Installation guide

Table Of Contents
Provisioning Physical or Virtual
Machine Operating Systems
11
Provisioning Physical or Virtual Machine
Operating Systems
Operating system (OS) provisioning is the process of installing operating systems to physical or virtual
machines. As part of the provisioning process, you can add newly provisioned machines to VCM.
OS provisioning enables you to quickly deploy one or more physical or virtual machines to meet
expanding business needs. Some of these machines may have limited use and lifespan, and may be
reprovisioned for other purposes. Other machines are provisioned and distributed for long term use.
The provisioning process installs the supported operating system and the VCM Agent. When the target
machines are licensed, you can collect machine data, monitor the machines' state and status, and manage
the security and compliance of the machines.
This chapter includes the following topics:
Operating System Provisioning Components 199
Configure Operating System Provisioning Servers 201
Provision Machines with Operating System Distributions 204
Provisioned Machines Results 213
Reprovision Machines 214
Operating System Provisioning Components
The OS provisioning components include the VCM Collector, one or more OS Provisioning Servers, and
the target physical or virtual machines.
The OS Provisioning Server, when it is installed and configured in your environment, serves as the engine
for OS provisioning. However, the process of initiating provisioning actions is managed through the VCM
Console. See Figure 11–1. Relationship of OS Provisioning Components.
VMware, Inc.
199