Getting started with Acronis Snap Deploy 5

In this step, you will install Acronis Snap Deploy 5 in a typical configuration. For the complete description of installation methods and procedures, see the installation section.

Before installation, make sure that:

• You have a machine running a modern version of Windows, such as Windows 10 Pro. For the list of operating systems where you can install Acronis Snap Deploy 5, see “Supported operating systems”.
• You have the setup program. You can download the setup program from the Acronis product download Web page.
• You have one or more license keys for Acronis Snap Deploy 5. You can buy full license keys or obtain trial ones by going to the Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Web page. The type of license (“for Server” or “for Workstation”) determines the type of operating system that you can deploy.

On the machine where you want to install Acronis Snap Deploy 5, do the following:

1. Log on as an administrator and start the setup program.
2. Click Install Acronis Snap Deploy 5.
3. Accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next.
4. Click Typical.

   

5. Click Add license, and then specify the license keys. You can type the license keys manually or import them from a text file.

   

6. Specify whether the machine will participate in the Customer Experience Program (CEP).
7. Click Install.

On the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5:

• On the desktop, click Acronis Snap Deploy 5.

When Acronis Snap Deploy 5 starts, the welcome screen appears.

In this step, you will create a bootable media that enables creating master images and performing deployment.

On the machine where you installed and started Acronis Snap Deploy 5, do the following:

1. On the Tools menu, click Create bootable media.
2. In the list of components, select Agent and Master Image Creator.

   

3. In Network settings, in Server name/IP, specify the name of the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5.
4. Choose to create the media on a CD or DVD. Insert a blank CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW.

   Tip. If no CD-RW, DVD-RW, or a similar optical disc drive is present on the machine, you can choose to create an ISO file that you can later burn to an optical disc on another machine. You can also create the media on a USB drive. For details, see “Creating a bootable media”.

5. Click Create.

In this step, you will create an image of a machine and save the image to a USB hard disk.

Choose a machine whose image you want to create. No license is required for imaging the machine. However, a server or a workstation license will be used for deploying the machine, depending on whether the machine is running a server operating system (such as Windows 2008 Server or Linux) or a workstation operating system (such as Windows 7). For the list of server and workstation operating systems, see “Supported operating systems for imaging and deployment”.

On the machine whose image you want to create, do the following:

1. Make sure that the CD or DVD drive has a higher boot priority than the hard disk drive. You may need to open the BIOS setup utility of the machine and adjust the boot priority setting, similarly to what is shown in the following picture.

   

2. Attach the USB hard disk drive to the machine.

   Tip. Alternatively, you will be able to save the image to a network folder, as described later in this procedure.

3. Boot the machine from the bootable media you created.
4. On the boot menu, click Master Image Creator.

   

5. In the pop-up window, click Cancel or wait until that window closes.

   

6. Select the volumes that you want to include in the master image. You can leave the default selection, which normally includes the volumes that contain the operating system.

   

7. Specify a folder on the USB hard disk where you want to save the image.

   Alternatively, specify a network folder, and the user name and password to access that folder.

8. Keep clicking Next until the summary screen appears. Click Create in that screen.

Acronis Snap Deploy 5 starts creating the image.

After the image is created, the machine will restart.

In this step, you will deploy the created master image to a single machine (the target machine).

Tip: For getting started, we recommend performing deployment to the same machine from which you created the image, or to a machine with identical hardware. This way, no extra steps, such as using the Universal Deploy option, are required.

Preparing the target machine

On the target machine, do the following:

1. Make sure that the CD or DVD drive has a higher boot priority than the hard disk drive. You may need to open the BIOS setup utility of the machine and adjust the boot priority setting.
2. Boot the machine from the bootable media you created.
3. On the boot menu, click Agent.

   

4. In the pop-up window, click Cancel or wait until that window closes.
5. Make sure that the machine is ready for deployment. The window should look similar to the following picture.

   

   Details. The target machine becomes ready for deployment when it connects to OS Deploy Server. This server is part of Acronis Snap Deploy 5. If the machine does not connect to the server, you may need to adjust network settings, as described in “Booting the target machines”.

After the target machine is ready, you can deploy the master image to it.

Deploying the master image

On the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5, do the following:

1. Attach the USB hard disk drive with the master image to the machine. Optionally, copy the image to the local hard disk of the machine.
2. Click the Machines view. Make sure that the target machine you prepared is shown in the list and has the Ready state.
3. Right-click the target machine, and then click Deploy image.

   

4. Keep clicking Next until the template selection window appears. Click Create new in that window.
5. Click Create a new template, and then click Next.
6. Select the master image (the .tib file) that you created, and then click Next.
7. In the deployment settings window, click Next.

   Note. If you imaged a machine running a workstation operating system (such as Windows 7) but you only have server licenses (such as Acronis Snap Deploy 5 for Server – Trial License), you may want to allow the software to use this type of license to deploy the machine. To do so, click Licensing in the deployment settings window, and then click Use a server license automatically.

   

   Alternatively, you can add a workstation license before starting the deployment, by opening the Licenses view and clicking Add license on the toolbar.

8. Keep clicking Next until the summary window appears. Click Save in that window.

   Details. You have created a deployment template. It determines how to perform deployment. You can reuse this template in other deployment tasks.

9. Select the deployment template you created, and then click Next.

   

10. When asked about when to run the deployment, select Now and type the user name and password that you use to log on to Windows.

    

11. Keep clicking Next until the summary window appears. Click Create in that window.

You can view the progress of the deployment both on the machine where you installed Acronis Snap Deploy 5 and on the target machine.

Viewing the deployment progress on the machine with Acronis Snap Deploy 5

Viewing the deployment progress on the target machine

In the navigation pane, you can open the corresponding views to navigate across the software.

• To run the deployment again, open the Deployment tasks view, select the task you created, and then click Run on the toolbar.

  For details about the Deployment tasks view, see “Managing deployment tasks”.

• To add more machines, open the Machines view and then click Add machines. You can add machines by their physical addresses, known as MAC addresses.

  Another way to add a machine to this view is to boot the machine so that it becomes ready for deployment, as described in “Preparing the target machine” earlier in this section. You can then turn off or restart the machine without performing deployment. The machine remains in the view.

  For details about the Machines view, see “Managing the list of machines”.

• To add more licenses for deployment, open the Licenses view and then click Add license on the toolbar. Clicking Obtain license opens the Acronis Snap Deploy 5 Purchasing Web page.

  For details about managing licenses, see “Using License Server”. For information about license types, see “Licensing policy”.

• To set up network booting of machines (instead of booting them from a media), open the PXE server view, click Upload components to PXE, and then follow the steps similar to those described in “Creating a bootable media” earlier in this section.

  For details about setting up the network booting, see “Configuring Acronis PXE Server”.