Novell ZENWORKS LINUX MANAGEMENT 7.3 IR2, Administration Manual, Page: 349 / 684

Understanding Preboot Services in ZENworks Linux Management 349
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Multicasting can be done automatically or manually:
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“Automatic Multicasting” on page 349
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“Manual Multicasting” on page 349
Automatic Multicasting
In the ZENworks Control Center, multicasting is accomplished by configuring a Multicast bundle.
The bundle contains a base image that is taken previously from a device and is stored on an imaging
server. This base image is applied to all multicast session participants.
When using a Preboot bundle to perform multicasting, the imaging server is the session master,
which sends the
.zmg
image file to the session participants. The novell-pbserv daemon is used in
this process. All problems are reported and displayed on the session master device.
For more information, see Section 30.2, “Multicasting Images,” on page 429 .
Manual Multicasting
At a bash prompt, you can enter commands to configure and initiate a multicasting session. You
enter the appropriate commands on a bash prompt at each device, specifying one of them to be the
session master. An image of the session master’s hard drive is sent to each of the session
participants.
For more information on the imaging commands, see Section E.5, “Session (Multicast) Mode (img
session),” on page 639 .
If you plan to set up multicasting by visiting each device, you need either an imaging boot CD or
DVD, or the devices must be PXE-enabled. For more information, see
Section 29.2, “Setting Up the
Preboot Services Methods,” on page 354 .
Practical Uses For Multicasting
Multicasting is ideal for labs, classrooms, and staging areas, or for any place where you need to
quickly create the same configuration on multiple devices, instead of taking the time to set up each
device individually.
Benefits of Multicasting Images
Multicasting is the way to use ZENworks Imaging Engine for mass reimaging with the least amount
of overhead. It is useful if you have one device with a clean software configuration that you want to
duplicate on several other devices, or if you have a single image that you want to set up on multiple
devices.
Limitations of Multicasting Images
One significant limitation of using multicast without installing any ZENworks Linux Management
software is that it results in a set of devices that have duplicate network identities. The IP addresses
(if the network is using static IP addressing) and device hostname are all the same and can cause
conflicts if deployed on the network without change.