6.2

Table 3‑1. Choosing a Provisioning Method (Continued)
Scenario
Supported
Platforms
Provisioning
Method Pre-provisioning Preparations
Provision a machine and pass
control to an SCCM task sequence
to boot from an ISO image, deploy
a Windows operating system, and
install the vRealize Automation
guest agent.
n
HP iLO
n
Dell iDRAC
Physical SCCM Preparing for SCCM Provisioning
Provision a machine by booting
into a WinPE environment and
installing an operating system
using a Windows Imaging File
Format (WIM) image of an existing
Windows reference machine.
n
HP iLO
n
Dell iDRAC
Physical
Provisioning
Preparing for WIM Provisioning
Preparing for PXE Provisioning
Prepare to provision a machine by querying a PXE boot server for a network boot strap program (NBP).
You can configure the NBP to then download and execute any boot image-based provisioning method to
deploy an operating system.
The Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) allows computers to be booted using a network interface. A
system that uses PXE can boot a machine from a network bootstrap program (NBP) independently of its
data storage devices or any installed operating system. You can configure the NBP to then boot the
machine by using one of the boot image-based provisioning methods that vRealize Automation supports
(WIM, kickstart/autoYaST, or SCCM).
The following is a list of requirements for PXE provisioning:
n
Ensure that the PXE server is available on a VLAN that is accessible to the physical machines being
provisioned.
n
Create a network boot program (NBP) that boots the physical machine from the desired image.
n
Configure the PXE server to deliver the desired NBP in response to a query from the physical
machines that you intend to provision. Optionally, this can be accomplished by using PowerShell
scripts during machine provisioning.
Depending on how your PXE server is configured, there are a number of different approaches you can
take to provision machines by using PXE. The following is a high-level overview of a common approach
you can take to provision a machine by using PXE:
1 Configure an NBP to boot machines by using one of the boot image-based provisioning methods that
vRealize Automation supports:
n
To provision by using Linux Kickstart or autoYaST, see Preparing for Linux Kickstart Provisioning.
n
To provision by using WIM, see Preparing for WIM Provisioning.
n
To provision by using SCCM, see Preparing for SCCM Provisioning.
IaaS Configuration for Physical Machines
VMware, Inc. 35