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Creating a USB device for an OSD project

BMC Client Management allows you to create a self-sufficient USB device for operating system deployment. It provides you with the following two modes for this:

  • Offline Mode
     This mode assumes that the target device does not have an Internet connection and no possible way to contact the OSD Manager. It stores all data that is necessary for a successful deployment, that is, the WinPE and the complete project data, setup or WIM image (including sysprep).
    Should the target device have access to a network and a network boot listener can be found by the device, the OS installation first tries to see if more recent data are available via the network before using the data stored on the USB device. If yes, the new data is downloaded and the installation effected with the most recent data, if not the installation is launched using the project data stored on the device.
  • Online Mode
     This mode assumes that the target device does have an Internet connection and a connection with the OSD Manager. The data required to launch the deployment are stored on the USB device, and all other, further required data, such as the actual image to be installed, are then downloaded from the OSD Manager.

The default file system for the USB key to create is NTFS. However, specific tablets, such as Surface 2, and possibly other older UEFI hardware, cannot boot on an NTFS partition. The OSD functionality therefore provides you with both choices when creating the USB device:

  • NTFS
     Most more recent device allow booting from an NTFS partition. This has the advantage that the full disk space of a USB device larger than 32 GB can be used and WIM images can also be stored on the device. Before selecting this option, make sure your targets support booting from NTFS.
  • FAT32
     The FAT32 file system allows to boot every device, but it has a number of limitations and should therefore only be used if absolutely necessary; either when creating a USB device for offline mode, or when creating a USB device for on-line mode. The FAT32 system is limited 32 GB partitions and a maximum file size of 4 GB. The base image for a WIM image is approximately 3.5 GB for Windows 8.1 update 1, and easily passes the 4 GB size limit if the system was customized with large software, such as Microsoft Office, before the capture.

A USB device can be created on OSD Manager level or at project level, however, the USB device must be connected physically to the OSD Manager for both cases.

This section also includes:

Creating the USB device

Note:

A bootable USB device can only be created on the OSD Manager and the USB device must be physically connected to the OSD Manager device.
Make sure your USB device is large enough to contain all the project data in addition to the WinPE if you create a USB device for offline mode. The estimated size is displayed in this view in the Total estimated size on the USB device: box.
Any data that are stored on the selected USB device are irrevocably deleted before the bootable USB device is created.

  1. Plug the USB device into the OSD Manager device.
  2. Select the USB Device tab of the OS Deployment> Your OSD Manager> Projects> Your Project Type> Your Project node in the right window pane.
  3. Select if you want to create an online or offline device by clicking the respective radio button.
    The value of the Total estimated size on the USB device: below is updated depending on your selection and shows the estimated size that must be available on the USB device. This value represents the size of the project plus the connected image and the WinPE for an offline project or only the necessary boot data for online mode.

  4. Select the drive into which you connected the USB device from the Which drive would you like to use? list.

    This list only shows the drives on which a USB device is connected. It displays the drive letter together with the total size of the connected USB device. Be aware, that this is not the currently available space of the device, as the contents of it are erased before the USB device is created.

  5. If your target does only boot from a FAT32 partition, select the FAT32 radio button.
  6. Select the answer file from the Which answer file would you like to use? list. Leave the Automatic value, if you want the USB device to use the automatic mode.
  7. Click Start to create the USB device.

The USB device is cleaned of all existing data and the selected data are copied to the USB device. You can follow the progress of the USB creation in the progress bar at the bottom of the tab.

 

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