executing on all target computers after deployment To exec...

Page 53: ...pt to transfer the system to a new much more powerful computer will usually produce the same unbootable result because the new hardware is incompatible with the most critical drivers included in the image Using the Microsoft System Preparation Tool Sysprep does not solve this problem because Sysprep permits replacing drivers only for plug and play devices sound cards network adapters video cards e...

Page 54: ... Windows takes control and initiates the usual first start process At this point you will be able to specify drivers for other devices if Windows cannot find them automatically If you plan to deploy a system to multiple computers that are identical to each other but differ from the master computer hardware use Acronis Universal Deploy to modify the master system once and then image and deploy it t...

Page 55: ...Universal Deploy option does not work if master image contains dynamic disks and volumes Figure 43 Select whether to use Acronis Universal Deploy 2 Click Next 3 If the target hardware has a specific mass storage controller such as a SCSI RAID or Fibre Channel adapter for the hard disk you can install the appropriate driver manually bypassing the automatic driver search and install procedure Use th...

Page 56: ...system to a virtual machine that uses SCSI hard drive controller be sure to specify SCSI drivers for virtual environment in the Specifying Mass Storage Drivers window Use drivers bundled with your virtual machine software or download the latest drivers versions from the software manufacturer website 6 Click Next 6 14 Deployment options Select the options for deployment process You can use preset o...

Page 57: ... space entirely 6 14 3 Network utilization You can choose the data transfer mode for the deployment With the Multicast transfer mode Acronis OS Deploy 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 this can significantly reduce the deployment speed For example you have 128 KB sec bandwidth and want to ...

Page 58: ... correctly configured The specific information on configuring any particular router or switch is usually available in the documentation provided with the hardware If there is no IGMP capable hardware or you can not configure it correctly in the network use the Unicast data transfer mode 6 15 Providing comments On the wizard page Template Comments you will be able to provide the template with a com...

Page 59: ...etails that you include the lower the risk that you ll use the wrong deployment template 6 16 Deployment Summary Next you will see the deployment summary You can save the template you have just created by checking Save the template Figure 48 Deployment script Click Proceed to start the deployment ...

Page 60: ...nnection with the OS Deploy Server to manage them All existing templates are listed in the Templates tab of the Management Console window Figure 49 Templates tab To create a new template click Create template in the Tasks sidebar Then follow the steps for the deployment template creation previously described in Chapter 6 of this guide To edit an existing template click Edit template in the Tasks s...

Page 61: ... you want to manage Select Manage files from the list of operations In the File browse window you will see the current partition layout You can manage files directories with toolbar buttons or by selecting the appropriate operation in the context menu by right clicking on the item Figure 50 File management Create new text file 1 Select the directory where you want to create the file and click on t...

Page 62: ...file folder 1 Select a file folder you want to delete and click on the Delete button 2 Confirm deleting file folder by pressing the OK button 7 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 ...

Page 63: ...e Selecting task start parameters After selecting an application you must set task execution parameters Figure 52 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 ...

Page 64: ...uted at OS startup When I log on a task will be executed when you log into the OS When my computer shuts down a task will be executed before every shutdown or reboot When I log off a task will be executed when you log off the OS Depending on the operating system some of these options might be disabled Setting up daily execution If you select daily execution you will have to specify some additional...

Page 65: ...utes Figure 54 Weekly parameters Specify when in the Every x weeks each week in a week etc Check weekdays you wish to execute the task 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 t...

Page 66: ...ou 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 Second the Start date ...

Page 67: ...e 57 User information In the upper field enter user name Enter the password in two fields below 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 7 2 2 Managing scheduled tasks If you ...

Page 68: ...Remote management operations 68 Copyright Acronis Inc 2000 2007 Figure 58 Scheduled tasks ...

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