User's Manual

18 Introduction
Deploying Operating Systems
After the system hardware is versioned and configured, an operating system
can be installed using unattended setup files, samples of which are provided
as part of the DTK. While these sample configuration files are operating
system specific, they have been enhanced for Dell systems. See your operating
system documentation for more information about how to modify these
unattended installation files.
For Windows PE, the sample configuration files contain examples to deploy
the following operating systems:
• Windows 2008 x64 R2
• Windows Server 2003 with SP1 (32- and 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2003 with SP2 (32- and 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2008 (32- and 64-bit)
NOTE: For the latest supported operating systems, see the Windows PE
documentation.
For embedded Linux, the sample configuration files contain examples to
deploy the following operating systems:
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server version 4 (32- and 64-bit)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server version 5 (32- and 64-bit)
•SUSE
®
Linux Enterprise Server version 10 (64-bit)
•SUSE
®
Linux Enterprise Server version 11 (64-bit)
Deployment Methods
Dell systems can be deployed using several different methods. The most
common method is using the Systems Build and Update Utility
on the
Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation DVD that is shipped
with your system. Currently, this method is used to deploy a single system at
a time with the installation wizard.
The DTK, on the other hand, offers a complete set of utilities and sample
scripts that can be used to automate deployment of large numbers of
Dell systems. This guide is designed to help guide you through some of the
most basic planning considerations, logistical preparations, and deployment
procedures to get you started using the DTK to deploy Dell systems.