4.0
Table Of Contents
- 1 Introducing Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 1.1 Overview
- 1.2 What you can do with Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 1.2.1 Taking an image of the master system
- 1.2.2 Deployment to specific machines (immediate, manual, and scheduled deployment)
- 1.2.3 Deployment to any ready machines (event-driven deployment)
- 1.2.4 Stand-alone deployment
- 1.2.5 Deployment with individual deployment settings
- 1.2.6 User-initiated deployment (custom deployment)
- 1.2.7 Deployment of a disk volume and MBR
- 1.2.8 Command-line mode and scripting under WinPE
- 1.3 Features of Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 1.3.1 New: List of machines
- 1.3.2 New: List of deployment tasks
- 1.3.3 New: Per-deployment licensing
- 1.3.4 New: Support for the VHD format
- 1.3.5 New: Graphical user interface in WinPE
- 1.3.6 New: E-mail notifications about deployment
- 1.3.7 New: Compatibility with Acronis True Image, Acronis Backup & Recovery 10, and Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 backups
- 1.3.8 New: Support for multiple network adapters
- 1.3.9 Multicast TTL and network bandwidth throttling
- 1.3.10 New: Falling back to unicast
- 1.3.11 Encrypted communication
- 1.3.12 Password protection
- 1.4 Supported operating systems for imaging and deployment
- 1.5 Licensing policy
- 1.6 Upgrading to Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 1.7 Technical Support
- 2 Understanding Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 3 Getting started with Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 4 Installation of Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 4.1 Supported operating systems
- 4.2 Used ports and IP addresses
- 4.3 Typical installation
- 4.4 Custom installation
- 4.4.1 Installation procedure
- 4.4.2 Common installation configurations
- 4.4.3 Installation of components
- 4.4.3.1 Installation of Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Console
- 4.4.3.2 Installation of Acronis Snap Deploy 4 License Server
- 4.4.3.3 Installation of Acronis Snap Deploy 4 OS Deploy Server
- 4.4.3.4 Installation of Acronis PXE Server
- 4.4.3.5 Installation of Acronis Wake-on-LAN Proxy
- 4.4.3.6 Installation of Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Agent
- 4.4.3.7 Installation of Acronis Universal Deploy
- 4.5 Other ways of installation
- 4.6 Upgrading Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 4.7 Uninstalling Acronis Snap Deploy 4
- 5 Using Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Console
- 6 Using Acronis Snap Deploy 4 License Server
- 7 Deployment tools
- 8 Creating a master image
- 9 Validating a master image
- 10 Deploying a master image
- 10.1 Files supported as master images
- 10.2 Licenses for deployment
- 10.3 Deployment templates
- 10.4 Deployment through a deployment task
- 10.5 Stand-alone deployment
- 10.6 User-initiated deployment (custom deployment)
- 11 Managing the list of machines (the Machines view)
- 12 Individual deployment settings
- 13 Managing deployment tasks (the Deployment tasks view)
- 14 Command-line mode and scripting under WinPE
- 15 Collecting system information
26 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2011
2.6.1 Acronis Universal Deploy purpose
An image of a system can be deployed easily on the hardware where it was created or to identical
hardware. However, if you change a motherboard or use another processor version, the deployed
system could be unbootable. An attempt to transfer the system to a new, much more powerful
machine will usually produce the same result. This is because the new hardware is usually
incompatible with the most critical drivers included in the image.
Using Microsoft System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) does not solve this problem, because Sysprep
permits adding drivers only for Plug and Play devices (such as sound cards, network adapters, and
video cards). As for the system Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and mass-storage device drivers,
they must be identical on the source and the target machines; see Microsoft Knowledge Base,
articles 302577 and 216915.
Acronis Universal Deploy technology provides an efficient solution for hardware-independent system
deployment by adding the crucial Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and mass-storage device drivers.
2.6.2 Acronis Universal Deploy general principles
Automatic HAL and mass-storage drivers selection
Acronis Universal Deploy searches the Windows default driver storage folders (in the master image
being deployed) for HAL and mass-storage device drivers and installs drivers that better fit the target
hardware. You can specify a custom driver repository (a network folder or a CD) which will also be
used for driver searches.
Tip: The Windows default driver storage folder is determined by the DevicePath value in the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion registry key. This storage folder is
usually WINDOWS\inf.
Manual selection of mass-storage device driver
If the target hardware has a specific mass-storage controller (such as a SCSI, RAID, or Fibre Channel
adapter) for the hard disk, you can install the appropriate driver manually, bypassing the automatic
driver search-and-install procedure.
Installing drivers for Plug and Play devices
Acronis Universal Deploy relies on built-in Plug and Play discovery and configuration process to
handle hardware differences in devices that are not critical for the deployed system startup, such as
video, audio and USB. Windows takes control over this process during the logon phase, and if some
of the new hardware is not detected, you will have a chance to install drivers for it later manually.
2.6.3 Acronis Universal Deploy and Microsoft Sysprep
Acronis Universal Deploy is not a system preparation tool. You can apply it to any system image
created by Acronis products, but you cannot apply it to images of systems prepared with Microsoft
System Preparation Tool (Sysprep).
2.6.4 Getting Acronis Universal Deploy
Acronis Universal Deploy is an add-on to Acronis Snap Deploy 4. It is purchased separately and has its
own license.