User`s guide

Table Of Contents
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You reboot the target machines.
As each target machine requests an IP address from the DHCP server and requests a PXE boot, OS
Provisioning Server checks the machine's MAC address to determine if the machine has an installation
session waiting on the OS Provisioning Server. If an installation session for the machine is found, the OS
installer boots over TFTP, the OS distribution and VCMAgent are downloaded to the target machines
using HTTP, and the distribution and Agent are installed on the target machines.
When the installation completes, the new physical or virtual machines are displayed in the Provisioned
Machines data grid. They are licensed or available to license in VCM. If the machine is not licensed, you
must license it to manage the machine. As each machine is licensed, you manage it in VCM as a
Window, UNIX/Linux, or ESX machine.
Provision Target Machines with Operating System Distributions
Operating system provisioning includes VCM and the OS Provisioning Server. VCM submits the actions to
the OS Provisioning Server, which runs the actions on the target machines.
Prerequisites
Install the OS Provisioning Server and import the OS distributions. See "Installing, Configuring, and
Upgrading the OS Provisioning Server and Components" on page 21.
Procedure
1. "Collect OS Distributions" on page 201
Collect the OS Distributions to ensure that you have access to all the operating systems in the OS
Provisioning Server repository.
2. "Discover Provisionable Machines" on page 202
The OS Provisioning Server identifies provisionable physical or virtual machines in your environment
when the target machines set to network boot and attempt to PXE boot.
3. "Provision Machines with Operating System Distributions" on page 202
The OS provisioning process installs one Windows, UNIX/Linux, or ESX operating system distribution
on one or more physical or virtual machines using OS provisioning.
Continuous provisioned machine management is based on the latest data you collect from the OS
Provisioning Server. See "Provisioned Machines Results" on page 213.
Collect OS Distributions
Collect the OS Distributions to ensure that you have access to all the operating systems in the OS
Provisioning Server repository. These OS Distributions are operating system images that are available to
install on target machines.
Prerequisites
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Ensure that operating system distributions are imported into the OS Provisioning Server repository. To
import OS distributions, see "Import Distributions into the OS Provisioning Server Repository" on page
33.
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Verify that the OS Provisioning Integration Enabled setting is configured with a value greater than 0.
The default value is 5. Click Administration and select Settings > OS Provisioning Settings > OS
Provisioning Server.
Getting Started with Operating System Provisioning
VMware, Inc. 201