Specops Deploy / OS

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Specops Deploy/OS consists of the following components and does not require any additional servers or resources in your environment.

Image Server: Maintains operating system images and drivers used in each Deployment Group and replicates them to the associated Deployment Servers.

The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), and the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) will be installed on this server. This will be the Hub for Distributed File System Replication (DFS-R) to replicate the images.

Administration Tools: Used to configure the central aspect of the solution and enable the creation of new Deployment Servers.

Deployment Server(s): Replies to client requests for PXE booting and Client Side Extension. The Deployment Server(s) will be the DFS-R target for the Image Server. The Windows Deployment Services role will be installed onto this server.

Specops Log Viewer: Provides searchable log files, in various formats, in real-time.

Integration with other components

Windows Deployment Services: Windows Deployment Services allows you to deploy Windows operating systems over the network.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit: Microsoft Deployment Toolkit is a Solution Accelerator for operating system and application deployment.

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit: The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit is a collection of tools that can be used to customize, assess, and deploy Windows operating systems to new computers.

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Your organization’s environment must meet the following system requirements:

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During installation, Specops Deploy will launch the Setup Assistant. The Setup Assistant contains installation information for all products from the Specops Deploy suite including Specops Deploy/OS, Specops Deploy/App, and Specops Deploy / Endpoint Protection. You will only need to complete the installation steps for the product you plan on installing.

The Setup Assistant will help you install the following components for Specops Deploy/OS:

• Image Server
• Administration Tools
• Specops Log Viewer

Before you begin verify that the account being used to run the Setup Assistant has permissions to create Child Objects in Active Directory.

1. Download the Setup Assistant.
2. Save and Run the Setup Assistant locally to a machine where you administer Group Policy
   NOTE

   By default the file is extracted to C:\temp\SpecopsDeploy_Setup_[VersionNumber]
3. Double click SetupAssistant.exe to launch the Setup Assistant.
4. To begin, click Start Installation in the Specops Setup Assistant dialog box.

Installing the Image Server

The Image Server maintains operating system images and drivers and ensures that the Deployment Servers are updated automatically when changes are made in the central repository.

1. In the main menu, select Image Server Setup.
2. Verify that you have fulfilled the prerequisites. If you do not meet the pre-requisites you may need to do the following:
   • Verify that you are running a valid operating system.
   • Click Download… to download the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT).
   • Click Download to download Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 10.
   • Click Download to download the Windows PE ADK add-on.
   • Verify that PowerShell is installed and enabled.
3. Click Select… to identify the management level where the Active Directory permissions are created. This is also used to track license usage.
4. Click Select User….
5. Enter the Username and Password of the user account that will join your work stations to the domain, and click OK. If you are also installing Specops / Deploy App, we do not recommend using the same service account.
   Note:
   • All operations performed by the Specops Image Server component will be performed in the context of the user that is running the OS administration tool.
   • The account should be configured with the minimum permissions necessary to complete the required tasks.

   Permission	Permission type
   Change Password	Object
   Reset Password	Object
   Allowed to authenticate	Object
   Validated write to service principal name	Object
   Validated write to DNS host name	Object
   Read public information	Property
   Read personal information	Property
   Read account restrictions	Property
   Write account restrictions	Property
   Read DNS host name attributes	Property

6. Click Select… to select the disk drive where Specops Deploy/OS will store data.
7. Click Install.

Installing the Administration Tools

Installing the Administration Tools will install the Specops Deploy/OS admin tool and the GPMC snap-in. You can use the Specops Deploy/OS admin tool to configure the solution and enable the creation of new Deployment Servers. You can use the GPMC snap-in to create operating system deployment settings in Group Policy Objects.

The Administration Tools should be installed on the computer that you want to administer the product from.

1. In the main menu, select Administration tools.
2. If you want Specops Deploy/OS to register the Specops Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) Menu Extension, click Add menu ext.
   NOTE

   This will allow Specops to add the Specops Display Specifiers in the configuration partition of your Active Directory forest allowing you to administer the product directly from the right-click menu of Active Directory objects. In order to add the menu extension to Active Directory the user running of the Setup Assistant must be an Enterprise Administrator.
3. Click Install.
4. In the Installation succeeded dialog box, click OK.

Installing the Specops Log Viewer

The Specops Log Viewer is a stand-alone text file reader. The Log Viewer should be installed on any machine where the Specops Deploy/OS admin tool is installed.

1. In the main menu, select Specops Log Viewer.
2. Click Install.

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You will need to complete the following configuration settings once you have installed Specops Deploy/OS:

1. Add new license key: Enter your license key in the Specops Deploy/OS admin tool.
1. Open the Specops Deploy/OS admin tool.
2. In the Add License dialog box, click Import License…
3. Browse to the location of the TXT file, and click Open.
2. Assign permissions: Verify that your account is assigned the appropriate permissions. To obtain administrative permissions on the image server you will need to belong to one of the following local groups on the image server:
   • Specops Deploy OS Admins
   • Administrators
3. Create a Deployment Server
4. Add an operating system image
5. Deploy the Specops Deploy Client-Side Extension using Group Policy Software Installation (GPSI)
6. Complete the Default Policy
7. Create a “Capture” organizational unit and policy
8. Add operating system deployment settings to a Group Policy Object